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Molecular differentiation of sex chromosomes probed by comparative genomic hybridization.

Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) was used to identify and probe sex chromosomes in several XY and WZ systems. Chromosomes were hybridized simultaneously with FluorX-labelled DNA of females and Cy3-labelled DNA of males in the presence of an excess of Cot-1 DNA or unlabelled DNA of the homogametic sex. CGH visualized the molecular differentiation of the X and Y in the house mouse, Mus musculus, and in Drosophila melanogaster: while autosomes were stained equally by both probes, the X and Y chromosomes were stained preferentially by the female-derived or the male-derived probe, respectively. There was no differential staining of the X and Y chromosomes in the fly Megaselia scalaris, indicating an early stage of sex chromosome differentiation in this species. In the human and the house mouse, labelled DNA of males in the presence of unlabelled DNA of females was sufficient to highlight Y chromosomes in mitosis and interphase. In WZ sex chromosome systems, the silkworm Bombyx mori, the flour moth Ephestia kuehniella, and the wax moth Galleria mellonella, the W chromosomes were identified by CGH in mitosis and meiosis. They were conspicuously stained by both female- and male-derived probes, unlike the Z chromosomes, which were preferentially stained by the male-derived probe in E. kuehniella only but were otherwise inconspicuous. The ratio of female:male staining and the pattern of staining along the W chromosomes was species specific. CGH shows that W chromosomes in these species are molecularly well differentiated from the Z chromosomes. The conspicuous binding of the male-derived probe to the W chromosomes is presumably due to an accumulation of common interspersed repetitive sequences.

Animals↗

Identification of novel RPGR (retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator) mutations in a subset of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa families segregating with the RP3 locus.

The X-linked form of retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) is a severe disease of the retina, characterised by night blindness and visual field constriction in a degenerative process, culminating with complete loss of sight within the third decade of life. Genetic mapping studies have identified two major loci for XLRP: RP3 (70%-75% of XLRP) and RP2 (20%-25% of XLRP). The RPGR (retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator) gene has been cloned within the RP3 genomic interval and it has been shown that 10%-20% of XLRP families have mutations in this gene. Here, we describe a single-strand conformational polymorphism-based mutation screening of RPGR in a pool of 29 XLRP families for which the disease segregates with the RP3 locus, in order to investigate the proportion of RP3 families with RPGR mutations and to relate the results to previous reports. Five different new mutations have been identified: two splice site mutations for exon 1 and three frameshift mutations in exons 7, 10 and 11. The percentage of RPGR mutations identified is 17% (5/29) in our genetically well-defined population. This figure is comparable to the percentage of RP2 gene mutations that we have detected in our entire XLRP patient pool (10%-15%). A correlation of RPGR mutations with phenotype in the families described in this study and the biochemical characterisation of reported mutations may provide insights into the function of the protein.

Base Sequence↗

Enhancer detection in the zebrafish using pseudotyped murine retroviruses.

Vectors based on murine retroviruses are among the most efficient means to insert reporter constructs into the context of a vertebrate chromosome with the aim to visualize cis-regulatory information available to a basal promoter at the site of insertion. In combination with using the zebrafish embryo as a readout for the activity of regulatory elements, enhancer detection becomes a powerful technique for gene discovery and for the mapping of the extent of regulatory domains in a vertebrate genome. Our laboratory has performed the only large-scale enhancer detection screen to date in any vertebrate and we describe in this paper the methods we developed to generate viral particles, to insert reporter constructs into the zebrafish germ line, the screening of detection events in heterozygous F1 embryos, and the isolation of genomic sequence flanking the inserted vector for the purpose of genomic mapping. Given sufficient scale, the technology described here can be used to obtain cis-regulatory information across the entire zebrafish genome for any given basal promoter.

Animals↗

Murine genomic DNA sequences replicating autonomously in mouse L cells.

Plasmids that replicate autonomously in mouse L cells were constructed by inserting random genomic DNA fragments from Ltk- cells into a plasmid containing the HSV-1 thymidine kinase gene with a truncated low-efficiency promoter. HAT resistance was used as a selective marker. The presence of free plasmids in the DNA of transformants was demonstrated by hybridization with a specific plasmid probe, by electron microscopic visualization of circular DNA, and by recovering these plasmids by E. coli transformation. Nineteen different DNA fragments were isolated. They were characterized as murine autonomously replicating sequences by Mbol restriction endonuclease sensitivity, by bromodeoxyuridine substitution, by copy number determination, and by segregation analysis. Sequence analysis of the inserts of nine plasmids revealed a conserved element of 12 bp (CTCATGAGAGGCCAA) in five out of nine autonomously replicating sequences.

Acetyltransferases↗

Mutations in RDH12 encoding a photoreceptor cell retinol dehydrogenase cause childhood-onset severe retinal dystrophy.

We identified three consanguineous Austrian kindreds with 15 members affected by autosomal recessive childhood-onset severe retinal dystrophy, a genetically heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by degeneration of the photoreceptor cells. A whole-genome scan by microarray analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (ref. 2) identified a founder haplotype and defined a critical interval of 1.53 cM on chromosome 14q23.3-q24.1 that contains the gene associated with this form of retinal dystrophy. RDH12 maps in this region and encodes a retinol dehydrogenase proposed to function in the visual cycle. A homozygous 677A-->G transition (resulting in Y226C) in RDH12 was present in all affected family members studied, as well as in two Austrian individuals with sporadic retinal dystrophy. We identified additional mutations in RDH12 in 3 of 89 non-Austrian individuals with retinal dystrophy: a 5-nucleotide deletion (806delCCCTG) and the transition 565C-->T (resulting in Q189X), each in the homozygous state, and 146C-->T (resulting in T49M) and 184C-->T (resulting in R62X) in compound heterozygosity. When expressed in COS-7 cells, Cys226 and Met49 variants had diminished and aberrant activity, respectively, in interconverting isomers of retinol and retinal. The severe visual impairment of individuals with mutations in RDH12 is in marked contrast to the mild visual deficiency in individuals with fundus albipunctatus caused by mutations in RDH5, encoding another retinal dehydrogenase. Our studies show that RDH12 is associated with retinal dystrophy and encodes an enzyme with a unique, nonredundant role in the photoreceptor cells.

Adult↗

Characterizing the regulatory logic of transcriptional control at the DNA sequence level by ensembles of thermodynamic models.

MOTIVATION: Understanding how the genome encodes the regulatory logic of transcription is a main challenge of the post-genomic era, and can be overcome with the aid of customized computational tools. RESULTS: We report an automated framework for analyzing an ensemble of fits to data of a thermodynamics-based sequence-level model for transcriptional regulation. The fits are clustered accordingly with their intrinsic regulatory logic. A multiscale analysis enables visualization of quantitative features resulting from the deconvolution of the regulatory profile provided by multiple transcription factors interacting with the locus of a gene. Quantitative experimental data on reporters driven by the whole locus of the even-skipped gene in the blastoderm of Drosophila embryos was used for validating our approach. A few clusters of highly active DNA binding sites within the enhancers collectively modulate even-skipped gene transcription. Analysis of variable enhancers' length shows the importance of bound protein-protein interactions for transcriptional regulation. The interplay between activation and quenching enables function conservation of enhancers despite length variations. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The transcription factor level data used for performing the reported study is accessible in the input files in Zenodo and GitHub as well the full code. Additional data from formerly FlyEx database will be available under request.

Thermodynamics↗

UFold-X: an enhanced Dual & Dynamic U-Mamba model for long-range RNA secondary structure prediction.

RNA secondary structure is essential for understanding the functions of non-coding RNAs, ribosomal RNAs, and viral genomes. However, accurate prediction of long RNA structures remains challenging due to complex long-range interactions and the limited availability of long-RNA training data. We present UFold-X, a dual-branch deep learning framework that combines a convolutional encoder for local structure modeling with a Mamba-based Visual State Space Module for capturing long-range dependencies. A dynamic gating mechanism adaptively integrates the two branches according to sequence length. UFold-X was evaluated on multiple benchmark datasets containing RNAs up to 5000 nucleotides. To rigorously assess generalization, we introduced a cross-clan benchmark for long RNAs. Under this stringent setting, UFold-X achieved performance comparable to state-of-the-art classical approaches while achieving the best performance among deep learning-based methods. Additional cross-family and within-family evaluations further demonstrated robust transferability and competitive predictive performance. UFold-X also maintained excellent computational efficiency, requiring only 0.08 s per sequence on average. To assess biological consistency, we developed a SHAPE-based reactivity prediction variant (UFold-X-R) and an integrated metric, the Hybrid Reactivity-Pairing Score (HRPS). UFold-X-R showed strong agreement with experimental icSHAPE data and achieved the highest HRPS among all evaluated methods. A user-friendly web server is available at https://ufold-x.ai4bread.com.

Nucleic Acid Conformation↗

Theoretical biology in the third millennium.

During the 20th century our understanding of genetics and the processes of gene expression have undergone revolutionary change. Improved technology has identified the components of the living cell, and knowledge of the genetic code allows us to visualize the pathway from genotype to phenotype. We can now sequence entire genes, and improved cloning techniques enable us to transfer genes between organisms, giving a better understanding of their function. Due to the improved power of analytical tools databases of sequence information are growing at an exponential rate. Soon complete sequences of genomes and the three-dimensional structure of all proteins may be known. The question we face in the new millennium is how to apply this data in a meaningful way. Since the genes carry the specification of an organism, and because they also record evolutionary changes, we need to design a theoretical framework that can take account of the flow of information through biological systems.

Animals↗

Discrepancy between Penner serotyping and polymerase chain reaction fingerprinting of Campylobacter isolated from poultry and other animal sources.

Thirty-four Campylobacter jejuni or coli strains, isolated from various livestock and darkling beetles from two Dutch poultry farms during different broiler production cycles, were subjected to Penner serotyping and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fingerprint analysis. Ten different Penner serotypes were determined in the isolates. Visual scoring of the PCR fingerprints resulted in 14 clearly different profiles. Some strains with identical Penner serotypes exhibited different PCR fingerprints and conversely strains with different serotypes produced identical PCR fingerprints. Discrepancies between Penner serotyping and PCR fingerprinting were most obvious between isolates from different animal sources. Indications for the occurrence of genomic rearrangements were found. The inconsistency between serotyping and fingerprinting of Campylobacter strains suggests that conventional typing methods should be used in combination with fingerprinting if the epidemiological factors that contribute to Campylobacter colonization of live chickens are to be assessed reliably.

Animals↗

Characterization of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis and organisms of the Mycobacterium avium complex by restriction polymorphism of the rRNA gene region.

Nineteen Mycobacterium paratuberculosis strains, including strains of bovine, caprine, ovine, cervid, subhuman primate, and human origins, were compared with organisms of the M. avium complex by restriction fragment length polymorphism with a 5S rRNA gene probe as the reference DNA. Mycobacterial DNA was extracted, digested with several restriction enzymes, subjected to electrophoresis and Southern blotting, and then hybridized with a 5S rRNA gene probe from Escherichia coli. Hybridizing bands were visualized by autoradiography, and the sizes of the resulting rRNA fragments in kilobases were determined. Base substitutions were calculated on the basis of the number of shared fragments between species and strains. It was determined that M. paratuberculosis and the M. avium complex possess a single copy of the rRNA genes within their genomes and that the M. avium complex and M. paratuberculosis are a group of closely related organisms, likely with a common ancestral link. In proximity to the 5S rRNA gene exists a region or regions which display polymorphisms that are capable of species and subspecies differentiation. M. paratuberculosis strains isolated from humans, subhuman primates, and animals were found to be genetically identical to each other. M. paratuberculosis strains lacked the genetic heterogeneity (restriction fragment length polymorphisms) characteristic of most species, suggesting that this organism has unidirectional genetic selection. It is therefore assumed to be biologically isolated, occupying a unique and specific biological niche. This homogeneity was present in all strains, including those of animal and primate (subhuman and human) origin and strains isolated from different parts of the world.

Animals↗

Expression of hepatitis C virus proteins induces distinct membrane alterations including a candidate viral replication complex.

Plus-strand RNA viruses characteristically replicate their genome in association with altered cellular membranes. In the present study, the capacity of hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins to elicit intracellular membrane alterations was investigated by expressing, in tetracycline-regulated cell lines, a comprehensive panel of HCV proteins individually as well as in the context of the entire HCV polyprotein. As visualized by electron microscopy (EM), expression of the combined structural proteins core-E1-E2-p7, the NS3-4A complex, and protein NS4B induced distinct membrane alterations. By immunogold EM (IEM), the membrane-altering proteins were always found to localize to the respective altered membranes. NS4B, a protein of hitherto unknown function, induced a tight structure, designated membranous web, consisting of vesicles in a membranous matrix. Expression of the entire HCV polyprotein gave rise to membrane budding into rough endoplasmic reticulum vacuoles, to the membranous web, and to tightly associated vesicles often surrounding the membranous web. By IEM, all HCV proteins were found to be associated with the NS4B-induced membranous web, forming a membrane-associated multiprotein complex. A similar web-like structure in livers of HCV-infected chimpanzees was previously described (Pfeifer et al., Virchows Arch. B., 33:233-243, 1980). In view of this finding and the observation that all HCV proteins accumulate on the membranous web, we propose that the membranous web forms the viral replication complex in HCV-infected cells.

Animals↗

RP-REP Ribosomal Profiling Reports: an open-source cloud-enabled framework for reproducible ribosomal profiling data processing, analysis, and result reporting.

Ribosomal profiling is an emerging experimental technology to measure protein synthesis by sequencing short mRNA fragments undergoing translation in ribosomes. Applied on the genome wide scale, this is a powerful tool to profile global protein synthesis within cell populations of interest. Such information can be utilized for biomarker discovery and detection of treatment-responsive genes. However, analysis of ribosomal profiling data requires careful preprocessing to reduce the impact of artifacts and dedicated statistical methods for visualizing and modeling the high-dimensional discrete read count data. Here we present Ribosomal Profiling Reports (RP-REP), a new open-source cloud-enabled software that allows users to execute start-to-end gene-level ribosomal profiling and RNA-Seq analysis on a pre-configured Amazon Virtual Machine Image (AMI) hosted on AWS or on the user's own Ubuntu Linux server. The software works with FASTQ files stored locally, on AWS S3, or at the Sequence Read Archive (SRA). RP-REP automatically executes a series of customizable steps including filtering of contaminant RNA, enrichment of true ribosomal footprints, reference alignment and gene translation quantification, gene body coverage, CRAM compression, reference alignment QC, data normalization, multivariate data visualization, identification of differentially translated genes, and generation of heatmaps, co-translated gene clusters, enriched pathways, and other custom visualizations. RP-REP provides functionality to contrast RNA-SEQ and ribosomal profiling results, and calculates translational efficiency per gene. The software outputs a PDF report and publication-ready table and figure files. As a use case, we provide RP-REP results for a dengue virus study that tested cytosol and endoplasmic reticulum cellular fractions of human Huh7 cells pre-infection and at 6 h, 12 h, 24 h, and 40 h post-infection. Case study results, Ubuntu installation scripts, and the most recent RP-REP source code are accessible at GitHub. The cloud-ready AMI is available at AWS (AMI ID: RPREP RSEQREP (Ribosome Profiling and RNA-Seq Reports) v2.1 (ami-00b92f52d763145d3)).

AMI↗

Propagation of infectious laryngotracheitis virus in an avian liver cell line.

The susceptibility of three avian cell lines (IQ1A, LMH, and QT-35) to infection by three strains of infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) was assessed both visually and by hybridization using an ILTV glycoprotein B gene probe. In the chicken liver tumor cell line (LMH), cytopathogenicity was observed at the second passage, and plaque formation was observed at the third passage. The identity of the infectious agent was verified to be ILTV by restriction endonuclease analysis of the virus genome and subsequent Southern hybridization. In contrast to LMH cells, which were a suitable host for ILTV, the quail cell line (IQ1A) was refractory to infection by this virus. Moreover, although LMH cell-adapted ILTV could initially replicate to a limited extent in the other quail cell line (QT-35), this ability was not sustained upon continual passaging.

Animals↗

Dual channel imaging of two-dimensional electropherograms in Bacillus subtilis.

The allocation of proteins to stimulons and regulons is an essential step towards the understanding of the global regulation of the expression of entire genomes. The computer-aided evaluation and matching of two-dimensional protein gels loaded with radioactively labeled proteins from exponentially growing or stressed cells is a useful but time-consuming procedure for the description of stimulons and regulons. This paper describes the dual-channel image analysis that offers the opportunity to visualize the content and synthesis rate of a whole set of bacterial proteins on a single electropherogram. By pulse-labeling with L-[35S]methionine, the protein synthesis pattern (red color) can be directly compared with the protein level pattern (green color). Because matching of other gels can be avoided, this new technique is useful for the rapid search for proteins that belong to different stimulons or regulons. This approach was tested for the identification of proteins of heat stress or oxidative stress stimulons. Proteins that were induced by heat or oxidative stress colored red while proteins whose synthesis was switched off by the stress factor colored green. Proteins that were continuously synthesized before and after the imposition of stress retained their yellow color. The advantages and possible pitfalls of the technique are discussed.

Bacillus subtilis↗

Rapid detection of radiation-induced chromosomal aberrations in lymphocytes and hematopoietic progenitor cells by mFISH.

Structural chromosome aberrations (SCAs) are sensitive indicators of a preceding exposure of the hematopoietic system to ionizing radiation. Cytogenetic investigations have therefore become routine tools for an assessment of absorbed radiation doses and their biological effects after occupational exposure or radiation accidents. Due to its speed and ease of use, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with whole chromosome painting (WCP) probes has become a method of choice to visualize SCAs. Until recently, this technique was limited to a rather small number of chromosomes, which could be tested simultaneously. As a result, only a fraction of the structural aberrations present in a sample could be detected and the overall dose effect had to be calculated by extrapolation. The recent introduction of two genome-wide screening techniques in tumor research, i.e., Spectral Karyotyping (SKY) and multicolor FISH (mFISH) now allows the detection of translocations involving any two non-homologous chromosomes. The present study was prompted by our desire to bring the power of mFISH to bear for the rapid identification of radiation-induced SCAs. We chose two model systems to investigate the utility of mFISH: lymphocytes that were exposed in vitro to 3 Gy photons and single hematopoietic progenitor cell colonies isolated from a Chernobyl victim 9 years after in vivo exposure to 5.4 Sv.In lymphocytes, we found up to 15 different chromosomes involved in rearrangements indicating complex radiation effects. Stable aberrations detected in hematopoietic cell colonies, on the other hand, showed involvement of up to three different chromosomes. These results demonstrated that mFISH is a rapid and powerful approach to detect and characterize radiation-induced SCAs in the hemopoietic system. The application of mFISH is expected to result in a more detailed and, thus, more informative picture of radiation effects. Eventually, this technique will allow researchers to rapidly delineate chromosomal breakpoints and facilitate the identification of the genes involved in radiation tumorigenesis.

Adult↗

Large-scale identification of mammalian proteins localized to nuclear sub-compartments.

Many nuclear components participating in related pathways appear concentrated in specific areas of the mammalian nucleus. The importance of this organization is attested to by the dysfunction that correlates with mis-localization of nuclear proteins in human disease and cancer. Determining the sub-nuclear localization of proteins is therefore important for understanding genome regulation and function, and it also provides clues to function for novel proteins. However, the complexity of proteins in the mammalian nucleus is too large to tackle this on a protein by protein basis. Large-scale approaches to determining protein function and sub-cellular localization are required. We have used a visual gene trap screen to identify more than 100 proteins, many of which are normal, located within compartments of the mouse nucleus. The most common discrete localizations detected are at the nucleolus and the splicing speckles and on chromosomes. Proteins at the nuclear periphery, or in other nuclear foci, have also been identified. Several of the proteins have been implicated in human disease or cancer, e.g. ATRX, HMGI-C, NBS1 and EWS, and the gene-trapped proteins provide a route into further understanding their function. We find that sequence motifs are often shared amongst proteins co-localized within the same sub-nuclear compartment. Conversely, some generally abundant motifs are lacking from the proteins concentrated in specific areas of the nucleus. This suggests that we may be able to predict sub-nuclear localization for proteins in databases based on their sequence.

Animals↗

Single cell CGH analysis reveals a high degree of mosaicism in human embryos from patients with balanced structural chromosome aberrations.

We have performed comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis of single blastomeres from human preimplantation embryos of patients undergoing preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for inherited structural chromosome aberrations and from embryos of IVF couples without known chromosomal aberrations. The aim was to verify the PGD results for the specific translocation, reveal the overall genetic balance in each cell and visualize the degree of mosaicism regarding all the chromosomes within the embryo. We successfully analysed 94 blastomeres from 28 human embryos generated from 13 couples. The single cell CGH could verify most of the unbalanced translocations detected by PGD. Some of the embryos exhibited a mosaic pattern regarding the chromosomes involved in the translocation, and different segregation could be seen within an embryo. In addition to the translocations, we found a high degree of numerical aberrations including monosomies, trisomies and duplications or deletions of parts of chromosomes. All of the embryos (100%) were mosaic, containing more than one chromosomally uniform cell line, or even chaotic with a different chromosomal content in each blastomere.

Blastocyst↗

CUT&TIME captures the history of open chromatin in developing neurons.

Chromatin structure plays a central role in defining cell identity by regulating gene expression. During development, shifts in chromatin structure facilitate changes in gene expression needed to specify distinct cell types. To understand how changes in chromatin structure influence the developmental trajectory of neural progenitor cells, we developed CUT&TIME, a technique that uses a hyperactive 6-methyl adenosine (6mA) methyltransferase pulsed in living cells to map historical chromatin accessibility genome-wide in single cells. We show that CUT&TIME produces a record of the chromatin landscape during neurogenesis in the developing retina, specifically as neural progenitors produce the major projection neuron type, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). We further show that this method is compatible with single cell profiling technologies, which allows us to visualize and capture the diversity of chromatin states that produce RGCs. Additionally, we identify changes in promoter accessibility associated with the transition from progenitor to RGC. Together, these data demonstrate that CUT&TIME captures a historical record of chromatin structure, which can be used to identify early changes in accessibility associated with cell-fate commitment.

Journal Article↗