Large-scale analysis of antisense transcription in wheat using the Affymetrix GeneChip Wheat Genome Array

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Settles Matthew L

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Natural antisense transcripts (NATs are transcripts of the opposite DNA strand to the sense-strand either at the same locus (cis-encoded or a different locus (trans-encoded. They can affect gene expression at multiple stages including transcription, RNA processing and transport, and translation. NATs give rise to sense-antisense transcript pairs and the number of these identified has escalated greatly with the availability of DNA sequencing resources and public databases. Traditionally, NATs were identified by the alignment of full-length cDNAs or expressed sequence tags to genome sequences, but an alternative method for large-scale detection of sense-antisense transcript pairs involves the use of microarrays. In this study we developed a novel protocol to assay sense- and antisense-strand transcription on the 55 K Affymetrix GeneChip Wheat Genome Array, which is a 3' in vitro transcription (3'IVT expression array. We selected five different tissue types for assay to enable maximum discovery, and used the 'Chinese Spring' wheat genotype because most of the wheat GeneChip probe sequences were based on its genomic sequence. This study is the first report of using a 3'IVT expression array to discover the expression of natural sense-antisense transcript pairs, and may be considered as proof-of-concept. Results By using alternative target preparation schemes, both the sense- and antisense-strand derived transcripts were labeled and hybridized to the Wheat GeneChip. Quality assurance verified that successful hybridization did occur in the antisense-strand assay. A stringent threshold for positive hybridization was applied, which resulted in the identification of 110 sense-antisense transcript pairs, as well as 80 potentially antisense-specific transcripts. Strand-specific RT-PCR validated the microarray observations, and showed that antisense transcription is likely to be tissue specific. For the annotated sense

Transcriptional Slippage and RNA Editing Increase the Diversity of Transcripts in Chloroplasts: Insight from Deep Sequencing of Vigna radiata Genome and Transcriptome.

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Ching-Ping Lin

Full Text Available We performed deep sequencing of the nuclear and organellar genomes of three mungbean genotypes: Vigna radiata ssp. sublobata TC1966, V. radiata var. radiata NM92 and the recombinant inbred line RIL59 derived from a cross between TC1966 and NM92. Moreover, we performed deep sequencing of the RIL59 transcriptome to investigate transcript variability. The mungbean chloroplast genome has a quadripartite structure including a pair of inverted repeats separated by two single copy regions. A total of 213 simple sequence repeats were identified in the chloroplast genomes of NM92 and RIL59; 78 single nucleotide variants and nine indels were discovered in comparing the chloroplast genomes of TC1966 and NM92. Analysis of the mungbean chloroplast transcriptome revealed mRNAs that were affected by transcriptional slippage and RNA editing. Transcriptional slippage frequency was positively correlated with the length of simple sequence repeats of the mungbean chloroplast genome (R2=0.9911. In total, 41 C-to-U editing sites were found in 23 chloroplast genes and in one intergenic spacer. No editing site that swapped U to C was found. A combination of bioinformatics and experimental methods revealed that the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase-transcribed genes psbF and ndhA are affected by transcriptional slippage in mungbean and in main lineages of land plants, including three dicots (Glycine max, Brassica rapa, and Nicotiana tabacum, two monocots (Oryza sativa and Zea mays, two gymnosperms (Pinus taeda and Ginkgo biloba and one moss (Physcomitrella patens. Transcript analysis of the rps2 gene showed that transcriptional slippage could affect transcripts at single sequence repeat regions with poly-A runs. It showed that transcriptional slippage together with incomplete RNA editing may cause sequence diversity of transcripts in chloroplasts of land plants.

Genome-wide analysis of WRKY transcription factors in Solanum lycopersicum.

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Huang, Shengxiong; Gao, Yongfeng; Liu, Jikai; Peng, Xiaoli; Niu, Xiangli; Fei, Zhangjun; Cao, Shuqing; Liu, Yongsheng

2012-06-01

The WRKY transcription factors have been implicated in multiple biological processes in plants, especially in regulating defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. However, little information is available about the WRKYs in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). The recent release of the whole-genome sequence of tomato allowed us to perform a genome-wide investigation for tomato WRKY proteins, and to compare these positively identified proteins with their orthologs in model plants, such as Arabidopsis and rice. In the present study, based on the recently released tomato whole-genome sequences, we identified 81 SlWRKY genes that were classified into three main groups, with the second group further divided into five subgroups. Depending on WRKY domains' sequences derived from tomato, Arabidopsis and rice, construction of a phylogenetic tree demonstrated distinct clustering and unique gene expansion of WRKY genes among the three species. Genome mapping analysis revealed that tomato WRKY genes were enriched on several chromosomes, especially on chromosome 5, and 16 % of the family members were tandemly duplicated genes. The tomato WRKYs from each group were shown to share similar motif compositions. Furthermore, tomato WRKY genes showed distinct temporal and spatial expression patterns in different developmental processes and in response to various biotic and abiotic stresses. The expression of 18 selected tomato WRKY genes in response to drought and salt stresses and Pseudomonas syringae invasion, respectively, was validated by quantitative RT-PCR. Our results will provide a platform for functional identification and molecular breeding study of WRKY genes in tomato and probably other Solanaceae plants.

Hematopoietic transcriptional mechanisms: from locus-specific to genome-wide vantage points.

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DeVilbiss, Andrew W; Sanalkumar, Rajendran; Johnson, Kirby D; Keles, Sunduz; Bresnick, Emery H

2014-08-01

Hematopoiesis is an exquisitely regulated process in which stem cells in the developing embryo and the adult generate progenitor cells that give rise to all blood lineages. Master regulatory transcription factors control hematopoiesis by integrating signals from the microenvironment and dynamically establishing and maintaining genetic networks. One of the most rudimentary aspects of cell type-specific transcription factor function, how they occupy a highly restricted cohort of cis-elements in chromatin, remains poorly understood. Transformative technologic advances involving the coupling of next-generation DNA sequencing technology with the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIP-seq) have enabled genome-wide mapping of factor occupancy patterns. However, formidable problems remain; notably, ChIP-seq analysis yields hundreds to thousands of chromatin sites occupied by a given transcription factor, and only a fraction of the sites appear to be endowed with critical, non-redundant function. It has become en vogue to map transcription factor occupancy patterns genome-wide, while using powerful statistical tools to establish correlations to inform biology and mechanisms. With the advent of revolutionary genome editing technologies, one can now reach beyond correlations to conduct definitive hypothesis testing. This review focuses on key discoveries that have emerged during the path from single loci to genome-wide analyses, specifically in the context of hematopoietic transcriptional mechanisms. Copyright © 2014 ISEH - International Society for Experimental Hematology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide screening and transcriptional profile analysis of desaturase genes in the European corn borer moth

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Bingye Xue; Alejandro P. Rooney; Wendell L. Roelofs

2012-01-01

Acyl-coenzyme A (Acyl-CoA) desaturases play a key role in the biosynthesis of female moth sex pheromones.Desaturase genes are encoded by a large multigene family,and they have been divided into five subgroups on the basis of biochemical functionality and phylogenetic affinity.In this study both copy numbers and transcriptional levels of desaturase genes in the European corn borer (ECB),Ostrinia nubilalis,were investigated.The results from genome-wide screening of ECB bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)library indicated there are many copies of some desaturase genes in the genome.An open reading frame (ORF) has been isolated for the novel desaturase gene ECB ezi-△11β from ECB gland complementary DNA and its functionality has been analyzed by two yeast expression systems.No functional activities have been detected for it.The expression levels of the four desaturase genes both in the pheromone gland and fat body of ECB and Asian corn borer (ACB),O.furnacalis,were determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction.In the ECB gland,△ 11 is the most abundant,although the amount of △14 is also considerable.In the ACB gland,△14 is the most abundant and is 100 times more abundant than all the other three combined.The results from the analysis of evolution of desaturase gene transcription in the ECB,ACB and other moths indicate that the pattern of △ 11 gene transcription is significantly different from the transcriptional patterns of other desaturase genes and this difference is tied to the underlying nucleotide composition bias of the genome.

Identification of genome-specific transcripts in wheat–rye translocation lines

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Tong Geon Lee

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Studying gene expression in wheat–rye translocation lines is complicated due to the presence of homeologs in hexaploid wheat and high levels of synteny between wheat and rye genomes (Naranjo and Fernandez-Rueda, 1991 [1]; Devos et al., 1995 [2]; Lee et al., 2010 [3]; Lee et al., 2013 [4]. To overcome limitations of current gene expression studies on wheat–rye translocation lines and identify genome-specific transcripts, we developed a custom Roche NimbleGen Gene Expression microarray that contains probes derived from the sequence of hexaploid wheat, diploid rye and diploid progenitors of hexaploid wheat genome (Lee et al., 2014. Using the array developed, we identified genome-specific transcripts in a wheat–rye translocation line (Lee et al., 2014. Expression data are deposited in the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO under accession number GSE58678. Here we report the details of the methods used in the array workflow and data analysis.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae Transcription Unit Organization: Genome Survey and Prediction

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Siqueira, Franciele Maboni; Schrank, Augusto; Schrank, Irene Silveira

2011-01-01

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is associated with swine respiratory diseases. Although gene organization and regulation are well known in many prokaryotic organisms, knowledge on mycoplasma is limited. This study performed a comparative analysis of three strains of M. hyopneumoniae (7448, J and 232), with a focus on genome organization and gene comparison for open read frame (ORF) cluster (OC) identification. An in silico analysis of gene organization demonstrated 117 OCs and 34 single ORFs in M. hyopneumoniae 7448 and J, while 116 OCs and 36 single ORFs were identified in M. hyopneumoniae 232. Genomic comparison revealed high synteny and conservation of gene order between the OCs defined for 7448 and J strains as well as for 7448 and 232 strains. Twenty-one OCs were chosen and experimentally confirmed by reverse transcription–PCR from M. hyopneumoniae 7448 genome, validating our prediction. A subset of the ORFs within an OC could be independently transcribed due to the presence of internal promoters. Our results suggest that transcription occurs in ‘run-on’ from an upstream promoter in M. hyopneumoniae, thus forming large ORF clusters (from 2 to 29 ORFs in the same orientation) and indicating a complex transcriptional organization. PMID:22086999

TIGER: Toolbox for integrating genome-scale metabolic models, expression data, and transcriptional regulatory networks

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Jensen Paul A

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Several methods have been developed for analyzing genome-scale models of metabolism and transcriptional regulation. Many of these methods, such as Flux Balance Analysis, use constrained optimization to predict relationships between metabolic flux and the genes that encode and regulate enzyme activity. Recently, mixed integer programming has been used to encode these gene-protein-reaction (GPR relationships into a single optimization problem, but these techniques are often of limited generality and lack a tool for automating the conversion of rules to a coupled regulatory/metabolic model. Results We present TIGER, a Toolbox for Integrating Genome-scale Metabolism, Expression, and Regulation. TIGER converts a series of generalized, Boolean or multilevel rules into a set of mixed integer inequalities. The package also includes implementations of existing algorithms to integrate high-throughput expression data with genome-scale models of metabolism and transcriptional regulation. We demonstrate how TIGER automates the coupling of a genome-scale metabolic model with GPR logic and models of transcriptional regulation, thereby serving as a platform for algorithm development and large-scale metabolic analysis. Additionally, we demonstrate how TIGER's algorithms can be used to identify inconsistencies and improve existing models of transcriptional regulation with examples from the reconstructed transcriptional regulatory network of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Conclusion The TIGER package provides a consistent platform for algorithm development and extending existing genome-scale metabolic models with regulatory networks and high-throughput data.

Enhancing yeast transcription analysis through integration of heterogeneous data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grotkjær, Thomas; Nielsen, Jens

2004-01-01

of Saccharomyces cerevisiae whole genome transcription data. A special focus is on the quantitative aspects of normalisation and mathematical modelling approaches, since they are expected to play an increasing role in future DNA microarray analysis studies. Data analysis is exemplified with cluster analysis......DNA microarray technology enables the simultaneous measurement of the transcript level of thousands of genes. Primary analysis can be done with basic statistical tools and cluster analysis, but effective and in depth analysis of the vast amount of transcription data requires integration with data...... from several heterogeneous data Sources, such as upstream promoter sequences, genome-scale metabolic models, annotation databases and other experimental data. In this review, we discuss how experimental design, normalisation, heterogeneous data and mathematical modelling can enhance analysis...

Human Metapneumovirus Induces Formation of Inclusion Bodies for Efficient Genome Replication and Transcription.

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Cifuentes-Muñoz, Nicolás; Branttie, Jean; Slaughter, Kerri Beth; Dutch, Rebecca Ellis

2017-12-15

Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) causes significant upper and lower respiratory disease in all age groups worldwide. The virus possesses a negative-sense single-stranded RNA genome of approximately 13.3 kb encapsidated by multiple copies of the nucleoprotein (N), giving rise to helical nucleocapsids. In addition, copies of the phosphoprotein (P) and the large RNA polymerase (L) decorate the viral nucleocapsids. After viral attachment, endocytosis, and fusion mediated by the viral glycoproteins, HMPV nucleocapsids are released into the cell cytoplasm. To visualize the subsequent steps of genome transcription and replication, a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) protocol was established to detect different viral RNA subpopulations in infected cells. The FISH probes were specific for detection of HMPV positive-sense RNA (+RNA) and viral genomic RNA (vRNA). Time course analysis of human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells infected with HMPV revealed the formation of inclusion bodies (IBs) from early times postinfection. HMPV IBs were shown to be cytoplasmic sites of active transcription and replication, with the translation of viral proteins being closely associated. Inclusion body formation was consistent with an actin-dependent coalescence of multiple early replicative sites. Time course quantitative reverse transcription-PCR analysis suggested that the coalescence of inclusion bodies is a strategy to efficiently replicate and transcribe the viral genome. These results provide a better understanding of the steps following HMPV entry and have important clinical implications. IMPORTANCE Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a recently discovered pathogen that affects human populations of all ages worldwide. Reinfections are common throughout life, but no vaccines or antiviral treatments are currently available. In this work, a spatiotemporal analysis of HMPV replication and transcription in bronchial epithelial cell-derived immortal cells was performed. HMPV was shown to

TFIIS-Dependent Non-coding Transcription Regulates Developmental Genome Rearrangements.

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Kamila Maliszewska-Olejniczak

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Because of their nuclear dimorphism, ciliates provide a unique opportunity to study the role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs in the communication between germline and somatic lineages. In these unicellular eukaryotes, a new somatic nucleus develops at each sexual cycle from a copy of the zygotic (germline nucleus, while the old somatic nucleus degenerates. In the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia, the genome is massively rearranged during this process through the reproducible elimination of repeated sequences and the precise excision of over 45,000 short, single-copy Internal Eliminated Sequences (IESs. Different types of ncRNAs resulting from genome-wide transcription were shown to be involved in the epigenetic regulation of genome rearrangements. To understand how ncRNAs are produced from the entire genome, we have focused on a homolog of the TFIIS elongation factor, which regulates RNA polymerase II transcriptional pausing. Six TFIIS-paralogs, representing four distinct families, can be found in P. tetraurelia genome. Using RNA interference, we showed that TFIIS4, which encodes a development-specific TFIIS protein, is essential for the formation of a functional somatic genome. Molecular analyses and high-throughput DNA sequencing upon TFIIS4 RNAi demonstrated that TFIIS4 is involved in all kinds of genome rearrangements, including excision of ~48% of IESs. Localization of a GFP-TFIIS4 fusion revealed that TFIIS4 appears specifically in the new somatic nucleus at an early developmental stage, before IES excision. RT-PCR experiments showed that TFIIS4 is necessary for the synthesis of IES-containing non-coding transcripts. We propose that these IES+ transcripts originate from the developing somatic nucleus and serve as pairing substrates for germline-specific short RNAs that target elimination of their homologous sequences. Our study, therefore, connects the onset of zygotic non coding transcription to the control of genome plasticity in Paramecium

Nitrogen fixation and molecular oxygen: comparative genomic reconstruction of transcription regulation in Alphaproteobacteria

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Olga V Tsoy

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Biological nitrogen fixation plays a crucial role in the nitrogen cycle. An ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, reducing it to ammonium, was described for multiple species of Bacteria and Archaea. Being a complex and sensitive process, nitrogen fixation requires a complicated regulatory system, also, on the level of transcription. The transcriptional regulatory network for nitrogen fixation was extensively studied in several representatives of the class Alphaproteobacteria. This regulatory network includes the activator of nitrogen fixation NifA, working in tandem with the alternative sigma-factor RpoN as well as oxygen-responsive regulatory systems, one-component regulators FnrN/FixK and two-component system FixLJ. Here we used a comparative genomics analysis for in silico study of the transcriptional regulatory network in 50 genomes of Alphaproteobacteria. We extended the known regulons and proposed the scenario for the evolution of the nitrogen fixation transcriptional network. The reconstructed network substantially expands the existing knowledge of transcriptional regulation in nitrogen-fixing microorganisms and can be used for genetic experiments, metabolic reconstruction, and evolutionary analysis.

Rice-arsenate interactions in hydroponics: whole genome transcriptional analysis.

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Norton, Gareth J; Lou-Hing, Daniel E; Meharg, Andrew A; Price, Adam H

2008-01-01

Rice (Oryza sativa) varieties that are arsenate-tolerant (Bala) and -sensitive (Azucena) were used to conduct a transcriptome analysis of the response of rice seedlings to sodium arsenate (AsV) in hydroponic solution. RNA extracted from the roots of three replicate experiments of plants grown for 1 week in phosphate-free nutrient with or without 13.3 muM AsV was used to challenge the Affymetrix (52K) GeneChip Rice Genome array. A total of 576 probe sets were significantly up-regulated at least 2-fold in both varieties, whereas 622 were down-regulated. Ontological classification is presented. As expected, a large number of transcription factors, stress proteins, and transporters demonstrated differential expression. Striking is the lack of response of classic oxidative stress-responsive genes or phytochelatin synthases/synthatases. However, the large number of responses from genes involved in glutathione synthesis, metabolism, and transport suggests that glutathione conjugation and arsenate methylation may be important biochemical responses to arsenate challenge. In this report, no attempt is made to dissect differences in the response of the tolerant and sensitive variety, but analysis in a companion article will link gene expression to the known tolerance loci available in the BalaxAzucena mapping population.

Rice–arsenate interactions in hydroponics: whole genome transcriptional analysis

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Norton, Gareth J.; Lou-Hing, Daniel E.; Meharg, Andrew A.; Price, Adam H.

2008-01-01

Rice (Oryza sativa) varieties that are arsenate-tolerant (Bala) and -sensitive (Azucena) were used to conduct a transcriptome analysis of the response of rice seedlings to sodium arsenate (AsV) in hydroponic solution. RNA extracted from the roots of three replicate experiments of plants grown for 1 week in phosphate-free nutrient with or without 13.3 μM AsV was used to challenge the Affymetrix (52K) GeneChip Rice Genome array. A total of 576 probe sets were significantly up-regulated at least 2-fold in both varieties, whereas 622 were down-regulated. Ontological classification is presented. As expected, a large number of transcription factors, stress proteins, and transporters demonstrated differential expression. Striking is the lack of response of classic oxidative stress-responsive genes or phytochelatin synthases/synthatases. However, the large number of responses from genes involved in glutathione synthesis, metabolism, and transport suggests that glutathione conjugation and arsenate methylation may be important biochemical responses to arsenate challenge. In this report, no attempt is made to dissect differences in the response of the tolerant and sensitive variety, but analysis in a companion article will link gene expression to the known tolerance loci available in the Bala×Azucena mapping population. PMID:18453530

Genome-wide classification and expression analysis of MYB transcription factor families in rice and Arabidopsis

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2012-01-01

Background The MYB gene family comprises one of the richest groups of transcription factors in plants. Plant MYB proteins are characterized by a highly conserved MYB DNA-binding domain. MYB proteins are classified into four major groups namely, 1R-MYB, 2R-MYB, 3R-MYB and 4R-MYB based on the number and position of MYB repeats. MYB transcription factors are involved in plant development, secondary metabolism, hormone signal transduction, disease resistance and abiotic stress tolerance. A comparative analysis of MYB family genes in rice and Arabidopsis will help reveal the evolution and function of MYB genes in plants. Results A genome-wide analysis identified at least 155 and 197 MYB genes in rice and Arabidopsis, respectively. Gene structure analysis revealed that MYB family genes possess relatively more number of introns in the middle as compared with C- and N-terminal regions of the predicted genes. Intronless MYB-genes are highly conserved both in rice and Arabidopsis. MYB genes encoding R2R3 repeat MYB proteins retained conserved gene structure with three exons and two introns, whereas genes encoding R1R2R3 repeat containing proteins consist of six exons and five introns. The splicing pattern is similar among R1R2R3 MYB genes in Arabidopsis. In contrast, variation in splicing pattern was observed among R1R2R3 MYB members of rice. Consensus motif analysis of 1kb upstream region (5′ to translation initiation codon) of MYB gene ORFs led to the identification of conserved and over-represented cis-motifs in both rice and Arabidopsis. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that several members of MYBs are up-regulated by various abiotic stresses both in rice and Arabidopsis. Conclusion A comprehensive genome-wide analysis of chromosomal distribution, tandem repeats and phylogenetic relationship of MYB family genes in rice and Arabidopsis suggested their evolution via duplication. Genome-wide comparative analysis of MYB genes and their expression analysis

Does selection against transcriptional interference shape retroelement-free regions in mammalian genomes?

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Tobias Mourier

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Eukaryotic genomes are scattered with retroelements that proliferate through retrotransposition. Although retroelements make up around 40 percent of the human genome, large regions are found to be completely devoid of retroelements. This has been hypothesised to be a result of genomic regions being intolerant to insertions of retroelements. The inadvertent transcriptional activity of retroelements may affect neighbouring genes, which in turn could be detrimental to an organism. We speculate that such retroelement transcription, or transcriptional interference, is a contributing factor in generating and maintaining retroelement-free regions in the human genome. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Based on the known transcriptional properties of retroelements, we expect long interspersed elements (LINEs to be able to display a high degree of transcriptional interference. In contrast, we expect short interspersed elements (SINEs to display very low levels of transcriptional interference. We find that genomic regions devoid of long interspersed elements (LINEs are enriched for protein-coding genes, but that this is not the case for regions devoid of short interspersed elements (SINEs. This is expected if genes are subject to selection against transcriptional interference. We do not find microRNAs to be associated with genomic regions devoid of either SINEs or LINEs. We further observe an increased relative activity of genes overlapping LINE-free regions during early embryogenesis, where activity of LINEs has been identified previously. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our observations are consistent with the notion that selection against transcriptional interference has contributed to the maintenance and/or generation of retroelement-free regions in the human genome.

Transcription facilitated genome-wide recruitment of topoisomerase I and DNA gyrase.

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Ahmed, Wareed; Sala, Claudia; Hegde, Shubhada R; Jha, Rajiv Kumar; Cole, Stewart T; Nagaraja, Valakunja

2017-05-01

Movement of the transcription machinery along a template alters DNA topology resulting in the accumulation of supercoils in DNA. The positive supercoils generated ahead of transcribing RNA polymerase (RNAP) and the negative supercoils accumulating behind impose severe topological constraints impeding transcription process. Previous studies have implied the role of topoisomerases in the removal of torsional stress and the maintenance of template topology but the in vivo interaction of functionally distinct topoisomerases with heterogeneous chromosomal territories is not deciphered. Moreover, how the transcription-induced supercoils influence the genome-wide recruitment of DNA topoisomerases remains to be explored in bacteria. Using ChIP-Seq, we show the genome-wide occupancy profile of both topoisomerase I and DNA gyrase in conjunction with RNAP in Mycobacterium tuberculosis taking advantage of minimal topoisomerase representation in the organism. The study unveils the first in vivo genome-wide interaction of both the topoisomerases with the genomic regions and establishes that transcription-induced supercoils govern their recruitment at genomic sites. Distribution profiles revealed co-localization of RNAP and the two topoisomerases on the active transcriptional units (TUs). At a given locus, topoisomerase I and DNA gyrase were localized behind and ahead of RNAP, respectively, correlating with the twin-supercoiled domains generated. The recruitment of topoisomerases was higher at the genomic loci with higher transcriptional activity and/or at regions under high torsional stress compared to silent genomic loci. Importantly, the occupancy of DNA gyrase, sole type II topoisomerase in Mtb, near the Ter domain of the Mtb chromosome validates its function as a decatenase.

Whole genome duplications and expansion of the vertebrate GATA transcription factor gene family

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Bowerman Bruce

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background GATA transcription factors influence many developmental processes, including the specification of embryonic germ layers. The GATA gene family has significantly expanded in many animal lineages: whereas diverse cnidarians have only one GATA transcription factor, six GATA genes have been identified in many vertebrates, five in many insects, and eleven to thirteen in Caenorhabditis nematodes. All bilaterian animal genomes have at least one member each of two classes, GATA123 and GATA456. Results We have identified one GATA123 gene and one GATA456 gene from the genomic sequence of two invertebrate deuterostomes, a cephalochordate (Branchiostoma floridae and a hemichordate (Saccoglossus kowalevskii. We also have confirmed the presence of six GATA genes in all vertebrate genomes, as well as additional GATA genes in teleost fish. Analyses of conserved sequence motifs and of changes to the exon-intron structure, and molecular phylogenetic analyses of these deuterostome GATA genes support their origin from two ancestral deuterostome genes, one GATA 123 and one GATA456. Comparison of the conserved genomic organization across vertebrates identified eighteen paralogous gene families linked to multiple vertebrate GATA genes (GATA paralogons, providing the strongest evidence yet for expansion of vertebrate GATA gene families via genome duplication events. Conclusion From our analysis, we infer the evolutionary birth order and relationships among vertebrate GATA transcription factors, and define their expansion via multiple rounds of whole genome duplication events. As the genomes of four independent invertebrate deuterostome lineages contain single copy GATA123 and GATA456 genes, we infer that the 0R (pre-genome duplication invertebrate deuterostome ancestor also had two GATA genes, one of each class. Synteny analyses identify duplications of paralogous chromosomal regions (paralogons, from single ancestral vertebrate GATA123 and GATA456

Discovering transcription factor binding sites in highly repetitive regions of genomes with multi-read analysis of ChIP-Seq data.

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Chung, Dongjun; Kuan, Pei Fen; Li, Bo; Sanalkumar, Rajendran; Liang, Kun; Bresnick, Emery H; Dewey, Colin; Keleş, Sündüz

2011-07-01

Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) is rapidly replacing chromatin immunoprecipitation combined with genome-wide tiling array analysis (ChIP-chip) as the preferred approach for mapping transcription-factor binding sites and chromatin modifications. The state of the art for analyzing ChIP-seq data relies on using only reads that map uniquely to a relevant reference genome (uni-reads). This can lead to the omission of up to 30% of alignable reads. We describe a general approach for utilizing reads that map to multiple locations on the reference genome (multi-reads). Our approach is based on allocating multi-reads as fractional counts using a weighted alignment scheme. Using human STAT1 and mouse GATA1 ChIP-seq datasets, we illustrate that incorporation of multi-reads significantly increases sequencing depths, leads to detection of novel peaks that are not otherwise identifiable with uni-reads, and improves detection of peaks in mappable regions. We investigate various genome-wide characteristics of peaks detected only by utilization of multi-reads via computational experiments. Overall, peaks from multi-read analysis have similar characteristics to peaks that are identified by uni-reads except that the majority of them reside in segmental duplications. We further validate a number of GATA1 multi-read only peaks by independent quantitative real-time ChIP analysis and identify novel target genes of GATA1. These computational and experimental results establish that multi-reads can be of critical importance for studying transcription factor binding in highly repetitive regions of genomes with ChIP-seq experiments.

Discovering transcription factor binding sites in highly repetitive regions of genomes with multi-read analysis of ChIP-Seq data.

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Dongjun Chung

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq is rapidly replacing chromatin immunoprecipitation combined with genome-wide tiling array analysis (ChIP-chip as the preferred approach for mapping transcription-factor binding sites and chromatin modifications. The state of the art for analyzing ChIP-seq data relies on using only reads that map uniquely to a relevant reference genome (uni-reads. This can lead to the omission of up to 30% of alignable reads. We describe a general approach for utilizing reads that map to multiple locations on the reference genome (multi-reads. Our approach is based on allocating multi-reads as fractional counts using a weighted alignment scheme. Using human STAT1 and mouse GATA1 ChIP-seq datasets, we illustrate that incorporation of multi-reads significantly increases sequencing depths, leads to detection of novel peaks that are not otherwise identifiable with uni-reads, and improves detection of peaks in mappable regions. We investigate various genome-wide characteristics of peaks detected only by utilization of multi-reads via computational experiments. Overall, peaks from multi-read analysis have similar characteristics to peaks that are identified by uni-reads except that the majority of them reside in segmental duplications. We further validate a number of GATA1 multi-read only peaks by independent quantitative real-time ChIP analysis and identify novel target genes of GATA1. These computational and experimental results establish that multi-reads can be of critical importance for studying transcription factor binding in highly repetitive regions of genomes with ChIP-seq experiments.

Genomic identification of WRKY transcription factors in carrot (Daucus carota) and analysis of evolution and homologous groups for plants.

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Li, Meng-Yao; Xu, Zhi-Sheng; Tian, Chang; Huang, Ying; Wang, Feng; Xiong, Ai-Sheng

2016-03-15

WRKY transcription factors belong to one of the largest transcription factor families. These factors possess functions in plant growth and development, signal transduction, and stress response. Here, we identified 95 DcWRKY genes in carrot based on the carrot genomic and transcriptomic data, and divided them into three groups. Phylogenetic analysis of WRKY proteins from carrot and Arabidopsis divided these proteins into seven subgroups. To elucidate the evolution and distribution of WRKY transcription factors in different species, we constructed a schematic of the phylogenetic tree and compared the WRKY family factors among 22 species, which including plants, slime mold and protozoan. An in-depth study was performed to clarify the homologous factor groups of nine divergent taxa in lower and higher plants. Based on the orthologous factors between carrot and Arabidopsis, 38 DcWRKY proteins were calculated to interact with other proteins in the carrot genome. Yeast two-hybrid assay showed that DcWRKY20 can interact with DcMAPK1 and DcMAPK4. The expression patterns of the selected DcWRKY genes based on transcriptome data and qRT-PCR suggested that those selected DcWRKY genes are involved in root development, biotic and abiotic stress response. This comprehensive analysis provides a basis for investigating the evolution and function of WRKY genes.

Gene prediction and RFX transcriptional regulation analysis using comparative genomics

OpenAIRE

Chu, Jeffrey Shih Chieh

2011-01-01

Regulatory Factor X (RFX) is a family of transcription factors (TF) that is conserved in all metazoans, in some fungi, and in only a few single-cellular organisms. Seven members are found in mammals, nine in fishes, three in fruit flies, and a single member in nematodes and fungi. RFX is involved in many different roles in humans, but a particular function that is conserved in many metazoans is its regulation of ciliogenesis. Probing over 150 genomes for the presence of RFX and ciliary genes ...

RegPrecise 3.0--a resource for genome-scale exploration of transcriptional regulation in bacteria.

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Novichkov, Pavel S; Kazakov, Alexey E; Ravcheev, Dmitry A; Leyn, Semen A; Kovaleva, Galina Y; Sutormin, Roman A; Kazanov, Marat D; Riehl, William; Arkin, Adam P; Dubchak, Inna; Rodionov, Dmitry A

2013-11-01

Genome-scale prediction of gene regulation and reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks in prokaryotes is one of the critical tasks of modern genomics. Bacteria from different taxonomic groups, whose lifestyles and natural environments are substantially different, possess highly diverged transcriptional regulatory networks. The comparative genomics approaches are useful for in silico reconstruction of bacterial regulons and networks operated by both transcription factors (TFs) and RNA regulatory elements (riboswitches). RegPrecise (http://regprecise.lbl.gov) is a web resource for collection, visualization and analysis of transcriptional regulons reconstructed by comparative genomics. We significantly expanded a reference collection of manually curated regulons we introduced earlier. RegPrecise 3.0 provides access to inferred regulatory interactions organized by phylogenetic, structural and functional properties. Taxonomy-specific collections include 781 TF regulogs inferred in more than 160 genomes representing 14 taxonomic groups of Bacteria. TF-specific collections include regulogs for a selected subset of 40 TFs reconstructed across more than 30 taxonomic lineages. Novel collections of regulons operated by RNA regulatory elements (riboswitches) include near 400 regulogs inferred in 24 bacterial lineages. RegPrecise 3.0 provides four classifications of the reference regulons implemented as controlled vocabularies: 55 TF protein families; 43 RNA motif families; ~150 biological processes or metabolic pathways; and ~200 effectors or environmental signals. Genome-wide visualization of regulatory networks and metabolic pathways covered by the reference regulons are available for all studied genomes. A separate section of RegPrecise 3.0 contains draft regulatory networks in 640 genomes obtained by an conservative propagation of the reference regulons to closely related genomes. RegPrecise 3.0 gives access to the transcriptional regulons reconstructed in

TSSer: an automated method to identify transcription start sites in prokaryotic genomes from differential RNA sequencing data.

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Jorjani, Hadi; Zavolan, Mihaela

2014-04-01

Accurate identification of transcription start sites (TSSs) is an essential step in the analysis of transcription regulatory networks. In higher eukaryotes, the capped analysis of gene expression technology enabled comprehensive annotation of TSSs in genomes such as those of mice and humans. In bacteria, an equivalent approach, termed differential RNA sequencing (dRNA-seq), has recently been proposed, but the application of this approach to a large number of genomes is hindered by the paucity of computational analysis methods. With few exceptions, when the method has been used, annotation of TSSs has been largely done manually. In this work, we present a computational method called 'TSSer' that enables the automatic inference of TSSs from dRNA-seq data. The method rests on a probabilistic framework for identifying both genomic positions that are preferentially enriched in the dRNA-seq data as well as preferentially captured relative to neighboring genomic regions. Evaluating our approach for TSS calling on several publicly available datasets, we find that TSSer achieves high consistency with the curated lists of annotated TSSs, but identifies many additional TSSs. Therefore, TSSer can accelerate genome-wide identification of TSSs in bacterial genomes and can aid in further characterization of bacterial transcription regulatory networks. TSSer is freely available under GPL license at http://www.clipz.unibas.ch/TSSer/index.php

Comparative transcriptional and genomic analysis of Plasmodium falciparum field isolates.

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Margaret J Mackinnon

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Mechanisms for differential regulation of gene expression may underlie much of the phenotypic variation and adaptability of malaria parasites. Here we describe transcriptional variation among culture-adapted field isolates of Plasmodium falciparum, the species responsible for most malarial disease. It was found that genes coding for parasite protein export into the red cell cytosol and onto its surface, and genes coding for sexual stage proteins involved in parasite transmission are up-regulated in field isolates compared with long-term laboratory isolates. Much of this variability was associated with the loss of small or large chromosomal segments, or other forms of gene copy number variation that are prevalent in the P. falciparum genome (copy number variants, CNVs. Expression levels of genes inside these segments were correlated to that of genes outside and adjacent to the segment boundaries, and this association declined with distance from the CNV boundary. This observation could not be explained by copy number variation in these adjacent genes. This suggests a local-acting regulatory role for CNVs in transcription of neighboring genes and helps explain the chromosomal clustering that we observed here. Transcriptional co-regulation of physical clusters of adaptive genes may provide a way for the parasite to readily adapt to its highly heterogeneous and strongly selective environment.

Genome-wide identification of WRKY transcription factors in kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) and analysis of WRKY expression in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses.

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Jing, Zhaobin; Liu, Zhande

2018-04-01

As one of the largest transcriptional factor families in plants, WRKY transcription factors play important roles in various biotic and abiotic stress responses. To date, WRKY genes in kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) remain poorly understood. In our study, o total of 97 AcWRKY genes have been identified in the kiwifruit genome. An overview of these AcWRKY genes is analyzed, including the phylogenetic relationships, exon-intron structures, synteny and expression profiles. The 97 AcWRKY genes were divided into three groups based on the conserved WRKY domain. Synteny analysis indicated that segmental duplication events contributed to the expansion of the kiwifruit AcWRKY family. In addition, the synteny analysis between kiwifruit and Arabidopsis suggested that some of the AcWRKY genes were derived from common ancestors before the divergence of these two species. Conserved motifs outside the AcWRKY domain may reflect their functional conservation. Genome-wide segmental and tandem duplication were found, which may contribute to the expansion of AcWRKY genes. Furthermore, the analysis of selected AcWRKY genes showed a variety of expression patterns in five different organs as well as during biotic and abiotic stresses. The genome-wide identification and characterization of kiwifruit WRKY transcription factors provides insight into the evolutionary history and is a useful resource for further functional analyses of kiwifruit.

Does selection against transcriptional interference shape retroelement-free regions in mammalian genomes?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mourier, Tobias; Willerslev, Eske

2008-01-01

in generating and maintaining retroelement-free regions in the human genome. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Based on the known transcriptional properties of retroelements, we expect long interspersed elements (LINEs) to be able to display a high degree of transcriptional interference. In contrast, we expect......BACKGROUND: Eukaryotic genomes are scattered with retroelements that proliferate through retrotransposition. Although retroelements make up around 40 percent of the human genome, large regions are found to be completely devoid of retroelements. This has been hypothesised to be a result of genomic...... activity of LINEs has been identified previously. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our observations are consistent with the notion that selection against transcriptional interference has contributed to the maintenance and/or generation of retroelement-free regions in the human genome....

High-density transcriptional initiation signals underline genomic islands in bacteria.

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Qianli Huang

Full Text Available Genomic islands (GIs, frequently associated with the pathogenicity of bacteria and having a substantial influence on bacterial evolution, are groups of "alien" elements which probably undergo special temporal-spatial regulation in the host genome. Are there particular hallmark transcriptional signals for these "exotic" regions? We here explore the potential transcriptional signals that underline the GIs beyond the conventional views on basic sequence composition, such as codon usage and GC property bias. It showed that there is a significant enrichment of the transcription start positions (TSPs in the GI regions compared to the whole genome of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli. There was up to a four-fold increase for the 70% GIs, implying high-density TSPs profile can potentially differentiate the GI regions. Based on this feature, we developed a new sliding window method GIST, Genomic-island Identification by Signals of Transcription, to identify these regions. Subsequently, we compared the known GI-associated features of the GIs detected by GIST and by the existing method Islandviewer to those of the whole genome. Our method demonstrates high sensitivity in detecting GIs harboring genes with biased GI-like function, preferred subcellular localization, skewed GC property, shorter gene length and biased "non-optimal" codon usage. The special transcriptional signals discovered here may contribute to the coordinate expression regulation of foreign genes. Finally, by using GIST, we detected many interesting GIs in the 2011 German E. coli O104:H4 outbreak strain TY-2482, including the microcin H47 system and gene cluster ycgXEFZ-ymgABC that activates the production of biofilm matrix. The aforesaid findings highlight the power of GIST to predict GIs with distinct intrinsic features to the genome. The heterogeneity of cumulative TSPs profiles may not only be a better identity for "alien" regions, but also provide hints to the special

Whole genome transcription profiling of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in human and tick host cells by tiling array analysis

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Chavez Adela

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Ap is an obligate intracellular bacterium and the agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis, an emerging tick-borne disease. Ap alternately infects ticks and mammals and a variety of cell types within each. Understanding the biology behind such versatile cellular parasitism may be derived through the use of tiling microarrays to establish high resolution, genome-wide transcription profiles of the organism as it infects cell lines representative of its life cycle (tick; ISE6 and pathogenesis (human; HL-60 and HMEC-1. Results Detailed, host cell specific transcriptional behavior was revealed. There was extensive differential Ap gene transcription between the tick (ISE6 and the human (HL-60 and HMEC-1 cell lines, with far fewer differentially transcribed genes between the human cell lines, and all disproportionately represented by membrane or surface proteins. There were Ap genes exclusively transcribed in each cell line, apparent human- and tick-specific operons and paralogs, and anti-sense transcripts that suggest novel expression regulation processes. Seven virB2 paralogs (of the bacterial type IV secretion system showed human or tick cell dependent transcription. Previously unrecognized genes and coding sequences were identified, as were the expressed p44/msp2 (major surface proteins paralogs (of 114 total, through elevated signal produced to the unique hypervariable region of each – 2/114 in HL-60, 3/114 in HMEC-1, and none in ISE6. Conclusion Using these methods, whole genome transcription profiles can likely be generated for Ap, as well as other obligate intracellular organisms, in any host cells and for all stages of the cell infection process. Visual representation of comprehensive transcription data alongside an annotated map of the genome renders complex transcription into discernable patterns.

Introns Protect Eukaryotic Genomes from Transcription-Associated Genetic Instability.

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Bonnet, Amandine; Grosso, Ana R; Elkaoutari, Abdessamad; Coleno, Emeline; Presle, Adrien; Sridhara, Sreerama C; Janbon, Guilhem; Géli, Vincent; de Almeida, Sérgio F; Palancade, Benoit

2017-08-17

Transcription is a source of genetic instability that can notably result from the formation of genotoxic DNA:RNA hybrids, or R-loops, between the nascent mRNA and its template. Here we report an unexpected function for introns in counteracting R-loop accumulation in eukaryotic genomes. Deletion of endogenous introns increases R-loop formation, while insertion of an intron into an intronless gene suppresses R-loop accumulation and its deleterious impact on transcription and recombination in yeast. Recruitment of the spliceosome onto the mRNA, but not splicing per se, is shown to be critical to attenuate R-loop formation and transcription-associated genetic instability. Genome-wide analyses in a number of distant species differing in their intron content, including human, further revealed that intron-containing genes and the intron-richest genomes are best protected against R-loop accumulation and subsequent genetic instability. Our results thereby provide a possible rationale for the conservation of introns throughout the eukaryotic lineage. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Whole-genome transcriptional analysis of heavy metal stresses inCaulobacter crescentus

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Hu, Ping; Brodie, Eoin L.; Suzuki, Yohey; McAdams, Harley H.; Andersen, Gary L.

2005-09-21

The bacterium Caulobacter crescentus and related stalkbacterial species are known for their distinctive ability to live in lownutrient environments, a characteristic of most heavy metal contaminatedsites. Caulobacter crescentus is a model organism for studying cell cycleregulation with well developed genetics. We have identified the pathwaysresponding to heavy metal toxicity in C. crescentus to provide insightsfor possible application of Caulobacter to environmental restoration. Weexposed C. crescentus cells to four heavy metals (chromium, cadmium,selenium and uranium) and analyzed genome wide transcriptional activitiespost exposure using a Affymetrix GeneChip microarray. C. crescentusshowed surprisingly high tolerance to uranium, a possible mechanism forwhich may be formation of extracellular calcium-uranium-phosphateprecipitates. The principal response to these metals was protectionagainst oxidative stress (up-regulation of manganese-dependent superoxidedismutase, sodA). Glutathione S-transferase, thioredoxin, glutaredoxinsand DNA repair enzymes responded most strongly to cadmium and chromate.The cadmium and chromium stress response also focused on reducing theintracellular metal concentration, with multiple efflux pumps employed toremove cadmium while a sulfate transporter was down-regulated to reducenon-specific uptake of chromium. Membrane proteins were also up-regulatedin response to most of the metals tested. A two-component signaltransduction system involved in the uranium response was identified.Several differentially regulated transcripts from regions previously notknown to encode proteins were identified, demonstrating the advantage ofevaluating the transcriptome using whole genome microarrays.

Evidence for site-specific occupancy of the mitochondrial genome by nuclear transcription factors.

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Georgi K Marinov

Full Text Available Mitochondria contain their own circular genome, with mitochondria-specific transcription and replication systems and corresponding regulatory proteins. All of these proteins are encoded in the nuclear genome and are post-translationally imported into mitochondria. In addition, several nuclear transcription factors have been reported to act in mitochondria, but there has been no comprehensive mapping of their occupancy patterns and it is not clear how many other factors may also be found in mitochondria. Here we address these questions by using ChIP-seq data from the ENCODE, mouseENCODE and modENCODE consortia for 151 human, 31 mouse and 35 C. elegans factors. We identified 8 human and 3 mouse transcription factors with strong localized enrichment over the mitochondrial genome that was usually associated with the corresponding recognition sequence motif. Notably, these sites of occupancy are often the sites with highest ChIP-seq signal intensity within both the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes and are thus best explained as true binding events to mitochondrial DNA, which exist in high copy number in each cell. We corroborated these findings by immunocytochemical staining evidence for mitochondrial localization. However, we were unable to find clear evidence for mitochondrial binding in ENCODE and other publicly available ChIP-seq data for most factors previously reported to localize there. As the first global analysis of nuclear transcription factors binding in mitochondria, this work opens the door to future studies that probe the functional significance of the phenomenon.

Genomic context drives transcription of insertion sequences in the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia wVulC.

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Cerveau, Nicolas; Gilbert, Clément; Liu, Chao; Garrett, Roger A; Grève, Pierre; Bouchon, Didier; Cordaux, Richard

2015-06-10

Transposable elements (TEs) are DNA pieces that are present in almost all the living world at variable genomic density. Due to their mobility and density, TEs are involved in a large array of genomic modifications. In eukaryotes, TE expression has been studied in detail in several species. In prokaryotes, studies of IS expression are generally linked to particular copies that induce a modification of neighboring gene expression. Here we investigated global patterns of IS transcription in the Alphaproteobacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia wVulC, using both RT-PCR and bioinformatic analyses. We detected several transcriptional promoters in all IS groups. Nevertheless, only one of the potentially functional IS groups possesses a promoter located upstream of the transposase gene, that could lead up to the production of a functional protein. We found that the majority of IS groups are expressed whatever their functional status. RT-PCR analyses indicate that the transcription of two IS groups lacking internal promoters upstream of the transposase start codon may be driven by the genomic environment. We confirmed this observation with the transcription analysis of individual copies of one IS group. These results suggest that the genomic environment is important for IS expression and it could explain, at least partly, copy number variability of the various IS groups present in the wVulC genome and, more generally, in bacterial genomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide Expression Analysis and Metabolite Profiling Elucidate Transcriptional Regulation of Flavonoid Biosynthesis and Modulation under Abiotic Stresses in Banana.

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Pandey, Ashutosh; Alok, Anshu; Lakhwani, Deepika; Singh, Jagdeep; Asif, Mehar H; Trivedi, Prabodh K

2016-08-19

Flavonoid biosynthesis is largely regulated at the transcriptional level due to the modulated expression of genes related to the phenylpropanoid pathway in plants. Although accumulation of different flavonoids has been reported in banana, a staple fruit crop, no detailed information is available on regulation of the biosynthesis in this important plant. We carried out genome-wide analysis of banana (Musa acuminata, AAA genome) and identified 28 genes belonging to 9 gene families associated with flavonoid biosynthesis. Expression analysis suggested spatial and temporal regulation of the identified genes in different tissues of banana. Analysis revealed enhanced expression of genes related to flavonol and proanthocyanidin (PA) biosynthesis in peel and pulp at the early developmental stages of fruit. Genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis were highly expressed during banana fruit ripening. In general, higher accumulation of metabolites was observed in the peel as compared to pulp tissue. A correlation between expression of genes and metabolite content was observed at the early stage of fruit development. Furthermore, this study also suggests regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis, at transcriptional level, under light and dark exposures as well as methyl jasmonate (MJ) treatment in banana.

Genome-wide analysis of the Dof transcription factor gene family reveals soybean-specific duplicable and functional characteristics.

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Yong Guo

Full Text Available The Dof domain protein family is a classic plant-specific zinc-finger transcription factor family involved in a variety of biological processes. There is great diversity in the number of Dof genes in different plants. However, there are only very limited reports on the characterization of Dof transcription factors in soybean (Glycine max. In the present study, 78 putative Dof genes were identified from the whole-genome sequence of soybean. The predicted GmDof genes were non-randomly distributed within and across 19 out of 20 chromosomes and 97.4% (38 pairs were preferentially retained duplicate paralogous genes located in duplicated regions of the genome. Soybean-specific segmental duplications contributed significantly to the expansion of the soybean Dof gene family. These Dof proteins were phylogenetically clustered into nine distinct subgroups among which the gene structure and motif compositions were considerably conserved. Comparative phylogenetic analysis of these Dof proteins revealed four major groups, similar to those reported for Arabidopsis and rice. Most of the GmDofs showed specific expression patterns based on RNA-seq data analyses. The expression patterns of some duplicate genes were partially redundant while others showed functional diversity, suggesting the occurrence of sub-functionalization during subsequent evolution. Comprehensive expression profile analysis also provided insights into the soybean-specific functional divergence among members of the Dof gene family. Cis-regulatory element analysis of these GmDof genes suggested diverse functions associated with different processes. Taken together, our results provide useful information for the functional characterization of soybean Dof genes by combining phylogenetic analysis with global gene-expression profiling.

Targeted genome regulation via synthetic programmable transcriptional regulators

KAUST Repository

Piatek, Agnieszka Anna

2016-04-19

Regulation of gene transcription controls cellular functions and coordinates responses to developmental, physiological and environmental cues. Precise and efficient molecular tools are needed to characterize the functions of single and multiple genes in linear and interacting pathways in a native context. Modular DNA-binding domains from zinc fingers (ZFs) and transcriptional activator-like proteins (TALE) are amenable to bioengineering to bind DNA target sequences of interest. As a result, ZF and TALE proteins were used to develop synthetic programmable transcription factors. However, these systems are limited by the requirement to re-engineer proteins for each new target sequence. The clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR associated 9 (Cas9) genome editing tool was recently repurposed for targeted transcriptional regulation by inactivation of the nuclease activity of Cas9. Due to the facile engineering, simplicity, precision and amenability to library construction, the CRISPR/Cas9 system is poised to revolutionize the functional genomics field across diverse eukaryotic species. In this review, we discuss the development of synthetic customizable transcriptional regulators and provide insights into their current and potential applications, with special emphasis on plant systems, in characterization of gene functions, elucidation of molecular mechanisms and their biotechnological applications. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Comprehensive meta-analysis of Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STAT genomic binding patterns discerns cell-specific cis-regulatory modules

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Kang Keunsoo

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cytokine-activated transcription factors from the STAT (Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription family control common and context-specific genetic programs. It is not clear to what extent cell-specific features determine the binding capacity of seven STAT members and to what degree they share genetic targets. Molecular insight into the biology of STATs was gained from a meta-analysis of 29 available ChIP-seq data sets covering genome-wide occupancy of STATs 1, 3, 4, 5A, 5B and 6 in several cell types. Results We determined that the genomic binding capacity of STATs is primarily defined by the cell type and to a lesser extent by individual family members. For example, the overlap of shared binding sites between STATs 3 and 5 in T cells is greater than that between STAT5 in T cells and non-T cells. Even for the top 1,000 highly enriched STAT binding sites, ~15% of STAT5 binding sites in mouse female liver are shared by other STATs in different cell types while in T cells ~90% of STAT5 binding sites are co-occupied by STAT3, STAT4 and STAT6. In addition, we identified 116 cis-regulatory modules (CRM, which are recognized by all STAT members across cell types defining a common JAK-STAT signature. Lastly, in liver STAT5 binding significantly coincides with binding of the cell-specific transcription factors HNF4A, FOXA1 and FOXA2 and is associated with cell-type specific gene transcription. Conclusions Our results suggest that genomic binding of STATs is primarily determined by the cell type and further specificity is achieved in part by juxtaposed binding of cell-specific transcription factors.

Comparative analysis of regulatory elements between Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae by genome-wide transcription start site profiling.

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Donghyuk Kim

Full Text Available Genome-wide transcription start site (TSS profiles of the enterobacteria Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were experimentally determined through modified 5' RACE followed by deep sequencing of intact primary mRNA. This identified 3,746 and 3,143 TSSs for E. coli and K. pneumoniae, respectively. Experimentally determined TSSs were then used to define promoter regions and 5' UTRs upstream of coding genes. Comparative analysis of these regulatory elements revealed the use of multiple TSSs, identical sequence motifs of promoter and Shine-Dalgarno sequence, reflecting conserved gene expression apparatuses between the two species. In both species, over 70% of primary transcripts were expressed from operons having orthologous genes during exponential growth. However, expressed orthologous genes in E. coli and K. pneumoniae showed a strikingly different organization of upstream regulatory regions with only 20% identical promoters with TSSs in both species. Over 40% of promoters had TSSs identified in only one species, despite conserved promoter sequences existing in the other species. 662 conserved promoters having TSSs in both species resulted in the same number of comparable 5' UTR pairs, and that regulatory element was found to be the most variant region in sequence among promoter, 5' UTR, and ORF. In K. pneumoniae, 48 sRNAs were predicted and 36 of them were expressed during exponential growth. Among them, 34 orthologous sRNAs between two species were analyzed in depth, and the analysis showed that many sRNAs of K. pneumoniae, including pleiotropic sRNAs such as rprA, arcZ, and sgrS, may work in the same way as in E. coli. These results reveal a new dimension of comparative genomics such that a comparison of two genomes needs to be comprehensive over all levels of genome organization.

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of WRKY Transcription Factors under Multiple Stresses in Brassica napus.

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He, Yajun; Mao, Shaoshuai; Gao, Yulong; Zhu, Liying; Wu, Daoming; Cui, Yixin; Li, Jiana; Qian, Wei

2016-01-01

WRKY transcription factors play important roles in responses to environmental stress stimuli. Using a genome-wide domain analysis, we identified 287 WRKY genes with 343 WRKY domains in the sequenced genome of Brassica napus, 139 in the A sub-genome and 148 in the C sub-genome. These genes were classified into eight groups based on phylogenetic analysis. In the 343 WRKY domains, a total of 26 members showed divergence in the WRKY domain, and 21 belonged to group I. This finding suggested that WRKY genes in group I are more active and variable compared with genes in other groups. Using genome-wide identification and analysis of the WRKY gene family in Brassica napus, we observed genome duplication, chromosomal/segmental duplications and tandem duplication. All of these duplications contributed to the expansion of the WRKY gene family. The duplicate segments that were detected indicated that genome duplication events occurred in the two diploid progenitors B. rapa and B. olearecea before they combined to form B. napus. Analysis of the public microarray database and EST database for B. napus indicated that 74 WRKY genes were induced or preferentially expressed under stress conditions. According to the public QTL data, we identified 77 WRKY genes in 31 QTL regions related to various stress tolerance. We further evaluated the expression of 26 BnaWRKY genes under multiple stresses by qRT-PCR. Most of the genes were induced by low temperature, salinity and drought stress, indicating that the WRKYs play important roles in B. napus stress responses. Further, three BnaWRKY genes were strongly responsive to the three multiple stresses simultaneously, which suggests that these 3 WRKY may have multi-functional roles in stress tolerance and can potentially be used in breeding new rapeseed cultivars. We also found six tandem repeat pairs exhibiting similar expression profiles under the various stress conditions, and three pairs were mapped in the stress related QTL regions

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of WRKY Transcription Factors under Multiple Stresses in Brassica napus.

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Yajun He

Full Text Available WRKY transcription factors play important roles in responses to environmental stress stimuli. Using a genome-wide domain analysis, we identified 287 WRKY genes with 343 WRKY domains in the sequenced genome of Brassica napus, 139 in the A sub-genome and 148 in the C sub-genome. These genes were classified into eight groups based on phylogenetic analysis. In the 343 WRKY domains, a total of 26 members showed divergence in the WRKY domain, and 21 belonged to group I. This finding suggested that WRKY genes in group I are more active and variable compared with genes in other groups. Using genome-wide identification and analysis of the WRKY gene family in Brassica napus, we observed genome duplication, chromosomal/segmental duplications and tandem duplication. All of these duplications contributed to the expansion of the WRKY gene family. The duplicate segments that were detected indicated that genome duplication events occurred in the two diploid progenitors B. rapa and B. olearecea before they combined to form B. napus. Analysis of the public microarray database and EST database for B. napus indicated that 74 WRKY genes were induced or preferentially expressed under stress conditions. According to the public QTL data, we identified 77 WRKY genes in 31 QTL regions related to various stress tolerance. We further evaluated the expression of 26 BnaWRKY genes under multiple stresses by qRT-PCR. Most of the genes were induced by low temperature, salinity and drought stress, indicating that the WRKYs play important roles in B. napus stress responses. Further, three BnaWRKY genes were strongly responsive to the three multiple stresses simultaneously, which suggests that these 3 WRKY may have multi-functional roles in stress tolerance and can potentially be used in breeding new rapeseed cultivars. We also found six tandem repeat pairs exhibiting similar expression profiles under the various stress conditions, and three pairs were mapped in the stress related

Genome-wide conserved consensus transcription factor binding motifs are hyper-methylated

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Down Thomas A

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background DNA methylation can regulate gene expression by modulating the interaction between DNA and proteins or protein complexes. Conserved consensus motifs exist across the human genome ("predicted transcription factor binding sites": "predicted TFBS" but the large majority of these are proven by chromatin immunoprecipitation and high throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq not to be biological transcription factor binding sites ("empirical TFBS". We hypothesize that DNA methylation at conserved consensus motifs prevents promiscuous or disorderly transcription factor binding. Results Using genome-wide methylation maps of the human heart and sperm, we found that all conserved consensus motifs as well as the subset of those that reside outside CpG islands have an aggregate profile of hyper-methylation. In contrast, empirical TFBS with conserved consensus motifs have a profile of hypo-methylation. 40% of empirical TFBS with conserved consensus motifs resided in CpG islands whereas only 7% of all conserved consensus motifs were in CpG islands. Finally we further identified a minority subset of TF whose profiles are either hypo-methylated or neutral at their respective conserved consensus motifs implicating that these TF may be responsible for establishing or maintaining an un-methylated DNA state, or whose binding is not regulated by DNA methylation. Conclusions Our analysis supports the hypothesis that at least for a subset of TF, empirical binding to conserved consensus motifs genome-wide may be controlled by DNA methylation.

Genome-wide Analysis of RARβ Transcriptional Targets in Mouse Striatum Links Retinoic Acid Signaling with Huntington's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Disorders.

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Niewiadomska-Cimicka, Anna; Krzyżosiak, Agnieszka; Ye, Tao; Podleśny-Drabiniok, Anna; Dembélé, Doulaye; Dollé, Pascal; Krężel, Wojciech

2017-07-01

Retinoic acid (RA) signaling through retinoic acid receptors (RARs), known for its multiple developmental functions, emerged more recently as an important regulator of adult brain physiology. How RAR-mediated regulation is achieved is poorly known, partly due to the paucity of information on critical target genes in the brain. Also, it is not clear how reduced RA signaling may contribute to pathophysiology of diverse neuropsychiatric disorders. We report the first genome-wide analysis of RAR transcriptional targets in the brain. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing and transcriptomic analysis of RARβ-null mutant mice, we identified genomic targets of RARβ in the striatum. Characterization of RARβ transcriptional targets in the mouse striatum points to mechanisms through which RAR may control brain functions and display neuroprotective activity. Namely, our data indicate with statistical significance (FDR 0.1) a strong contribution of RARβ in controlling neurotransmission, energy metabolism, and transcription, with a particular involvement of G-protein coupled receptor (p = 5.0e -5 ), cAMP (p = 4.5e -4 ), and calcium signaling (p = 3.4e -3 ). Many identified RARβ target genes related to these pathways have been implicated in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease (HD), raising the possibility that compromised RA signaling in the striatum may be a mechanistic link explaining the similar affective and cognitive symptoms in these diseases. The RARβ transcriptional targets were particularly enriched for transcripts affected in HD. Using the R6/2 transgenic mouse model of HD, we show that partial sequestration of RARβ in huntingtin protein aggregates may account for reduced RA signaling reported in HD.

[Genome-wide identification and analysis of WRKY transcription factors in Medicago truncatula].

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Song, Hui; Nan, Zhibiao

2014-02-01

WRKY gene family plays important roles in plant by involving in transcriptional regulations during various physiologically processes such as development, metabolism and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. WRKY genes have been identified in various plants. However, only few WRKY genes in Medicago truncatula have been identified with systematic analysis and comparison. In this study, we identified 93 WRKY genes through analyses of M. truncatula genome. These genes include 19 type-I genes, 49 type II genes and 13 type-III genes, and 12 non-regular type genes. All of these genes were characterized through analyses of gene duplication, chromosomal locations, structural diversity, conserved protein motifs and phylogenetic relations. The results showed that 11 times of gene duplication event occurred in WRKY gene family involving 24 genes. WRKY genes, containing 6 gene clusters, are unevenly distributed into chromosome 1 to 6, and there is the purifying selection pressure in WRKY group III genes.

Zipper plot: visualizing transcriptional activity of genomic regions.

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Avila Cobos, Francisco; Anckaert, Jasper; Volders, Pieter-Jan; Everaert, Celine; Rombaut, Dries; Vandesompele, Jo; De Preter, Katleen; Mestdagh, Pieter

2017-05-02

Reconstructing transcript models from RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data and establishing these as independent transcriptional units can be a challenging task. Current state-of-the-art tools for long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) annotation are mainly based on evolutionary constraints, which may result in false negatives due to the overall limited conservation of lncRNAs. To tackle this problem we have developed the Zipper plot, a novel visualization and analysis method that enables users to simultaneously interrogate thousands of human putative transcription start sites (TSSs) in relation to various features that are indicative for transcriptional activity. These include publicly available CAGE-sequencing, ChIP-sequencing and DNase-sequencing datasets. Our method only requires three tab-separated fields (chromosome, genomic coordinate of the TSS and strand) as input and generates a report that includes a detailed summary table, a Zipper plot and several statistics derived from this plot. Using the Zipper plot, we found evidence of transcription for a set of well-characterized lncRNAs and observed that fewer mono-exonic lncRNAs have CAGE peaks overlapping with their TSSs compared to multi-exonic lncRNAs. Using publicly available RNA-seq data, we found more than one hundred cases where junction reads connected protein-coding gene exons with a downstream mono-exonic lncRNA, revealing the need for a careful evaluation of lncRNA 5'-boundaries. Our method is implemented using the statistical programming language R and is freely available as a webtool.

Genome-wide analysis and expression profiling of the ERF transcription factor family in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.).

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Charfeddine, Mariam; Saïdi, Mohamed Najib; Charfeddine, Safa; Hammami, Asma; Gargouri Bouzid, Radhia

2015-04-01

The ERF transcription factors belong to the AP2/ERF superfamily, one of the largest transcription factor families in plants. They play important roles in plant development processes, as well as in the response to biotic, abiotic, and hormone signaling. In the present study, 155 putative ERF transcription factor genes were identified from the potato (Solanum tuberosum) genome database, and compared with those from Arabidopsis thaliana. The StERF proteins are divided into ten phylogenetic groups. Expression analyses of five StERFs were carried out by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and compared with published RNA-seq data. These latter analyses were used to distinguish tissue-specific, biotic, and abiotic stress genes as well as hormone-responsive StERF genes. The results are of interest to better understand the role of the AP2/ERF genes in response to diverse types of stress in potatoes. A comprehensive analysis of the physiological functions and biological roles of the ERF family genes in S. tuberosum is required to understand crop stress tolerance mechanisms.

Genome-wide analysis identifies chickpea (Cicer arietinum) heat stress transcription factors (Hsfs) responsive to heat stress at the pod development stage.

Science.gov (United States)

Chidambaranathan, Parameswaran; Jagannadham, Prasanth Tej Kumar; Satheesh, Viswanathan; Kohli, Deshika; Basavarajappa, Santosh Halasabala; Chellapilla, Bharadwaj; Kumar, Jitendra; Jain, Pradeep Kumar; Srinivasan, R

2018-05-01

The heat stress transcription factors (Hsfs) play a prominent role in thermotolerance and eliciting the heat stress response in plants. Identification and expression analysis of Hsfs gene family members in chickpea would provide valuable information on heat stress responsive Hsfs. A genome-wide analysis of Hsfs gene family resulted in the identification of 22 Hsf genes in chickpea in both desi and kabuli genome. Phylogenetic analysis distinctly separated 12 A, 9 B, and 1 C class Hsfs, respectively. An analysis of cis-regulatory elements in the upstream region of the genes identified many stress responsive elements such as heat stress elements (HSE), abscisic acid responsive element (ABRE) etc. In silico expression analysis showed nine and three Hsfs were also expressed in drought and salinity stresses, respectively. Q-PCR expression analysis of Hsfs under heat stress at pod development and at 15 days old seedling stage showed that CarHsfA2, A6, and B2 were significantly upregulated in both the stages of crop growth and other four Hsfs (CarHsfA2, A6a, A6c, B2a) showed early transcriptional upregulation for heat stress at seedling stage of chickpea. These subclasses of Hsfs identified in this study can be further evaluated as candidate genes in the characterization of heat stress response in chickpea.

Genome Binding and Gene Regulation by Stem Cell Transcription Factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.H. Brandsma (Johan)

2016-01-01

markdownabstractNearly all cells of an individual organism contain the same genome. However, each cell type transcribes a different set of genes due to the presence of different sets of cell type-specific transcription factors. Such transcription factors bind to regulatory regions such as promoters

A genomic approach to identify regulatory nodes in the transcriptional network of systemic acquired resistance in plants.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong Wang

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Many biological processes are controlled by intricate networks of transcriptional regulators. With the development of microarray technology, transcriptional changes can be examined at the whole-genome level. However, such analysis often lacks information on the hierarchical relationship between components of a given system. Systemic acquired resistance (SAR is an inducible plant defense response involving a cascade of transcriptional events induced by salicylic acid through the transcription cofactor NPR1. To identify additional regulatory nodes in the SAR network, we performed microarray analysis on Arabidopsis plants expressing the NPR1-GR (glucocorticoid receptor fusion protein. Since nuclear translocation of NPR1-GR requires dexamethasone, we were able to control NPR1-dependent transcription and identify direct transcriptional targets of NPR1. We show that NPR1 directly upregulates the expression of eight WRKY transcription factor genes. This large family of 74 transcription factors has been implicated in various defense responses, but no specific WRKY factor has been placed in the SAR network. Identification of NPR1-regulated WRKY factors allowed us to perform in-depth genetic analysis on a small number of WRKY factors and test well-defined phenotypes of single and double mutants associated with NPR1. Among these WRKY factors we found both positive and negative regulators of SAR. This genomics-directed approach unambiguously positioned five WRKY factors in the complex transcriptional regulatory network of SAR. Our work not only discovered new transcription regulatory components in the signaling network of SAR but also demonstrated that functional studies of large gene families have to take into consideration sequence similarity as well as the expression patterns of the candidates.

Genome-wide analysis of transcription factors during somatic embryogenesis in banana (Musa spp.) cv. Grand Naine.

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Shivani; Awasthi, Praveen; Sharma, Vikrant; Kaur, Navjot; Kaur, Navneet; Pandey, Pankaj; Tiwari, Siddharth

2017-01-01

Transcription factors BABY BOOM (BBM), WUSCHEL (WUS), BSD, LEAFY COTYLEDON (LEC), LEAFY COTYLEDON LIKE (LIL), VIVIPAROUS1 (VP1), CUP SHAPED COTYLEDONS (CUC), BOLITA (BOL), and AGAMOUS LIKE (AGL) play a crucial role in somatic embryogenesis. In this study, we identified eighteen genes of these nine transcription factors families from the banana genome database. All genes were analyzed for their structural features, subcellular, and chromosomal localization. Protein sequence analysis indicated the presence of characteristic conserved domains in these transcription factors. Phylogenetic analysis revealed close evolutionary relationship among most transcription factors of various monocots. The expression patterns of eighteen genes in embryogenic callus containing somatic embryos (precisely isolated by Laser Capture Microdissection), non-embryogenic callus, and cell suspension cultures of banana cultivar Grand Naine were analyzed. The application of 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2, 4-D) in the callus induction medium enhanced the expression of MaBBM1, MaBBM2, MaWUS2, and MaVP1 in the embryogenic callus. It suggested 2, 4-D acts as an inducer for the expression of these genes. The higher expression of MaBBM2 and MaWUS2 in embryogenic cell suspension (ECS) as compared to non-embryogenic cells suspension (NECS), suggested that these genes may play a crucial role in banana somatic embryogenesis. MaVP1 showed higher expression in both ECS and NECS, whereas MaLEC2 expression was significantly higher in NECS. It suggests that MaLEC2 has a role in the development of non-embryogenic cells. We postulate that MaBBM2 and MaWUS2 can be served as promising molecular markers for the embryogencity in banana.

Genome-Wide Phylogenetic Comparative Analysis of Plant Transcriptional Regulation: A Timeline of Loss, Gain, Expansion, and Correlation with Complexity

OpenAIRE

Lang, Daniel; Weiche, Benjamin; Timmerhaus, Gerrit; Richardt, Sandra; Ria?o-Pach?n, Diego M.; Corr?a, Luiz G. G.; Reski, Ralf; Mueller-Roeber, Bernd; Rensing, Stefan A.

2010-01-01

Evolutionary retention of duplicated genes encoding transcription-associated proteins (TAPs, comprising transcription factors and other transcriptional regulators) has been hypothesized to be positively correlated with increasing morphological complexity and paleopolyploidizations, especially within the plant kingdom. Here, we present the most comprehensive set of classification rules for TAPs and its application for genome-wide analyses of plants and algae. Using a dated species tree and phy...

The transcriptionally active regions in the genome of Bacillus subtilis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Simon; Nielsen, Henrik Bjørn; Jarmer, Hanne Østergaard

2009-01-01

The majority of all genes have so far been identified and annotated systematically through in silico gene finding. Here we report the finding of 3662 strand-specific transcriptionally active regions (TARs) in the genome of Bacillus subtilis by the use of tiling arrays. We have measured the genome...

Genome-wide identification and analysis of the B3 superfamily of transcription factors in Brassicaceae and major crop plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Fred Y; Weselake, Randall J

2013-05-01

The plant-specific B3 superfamily of transcription factors has diverse functions in plant growth and development. Using a genome-wide domain analysis, we identified 92, 187, 58, 90, 81, 55, and 77 B3 transcription factor genes in the sequenced genome of Arabidopsis, Brassica rapa, castor bean (Ricinus communis), cocoa (Theobroma cacao), soybean (Glycine max), maize (Zea mays), and rice (Oryza sativa), respectively. The B3 superfamily has substantially expanded during the evolution in eudicots particularly in Brassicaceae, as compared to monocots in the analysis. We observed domain duplication in some of these B3 proteins, forming more complex domain architectures than currently understood. We found that the length of B3 domains exhibits a large variation, which may affect their exact number of α-helices and β-sheets in the core structure of B3 domains, and possibly have functional implications. Analysis of the public microarray data indicated that most of the B3 gene pairs encoding Arabidopsis-rice orthologs are preferentially expressed in different tissues, suggesting their different roles in these two species. Using ESTs in crops, we identified many B3 genes preferentially expressed in reproductive tissues. In a sequence-based quantitative trait loci analysis in rice and maize, we have found many B3 genes associated with traits such as grain yield, seed weight and number, and protein content. Our results provide a framework for future studies into the function of B3 genes in different phases of plant development, especially the ones related to traits in major crops.

Transcription Restores DNA Repair to Heterochromatin, Determining Regional Mutation Rates in Cancer Genomes

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Christina L. Zheng

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Somatic mutations in cancer are more frequent in heterochromatic and late-replicating regions of the genome. We report that regional disparities in mutation density are virtually abolished within transcriptionally silent genomic regions of cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (cSCCs arising in an XPC−/− background. XPC−/− cells lack global genome nucleotide excision repair (GG-NER, thus establishing differential access of DNA repair machinery within chromatin-rich regions of the genome as the primary cause for the regional disparity. Strikingly, we find that increasing levels of transcription reduce mutation prevalence on both strands of gene bodies embedded within H3K9me3-dense regions, and only to those levels observed in H3K9me3-sparse regions, also in an XPC-dependent manner. Therefore, transcription appears to reduce mutation prevalence specifically by relieving the constraints imposed by chromatin structure on DNA repair. We model this relationship among transcription, chromatin state, and DNA repair, revealing a new, personalized determinant of cancer risk.

Pan-Cancer Mutational and Transcriptional Analysis of the Integrator Complex

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Antonio Federico

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The integrator complex has been recently identified as a key regulator of RNA Polymerase II-mediated transcription, with many functions including the processing of small nuclear RNAs, the pause-release and elongation of polymerase during the transcription of protein coding genes, and the biogenesis of enhancer derived transcripts. Moreover, some of its components also play a role in genome maintenance. Thus, it is reasonable to hypothesize that their functional impairment or altered expression can contribute to malignancies. Indeed, several studies have described the mutations or transcriptional alteration of some Integrator genes in different cancers. Here, to draw a comprehensive pan-cancer picture of the genomic and transcriptomic alterations for the members of the complex, we reanalyzed public data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Somatic mutations affecting Integrator subunit genes and their transcriptional profiles have been investigated in about 11,000 patients and 31 tumor types. A general heterogeneity in the mutation frequencies was observed, mostly depending on tumor type. Despite the fact that we could not establish them as cancer drivers, INTS7 and INTS8 genes were highly mutated in specific cancers. A transcriptome analysis of paired (normal and tumor samples revealed that the transcription of INTS7, INTS8, and INTS13 is significantly altered in several cancers. Experimental validation performed on primary tumors confirmed these findings.

The prophages of Lactobacillus johnsonii NCC 533: comparative genomics and transcription analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ventura, Marco; Canchaya, Carlos; Pridmore, R. David; Bruessow, Harald

2004-01-01

Two non-inducible, but apparently complete prophages were identified in the genome of the sequenced Lactobacillus johnsonii strain NCC 533. The 38- and 40-kb-long prophages Lj928 and Lj965 represent distinct lineages of Sfi11-like pac-site Siphoviridae unrelated at the DNA sequence level. The deduced structural proteins from Lj928 demonstrated aa sequence identity with Lactococcus lactis phage TP901-1, while Lj965 shared sequence links with Streptococcus thermophilus phage O1205. With the exception of tRNA genes, inserted between DNA replication and DNA packaging genes, the transcription of the prophage was restricted to the genome segments near both attachment sites. Transcribed genes unrelated to phage functions were inserted between the phage repressor and integrase genes; one group of genes shared sequence relatedness with a mobile DNA element in Staphylococcus aureus. A short, but highly transcribed region was located between the phage lysin and right attachment site; it lacked a protein-encoding function in one prophage

Draft genome sequence and transcriptional analysis of Rosellinia necatrix infected with a virulent mycovirus.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, Takeo; Kanematsu, Satoko; Yaegashi, Hajime

2018-04-24

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis is useful in developing effective control methods for fungal diseases. The white root rot fungus Rosellinia necatrix is a soil-borne pathogen that causes serious economic losses in various crops, including fruit trees, worldwide. Here, using next-generation sequencing techniques, we first produced a 44-Mb draft genome sequence of R. necatrix strain W97, an isolate from Japan, in which 12,444 protein-coding genes were predicted. To survey differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with the pathogenesis of the fungus, the hypovirulent W97 strain infected with Rosellinia necatrix megabirnavirus 1 (RnMBV1) was used for a comprehensive transcriptome analysis. In total, 545 and 615 genes are up- and down-regulated, respectively, in R. necatrix infected with RnMBV1. Gene ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses of the DEGs suggested that primary and secondary metabolism would be greatly disturbed in R. necatrix infected with RnMBV1. The genes encoding transcriptional regulators, plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, and toxin production, such as cytochalasin E, were also found in the DEGs. The genetic resources provided in this study will accelerate the discovery of genes associated with pathogenesis and other biological characteristics of R. necatrix, thus contributing to disease control.

CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing and Transcriptional Control in Yarrowia lipolytica.

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Schwartz, Cory; Wheeldon, Ian

2018-01-01

The discovery and adaptation of RNA-guided nucleases has resulted in the rapid development of efficient, scalable, and easily accessible synthetic biology tools for targeted genome editing and transcriptional control. In these systems, for example CRISPR-Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes, a protein with nuclease activity is targeted to a specific nucleotide sequence by a short RNA molecule, whereupon binding it cleaves the targeted nucleotide strand. To extend this genome-editing ability to the industrially important oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, we developed a set of easily usable and effective CRISPR-Cas9 episomal vectors. In this protocols chapter, we first present a method by which arbitrary protein-coding genes can be disrupted via indel formation after CRISPR-Cas9 targeting. A second method demonstrates how the same CRISPR-Cas9 system can be used to induce markerless gene cassette integration into the genome by inducing homologous recombination after DNA cleavage by Cas9. Finally, we describe how a catalytically inactive form of Cas9 fused to a transcriptional repressor can be used to control transcription of native genes in Y. lipolytica. The CRISPR-Cas9 tools and strategies described here greatly increase the types of genome editing and transcriptional control that can be achieved in Y. lipolytica, and promise to facilitate more advanced engineering of this important oleaginous host.

Transcriptional Regulation During Zygotic Genome Activation in Zebrafish and Other Anamniote Embryos.

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Wragg, J; Müller, F

2016-01-01

Embryo development commences with the fusion of two terminally differentiated haploid gametes into the totipotent fertilized egg, which through a series of major cellular and molecular transitions generate a pluripotent cell mass. The activation of the zygotic genome occurs during the so-called maternal to zygotic transition and prepares the embryo for zygotic takeover from maternal factors, in the control of the development of cellular lineages during differentiation. Recent advances in next generation sequencing technologies have allowed the dissection of the genomic and epigenomic processes mediating this transition. These processes include reorganization of the chromatin structure to a transcriptionally permissive state, changes in composition and function of structural and regulatory DNA-binding proteins, and changeover of the transcriptome as it is overhauled from that deposited by the mother in the oocyte to a zygotically transcribed complement. Zygotic genome activation in zebrafish occurs 10 cell cycles after fertilization and provides an ideal experimental platform for elucidating the temporal sequence and dynamics of establishment of a transcriptionally active chromatin state and helps in identifying the determinants of transcription activation at polymerase II transcribed gene promoters. The relatively large number of pluripotent cells generated by the fast cell divisions before zygotic transcription provides sufficient biomass for next generation sequencing technology approaches to establish the temporal dynamics of events and suggest causative relationship between them. However, genomic and genetic technologies need to be improved further to capture the earliest events in development, where cell number is a limiting factor. These technologies need to be complemented with precise, inducible genetic interference studies using the latest genome editing tools to reveal the function of candidate determinants and to confirm the predictions made by classic

Genome-wide analysis of WRKY transcription factors in white pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) reveals evolution and patterns under drought stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xiaosan; Li, Kongqing; Xu, Xiaoyong; Yao, Zhenghong; Jin, Cong; Zhang, Shaoling

2015-12-24

WRKY transcription factors (TFs) constitute one of the largest protein families in higher plants, and its members contain one or two conserved WRKY domains, about 60 amino acid residues with the WRKYGQK sequence followed by a C2H2 or C2HC zinc finger motif. WRKY proteins play significant roles in plant development, and in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) is one of the most important fruit crops in the world and is frequently threatened by abiotic stress, such as drought, affecting growth, development and productivity. Although the pear genome sequence has been released, little is known about the WRKY TFs in pear, especially in respond to drought stress at the genome-wide level. We identified a total of 103 WRKY TFs in the pear genome. Based on the structural features of WRKY proteins and topology of the phylogenetic tree, the pear WRKY (PbWRKY) family was classified into seven groups (Groups 1, 2a-e, and 3). The microsyteny analysis indicated that 33 (32%) PbWRKY genes were tandemly duplicated and 57 genes (55.3%) were segmentally duplicated. RNA-seq experiment data and quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR revealed that PbWRKY genes in different groups were induced by drought stress, and Group 2a and 3 were mainly involved in the biological pathways in response to drought stress. Furthermore, adaptive evolution analysis detected a significant positive selection for Pbr001425 in Group 3, and its expression pattern differed from that of other members in this group. The present study provides a solid foundation for further functional dissection and molecular evolution of WRKY TFs in pear, especially for improving the water-deficient resistance of pear through manipulation of the PbWRKYs.

A Transcription Activator-Like Effector (TALE) Toolbox for Genome Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Sanjana, Neville E.; Cong, Le; Zhou, Yang; Cunniff, Margaret M.; Feng, Guoping; Zhang, Feng

2013-01-01

Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) are a class of naturally occurring DNA binding proteins found in the plant pathogen Xanthomonas sp. The DNA binding domain of each TALE consists of tandem 34-amino acid repeat modules that can be rearranged according to a simple cipher to target new DNA sequences. Customized TALEs can be used for a wide variety of genome engineering applications, including transcriptional modulation and genome editing. Here we describe a toolbox for rapid construction of custom TALE transcription factors (TALE-TFs) and nucleases (TALENs) using a hierarchical ligation procedure. This toolbox facilitates affordable and rapid construction of custom TALE-TFs and TALENs within one week and can be easily scaled up to construct TALEs for multiple targets in parallel. We also provide details for testing the activity in mammalian cells of custom TALE-TFs and TALENs using, respectively, qRT-PCR and Surveyor nuclease. The TALE toolbox described here will enable a broad range of biological applications. PMID:22222791

Integrated analysis of whole genome and transcriptome sequencing reveals diverse transcriptomic aberrations driven by somatic genomic changes in liver cancers.

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Yuichi Shiraishi

Full Text Available Recent studies applying high-throughput sequencing technologies have identified several recurrently mutated genes and pathways in multiple cancer genomes. However, transcriptional consequences from these genomic alterations in cancer genome remain unclear. In this study, we performed integrated and comparative analyses of whole genomes and transcriptomes of 22 hepatitis B virus (HBV-related hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs and their matched controls. Comparison of whole genome sequence (WGS and RNA-Seq revealed much evidence that various types of genomic mutations triggered diverse transcriptional changes. Not only splice-site mutations, but also silent mutations in coding regions, deep intronic mutations and structural changes caused splicing aberrations. HBV integrations generated diverse patterns of virus-human fusion transcripts depending on affected gene, such as TERT, CDK15, FN1 and MLL4. Structural variations could drive over-expression of genes such as WNT ligands, with/without creating gene fusions. Furthermore, by taking account of genomic mutations causing transcriptional aberrations, we could improve the sensitivity of deleterious mutation detection in known cancer driver genes (TP53, AXIN1, ARID2, RPS6KA3, and identified recurrent disruptions in putative cancer driver genes such as HNF4A, CPS1, TSC1 and THRAP3 in HCCs. These findings indicate genomic alterations in cancer genome have diverse transcriptomic effects, and integrated analysis of WGS and RNA-Seq can facilitate the interpretation of a large number of genomic alterations detected in cancer genome.

Genome Mutational and Transcriptional Hotspots Are Traps for Duplicated Genes and Sources of Adaptations.

Science.gov (United States)

Fares, Mario A; Sabater-Muñoz, Beatriz; Toft, Christina

2017-05-01

Gene duplication generates new genetic material, which has been shown to lead to major innovations in unicellular and multicellular organisms. A whole-genome duplication occurred in the ancestor of Saccharomyces yeast species but 92% of duplicates returned to single-copy genes shortly after duplication. The persisting duplicated genes in Saccharomyces led to the origin of major metabolic innovations, which have been the source of the unique biotechnological capabilities in the Baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. What factors have determined the fate of duplicated genes remains unknown. Here, we report the first demonstration that the local genome mutation and transcription rates determine the fate of duplicates. We show, for the first time, a preferential location of duplicated genes in the mutational and transcriptional hotspots of S. cerevisiae genome. The mechanism of duplication matters, with whole-genome duplicates exhibiting different preservation trends compared to small-scale duplicates. Genome mutational and transcriptional hotspots are rich in duplicates with large repetitive promoter elements. Saccharomyces cerevisiae shows more tolerance to deleterious mutations in duplicates with repetitive promoter elements, which in turn exhibit higher transcriptional plasticity against environmental perturbations. Our data demonstrate that the genome traps duplicates through the accelerated regulatory and functional divergence of their gene copies providing a source of novel adaptations in yeast. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Conflict Resolution in the Genome: How Transcription and Replication Make It Work.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamperl, Stephan; Cimprich, Karlene A

2016-12-01

The complex machineries involved in replication and transcription translocate along the same DNA template, often in opposing directions and at different rates. These processes routinely interfere with each other in prokaryotes, and mounting evidence now suggests that RNA polymerase complexes also encounter replication forks in higher eukaryotes. Indeed, cells rely on numerous mechanisms to avoid, tolerate, and resolve such transcription-replication conflicts, and the absence of these mechanisms can lead to catastrophic effects on genome stability and cell viability. In this article, we review the cellular responses to transcription-replication conflicts and highlight how these inevitable encounters shape the genome and impact diverse cellular processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A pilot study of transcription unit analysis in rice using oligonucleotide tiling-path microarray

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stolc, Viktor; Li, Lei; Wang, Xiangfeng

2005-01-01

As the international efforts to sequence the rice genome are completed, an immediate challenge and opportunity is to comprehensively and accurately define all transcription units in the rice genome. Here we describe a strategy of using high-density oligonucleotide tiling-path microarrays to map...... transcription of the japonica rice genome. In a pilot experiment to test this approach, one array representing the reverse strand of the last 11.2 Mb sequence of chromosome 10 was analyzed in detail based on a mathematical model developed in this study. Analysis of the array data detected 77% of the reference...... gene models in a mixture of four RNA populations. Moreover, significant transcriptional activities were found in many of the previously annotated intergenic regions. These preliminary results demonstrate the utility of genome tiling microarrays in evaluating annotated rice gene models...

Production and processing of siRNA precursor transcripts from the highly repetitive maize genome.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher J Hale

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Mutations affecting the maintenance of heritable epigenetic states in maize identify multiple RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM factors including RMR1, a novel member of a plant-specific clade of Snf2-related proteins. Here we show that RMR1 is necessary for the accumulation of a majority of 24 nt small RNAs, including those derived from Long-Terminal Repeat (LTR retrotransposons, the most common repetitive feature in the maize genome. A genetic analysis of DNA transposon repression indicates that RMR1 acts upstream of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, RDR2 (MOP1. Surprisingly, we show that non-polyadenylated transcripts from a sampling of LTR retrotransposons are lost in both rmr1 and rdr2 mutants. In contrast, plants deficient for RNA Polymerase IV (Pol IV function show an increase in polyadenylated LTR RNA transcripts. These findings support a model in which Pol IV functions independently of the small RNA accumulation facilitated by RMR1 and RDR2 and support that a loss of Pol IV leads to RNA Polymerase II-based transcription. Additionally, the lack of changes in general genome homeostasis in rmr1 mutants, despite the global loss of 24 nt small RNAs, challenges the perceived roles of siRNAs in maintaining functional heterochromatin in the genomes of outcrossing grass species.

Genome-wide transcriptional reprogramming under drought stress

KAUST Repository

Chen, Hao

2012-01-01

Soil water deficit is one of the major factors limiting plant productivity. Plants cope with this adverse environmental condition by coordinating the up- or downregulation of an array of stress responsive genes. Reprogramming the expression of these genes leads to rebalanced development and growth that are in concert with the reduced water availability and that ultimately confer enhanced stress tolerance. Currently, several techniques have been employed to monitor genome-wide transcriptional reprogramming under drought stress. The results from these high throughput studies indicate that drought stress-induced transcriptional reprogramming is dynamic, has temporal and spatial specificity, and is coupled with the circadian clock and phytohormone signaling pathways. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. All rights are reserved.

Genome-Wide Identification of the Target Genes of AP2-O, a Plasmodium AP2-Family Transcription Factor.

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Izumi Kaneko

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Stage-specific transcription is a fundamental biological process in the life cycle of the Plasmodium parasite. Proteins containing the AP2 DNA-binding domain are responsible for stage-specific transcriptional regulation and belong to the only known family of transcription factors in Plasmodium parasites. Comprehensive identification of their target genes will advance our understanding of the molecular basis of stage-specific transcriptional regulation and stage-specific parasite development. AP2-O is an AP2 family transcription factor that is expressed in the mosquito midgut-invading stage, called the ookinete, and is essential for normal morphogenesis of this stage. In this study, we identified the genome-wide target genes of AP2-O by chromatin immunoprecipitation-sequencing and elucidate how this AP2 family transcription factor contributes to the formation of this motile stage. The analysis revealed that AP2-O binds specifically to the upstream genomic regions of more than 500 genes, suggesting that approximately 10% of the parasite genome is directly regulated by AP2-O. These genes are involved in distinct biological processes such as morphogenesis, locomotion, midgut penetration, protection against mosquito immunity and preparation for subsequent oocyst development. This direct and global regulation by AP2-O provides a model for gene regulation in Plasmodium parasites and may explain how these parasites manage to control their complex life cycle using a small number of sequence-specific AP2 transcription factors.

RNA-Seq-Based Transcript Structure Analysis with TrBorderExt.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yejun; Sun, Ming-An; White, Aaron P

2018-01-01

RNA-Seq has become a routine strategy for genome-wide gene expression comparisons in bacteria. Despite lower resolution in transcript border parsing compared with dRNA-Seq, TSS-EMOTE, Cappable-seq, Term-seq, and others, directional RNA-Seq still illustrates its advantages: low cost, quantification and transcript border analysis with a medium resolution (±10-20 nt). To facilitate mining of directional RNA-Seq datasets especially with respect to transcript structure analysis, we developed a tool, TrBorderExt, which can parse transcript start sites and termination sites accurately in bacteria. A detailed protocol is described in this chapter for how to use the software package step by step to identify bacterial transcript borders from raw RNA-Seq data. The package was developed with Perl and R programming languages, and is accessible freely through the website: http://www.szu-bioinf.org/TrBorderExt .

From the Beauty of Genomic Landscapes to the Strength of Transcriptional Mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Natoli, Gioacchino

2016-03-24

Genomic analyses are commonly used to infer trends and broad rules underlying transcriptional control. The innovative approach by Tong et al. to interrogate genomic datasets allows extracting mechanistic information on the specific regulation of individual genes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative genomic analysis of pathogenic and probiotic Enterococcus faecalis isolates, and their transcriptional responses to growth in human urine.

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Heidi C Vebø

Full Text Available Urinary tract infection (UTI is the most common infection caused by enterococci, and Enterococcus faecalis accounts for the majority of enterococcal infections. Although a number of virulence related traits have been established, no comprehensive genomic or transcriptomic studies have been conducted to investigate how to distinguish pathogenic from non-pathogenic E. faecalis in their ability to cause UTI. In order to identify potential genetic traits or gene regulatory features that distinguish pathogenic from non-pathogenic E. faecalis with respect to UTI, we have performed comparative genomic analysis, and investigated growth capacity and transcriptome profiling in human urine in vitro. Six strains of different origins were cultivated and all grew readily in human urine. The three strains chosen for transcriptional analysis showed an overall similar response with respect to energy and nitrogen metabolism, stress mechanism, cell envelope modifications, and trace metal acquisition. Our results suggest that citrate and aspartate are significant for growth of E. faecalis in human urine, and manganese appear to be a limiting factor. The majority of virulence factors were either not differentially regulated or down-regulated. Notably, a significant up-regulation of genes involved in biofilm formation was observed. Strains from different origins have similar capacity to grow in human urine. The overall similar transcriptional responses between the two pathogenic and the probiotic strain suggest that the pathogenic potential of a certain E. faecalis strain may to a great extent be determined by presence of fitness and virulence factors, rather than the level of expression of such traits.

Transcription profile of Escherichia coli: genomic SELEX search for regulatory targets of transcription factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishihama, Akira; Shimada, Tomohiro; Yamazaki, Yukiko

2016-03-18

Bacterial genomes are transcribed by DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RNAP), which achieves gene selectivity through interaction with sigma factors that recognize promoters, and transcription factors (TFs) that control the activity and specificity of RNAP holoenzyme. To understand the molecular mechanisms of transcriptional regulation, the identification of regulatory targets is needed for all these factors. We then performed genomic SELEX screenings of targets under the control of each sigma factor and each TF. Here we describe the assembly of 156 SELEX patterns of a total of 116 TFs performed in the presence and absence of effector ligands. The results reveal several novel concepts: (i) each TF regulates more targets than hitherto recognized; (ii) each promoter is regulated by more TFs than hitherto recognized; and (iii) the binding sites of some TFs are located within operons and even inside open reading frames. The binding sites of a set of global regulators, including cAMP receptor protein, LeuO and Lrp, overlap with those of the silencer H-NS, suggesting that certain global regulators play an anti-silencing role. To facilitate sharing of these accumulated SELEX datasets with the research community, we compiled a database, 'Transcription Profile of Escherichia coli' (www.shigen.nig.ac.jp/ecoli/tec/). © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Gene discovery and transcript analyses in the corn smut pathogen Ustilago maydis: expressed sequence tag and genome sequence comparison

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saville Barry J

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Ustilago maydis is the basidiomycete fungus responsible for common smut of corn and is a model organism for the study of fungal phytopathogenesis. To aid in the annotation of the genome sequence of this organism, several expressed sequence tag (EST libraries were generated from a variety of U. maydis cell types. In addition to utility in the context of gene identification and structure annotation, the ESTs were analyzed to identify differentially abundant transcripts and to detect evidence of alternative splicing and anti-sense transcription. Results Four cDNA libraries were constructed using RNA isolated from U. maydis diploid teliospores (U. maydis strains 518 × 521 and haploid cells of strain 521 grown under nutrient rich, carbon starved, and nitrogen starved conditions. Using the genome sequence as a scaffold, the 15,901 ESTs were assembled into 6,101 contiguous expressed sequences (contigs; among these, 5,482 corresponded to predicted genes in the MUMDB (MIPS Ustilago maydis database, while 619 aligned to regions of the genome not yet designated as genes in MUMDB. A comparison of EST abundance identified numerous genes that may be regulated in a cell type or starvation-specific manner. The transcriptional response to nitrogen starvation was assessed using RT-qPCR. The results of this suggest that there may be cross-talk between the nitrogen and carbon signalling pathways in U. maydis. Bioinformatic analysis identified numerous examples of alternative splicing and anti-sense transcription. While intron retention was the predominant form of alternative splicing in U. maydis, other varieties were also evident (e.g. exon skipping. Selected instances of both alternative splicing and anti-sense transcription were independently confirmed using RT-PCR. Conclusion Through this work: 1 substantial sequence information has been provided for U. maydis genome annotation; 2 new genes were identified through the discovery of 619

The Csr system regulates genome-wide mRNA stability and transcription and thus gene expression in Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Esquerré, Thomas; Bouvier, Marie; Turlan, Catherine; Carpousis, Agamemnon J; Girbal, Laurence; Cocaign-Bousquet, Muriel

2016-04-26

Bacterial adaptation requires large-scale regulation of gene expression. We have performed a genome-wide analysis of the Csr system, which regulates many important cellular functions. The Csr system is involved in post-transcriptional regulation, but a role in transcriptional regulation has also been suggested. Two proteins, an RNA-binding protein CsrA and an atypical signaling protein CsrD, participate in the Csr system. Genome-wide transcript stabilities and levels were compared in wildtype E. coli (MG1655) and isogenic mutant strains deficient in CsrA or CsrD activity demonstrating for the first time that CsrA and CsrD are global negative and positive regulators of transcription, respectively. The role of CsrA in transcription regulation may be indirect due to the 4.6-fold increase in csrD mRNA concentration in the CsrA deficient strain. Transcriptional action of CsrA and CsrD on a few genes was validated by transcriptional fusions. In addition to an effect on transcription, CsrA stabilizes thousands of mRNAs. This is the first demonstration that CsrA is a global positive regulator of mRNA stability. For one hundred genes, we predict that direct control of mRNA stability by CsrA might contribute to metabolic adaptation by regulating expression of genes involved in carbon metabolism and transport independently of transcriptional regulation.

Modifiers of notch transcriptional activity identified by genome-wide RNAi

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Firnhaber Christopher B

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Notch signaling pathway regulates a diverse array of developmental processes, and aberrant Notch signaling can lead to diseases, including cancer. To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the genetic network that integrates into Notch signaling, we performed a genome-wide RNAi screen in Drosophila cell culture to identify genes that modify Notch-dependent transcription. Results Employing complementary data analyses, we found 399 putative modifiers: 189 promoting and 210 antagonizing Notch activated transcription. These modifiers included several known Notch interactors, validating the robustness of the assay. Many novel modifiers were also identified, covering a range of cellular localizations from the extracellular matrix to the nucleus, as well as a large number of proteins with unknown function. Chromatin-modifying proteins represent a major class of genes identified, including histone deacetylase and demethylase complex components and other chromatin modifying, remodeling and replacement factors. A protein-protein interaction map of the Notch-dependent transcription modifiers revealed that a large number of the identified proteins interact physically with these core chromatin components. Conclusions The genome-wide RNAi screen identified many genes that can modulate Notch transcriptional output. A protein interaction map of the identified genes highlighted a network of chromatin-modifying enzymes and remodelers that regulate Notch transcription. Our results open new avenues to explore the mechanisms of Notch signal regulation and the integration of this pathway into diverse cellular processes.

Systematic analysis of transcription start sites in avian development.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Lizio

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Cap Analysis of Gene Expression (CAGE in combination with single-molecule sequencing technology allows precision mapping of transcription start sites (TSSs and genome-wide capture of promoter activities in differentiated and steady state cell populations. Much less is known about whether TSS profiling can characterize diverse and non-steady state cell populations, such as the approximately 400 transitory and heterogeneous cell types that arise during ontogeny of vertebrate animals. To gain such insight, we used the chick model and performed CAGE-based TSS analysis on embryonic samples covering the full 3-week developmental period. In total, 31,863 robust TSS peaks (>1 tag per million [TPM] were mapped to the latest chicken genome assembly, of which 34% to 46% were active in any given developmental stage. ZENBU, a web-based, open-source platform, was used for interactive data exploration. TSSs of genes critical for lineage differentiation could be precisely mapped and their activities tracked throughout development, suggesting that non-steady state and heterogeneous cell populations are amenable to CAGE-based transcriptional analysis. Our study also uncovered a large set of extremely stable housekeeping TSSs and many novel stage-specific ones. We furthermore demonstrated that TSS mapping could expedite motif-based promoter analysis for regulatory modules associated with stage-specific and housekeeping genes. Finally, using Brachyury as an example, we provide evidence that precise TSS mapping in combination with Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR-on technology enables us, for the first time, to efficiently target endogenous avian genes for transcriptional activation. Taken together, our results represent the first report of genome-wide TSS mapping in birds and the first systematic developmental TSS analysis in any amniote species (birds and mammals. By facilitating promoter-based molecular analysis and genetic

Distinct Contributions of Replication and Transcription to Mutation Rate Variation of Human Genomes

KAUST Repository

Cui, Peng; Ding, Feng; Lin, Qiang; Zhang, Lingfang; Li, Ang; Zhang, Zhang; Hu, Songnian; Yu, Jun

2012-01-01

Here, we evaluate the contribution of two major biological processes—DNA replication and transcription—to mutation rate variation in human genomes. Based on analysis of the public human tissue transcriptomics data, high-resolution replicating map of Hela cells and dbSNP data, we present significant correlations between expression breadth, replication time in local regions and SNP density. SNP density of tissue-specific (TS) genes is significantly higher than that of housekeeping (HK) genes. TS genes tend to locate in late-replicating genomic regions and genes in such regions have a higher SNP density compared to those in early-replication regions. In addition, SNP density is found to be positively correlated with expression level among HK genes. We conclude that the process of DNA replication generates stronger mutational pressure than transcription-associated biological processes do, resulting in an increase of mutation rate in TS genes while having weaker effects on HK genes. In contrast, transcription-associated processes are mainly responsible for the accumulation of mutations in highly-expressed HK genes.

Distinct Contributions of Replication and Transcription to Mutation Rate Variation of Human Genomes

KAUST Repository

Cui, Peng

2012-03-23

Here, we evaluate the contribution of two major biological processes—DNA replication and transcription—to mutation rate variation in human genomes. Based on analysis of the public human tissue transcriptomics data, high-resolution replicating map of Hela cells and dbSNP data, we present significant correlations between expression breadth, replication time in local regions and SNP density. SNP density of tissue-specific (TS) genes is significantly higher than that of housekeeping (HK) genes. TS genes tend to locate in late-replicating genomic regions and genes in such regions have a higher SNP density compared to those in early-replication regions. In addition, SNP density is found to be positively correlated with expression level among HK genes. We conclude that the process of DNA replication generates stronger mutational pressure than transcription-associated biological processes do, resulting in an increase of mutation rate in TS genes while having weaker effects on HK genes. In contrast, transcription-associated processes are mainly responsible for the accumulation of mutations in highly-expressed HK genes.

eRNAs promote transcription by establishing chromatin accessibility at defined genomic loci

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mousavi, Kambiz; Zare, Hossein; Dell'orso, Stefania

2013-01-01

)RNA acted to activate the downstream myogenic genes. The deployment of transcriptional machinery to appropriate loci is contingent on chromatin accessibility, a rate-limiting step preceding Pol II assembly. By nuclease sensitivity assay, we found that eRNAs regulate genomic access of the transcriptional...... complex to defined regulatory regions. In conclusion, our data suggest that eRNAs contribute to establishing a cell-type-specific transcriptional circuitry by directing chromatin-remodeling events....

Genome-wide investigation of transcription factors provides insights into transcriptional regulation in Plutella xylostella.

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Zhao, Qian; Ma, Dongna; Huang, Yuping; He, Weiyi; Li, Yiying; Vasseur, Liette; You, Minsheng

2018-04-01

Transcription factors (TFs), which play a vital role in regulating gene expression, are prevalent in all organisms and characterization of them may provide important clues for understanding regulation in vivo. The present study reports a genome-wide investigation of TFs in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), a worldwide pest of crucifers. A total of 940 TFs distributed among 133 families were identified. Phylogenetic analysis of insect species showed that some of these families were found to have expanded during the evolution of P. xylostella or Lepidoptera. RNA-seq analysis showed that some of the TF families, such as zinc fingers, homeobox, bZIP, bHLH, and MADF_DNA_bdg genes, were highly expressed in certain tissues including midgut, salivary glands, fat body, and hemocytes, with an obvious sex-biased expression pattern. In addition, a number of TFs showed significant differences in expression between insecticide susceptible and resistant strains, suggesting that these TFs play a role in regulating genes related to insecticide resistance. Finally, we identified an expansion of the HOX cluster in Lepidoptera, which might be related to Lepidoptera-specific evolution. Knockout of this cluster using CRISPR/Cas9 showed that the egg cannot hatch, indicating that this cluster may be related to egg development and maturation. This is the first comprehensive study on identifying and characterizing TFs in P. xylostella. Our results suggest that some TF families are expanded in the P. xylostella genome, and these TFs may have important biological roles in growth, development, sexual dimorphism, and resistance to insecticides. The present work provides a solid foundation for understanding regulation via TFs in P. xylostella and insights into the evolution of the P. xylostella genome.

The raccoon polyomavirus genome and tumor antigen transcription are stable and abundant in neuroglial tumors.

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Brostoff, Terza; Dela Cruz, Florante N; Church, Molly E; Woolard, Kevin D; Pesavento, Patricia A

2014-11-01

Raccoon polyomavirus (RacPyV) is associated with 100% of neuroglial tumors in free-ranging raccoons. Other tumor-associated polyomaviruses (PyVs), including simian virus 40 (SV40), murine PyV, and Merkel cell PyV, are found integrated in the host genome in neoplastic cells, where they constitutively express splice variants of the tumor antigen (TAg) gene. We have previously reported that RacPyV exists only as an episome (nonintegrated) in neuroglial tumors. Here, we have investigated TAg transcription in primary tumor tissue by transcriptome analysis, and we identified the alternatively spliced TAg transcripts for RacPyV. We also determined that TAg was highly transcribed relative to host cellular genes. We further colocalized TAg DNA and mRNA by in situ hybridization and found that the majority of tumor cells showed positive staining. Lastly, we examined the stability of the viral genome and TAg transcription by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR in cultured tumor cells in vitro and in a mouse xenograft model. When tumor cells were cultured in vitro, TAg transcription increased nearly 2 log-fold over that of parental tumor tissue by passage 17. Both episomal viral genome and TAg transcription were faithfully maintained in culture and in tumors arising from xenotransplantation of cultured cells in mice. This study represents a minimal criterion for RacPyV's association with neuroglial tumors and a novel mechanism of stability for a polyomavirus in cancer. The natural cycle of polyomaviruses in mammals is to persist in the host without causing disease, but they can cause cancer in humans or in other animals. Because this is an unpredictable and rare event, the oncogenic potential of polyomavirus is primarily evaluated in laboratory animal models. Recently, raccoon polyomavirus (RacPyV) was identified in neuroglial tumors of free-ranging raccoons. Viral copy number was consistently high in these tumors but was low or undetectable in nontumor tissue or in

Intrinsic terminators in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae transcription.

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Fritsch, Tiago Ebert; Siqueira, Franciele Maboni; Schrank, Irene Silveira

2015-04-08

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, an important pathogen of swine, exhibits a low guanine and cytosine (GC) content genome. M. hyopneumoniae genome is organised in long transcriptional units and promoter sequences have been mapped upstream of all transcription units. These analysis provided insights into the gene organisation and transcription initiation at the genome scale. However, the presence of transcriptional terminator sequences in the M. hyopneumoniae genome is poorly understood. In silico analyses demonstrated the presence of putative terminators in 82% of the 33 monocistronic units (mCs) and in 74% of the 116 polycistronic units (pCs) considering different classes of terminators. The functional activity of 23 intrinsic terminators was confirmed by RT-PCR and qPCR. Analysis of all terminators found by three software algorithms, combined with experimental results, allowed us to propose a pattern of RNA hairpin formation during the termination process and to predict the location of terminators in the M. hyopneumoniae genome sequence. The stem-loop structures of intrinsic terminators of mycoplasma diverge from the pattern of terminators found in other bacteria due the low content of guanine and cytosine. In M. hyopneumoniae, transcription can end after a transcriptional unit and before its terminator sequence and can also continue past the terminator sequence with RNA polymerases gradually releasing the RNA.

Reconstructing transcriptional regulatory networks through genomics data

OpenAIRE

Sun, Ning; Zhao, Hongyu

2009-01-01

One central problem in biology is to understand how gene expression is regulated under different conditions. Microarray gene expression data and other high throughput data have made it possible to dissect transcriptional regulatory networks at the genomics level. Owing to the very large number of genes that need to be studied, the relatively small number of data sets available, the noise in the data and the different natures of the distinct data types, network inference presents great challen...

Genome-wide identification and characterization of cacao WRKY transcription factors and analysis of their expression in response to witches' broom disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva Monteiro de Almeida, Dayanne; Oliveira Jordão do Amaral, Daniel; Del-Bem, Luiz-Eduardo; Bronze Dos Santos, Emily; Santana Silva, Raner José; Peres Gramacho, Karina; Vincentz, Michel; Micheli, Fabienne

2017-01-01

Transcriptional regulation, led by transcription factors (TFs) such as those of the WRKY family, is a mechanism used by the organism to enhance or repress gene expression in response to stimuli. Here, we report on the genome-wide analysis of the Theobroma cacao WRKY TF family and also investigate the expression of WRKY genes in cacao infected by the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa. In the cacao genome, 61 non-redundant WRKY sequences were found and classified in three groups (I to III) according to the WRKY and zinc-finger motif types. The 61 putative WRKY sequences were distributed on the 10 cacao chromosomes and 24 of them came from duplication events. The sequences were phylogenetically organized according to the general WRKY groups. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that subgroups IIa and IIb are sister groups and share a common ancestor, as well as subgroups IId and IIe. The most divergent groups according to the plant origin were IIc and III. According to the phylogenetic analysis, 7 TcWRKY genes were selected and analyzed by RT-qPCR in susceptible and resistant cacao plants infected (or not) with M. perniciosa. Some TcWRKY genes presented interesting responses to M. perniciosa such as Tc01_p014750/Tc06_p013130/AtWRKY28, Tc09_p001530/Tc06_p004420/AtWRKY40, Tc04_p016130/AtWRKY54 and Tc10_p016570/ AtWRKY70. Our results can help to select appropriate candidate genes for further characterization in cacao or in other Theobroma species.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of cacao WRKY transcription factors and analysis of their expression in response to witches' broom disease

Science.gov (United States)

Silva Monteiro de Almeida, Dayanne; Oliveira Jordão do Amaral, Daniel; Del-Bem, Luiz-Eduardo; Bronze dos Santos, Emily; Santana Silva, Raner José; Peres Gramacho, Karina; Vincentz, Michel

2017-01-01

Transcriptional regulation, led by transcription factors (TFs) such as those of the WRKY family, is a mechanism used by the organism to enhance or repress gene expression in response to stimuli. Here, we report on the genome-wide analysis of the Theobroma cacao WRKY TF family and also investigate the expression of WRKY genes in cacao infected by the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa. In the cacao genome, 61 non-redundant WRKY sequences were found and classified in three groups (I to III) according to the WRKY and zinc-finger motif types. The 61 putative WRKY sequences were distributed on the 10 cacao chromosomes and 24 of them came from duplication events. The sequences were phylogenetically organized according to the general WRKY groups. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that subgroups IIa and IIb are sister groups and share a common ancestor, as well as subgroups IId and IIe. The most divergent groups according to the plant origin were IIc and III. According to the phylogenetic analysis, 7 TcWRKY genes were selected and analyzed by RT-qPCR in susceptible and resistant cacao plants infected (or not) with M. perniciosa. Some TcWRKY genes presented interesting responses to M. perniciosa such as Tc01_p014750/Tc06_p013130/AtWRKY28, Tc09_p001530/Tc06_p004420/AtWRKY40, Tc04_p016130/AtWRKY54 and Tc10_p016570/ AtWRKY70. Our results can help to select appropriate candidate genes for further characterization in cacao or in other Theobroma species. PMID:29084273

Revised genomic structure of the human ghrelin gene and identification of novel exons, alternative splice variants and natural antisense transcripts

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Herington Adrian C

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Ghrelin is a multifunctional peptide hormone expressed in a range of normal tissues and pathologies. It has been reported that the human ghrelin gene consists of five exons which span 5 kb of genomic DNA on chromosome 3 and includes a 20 bp non-coding first exon (20 bp exon 0. The availability of bioinformatic tools enabling comparative analysis and the finalisation of the human genome prompted us to re-examine the genomic structure of the ghrelin locus. Results We have demonstrated the presence of an additional novel exon (exon -1 and 5' extensions to exon 0 and 1 using comparative in silico analysis and have demonstrated their existence experimentally using RT-PCR and 5' RACE. A revised exon-intron structure demonstrates that the human ghrelin gene spans 7.2 kb and consists of six rather than five exons. Several ghrelin gene-derived splice forms were detected in a range of human tissues and cell lines. We have demonstrated ghrelin gene-derived mRNA transcripts that do not code for ghrelin, but instead may encode the C-terminal region of full-length preproghrelin (C-ghrelin, which contains the coding region for obestatin and a transcript encoding obestatin-only. Splice variants that differed in their 5' untranslated regions were also found, suggesting a role of these regions in the post-transcriptional regulation of preproghrelin translation. Finally, several natural antisense transcripts, termed ghrelinOS (ghrelin opposite strand transcripts, were demonstrated via orientation-specific RT-PCR, 5' RACE and in silico analysis of ESTs and cloned amplicons. Conclusion The sense and antisense alternative transcripts demonstrated in this study may function as non-coding regulatory RNA, or code for novel protein isoforms. This is the first demonstration of putative obestatin and C-ghrelin specific transcripts and these findings suggest that these ghrelin gene-derived peptides may also be produced independently of preproghrelin

Transcriptional analysis of left-sided colitis, pancolitis, and ulcerative colitis-associated dysplasia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerrum, Jacob T; Nielsen, Ole H; Riis, Lene B

2014-01-01

to identify potential biomarkers and transcripts of importance for the carcinogenic behavior of chronic inflammation. METHODS: The Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 was applied on colonic biopsies from UC patients with left-sided UC, pancolitis, dysplasia, and controls. Reverse transcription...... polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were performed for validating selected transcripts in the initial cohort and in 2 independent cohorts of patients with UC. Microarray data were analyzed by principal component analysis, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction...... and immunohistochemistry data by the Wilcoxon's rank-sum test. RESULTS: The principal component analysis results revealed separate clusters for left-sided UC, pancolitis, dysplasia, and controls. Close clustering of dysplastic and pancolitic samples indicated similarities in gene expression. Indeed, 101 and 656 parallel...

Transcription-associated mutational pressure in the Parvovirus B19 genome: Reactivated genomes contribute to the variability of viral populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Khrustalev, Vladislav Victorovich; Ermalovich, Marina Anatolyevna; Hübschen, Judith M; Khrustaleva, Tatyana Aleksandrovna

2017-12-21

In this study we used non-overlapping parts of the two long open reading frames coding for nonstructural (NS) and capsid (VP) proteins of all available sequences of the Parvovirus B19 subgenotype 1a genome and found out that the rates of A to G, C to T and A to T mutations are higher in the first long reading frame (NS) of the virus than in the second one (VP). This difference in mutational pressure directions for two parts of the same viral genome can be explained by the fact of transcription of just the first long reading frame during the lifelong latency in nonerythroid cells. Adenine deamination (producing A to G and A to T mutations) and cytosine deamination (producing C to T mutations) occur more frequently in transcriptional bubbles formed by DNA "plus" strand of the first open reading frame. These mutations can be inherited only in case of reactivation of the infectious virus due to the help of Adenovirus that allows latent Parvovirus B19 to start transcription of the second reading frame and then to replicate its genome by the rolling circle mechanism using the specific origin. Results of this study provide evidence that the genomes reactivated from latency make significant contributions to the variability of Parvovirus B19. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular phylogenetic and expression analysis of the complete WRKY transcription factor family in maize.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Kai-Fa; Chen, Juan; Chen, Yan-Feng; Wu, Ling-Juan; Xie, Dao-Xin

2012-04-01

The WRKY transcription factors function in plant growth and development, and response to the biotic and abiotic stresses. Although many studies have focused on the functional identification of the WRKY transcription factors, much less is known about molecular phylogenetic and global expression analysis of the complete WRKY family in maize. In this study, we identified 136 WRKY proteins coded by 119 genes in the B73 inbred line from the complete genome and named them in an orderly manner. Then, a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of five species was performed to explore the origin and evolutionary patterns of these WRKY genes, and the result showed that gene duplication is the major driving force for the origin of new groups and subgroups and functional divergence during evolution. Chromosomal location analysis of maize WRKY genes indicated that 20 gene clusters are distributed unevenly in the genome. Microarray-based expression analysis has revealed that 131 WRKY transcripts encoded by 116 genes may participate in the regulation of maize growth and development. Among them, 102 transcripts are stably expressed with a coefficient of variation (CV) value of WRKY genes with the CV value of >15% are further analysed to discover new organ- or tissue-specific genes. In addition, microarray analyses of transcriptional responses to drought stress and fungal infection showed that maize WRKY proteins are involved in stress responses. All these results contribute to a deep probing into the roles of WRKY transcription factors in maize growth and development and stress tolerance.

Genome-wide transcriptional reorganization associated with senescence-to-immortality switch during human hepatocellular carcinogenesis.

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Gokhan Yildiz

Full Text Available Senescence is a permanent proliferation arrest in response to cell stress such as DNA damage. It contributes strongly to tissue aging and serves as a major barrier against tumor development. Most tumor cells are believed to bypass the senescence barrier (become "immortal" by inactivating growth control genes such as TP53 and CDKN2A. They also reactivate telomerase reverse transcriptase. Senescence-to-immortality transition is accompanied by major phenotypic and biochemical changes mediated by genome-wide transcriptional modifications. This appears to happen during hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC development in patients with liver cirrhosis, however, the accompanying transcriptional changes are virtually unknown. We investigated genome-wide transcriptional changes related to the senescence-to-immortality switch during hepatocellular carcinogenesis. Initially, we performed transcriptome analysis of senescent and immortal clones of Huh7 HCC cell line, and identified genes with significant differential expression to establish a senescence-related gene list. Through the analysis of senescence-related gene expression in different liver tissues we showed that cirrhosis and HCC display expression patterns compatible with senescent and immortal phenotypes, respectively; dysplasia being a transitional state. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that cirrhosis/senescence-associated genes were preferentially expressed in non-tumor tissues, less malignant tumors, and differentiated or senescent cells. In contrast, HCC/immortality genes were up-regulated in tumor tissues, or more malignant tumors and progenitor cells. In HCC tumors and immortal cells genes involved in DNA repair, cell cycle, telomere extension and branched chain amino acid metabolism were up-regulated, whereas genes involved in cell signaling, as well as in drug, lipid, retinoid and glycolytic metabolism were down-regulated. Based on these distinctive gene expression features we developed a 15

Modeling Ebola Virus Genome Replication and Transcription with Minigenome Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Cressey, Tessa; Brauburger, Kristina; Mühlberger, Elke

2017-01-01

In this chapter, we describe the minigenome system for Ebola virus (EBOV), which reconstitutes EBOV polymerase activity in cells and can be used to model viral genome replication and transcription. This protocol comprises all steps including cell culture, plasmid preparation, transfection, and luciferase reporter assay readout.

Rewiring the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) transcription circuit: Engineering a recombination-resistant genome

Science.gov (United States)

Yount, Boyd; Roberts, Rhonda S.; Lindesmith, Lisa; Baric, Ralph S.

2006-08-01

Live virus vaccines provide significant protection against many detrimental human and animal diseases, but reversion to virulence by mutation and recombination has reduced appeal. Using severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus as a model, we engineered a different transcription regulatory circuit and isolated recombinant viruses. The transcription network allowed for efficient expression of the viral transcripts and proteins, and the recombinant viruses replicated to WT levels. Recombinant genomes were then constructed that contained mixtures of the WT and mutant regulatory circuits, reflecting recombinant viruses that might occur in nature. Although viable viruses could readily be isolated from WT and recombinant genomes containing homogeneous transcription circuits, chimeras that contained mixed regulatory networks were invariantly lethal, because viable chimeric viruses were not isolated. Mechanistically, mixed regulatory circuits promoted inefficient subgenomic transcription from inappropriate start sites, resulting in truncated ORFs and effectively minimize viral structural protein expression. Engineering regulatory transcription circuits of intercommunicating alleles successfully introduces genetic traps into a viral genome that are lethal in RNA recombinant progeny viruses. regulation | systems biology | vaccine design

Aberrant methylation and associated transcriptional mobilization of Alu elements contributes to genomic instability in hypoxia.

Science.gov (United States)

Pal, Arnab; Srivastava, Tapasya; Sharma, Manish K; Mehndiratta, Mohit; Das, Prerna; Sinha, Subrata; Chattopadhyay, Parthaprasad

2010-11-01

Hypoxia is an integral part of tumorigenesis and contributes extensively to the neoplastic phenotype including drug resistance and genomic instability. It has also been reported that hypoxia results in global demethylation. Because a majority of the cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) islands are found within the repeat elements of DNA, and are usually methylated under normoxic conditions, we suggested that retrotransposable Alu or short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) which show altered methylation and associated changes of gene expression during hypoxia, could be associated with genomic instability. U87MG glioblastoma cells were cultured in 0.1% O₂ for 6 weeks and compared with cells cultured in 21% O₂ for the same duration. Real-time PCR analysis showed a significant increase in SINE and reverse transcriptase coding long interspersed nuclear element (LINE) transcripts during hypoxia. Sequencing of bisulphite treated DNA as well as the Combined Bisulfite Restriction Analysis (COBRA) assay showed that the SINE loci studied underwent significant hypomethylation though there was patchy hypermethylation at a few sites. The inter-alu PCR profile of DNA from cells cultured under 6-week hypoxia, its 4-week revert back to normoxia and 6-week normoxia showed several changes in the band pattern indicating increased alu mediated genomic alteration. Our results show that aberrant methylation leading to increased transcription of SINE and reverse transcriptase associated LINE elements could lead to increased genomic instability in hypoxia. This might be a cause of genetic heterogeneity in tumours especially in variegated hypoxic environment and lead to a development of foci of more aggressive tumour cells. © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2010 Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Detecting novel low-abundant transcripts in Drosophila

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lee, Sanggyu; Bao, Jingyue; Zhou, Guolin

2005-01-01

Increasing evidence suggests that low-abundant transcripts may play fundamental roles in biological processes. In an attempt to estimate the prevalence of low-abundant transcripts in eukaryotic genomes, we performed a transcriptome analysis in Drosophila using the SAGE technique. We collected 244......,313 SAGE tags from transcripts expressed in Drosophila embryonic, larval, pupae, adult, and testicular tissue. From these SAGE tags, we identified 40,823 unique SAGE tags. Our analysis showed that 55% of the 40,823 unique SAGE tags are novel without matches in currently known Drosophila transcripts...... in the Drosophila genome. Our study reveals the presence of a significant number of novel low-abundant transcripts in Drosophila, and highlights the need to isolate these novel low-abundant transcripts for further biological studies. Udgivelsesdato: 2005-Jun...

Transcriptional and chromatin regulation during fasting – The genomic era

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Ido; Hager, Gordon L.

2015-01-01

An elaborate metabolic response to fasting is orchestrated by the liver and is heavily reliant upon transcriptional regulation. In response to hormones (glucagon, glucocorticoids) many transcription factors (TFs) are activated and regulate various genes involved in metabolic pathways aimed at restoring homeostasis: gluconeogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, ketogenesis and amino acid shuttling. We summarize the recent discoveries regarding fasting-related TFs with an emphasis on genome-wide binding patterns. Collectively, the summarized findings reveal a large degree of co-operation between TFs during fasting which occurs at motif-rich DNA sites bound by a combination of TFs. These new findings implicate transcriptional and chromatin regulation as major determinants of the response to fasting and unravels the complex, multi-TF nature of this response. PMID:26520657

Transcript profiling of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. using the GeneChip® Soybean Genome Array: optimizing analysis by masking biased probes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gronwald John W

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L. and soybean (Glycine max both belong to the Phaseoleae tribe and share significant coding sequence homology. This suggests that the GeneChip® Soybean Genome Array (soybean GeneChip may be used for gene expression studies using common bean. Results To evaluate the utility of the soybean GeneChip for transcript profiling of common bean, we hybridized cRNAs purified from nodule, leaf, and root of common bean and soybean in triplicate to the soybean GeneChip. Initial data analysis showed a decreased sensitivity and accuracy of measuring differential gene expression in common bean cross-species hybridization (CSH GeneChip data compared to that of soybean. We employed a method that masked putative probes targeting inter-species variable (ISV regions between common bean and soybean. A masking signal intensity threshold was selected that optimized both sensitivity and accuracy of measuring differential gene expression. After masking for ISV regions, the number of differentially-expressed genes identified in common bean was increased by 2.8-fold reflecting increased sensitivity. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR analysis of 20 randomly selected genes and purine-ureide pathway genes demonstrated an increased accuracy of measuring differential gene expression after masking for ISV regions. We also evaluated masked probe frequency per probe set to gain insight into the sequence divergence pattern between common bean and soybean. The sequence divergence pattern analysis suggested that the genes for basic cellular functions and metabolism were highly conserved between soybean and common bean. Additionally, our results show that some classes of genes, particularly those associated with environmental adaptation, are highly divergent. Conclusions The soybean GeneChip is a suitable cross-species platform for transcript profiling in common bean when used in combination with the masking protocol described. In

RSEM: accurate transcript quantification from RNA-Seq data with or without a reference genome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dewey Colin N

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background RNA-Seq is revolutionizing the way transcript abundances are measured. A key challenge in transcript quantification from RNA-Seq data is the handling of reads that map to multiple genes or isoforms. This issue is particularly important for quantification with de novo transcriptome assemblies in the absence of sequenced genomes, as it is difficult to determine which transcripts are isoforms of the same gene. A second significant issue is the design of RNA-Seq experiments, in terms of the number of reads, read length, and whether reads come from one or both ends of cDNA fragments. Results We present RSEM, an user-friendly software package for quantifying gene and isoform abundances from single-end or paired-end RNA-Seq data. RSEM outputs abundance estimates, 95% credibility intervals, and visualization files and can also simulate RNA-Seq data. In contrast to other existing tools, the software does not require a reference genome. Thus, in combination with a de novo transcriptome assembler, RSEM enables accurate transcript quantification for species without sequenced genomes. On simulated and real data sets, RSEM has superior or comparable performance to quantification methods that rely on a reference genome. Taking advantage of RSEM's ability to effectively use ambiguously-mapping reads, we show that accurate gene-level abundance estimates are best obtained with large numbers of short single-end reads. On the other hand, estimates of the relative frequencies of isoforms within single genes may be improved through the use of paired-end reads, depending on the number of possible splice forms for each gene. Conclusions RSEM is an accurate and user-friendly software tool for quantifying transcript abundances from RNA-Seq data. As it does not rely on the existence of a reference genome, it is particularly useful for quantification with de novo transcriptome assemblies. In addition, RSEM has enabled valuable guidance for cost

Novel transcripts discovered by mining genomic DNA from defined regions of bovine chromosome 6

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Eberlein Annett

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Linkage analyses strongly suggest a number of QTL for production, health and conformation traits in the middle part of bovine chromosome 6 (BTA6. The identification of the molecular background underlying the genetic variation at the QTL and subsequent functional studies require a well-annotated gene sequence map of the critical QTL intervals. To complete the sequence map of the defined subchromosomal regions on BTA6 poorly covered with comparative gene information, we focused on targeted isolation of transcribed sequences from bovine bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC clones mapped to the QTL intervals. Results Using the method of exon trapping, 92 unique exon trapping sequences (ETS were discovered in a chromosomal region of poor gene coverage. Sequence identity to the current NCBI sequence assembly for BTA6 was detected for 91% of unique ETS. Comparative sequence similarity search revealed that 11% of the isolated ETS displayed high similarity to genomic sequences located on the syntenic chromosomes of the human and mouse reference genome assemblies. Nearly a third of the ETS identified similar equivalent sequences in genomic sequence scaffolds from the alternative Celera-based sequence assembly of the human genome. Screening gene, EST, and protein databases detected 17% of ETS with identity to known transcribed sequences. Expression analysis of a subset of the ETS showed that most ETS (84% displayed a distinctive expression pattern in a multi-tissue panel of a lactating cow verifying their existence in the bovine transcriptome. Conclusion The results of our study demonstrate that the exon trapping method based on region-specific BAC clones is very useful for targeted screening for novel transcripts located within a defined chromosomal region being deficiently endowed with annotated gene information. The majority of identified ETS represents unknown noncoding sequences in intergenic regions on BTA6 displaying a

DOT1L and H3K79 Methylation in Transcription and Genomic Stability.

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Wood, Katherine; Tellier, Michael; Murphy, Shona

2018-02-27

The organization of eukaryotic genomes into chromatin provides challenges for the cell to accomplish basic cellular functions, such as transcription, DNA replication and repair of DNA damage. Accordingly, a range of proteins modify and/or read chromatin states to regulate access to chromosomal DNA. Yeast Dot1 and the mammalian homologue DOT1L are methyltransferases that can add up to three methyl groups to histone H3 lysine 79 (H3K79). H3K79 methylation is implicated in several processes, including transcription elongation by RNA polymerase II, the DNA damage response and cell cycle checkpoint activation. DOT1L is also an important drug target for treatment of mixed lineage leukemia (MLL)-rearranged leukemia where aberrant transcriptional activation is promoted by DOT1L mislocalisation. This review summarizes what is currently known about the role of Dot1/DOT1L and H3K79 methylation in transcription and genomic stability.

DOT1L and H3K79 Methylation in Transcription and Genomic Stability

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Katherine Wood

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The organization of eukaryotic genomes into chromatin provides challenges for the cell to accomplish basic cellular functions, such as transcription, DNA replication and repair of DNA damage. Accordingly, a range of proteins modify and/or read chromatin states to regulate access to chromosomal DNA. Yeast Dot1 and the mammalian homologue DOT1L are methyltransferases that can add up to three methyl groups to histone H3 lysine 79 (H3K79. H3K79 methylation is implicated in several processes, including transcription elongation by RNA polymerase II, the DNA damage response and cell cycle checkpoint activation. DOT1L is also an important drug target for treatment of mixed lineage leukemia (MLL-rearranged leukemia where aberrant transcriptional activation is promoted by DOT1L mislocalisation. This review summarizes what is currently known about the role of Dot1/DOT1L and H3K79 methylation in transcription and genomic stability.

Coordination of genomic structure and transcription by the main bacterial nucleoid-associated protein HU

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Berger, Michael; Farcas, Anca; Geertz, Marcel; Zhelyazkova, Petya; Brix, Klaudia; Travers, Andrew; Muskhelishvili, Georgi

2010-01-01

The histone-like protein HU is a highly abundant DNA architectural protein that is involved in compacting the DNA of the bacterial nucleoid and in regulating the main DNA transactions, including gene transcription. However, the coordination of the genomic structure and function by HU is poorly understood. Here, we address this question by comparing transcript patterns and spatial distributions of RNA polymerase in Escherichia coli wild-type and hupA/B mutant cells. We demonstrate that, in mutant cells, upregulated genes are preferentially clustered in a large chromosomal domain comprising the ribosomal RNA operons organized on both sides of OriC. Furthermore, we show that, in parallel to this transcription asymmetry, mutant cells are also impaired in forming the transcription foci—spatially confined aggregations of RNA polymerase molecules transcribing strong ribosomal RNA operons. Our data thus implicate HU in coordinating the global genomic structure and function by regulating the spatial distribution of RNA polymerase in the nucleoid. PMID:20010798

The Role of Genome Accessibility in Transcription Factor Binding in Bacteria.

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Antonio L C Gomes

2016-04-01

Full Text Available ChIP-seq enables genome-scale identification of regulatory regions that govern gene expression. However, the biological insights generated from ChIP-seq analysis have been limited to predictions of binding sites and cooperative interactions. Furthermore, ChIP-seq data often poorly correlate with in vitro measurements or predicted motifs, highlighting that binding affinity alone is insufficient to explain transcription factor (TF-binding in vivo. One possibility is that binding sites are not equally accessible across the genome. A more comprehensive biophysical representation of TF-binding is required to improve our ability to understand, predict, and alter gene expression. Here, we show that genome accessibility is a key parameter that impacts TF-binding in bacteria. We developed a thermodynamic model that parameterizes ChIP-seq coverage in terms of genome accessibility and binding affinity. The role of genome accessibility is validated using a large-scale ChIP-seq dataset of the M. tuberculosis regulatory network. We find that accounting for genome accessibility led to a model that explains 63% of the ChIP-seq profile variance, while a model based in motif score alone explains only 35% of the variance. Moreover, our framework enables de novo ChIP-seq peak prediction and is useful for inferring TF-binding peaks in new experimental conditions by reducing the need for additional experiments. We observe that the genome is more accessible in intergenic regions, and that increased accessibility is positively correlated with gene expression and anti-correlated with distance to the origin of replication. Our biophysically motivated model provides a more comprehensive description of TF-binding in vivo from first principles towards a better representation of gene regulation in silico, with promising applications in systems biology.

Widespread anti-sense transcription in apple is correlated with siRNA production and indicates a large potential for transcriptional and/or post-transcriptional control.

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Celton, Jean-Marc; Gaillard, Sylvain; Bruneau, Maryline; Pelletier, Sandra; Aubourg, Sébastien; Martin-Magniette, Marie-Laure; Navarro, Lionel; Laurens, François; Renou, Jean-Pierre

2014-07-01

Characterizing the transcriptome of eukaryotic organisms is essential for studying gene regulation and its impact on phenotype. The realization that anti-sense (AS) and noncoding RNA transcription is pervasive in many genomes has emphasized our limited understanding of gene transcription and post-transcriptional regulation. Numerous mechanisms including convergent transcription, anti-correlated expression of sense and AS transcripts, and RNAi remain ill-defined. Here, we have combined microarray analysis and high-throughput sequencing of small RNAs (sRNAs) to unravel the complexity of transcriptional and potential post-transcriptional regulation in eight organs of apple (Malus × domestica). The percentage of AS transcript expression is higher than that identified in annual plants such as rice and Arabidopsis thaliana. Furthermore, we show that a majority of AS transcripts are transcribed beyond 3'UTR regions, and may cover a significant portion of the predicted sense transcripts. Finally we demonstrate at a genome-wide scale that anti-sense transcript expression is correlated with the presence of both short (21-23 nt) and long (> 30 nt) siRNAs, and that the sRNA coverage depth varies with the level of AS transcript expression. Our study provides a new insight on the functional role of anti-sense transcripts at the genome-wide level, and a new basis for the understanding of sRNA biogenesis in plants. © 2014 INRA. New Phytologist © 2014 New Phytologist Trust.

Analysis tools for the interplay between genome layout and regulation.

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Bouyioukos, Costas; Elati, Mohamed; Képès, François

2016-06-06

Genome layout and gene regulation appear to be interdependent. Understanding this interdependence is key to exploring the dynamic nature of chromosome conformation and to engineering functional genomes. Evidence for non-random genome layout, defined as the relative positioning of either co-functional or co-regulated genes, stems from two main approaches. Firstly, the analysis of contiguous genome segments across species, has highlighted the conservation of gene arrangement (synteny) along chromosomal regions. Secondly, the study of long-range interactions along a chromosome has emphasised regularities in the positioning of microbial genes that are co-regulated, co-expressed or evolutionarily correlated. While one-dimensional pattern analysis is a mature field, it is often powerless on biological datasets which tend to be incomplete, and partly incorrect. Moreover, there is a lack of comprehensive, user-friendly tools to systematically analyse, visualise, integrate and exploit regularities along genomes. Here we present the Genome REgulatory and Architecture Tools SCAN (GREAT:SCAN) software for the systematic study of the interplay between genome layout and gene expression regulation. SCAN is a collection of related and interconnected applications currently able to perform systematic analyses of genome regularities as well as to improve transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) and gene regulatory network predictions based on gene positional information. We demonstrate the capabilities of these tools by studying on one hand the regular patterns of genome layout in the major regulons of the bacterium Escherichia coli. On the other hand, we demonstrate the capabilities to improve TFBS prediction in microbes. Finally, we highlight, by visualisation of multivariate techniques, the interplay between position and sequence information for effective transcription regulation.

Genome-wide DNA methylation patterns and transcription analysis in sheep muscle.

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Christine Couldrey

Full Text Available DNA methylation plays a central role in regulating many aspects of growth and development in mammals through regulating gene expression. The development of next generation sequencing technologies have paved the way for genome-wide, high resolution analysis of DNA methylation landscapes using methodology known as reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS. While RRBS has proven to be effective in understanding DNA methylation landscapes in humans, mice, and rats, to date, few studies have utilised this powerful method for investigating DNA methylation in agricultural animals. Here we describe the utilisation of RRBS to investigate DNA methylation in sheep Longissimus dorsi muscles. RRBS analysis of ∼1% of the genome from Longissimus dorsi muscles provided data of suitably high precision and accuracy for DNA methylation analysis, at all levels of resolution from genome-wide to individual nucleotides. Combining RRBS data with mRNAseq data allowed the sheep Longissimus dorsi muscle methylome to be compared with methylomes from other species. While some species differences were identified, many similarities were observed between DNA methylation patterns in sheep and other more commonly studied species. The RRBS data presented here highlights the complexity of epigenetic regulation of genes. However, the similarities observed across species are promising, in that knowledge gained from epigenetic studies in human and mice may be applied, with caution, to agricultural species. The ability to accurately measure DNA methylation in agricultural animals will contribute an additional layer of information to the genetic analyses currently being used to maximise production gains in these species.

Hierarchical role for transcription factors and chromatin structure in genome organization along adipogenesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sarusi Portuguez, Avital; Schwartz, Michal; Siersbaek, Rasmus

2017-01-01

The three dimensional folding of mammalian genomes is cell type specific and difficult to alter suggesting that it is an important component of gene regulation. However, given the multitude of chromatin-associating factors, the mechanisms driving the colocalization of active chromosomal domains...... by PPARγ and Lpin1, undergoes orchestrated reorganization during adipogenesis. Coupling the dynamics of genome architecture with multiple chromatin datasets indicated that among all the transcription factors (TFs) tested, RXR is central to genome reorganization at the beginning of adipogenesis...

Multimode drug inducible CRISPR/Cas9 devices for transcriptional activation and genome editing

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Lu, Jia; Zhao, Chen; Zhao, Yingze; Zhang, Jingfang; Zhang, Yue; Chen, Li; Han, Qiyuan; Ying, Yue; Peng, Shuai; Ai, Runna; Wang, Yu

2018-01-01

Abstract Precise investigation and manipulation of dynamic biological processes often requires molecular modulation in a controlled inducible manner. The clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9) has emerged as a versatile tool for targeted gene editing and transcriptional programming. Here, we designed and vigorously optimized a series of Hybrid drug Inducible CRISPR/Cas9 Technologies (HIT) for transcriptional activation by grafting a mutated human estrogen receptor (ERT2) to multiple CRISPR/Cas9 systems, which renders them 4-hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT) inducible for the access of genome. Further, extra functionality of simultaneous genome editing was achieved with one device we named HIT2. Optimized terminal devices herein delivered advantageous performances in comparison with several existing designs. They exerted selective, titratable, rapid and reversible response to drug induction. In addition, these designs were successfully adapted to an orthogonal Cas9. HIT systems developed in this study can be applied for controlled modulation of potentially any genomic loci in multiple modes. PMID:29237052

Genome-wide Reconstruction of OxyR and SoxRS Transcriptional Regulatory Networks under Oxidative Stress in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655

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Sang Woo Seo

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Three transcription factors (TFs, OxyR, SoxR, and SoxS, play a critical role in transcriptional regulation of the defense system for oxidative stress in bacteria. However, their full genome-wide regulatory potential is unknown. Here, we perform a genome-scale reconstruction of the OxyR, SoxR, and SoxS regulons in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655. Integrative data analysis reveals that a total of 68 genes in 51 transcription units (TUs belong to these regulons. Among them, 48 genes showed more than 2-fold changes in expression level under single-TF-knockout conditions. This reconstruction expands the genome-wide roles of these factors to include direct activation of genes related to amino acid biosynthesis (methionine and aromatic amino acids, cell wall synthesis (lipid A biosynthesis and peptidoglycan growth, and divalent metal ion transport (Mn2+, Zn2+, and Mg2+. Investigating the co-regulation of these genes with other stress-response TFs reveals that they are independently regulated by stress-specific TFs.

Genome-wide identification and comparative analysis of squamosa-promoter binding proteins (sbp) transcription factor family in gossypium raimondii and arabidopsis thaliana

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, M.A.; Alia, K.B.; Atif, R.M.; Rasulj, I.; Nadeem, H.U.; Shahid, A.; Azeem, F

2017-01-01

SQUAMOSA-Promoter Binding Proteins (SBP) are class of transcription factors that play vital role in regulation of plant tissue growth and development. The genes encoding these proteins have not yet been identified in diploid cotton. Thus here, a comprehensive genome wide analysis of SBP genes/proteins was carried out to identify the genes encoding SBP proteins in Gossypium raimondii and Arabidopsis thaliana. We identified 17 SBP genes from Arabidopsis thaliana genome and 30 SBP genes from Gossypium raimondii. Chromosome localization studies revealed the uneven distribution of SBP encoding genes both in the genomes of A. thaliana and G. raimondii. In cotton, five SBP genes were located on chromosome no. 2, while no gene was found on chromosome 9. In A. thaliana, maximum seven SBP genes were identified on chromosome 9, while chromosome 4 did not have any SBP gene. Thus, the SBP gene family might have expanded as a result of segmental as well as tandem duplications in these species. The comparative phylogenetic analysis of Arabidopsis and cotton SBPs revealed the presence of eight groups. The gene structure analysis of SBP encoding genes revealed the presence of one to eleven inrons in both Arabidopsis and G. raimondii. The proteins sharing the same phyletic group mostly demonstrated the similar intron-exon occurrence pattern; and share the common conserved domains. The SBP DNA-binding domain shared 24 absolutely conserved residues in Arabidopsis. The present study can serve as a base for the functional characterization of SBP gene family in Gossypium raimondii. (author)

A high quality Arabidopsis transcriptome for accurate transcript-level analysis of alternative splicing

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Runxuan

2017-04-05

Alternative splicing generates multiple transcript and protein isoforms from the same gene and thus is important in gene expression regulation. To date, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) is the standard method for quantifying changes in alternative splicing on a genome-wide scale. Understanding the current limitations of RNA-seq is crucial for reliable analysis and the lack of high quality, comprehensive transcriptomes for most species, including model organisms such as Arabidopsis, is a major constraint in accurate quantification of transcript isoforms. To address this, we designed a novel pipeline with stringent filters and assembled a comprehensive Reference Transcript Dataset for Arabidopsis (AtRTD2) containing 82,190 non-redundant transcripts from 34 212 genes. Extensive experimental validation showed that AtRTD2 and its modified version, AtRTD2-QUASI, for use in Quantification of Alternatively Spliced Isoforms, outperform other available transcriptomes in RNA-seq analysis. This strategy can be implemented in other species to build a pipeline for transcript-level expression and alternative splicing analyses.

A high quality Arabidopsis transcriptome for accurate transcript-level analysis of alternative splicing

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Runxuan; Calixto, Cristiane  P.  G.; Marquez, Yamile; Venhuizen, Peter; Tzioutziou, Nikoleta A.; Guo, Wenbin; Spensley, Mark; Entizne, Juan Carlos; Lewandowska, Dominika; ten  Have, Sara; Frei  dit  Frey, Nicolas; Hirt, Heribert; James, Allan B.; Nimmo, Hugh G.; Barta, Andrea; Kalyna, Maria; Brown, John  W.  S.

2017-01-01

Alternative splicing generates multiple transcript and protein isoforms from the same gene and thus is important in gene expression regulation. To date, RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) is the standard method for quantifying changes in alternative splicing on a genome-wide scale. Understanding the current limitations of RNA-seq is crucial for reliable analysis and the lack of high quality, comprehensive transcriptomes for most species, including model organisms such as Arabidopsis, is a major constraint in accurate quantification of transcript isoforms. To address this, we designed a novel pipeline with stringent filters and assembled a comprehensive Reference Transcript Dataset for Arabidopsis (AtRTD2) containing 82,190 non-redundant transcripts from 34 212 genes. Extensive experimental validation showed that AtRTD2 and its modified version, AtRTD2-QUASI, for use in Quantification of Alternatively Spliced Isoforms, outperform other available transcriptomes in RNA-seq analysis. This strategy can be implemented in other species to build a pipeline for transcript-level expression and alternative splicing analyses.

A community resource for high-throughput quantitative RT-PCR analysis of transcription factor gene expression in Medicago truncatula

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Redman Julia C

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Medicago truncatula is a model legume species that is currently the focus of an international genome sequencing effort. Although several different oligonucleotide and cDNA arrays have been produced for genome-wide transcript analysis of this species, intrinsic limitations in the sensitivity of hybridization-based technologies mean that transcripts of genes expressed at low-levels cannot be measured accurately with these tools. Amongst such genes are many encoding transcription factors (TFs, which are arguably the most important class of regulatory proteins. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR is the most sensitive method currently available for transcript quantification, and one that can be scaled up to analyze transcripts of thousands of genes in parallel. Thus, qRT-PCR is an ideal method to tackle the problem of TF transcript quantification in Medicago and other plants. Results We established a bioinformatics pipeline to identify putative TF genes in Medicago truncatula and to design gene-specific oligonucleotide primers for qRT-PCR analysis of TF transcripts. We validated the efficacy and gene-specificity of over 1000 TF primer pairs and utilized these to identify sets of organ-enhanced TF genes that may play important roles in organ development or differentiation in this species. This community resource will be developed further as more genome sequence becomes available, with the ultimate goal of producing validated, gene-specific primers for all Medicago TF genes. Conclusion High-throughput qRT-PCR using a 384-well plate format enables rapid, flexible, and sensitive quantification of all predicted Medicago transcription factor mRNAs. This resource has been utilized recently by several groups in Europe, Australia, and the USA, and we expect that it will become the 'gold-standard' for TF transcript profiling in Medicago truncatula.

Multiple-integrations of HPV16 genome and altered transcription of viral oncogenes and cellular genes are associated with the development of cervical cancer.

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Xulian Lu

Full Text Available The constitutive expression of the high-risk HPV E6 and E7 viral oncogenes is the major cause of cervical cancer. To comprehensively explore the composition of HPV16 early transcripts and their genomic annotation, cervical squamous epithelial tissues from 40 HPV16-infected patients were collected for analysis of papillomavirus oncogene transcripts (APOT. We observed different transcription patterns of HPV16 oncogenes in progression of cervical lesions to cervical cancer and identified one novel transcript. Multiple-integration events in the tissues of cervical carcinoma (CxCa are significantly more often than those of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL. Moreover, most cellular genes within or near these integration sites are cancer-associated genes. Taken together, this study suggests that the multiple-integrations of HPV genome during persistent viral infection, which thereby alters the expression patterns of viral oncogenes and integration-related cellular genes, play a crucial role in progression of cervical lesions to cervix cancer.

Improved methods and resources for paramecium genomics: transcription units, gene annotation and gene expression.

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Arnaiz, Olivier; Van Dijk, Erwin; Bétermier, Mireille; Lhuillier-Akakpo, Maoussi; de Vanssay, Augustin; Duharcourt, Sandra; Sallet, Erika; Gouzy, Jérôme; Sperling, Linda

2017-06-26

The 15 sibling species of the Paramecium aurelia cryptic species complex emerged after a whole genome duplication that occurred tens of millions of years ago. Given extensive knowledge of the genetics and epigenetics of Paramecium acquired over the last century, this species complex offers a uniquely powerful system to investigate the consequences of whole genome duplication in a unicellular eukaryote as well as the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that drive speciation. High quality Paramecium gene models are important for research using this system. The major aim of the work reported here was to build an improved gene annotation pipeline for the Paramecium lineage. We generated oriented RNA-Seq transcriptome data across the sexual process of autogamy for the model species Paramecium tetraurelia. We determined, for the first time in a ciliate, candidate P. tetraurelia transcription start sites using an adapted Cap-Seq protocol. We developed TrUC, multi-threaded Perl software that in conjunction with TopHat mapping of RNA-Seq data to a reference genome, predicts transcription units for the annotation pipeline. We used EuGene software to combine annotation evidence. The high quality gene structural annotations obtained for P. tetraurelia were used as evidence to improve published annotations for 3 other Paramecium species. The RNA-Seq data were also used for differential gene expression analysis, providing a gene expression atlas that is more sensitive than the previously established microarray resource. We have developed a gene annotation pipeline tailored for the compact genomes and tiny introns of Paramecium species. A novel component of this pipeline, TrUC, predicts transcription units using Cap-Seq and oriented RNA-Seq data. TrUC could prove useful beyond Paramecium, especially in the case of high gene density. Accurate predictions of 3' and 5' UTR will be particularly valuable for studies of gene expression (e.g. nucleosome positioning, identification of cis

Genome-wide analysis of Tol2 transposon reintegration in zebrafish.

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Kondrychyn, Igor; Garcia-Lecea, Marta; Emelyanov, Alexander; Parinov, Sergey; Korzh, Vladimir

2009-09-08

Tol2, a member of the hAT family of transposons, has become a useful tool for genetic manipulation of model animals, but information about its interactions with vertebrate genomes is still limited. Furthermore, published reports on Tol2 have mainly been based on random integration of the transposon system after co-injection of a plasmid DNA harboring the transposon and a transposase mRNA. It is important to understand how Tol2 would behave upon activation after integration into the genome. We performed a large-scale enhancer trap (ET) screen and generated 338 insertions of the Tol2 transposon-based ET cassette into the zebrafish genome. These insertions were generated by remobilizing the transposon from two different donor sites in two transgenic lines. We found that 39% of Tol2 insertions occurred in transcription units, mostly into introns. Analysis of the transposon target sites revealed no strict specificity at the DNA sequence level. However, Tol2 was prone to target AT-rich regions with weak palindromic consensus sequences centered at the insertion site. Our systematic analysis of sequential remobilizations of the Tol2 transposon from two independent sites within a vertebrate genome has revealed properties such as a tendency to integrate into transcription units and into AT-rich palindrome-like sequences. This information will influence the development of various applications involving DNA transposons and Tol2 in particular.

Identification of conserved regulatory elements by comparative genome analysis

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Jareborg Niclas

2003-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background For genes that have been successfully delineated within the human genome sequence, most regulatory sequences remain to be elucidated. The annotation and interpretation process requires additional data resources and significant improvements in computational methods for the detection of regulatory regions. One approach of growing popularity is based on the preferential conservation of functional sequences over the course of evolution by selective pressure, termed 'phylogenetic footprinting'. Mutations are more likely to be disruptive if they appear in functional sites, resulting in a measurable difference in evolution rates between functional and non-functional genomic segments. Results We have devised a flexible suite of methods for the identification and visualization of conserved transcription-factor-binding sites. The system reports those putative transcription-factor-binding sites that are both situated in conserved regions and located as pairs of sites in equivalent positions in alignments between two orthologous sequences. An underlying collection of metazoan transcription-factor-binding profiles was assembled to facilitate the study. This approach results in a significant improvement in the detection of transcription-factor-binding sites because of an increased signal-to-noise ratio, as demonstrated with two sets of promoter sequences. The method is implemented as a graphical web application, ConSite, which is at the disposal of the scientific community at http://www.phylofoot.org/. Conclusions Phylogenetic footprinting dramatically improves the predictive selectivity of bioinformatic approaches to the analysis of promoter sequences. ConSite delivers unparalleled performance using a novel database of high-quality binding models for metazoan transcription factors. With a dynamic interface, this bioinformatics tool provides broad access to promoter analysis with phylogenetic footprinting.

The transcriptional landscape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Henrik

2011-01-01

The application of new and less biased methods to study the transcriptional output from genomes, such as tiling arrays and deep sequencing, has revealed that most of the genome is transcribed and that there is substantial overlap of transcripts derived from the two strands of DNA. In protein coding...... regions, the map of transcripts is very complex due to small transcripts from the flanking ends of the transcription unit, the use of multiple start and stop sites for the main transcript, production of multiple functional RNA molecules from the same primary transcript, and RNA molecules made...... by independent transcription from within the unit. In genomic regions separating those that encode proteins or highly abundant RNA molecules with known function, transcripts are generally of low abundance and short-lived. In most of these cases, it is unclear to what extent a function is related to transcription...

Enhancement of single guide RNA transcription for efficient CRISPR/Cas-based genomic engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Ui-Tei, Kumiko; Maruyama, Shohei; Nakano, Yuko

2017-06-01

Genomic engineering using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) protein is a promising approach for targeting the genomic DNA of virtually any organism in a sequence-specific manner. Recent remarkable advances in CRISPR/Cas technology have made it a feasible system for use in therapeutic applications and biotechnology. In the CRISPR/Cas system, a guide RNA (gRNA), interacting with the Cas protein, recognizes a genomic region with sequence complementarity, and the double-stranded DNA at the target site is cleaved by the Cas protein. A widely used gRNA is an RNA polymerase III (pol III)-driven single gRNA (sgRNA), which is produced by artificial fusion of CRISPR RNA (crRNA) and trans-activation crRNA (tracrRNA). However, we identified a TTTT stretch, known as a termination signal of RNA pol III, in the scaffold region of the sgRNA. Here, we revealed that sgRNA carrying a TTTT stretch reduces the efficiency of sgRNA transcription due to premature transcriptional termination, and decreases the efficiency of genome editing. Unexpectedly, it was also shown that the premature terminated sgRNA may have an adverse effect of inducing RNA interference. Such disadvantageous effects were avoided by substituting one base in the TTTT stretch.

Genome-wide dynamic transcriptional profiling in clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 using single-nucleotide resolution RNA-Seq

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Wang Yi

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Clostridium beijerinckii is a prominent solvent-producing microbe that has great potential for biofuel and chemical industries. Although transcriptional analysis is essential to understand gene functions and regulation and thus elucidate proper strategies for further strain improvement, limited information is available on the genome-wide transcriptional analysis for C. beijerinckii. Results The genome-wide transcriptional dynamics of C. beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 over a batch fermentation process was investigated using high-throughput RNA-Seq technology. The gene expression profiles indicated that the glycolysis genes were highly expressed throughout the fermentation, with comparatively more active expression during acidogenesis phase. The expression of acid formation genes was down-regulated at the onset of solvent formation, in accordance with the metabolic pathway shift from acidogenesis to solventogenesis. The acetone formation gene (adc, as a part of the sol operon, exhibited highly-coordinated expression with the other sol genes. Out of the > 20 genes encoding alcohol dehydrogenase in C. beijerinckii, Cbei_1722 and Cbei_2181 were highly up-regulated at the onset of solventogenesis, corresponding to their key roles in primary alcohol production. Most sporulation genes in C. beijerinckii 8052 demonstrated similar temporal expression patterns to those observed in B. subtilis and C. acetobutylicum, while sporulation sigma factor genes sigE and sigG exhibited accelerated and stronger expression in C. beijerinckii 8052, which is consistent with the more rapid forespore and endspore development in this strain. Global expression patterns for specific gene functional classes were examined using self-organizing map analysis. The genes associated with specific functional classes demonstrated global expression profiles corresponding to the cell physiological variation and metabolic pathway switch. Conclusions The results from this

A Genome-Scale Resource for the Functional Characterization of Arabidopsis Transcription Factors

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Jose L. Pruneda-Paz

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Extensive transcriptional networks play major roles in cellular and organismal functions. Transcript levels are in part determined by the combinatorial and overlapping functions of multiple transcription factors (TFs bound to gene promoters. Thus, TF-promoter interactions provide the basic molecular wiring of transcriptional regulatory networks. In plants, discovery of the functional roles of TFs is limited by an increased complexity of network circuitry due to a significant expansion of TF families. Here, we present the construction of a comprehensive collection of Arabidopsis TFs clones created to provide a versatile resource for uncovering TF biological functions. We leveraged this collection by implementing a high-throughput DNA binding assay and identified direct regulators of a key clock gene (CCA1 that provide molecular links between different signaling modules and the circadian clock. The resources introduced in this work will significantly contribute to a better understanding of the transcriptional regulatory landscape of plant genomes.

Knowledge-based analysis of microarrays for the discovery of transcriptional regulation relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Seok, Junhee; Kaushal, Amit; Davis, Ronald W; Xiao, Wenzhong

2010-01-18

The large amount of high-throughput genomic data has facilitated the discovery of the regulatory relationships between transcription factors and their target genes. While early methods for discovery of transcriptional regulation relationships from microarray data often focused on the high-throughput experimental data alone, more recent approaches have explored the integration of external knowledge bases of gene interactions. In this work, we develop an algorithm that provides improved performance in the prediction of transcriptional regulatory relationships by supplementing the analysis of microarray data with a new method of integrating information from an existing knowledge base. Using a well-known dataset of yeast microarrays and the Yeast Proteome Database, a comprehensive collection of known information of yeast genes, we show that knowledge-based predictions demonstrate better sensitivity and specificity in inferring new transcriptional interactions than predictions from microarray data alone. We also show that comprehensive, direct and high-quality knowledge bases provide better prediction performance. Comparison of our results with ChIP-chip data and growth fitness data suggests that our predicted genome-wide regulatory pairs in yeast are reasonable candidates for follow-up biological verification. High quality, comprehensive, and direct knowledge bases, when combined with appropriate bioinformatic algorithms, can significantly improve the discovery of gene regulatory relationships from high throughput gene expression data.

Comparative genomics of CytR, an unusual member of the LacI family of transcription factors.

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Natalia V Sernova

Full Text Available CytR is a transcription regulator from the LacI family, present in some gamma-proteobacteria including Escherichia coli and known not only for its cellular role, control of transport and utilization of nucleosides, but for a number of unusual structural properties. The present study addressed three related problems: structure of CytR-binding sites and motifs, their evolutionary conservation, and identification of new members of the CytR regulon. While the majority of CytR-binding sites are imperfect inverted repeats situated between binding sites for another transcription factor, CRP, other architectures were observed, in particular, direct repeats. While the similarity between sites for different genes in one genome is rather low, and hence the consensus motif is weak, there is high conservation of orthologous sites in different genomes (mainly in the Enterobacteriales arguing for the presence of specific CytR-DNA contacts. On larger evolutionary distances candidate CytR sites may migrate but the approximate distance between flanking CRP sites tends to be conserved, which demonstrates that the overall structure of the CRP-CytR-DNA complex is gene-specific. The analysis yielded candidate CytR-binding sites for orthologs of known regulon members in less studied genomes of the Enterobacteriales and Vibrionales and identified a new candidate member of the CytR regulon, encoding a transporter named NupT (YcdZ.

Identification and analysis of functional elements in 1% of the human genome by the ENCODE pilot project.

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Birney, Ewan; Stamatoyannopoulos, John A; Dutta, Anindya; Guigó, Roderic; Gingeras, Thomas R; Margulies, Elliott H; Weng, Zhiping; Snyder, Michael; Dermitzakis, Emmanouil T; Thurman, Robert E; Kuehn, Michael S; Taylor, Christopher M; Neph, Shane; Koch, Christoph M; Asthana, Saurabh; Malhotra, Ankit; Adzhubei, Ivan; Greenbaum, Jason A; Andrews, Robert M; Flicek, Paul; Boyle, Patrick J; Cao, Hua; Carter, Nigel P; Clelland, Gayle K; Davis, Sean; Day, Nathan; Dhami, Pawandeep; Dillon, Shane C; Dorschner, Michael O; Fiegler, Heike; Giresi, Paul G; Goldy, Jeff; Hawrylycz, Michael; Haydock, Andrew; Humbert, Richard; James, Keith D; Johnson, Brett E; Johnson, Ericka M; Frum, Tristan T; Rosenzweig, Elizabeth R; Karnani, Neerja; Lee, Kirsten; Lefebvre, Gregory C; Navas, Patrick A; Neri, Fidencio; Parker, Stephen C J; Sabo, Peter J; Sandstrom, Richard; Shafer, Anthony; Vetrie, David; Weaver, Molly; Wilcox, Sarah; Yu, Man; Collins, Francis S; Dekker, Job; Lieb, Jason D; Tullius, Thomas D; Crawford, Gregory E; Sunyaev, Shamil; Noble, William S; Dunham, Ian; Denoeud, France; Reymond, Alexandre; Kapranov, Philipp; Rozowsky, Joel; Zheng, Deyou; Castelo, Robert; Frankish, Adam; Harrow, Jennifer; Ghosh, Srinka; Sandelin, Albin; Hofacker, Ivo L; Baertsch, Robert; Keefe, Damian; Dike, Sujit; Cheng, Jill; Hirsch, Heather A; Sekinger, Edward A; Lagarde, Julien; Abril, Josep F; Shahab, Atif; Flamm, Christoph; Fried, Claudia; Hackermüller, Jörg; Hertel, Jana; Lindemeyer, Manja; Missal, Kristin; Tanzer, Andrea; Washietl, Stefan; Korbel, Jan; Emanuelsson, Olof; Pedersen, Jakob S; Holroyd, Nancy; Taylor, Ruth; Swarbreck, David; Matthews, Nicholas; Dickson, Mark C; Thomas, Daryl J; Weirauch, Matthew T; Gilbert, James; Drenkow, Jorg; Bell, Ian; Zhao, XiaoDong; Srinivasan, K G; Sung, Wing-Kin; Ooi, Hong Sain; Chiu, Kuo Ping; Foissac, Sylvain; Alioto, Tyler; Brent, Michael; Pachter, Lior; Tress, Michael L; Valencia, Alfonso; Choo, Siew Woh; Choo, Chiou Yu; Ucla, Catherine; Manzano, Caroline; Wyss, Carine; Cheung, Evelyn; Clark, Taane G; Brown, James B; Ganesh, Madhavan; Patel, Sandeep; Tammana, Hari; Chrast, Jacqueline; Henrichsen, Charlotte N; Kai, Chikatoshi; Kawai, Jun; Nagalakshmi, Ugrappa; Wu, Jiaqian; Lian, Zheng; Lian, Jin; Newburger, Peter; Zhang, Xueqing; Bickel, Peter; Mattick, John S; Carninci, Piero; Hayashizaki, Yoshihide; Weissman, Sherman; Hubbard, Tim; Myers, Richard M; Rogers, Jane; Stadler, Peter F; Lowe, Todd M; Wei, Chia-Lin; Ruan, Yijun; Struhl, Kevin; Gerstein, Mark; Antonarakis, Stylianos E; Fu, Yutao; Green, Eric D; Karaöz, Ulaş; Siepel, Adam; Taylor, James; Liefer, Laura A; Wetterstrand, Kris A; Good, Peter J; Feingold, Elise A; Guyer, Mark S; Cooper, Gregory M; Asimenos, George; Dewey, Colin N; Hou, Minmei; Nikolaev, Sergey; Montoya-Burgos, Juan I; Löytynoja, Ari; Whelan, Simon; Pardi, Fabio; Massingham, Tim; Huang, Haiyan; Zhang, Nancy R; Holmes, Ian; Mullikin, James C; Ureta-Vidal, Abel; Paten, Benedict; Seringhaus, Michael; Church, Deanna; Rosenbloom, Kate; Kent, W James; Stone, Eric A; Batzoglou, Serafim; Goldman, Nick; Hardison, Ross C; Haussler, David; Miller, Webb; Sidow, Arend; Trinklein, Nathan D; Zhang, Zhengdong D; Barrera, Leah; Stuart, Rhona; King, David C; Ameur, Adam; Enroth, Stefan; Bieda, Mark C; Kim, Jonghwan; Bhinge, Akshay A; Jiang, Nan; Liu, Jun; Yao, Fei; Vega, Vinsensius B; Lee, Charlie W H; Ng, Patrick; Shahab, Atif; Yang, Annie; Moqtaderi, Zarmik; Zhu, Zhou; Xu, Xiaoqin; Squazzo, Sharon; Oberley, Matthew J; Inman, David; Singer, Michael A; Richmond, Todd A; Munn, Kyle J; Rada-Iglesias, Alvaro; Wallerman, Ola; Komorowski, Jan; Fowler, Joanna C; Couttet, Phillippe; Bruce, Alexander W; Dovey, Oliver M; Ellis, Peter D; Langford, Cordelia F; Nix, David A; Euskirchen, Ghia; Hartman, Stephen; Urban, Alexander E; Kraus, Peter; Van Calcar, Sara; Heintzman, Nate; Kim, Tae Hoon; Wang, Kun; Qu, Chunxu; Hon, Gary; Luna, Rosa; Glass, Christopher K; Rosenfeld, M Geoff; Aldred, Shelley Force; Cooper, Sara J; Halees, Anason; Lin, Jane M; Shulha, Hennady P; Zhang, Xiaoling; Xu, Mousheng; Haidar, Jaafar N S; Yu, Yong; Ruan, Yijun; Iyer, Vishwanath R; Green, Roland D; Wadelius, Claes; Farnham, Peggy J; Ren, Bing; Harte, Rachel A; Hinrichs, Angie S; Trumbower, Heather; Clawson, Hiram; Hillman-Jackson, Jennifer; Zweig, Ann S; Smith, Kayla; Thakkapallayil, Archana; Barber, Galt; Kuhn, Robert M; Karolchik, Donna; Armengol, Lluis; Bird, Christine P; de Bakker, Paul I W; Kern, Andrew D; Lopez-Bigas, Nuria; Martin, Joel D; Stranger, Barbara E; Woodroffe, Abigail; Davydov, Eugene; Dimas, Antigone; Eyras, Eduardo; Hallgrímsdóttir, Ingileif B; Huppert, Julian; Zody, Michael C; Abecasis, Gonçalo R; Estivill, Xavier; Bouffard, Gerard G; Guan, Xiaobin; Hansen, Nancy F; Idol, Jacquelyn R; Maduro, Valerie V B; Maskeri, Baishali; McDowell, Jennifer C; Park, Morgan; Thomas, Pamela J; Young, Alice C; Blakesley, Robert W; Muzny, Donna M; Sodergren, Erica; Wheeler, David A; Worley, Kim C; Jiang, Huaiyang; Weinstock, George M; Gibbs, Richard A; Graves, Tina; Fulton, Robert; Mardis, Elaine R; Wilson, Richard K; Clamp, Michele; Cuff, James; Gnerre, Sante; Jaffe, David B; Chang, Jean L; Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin; Lander, Eric S; Koriabine, Maxim; Nefedov, Mikhail; Osoegawa, Kazutoyo; Yoshinaga, Yuko; Zhu, Baoli; de Jong, Pieter J

2007-06-14

We report the generation and analysis of functional data from multiple, diverse experiments performed on a targeted 1% of the human genome as part of the pilot phase of the ENCODE Project. These data have been further integrated and augmented by a number of evolutionary and computational analyses. Together, our results advance the collective knowledge about human genome function in several major areas. First, our studies provide convincing evidence that the genome is pervasively transcribed, such that the majority of its bases can be found in primary transcripts, including non-protein-coding transcripts, and those that extensively overlap one another. Second, systematic examination of transcriptional regulation has yielded new understanding about transcription start sites, including their relationship to specific regulatory sequences and features of chromatin accessibility and histone modification. Third, a more sophisticated view of chromatin structure has emerged, including its inter-relationship with DNA replication and transcriptional regulation. Finally, integration of these new sources of information, in particular with respect to mammalian evolution based on inter- and intra-species sequence comparisons, has yielded new mechanistic and evolutionary insights concerning the functional landscape of the human genome. Together, these studies are defining a path for pursuit of a more comprehensive characterization of human genome function.

Genome wide transcriptional response of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to stress-induced perturbations

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Hilal eTaymaz-Nikerel

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Cells respond to environmental and/or genetic perturbations in order to survive and proliferate. Characterization of the changes after various stimuli at different -omics levels is crucial to comprehend the adaptation of cells to changing conditions. Genome wide quantification and analysis of transcript levels, the genes affected by perturbations, extends our understanding of cellular metabolism by pointing out the mechanisms that play role in sensing the stress caused by those perturbations and related signaling pathways, and in this way guides us to achieve endeavors such as rational engineering of cells or interpretation of disease mechanisms. Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system has been studied in response to different perturbations and corresponding transcriptional profiles were followed either statically or/and dynamically, short- and long- term. This review focuses on response of yeast cells to diverse stress inducing perturbations including nutritional changes, ionic stress, salt stress, oxidative stress, osmotic shock, as well as to genetic interventions such as deletion and over-expression of genes. It is aimed to conclude on common regulatory phenomena that allow yeast to organize its transcriptomic response after any perturbation under different external conditions.

Mining whole genomes and transcriptomes of Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) and Castor bean (Ricinus communis) for NBS-LRR genes and defense response associated transcription factors.

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Sood, Archit; Jaiswal, Varun; Chanumolu, Sree Krishna; Malhotra, Nikhil; Pal, Tarun; Chauhan, Rajinder Singh

2014-11-01

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) and Castor bean (Ricinus communis) are oilseed crops of family Euphorbiaceae with the potential of producing high quality biodiesel and having industrial value. Both the bioenergy plants are becoming susceptible to various biotic stresses directly affecting the oil quality and content. No report exists as of today on analysis of Nucleotide Binding Site-Leucine Rich Repeat (NBS-LRR) gene repertoire and defense response transcription factors in both the plant species. In silico analysis of whole genomes and transcriptomes identified 47 new NBS-LRR genes in both the species and 122 and 318 defense response related transcription factors in Jatropha and Castor bean, respectively. The identified NBS-LRR genes and defense response transcription factors were mapped onto the respective genomes. Common and unique NBS-LRR genes and defense related transcription factors were identified in both the plant species. All NBS-LRR genes in both the species were characterized into Toll/interleukin-1 receptor NBS-LRRs (TNLs) and coiled-coil NBS-LRRs (CNLs), position on contigs, gene clusters and motifs and domains distribution. Transcript abundance or expression values were measured for all NBS-LRR genes and defense response transcription factors, suggesting their functional role. The current study provides a repertoire of NBS-LRR genes and transcription factors which can be used in not only dissecting the molecular basis of disease resistance phenotype but also in developing disease resistant genotypes in Jatropha and Castor bean through transgenic or molecular breeding approaches.

Genomic analysis of NAC transcription factors in banana (Musa acuminata) and definition of NAC orthologous groups for monocots and dicots.

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Cenci, Albero; Guignon, Valentin; Roux, Nicolas; Rouard, Mathieu

2014-05-01

Identifying the molecular mechanisms underlying tolerance to abiotic stresses is important in crop breeding. A comprehensive understanding of the gene families associated with drought tolerance is therefore highly relevant. NAC transcription factors form a large plant-specific gene family involved in the regulation of tissue development and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. The main goal of this study was to set up a framework of orthologous groups determined by an expert sequence comparison of NAC genes from both monocots and dicots. In order to clarify the orthologous relationships among NAC genes of different species, we performed an in-depth comparative study of four divergent taxa, in dicots and monocots, whose genomes have already been completely sequenced: Arabidopsis thaliana, Vitis vinifera, Musa acuminata and Oryza sativa. Due to independent evolution, NAC copy number is highly variable in these plant genomes. Based on an expert NAC sequence comparison, we propose forty orthologous groups of NAC sequences that were probably derived from an ancestor gene present in the most recent common ancestor of dicots and monocots. These orthologous groups provide a curated resource for large-scale protein sequence annotation of NAC transcription factors. The established orthology relationships also provide a useful reference for NAC function studies in newly sequenced genomes such as M. acuminata and other plant species.

Regulatory hotspots in the malaria parasite genome dictate transcriptional variation.

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Joseph M Gonzales

2008-09-01

Full Text Available The determinants of transcriptional regulation in malaria parasites remain elusive. The presence of a well-characterized gene expression cascade shared by different Plasmodium falciparum strains could imply that transcriptional regulation and its natural variation do not contribute significantly to the evolution of parasite drug resistance. To clarify the role of transcriptional variation as a source of stain-specific diversity in the most deadly malaria species and to find genetic loci that dictate variations in gene expression, we examined genome-wide expression level polymorphisms (ELPs in a genetic cross between phenotypically distinct parasite clones. Significant variation in gene expression is observed through direct co-hybridizations of RNA from different P. falciparum clones. Nearly 18% of genes were regulated by a significant expression quantitative trait locus. The genetic determinants of most of these ELPs resided in hotspots that are physically distant from their targets. The most prominent regulatory locus, influencing 269 transcripts, coincided with a Chromosome 5 amplification event carrying the drug resistance gene, pfmdr1, and 13 other genes. Drug selection pressure in the Dd2 parental clone lineage led not only to a copy number change in the pfmdr1 gene but also to an increased copy number of putative neighboring regulatory factors that, in turn, broadly influence the transcriptional network. Previously unrecognized transcriptional variation, controlled by polymorphic regulatory genes and possibly master regulators within large copy number variants, contributes to sweeping phenotypic evolution in drug-resistant malaria parasites.

Transcriptionally active LTR retrotransposons in Eucalyptus genus are differentially expressed and insertionally polymorphic.

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Marcon, Helena Sanches; Domingues, Douglas Silva; Silva, Juliana Costa; Borges, Rafael Junqueira; Matioli, Fábio Filippi; Fontes, Marcos Roberto de Mattos; Marino, Celso Luis

2015-08-14

In Eucalyptus genus, studies on genome composition and transposable elements (TEs) are particularly scarce. Nearly half of the recently released Eucalyptus grandis genome is composed by retrotransposons and this data provides an important opportunity to understand TE dynamics in Eucalyptus genome and transcriptome. We characterized nine families of transcriptionally active LTR retrotransposons from Copia and Gypsy superfamilies in Eucalyptus grandis genome and we depicted genomic distribution and copy number in two Eucalyptus species. We also evaluated genomic polymorphism and transcriptional profile in three organs of five Eucalyptus species. We observed contrasting genomic and transcriptional behavior in the same family among different species. RLC_egMax_1 was the most prevalent family and RLC_egAngela_1 was the family with the lowest copy number. Most families of both superfamilies have their insertions occurring Eucalyptus species. Using EST analysis and qRT-PCRs, we observed transcriptional activity in several tissues and in all evaluated species. In some families, osmotic stress increases transcript values. Our strategy was successful in isolating transcriptionally active retrotransposons in Eucalyptus, and each family has a particular genomic and transcriptional pattern. Overall, our results show that retrotransposon activity have differentially affected genome and transcriptome among Eucalyptus species.

Genome-wide identification of soybean WRKY transcription factors in response to salt stress.

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Yu, Yanchong; Wang, Nan; Hu, Ruibo; Xiang, Fengning

2016-01-01

Members of the large family of WRKY transcription factors are involved in a wide range of developmental and physiological processes, most particularly in the plant response to biotic and abiotic stress. Here, an analysis of the soybean genome sequence allowed the identification of the full complement of 188 soybean WRKY genes. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that soybean WRKY genes were classified into three major groups (I, II, III), with the second group further categorized into five subgroups (IIa-IIe). The soybean WRKYs from each group shared similar gene structures and motif compositions. The location of the GmWRKYs was dispersed over all 20 soybean chromosomes. The whole genome duplication appeared to have contributed significantly to the expansion of the family. Expression analysis by RNA-seq indicated that in soybean root, 66 of the genes responded rapidly and transiently to the imposition of salt stress, all but one being up-regulated. While in aerial part, 49 GmWRKYs responded, all but two being down-regulated. RT-qPCR analysis showed that in the whole soybean plant, 66 GmWRKYs exhibited distinct expression patterns in response to salt stress, of which 12 showed no significant change, 35 were decreased, while 19 were induced. The data present here provide critical clues for further functional studies of WRKY gene in soybean salt tolerance.

Functional regression method for whole genome eQTL epistasis analysis with sequencing data.

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Xu, Kelin; Jin, Li; Xiong, Momiao

2017-05-18

Epistasis plays an essential rule in understanding the regulation mechanisms and is an essential component of the genetic architecture of the gene expressions. However, interaction analysis of gene expressions remains fundamentally unexplored due to great computational challenges and data availability. Due to variation in splicing, transcription start sites, polyadenylation sites, post-transcriptional RNA editing across the entire gene, and transcription rates of the cells, RNA-seq measurements generate large expression variability and collectively create the observed position level read count curves. A single number for measuring gene expression which is widely used for microarray measured gene expression analysis is highly unlikely to sufficiently account for large expression variation across the gene. Simultaneously analyzing epistatic architecture using the RNA-seq and whole genome sequencing (WGS) data poses enormous challenges. We develop a nonlinear functional regression model (FRGM) with functional responses where the position-level read counts within a gene are taken as a function of genomic position, and functional predictors where genotype profiles are viewed as a function of genomic position, for epistasis analysis with RNA-seq data. Instead of testing the interaction of all possible pair-wises SNPs, the FRGM takes a gene as a basic unit for epistasis analysis, which tests for the interaction of all possible pairs of genes and use all the information that can be accessed to collectively test interaction between all possible pairs of SNPs within two genome regions. By large-scale simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed FRGM for epistasis analysis can achieve the correct type 1 error and has higher power to detect the interactions between genes than the existing methods. The proposed methods are applied to the RNA-seq and WGS data from the 1000 Genome Project. The numbers of pairs of significantly interacting genes after Bonferroni correction

Comparative analysis of prophages in Streptococcus mutans genomes

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Fu, Tiwei; Fan, Xiangyu; Long, Quanxin; Deng, Wanyan; Song, Jinlin

2017-01-01

Prophages have been considered genetic units that have an intimate association with novel phenotypic properties of bacterial hosts, such as pathogenicity and genomic variation. Little is known about the genetic information of prophages in the genome of Streptococcus mutans, a major pathogen of human dental caries. In this study, we identified 35 prophage-like elements in S. mutans genomes and performed a comparative genomic analysis. Comparative genomic and phylogenetic analyses of prophage sequences revealed that the prophages could be classified into three main large clusters: Cluster A, Cluster B, and Cluster C. The S. mutans prophages in each cluster were compared. The genomic sequences of phismuN66-1, phismuNLML9-1, and phismu24-1 all shared similarities with the previously reported S. mutans phages M102, M102AD, and ϕAPCM01. The genomes were organized into seven major gene clusters according to the putative functions of the predicted open reading frames: packaging and structural modules, integrase, host lysis modules, DNA replication/recombination modules, transcriptional regulatory modules, other protein modules, and hypothetical protein modules. Moreover, an integrase gene was only identified in phismuNLML9-1 prophages. PMID:29158986

Transcriptional analysis of phloem-associated cells of potato.

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Lin, Tian; Lashbrook, Coralie C; Cho, Sung Ki; Butler, Nathaniel M; Sharma, Pooja; Muppirala, Usha; Severin, Andrew J; Hannapel, David J

2015-09-03

Numerous signal molecules, including proteins and mRNAs, are transported through the architecture of plants via the vascular system. As the connection between leaves and other organs, the petiole and stem are especially important in their transport function, which is carried out by the phloem and xylem, especially by the sieve elements in the phloem system. The phloem is an important conduit for transporting photosynthate and signal molecules like metabolites, proteins, small RNAs, and full-length mRNAs. Phloem sap has been used as an unadulterated source to profile phloem proteins and RNAs, but unfortunately, pure phloem sap cannot be obtained in most plant species. Here we make use of laser capture microdissection (LCM) and RNA-seq for an in-depth transcriptional profile of phloem-associated cells of both petioles and stems of potato. To expedite our analysis, we have taken advantage of the potato genome that has recently been fully sequenced and annotated. Out of the 27 k transcripts assembled that we identified, approximately 15 k were present in phloem-associated cells of petiole and stem with greater than ten reads. Among these genes, roughly 10 k are affected by photoperiod. Several RNAs from this day length-regulated group are also abundant in phloem cells of petioles and encode for proteins involved in signaling or transcriptional control. Approximately 22 % of the transcripts in phloem cells contained at least one binding motif for Pumilio, Nova, or polypyrimidine tract-binding proteins in their downstream sequences. Highlighting the predominance of binding processes identified in the gene ontology analysis of active genes from phloem cells, 78 % of the 464 RNA-binding proteins present in the potato genome were detected in our phloem transcriptome. As a reasonable alternative when phloem sap collection is not possible, LCM can be used to isolate RNA from specific cell types, and along with RNA-seq, provides practical access to expression profiles of

Genome-wide identification and comparative analysis of the heat shock transcription factor family in Chinese white pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) and five other Rosaceae species.

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Qiao, Xin; Li, Meng; Li, Leiting; Yin, Hao; Wu, Juyou; Zhang, Shaoling

2015-01-21

Heat shock transcription factors (Hsfs), which act as important transcriptional regulatory proteins in eukaryotes, play a central role in controlling the expression of heat-responsive genes. At present, the genomes of Chinese white pear ('Dangshansuli') and five other Rosaceae fruit crops have been fully sequenced. However, information about the Hsfs gene family in these Rosaceae species is limited, and the evolutionary history of the Hsfs gene family also remains unresolved. In this study, 137 Hsf genes were identified from six Rosaceae species (Pyrus bretschneideri, Malus × domestica, Prunus persica, Fragaria vesca, Prunus mume, and Pyrus communis), 29 of which came from Chinese white pear, designated as PbHsf. Based on the structural characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of these sequences, the Hsf family genes could be classified into three main groups (classes A, B, and C). Segmental and dispersed duplications were the primary forces underlying Hsf gene family expansion in the Rosaceae. Most of the PbHsf duplicated gene pairs were dated back to the recent whole-genome duplication (WGD, 30-45 million years ago (MYA)). Purifying selection also played a critical role in the evolution of Hsf genes. Transcriptome data demonstrated that the expression levels of the PbHsf genes were widely different. Six PbHsf genes were upregulated in fruit under naturally increased temperature. A comprehensive analysis of Hsf genes was performed in six Rosaceae species, and 137 full length Hsf genes were identified. The results presented here will undoubtedly be useful for better understanding the complexity of the Hsf gene family and will facilitate functional characterization in future studies.

Identification of concomitant infection with Chlamydia trachomatis IncA-negative mutant and wild-type strains by genomic, transcriptional, and biological characterizations.

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Suchland, Robert J; Jeffrey, Brendan M; Xia, Minsheng; Bhatia, Ajay; Chu, Hencelyn G; Rockey, Daniel D; Stamm, Walter E

2008-12-01

Clinical isolates of Chlamydia trachomatis that lack IncA on their inclusion membrane form nonfusogenic inclusions and have been associated with milder, subclinical infections in patients. The molecular events associated with the generation of IncA-negative strains and their roles in chlamydial sexually transmitted infections are not clear. We explored the biology of the IncA-negative strains by analyzing their genomic structure, transcription, and growth characteristics in vitro and in vivo in comparison with IncA-positive C. trachomatis strains. Three clinical samples were identified that contained a mixture of IncA-positive and -negative same-serovar C. trachomatis populations, and two more such pairs were found in serial isolates from persistently infected individuals. Genomic sequence analysis of individual strains from each of two serovar-matched pairs showed that these pairs were very similar genetically. In contrast, the genome sequence of an unmatched IncA-negative strain contained over 5,000 nucleotide polymorphisms relative to the genome sequence of a serovar-matched but otherwise unlinked strain. Transcriptional analysis, in vitro culture kinetics, and animal modeling demonstrated that IncA-negative strains isolated in the presence of a serovar-matched wild-type strain are phenotypically more similar to the wild-type strain than are IncA-negative strains isolated in the absence of a serovar-matched wild-type strain. These studies support a model suggesting that a change from an IncA-positive strain to the previously described IncA-negative phenotype may involve multiple steps, the first of which involves a translational inactivation of incA, associated with subsequent unidentified steps that lead to the observed decrease in transcript level, differences in growth rate, and differences in mouse infectivity.

Genome-wide analysis of Tol2 transposon reintegration in zebrafish

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Parinov Sergey

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Tol2, a member of the hAT family of transposons, has become a useful tool for genetic manipulation of model animals, but information about its interactions with vertebrate genomes is still limited. Furthermore, published reports on Tol2 have mainly been based on random integration of the transposon system after co-injection of a plasmid DNA harboring the transposon and a transposase mRNA. It is important to understand how Tol2 would behave upon activation after integration into the genome. Results We performed a large-scale enhancer trap (ET screen and generated 338 insertions of the Tol2 transposon-based ET cassette into the zebrafish genome. These insertions were generated by remobilizing the transposon from two different donor sites in two transgenic lines. We found that 39% of Tol2 insertions occurred in transcription units, mostly into introns. Analysis of the transposon target sites revealed no strict specificity at the DNA sequence level. However, Tol2 was prone to target AT-rich regions with weak palindromic consensus sequences centered at the insertion site. Conclusion Our systematic analysis of sequential remobilizations of the Tol2 transposon from two independent sites within a vertebrate genome has revealed properties such as a tendency to integrate into transcription units and into AT-rich palindrome-like sequences. This information will influence the development of various applications involving DNA transposons and Tol2 in particular.

A hyperactive transcriptional state marks genome reactivation at the mitosis–G1 transition

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Hsiung, Chris C.-S.; Bartman, Caroline R.; Huang, Peng; Ginart, Paul; Stonestrom, Aaron J.; Keller, Cheryl A.; Face, Carolyne; Jahn, Kristen S.; Evans, Perry; Sankaranarayanan, Laavanya; Giardine, Belinda; Hardison, Ross C.; Raj, Arjun; Blobel, Gerd A.

2016-01-01

During mitosis, RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and many transcription factors dissociate from chromatin, and transcription ceases globally. Transcription is known to restart in bulk by telophase, but whether de novo transcription at the mitosis–G1 transition is in any way distinct from later in interphase remains unknown. We tracked Pol II occupancy genome-wide in mammalian cells progressing from mitosis through late G1. Unexpectedly, during the earliest rounds of transcription at the mitosis–G1 transition, ∼50% of active genes and distal enhancers exhibit a spike in transcription, exceeding levels observed later in G1 phase. Enhancer–promoter chromatin contacts are depleted during mitosis and restored rapidly upon G1 entry but do not spike. Of the chromatin-associated features examined, histone H3 Lys27 acetylation levels at individual loci in mitosis best predict the mitosis–G1 transcriptional spike. Single-molecule RNA imaging supports that the mitosis–G1 transcriptional spike can constitute the maximum transcriptional activity per DNA copy throughout the cell division cycle. The transcriptional spike occurs heterogeneously and propagates to cell-to-cell differences in mature mRNA expression. Our results raise the possibility that passage through the mitosis–G1 transition might predispose cells to diverge in gene expression states. PMID:27340175

Functional analysis of limb transcriptional enhancers in the mouse.

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Nolte, Mark J; Wang, Ying; Deng, Jian Min; Swinton, Paul G; Wei, Caimiao; Guindani, Michele; Schwartz, Robert J; Behringer, Richard R

2014-01-01

Transcriptional enhancers are genomic sequences bound by transcription factors that act together with basal transcriptional machinery to regulate gene transcription. Several high-throughput methods have generated large datasets of tissue-specific enhancer sequences with putative roles in developmental processes. However, few enhancers have been deleted from the genome to determine their roles in development. To understand the roles of two enhancers active in the mouse embryonic limb bud we deleted them from the genome. Although the genes regulated by these enhancers are unknown, they were selected because they were identified in a screen for putative limb bud-specific enhancers associated with p300, an acetyltransferase that participates in protein complexes that promote active transcription, and because the orthologous human enhancers (H1442 and H280) drive distinct lacZ expression patterns in limb buds of embryonic day (E) 11.5 transgenic mice. We show that the orthologous mouse sequences, M1442 and M280, regulate dynamic expression in the developing limb. Although significant transcriptional differences in enhancer-proximal genes in embryonic limb buds accompany the deletion of M1442 and M280 no gross limb malformations during embryonic development were observed, demonstrating that M1442 and M280 are not required for mouse limb development. However, M280 is required for the development and/or maintenance of body size; M280 mice are significantly smaller than controls. M280 also harbors an "ultraconserved" sequence that is identical between human, rat, and mouse. This is the first report of a phenotype resulting from the deletion of an ultraconserved element. These studies highlight the importance of determining enhancer regulatory function by experiments that manipulate them in situ and suggest that some of an enhancer's regulatory capacities may be developmentally tolerated rather than developmentally required. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Analysis of Single-cell Gene Transcription by RNA Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ronander, Elena; Bengtsson, Dominique C; Joergensen, Louise

2012-01-01

Adhesion of Plasmodium falciparum infected erythrocytes (IE) to human endothelial receptors during malaria infections is mediated by expression of PfEMP1 protein variants encoded by the var genes. The haploid P. falciparum genome harbors approximately 60 different var genes of which only one has...... been believed to be transcribed per cell at a time during the blood stage of the infection. How such mutually exclusive regulation of var gene transcription is achieved is unclear, as is the identification of individual var genes or sub-groups of var genes associated with different receptors...... fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of var gene transcription by the parasite in individual nuclei of P. falciparum IE(1). Here, we present a detailed protocol for carrying out the RNA-FISH methodology for analysis of var gene transcription in single-nuclei of P. falciparum infected human...

Inter-replicon Gene Flow Contributes to Transcriptional Integration in the Sinorhizobium meliloti Multipartite Genome.

Science.gov (United States)

diCenzo, George C; Wellappili, Deelaka; Golding, G Brian; Finan, Turlough M

2018-05-04

Integration of newly acquired genes into existing regulatory networks is necessary for successful horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Ten percent of bacterial species contain at least two DNA replicons over 300 kilobases in size, with the secondary replicons derived predominately through HGT. The Sinorhizobium meliloti genome is split between a 3.7 Mb chromosome, a 1.7 Mb chromid consisting largely of genes acquired through ancient HGT, and a 1.4 Mb megaplasmid consisting primarily of recently acquired genes. Here, RNA-sequencing is used to examine the transcriptional consequences of massive, synthetic genome reduction produced through the removal of the megaplasmid and/or the chromid. Removal of the pSymA megaplasmid influenced the transcription of only six genes. In contrast, removal of the chromid influenced expression of ∼8% of chromosomal genes and ∼4% of megaplasmid genes. This was mediated in part by the loss of the ETR DNA region whose presence on pSymB is due to a translocation from the chromosome. No obvious functional bias among the up-regulated genes was detected, although genes with putative homologs on the chromid were enriched. Down-regulated genes were enriched in motility and sensory transduction pathways. Four transcripts were examined further, and in each case the transcriptional change could be traced to loss of specific pSymB regions. In particularly, a chromosomal transporter was induced due to deletion of bdhA likely mediated through 3-hydroxybutyrate accumulation. These data provide new insights into the evolution of the multipartite bacterial genome, and more generally into the integration of horizontally acquired genes into the transcriptome. Copyright © 2018 diCenzo, et al.

Inter-replicon Gene Flow Contributes to Transcriptional Integration in the Sinorhizobium meliloti Multipartite Genome

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George C. diCenzo

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Integration of newly acquired genes into existing regulatory networks is necessary for successful horizontal gene transfer (HGT. Ten percent of bacterial species contain at least two DNA replicons over 300 kilobases in size, with the secondary replicons derived predominately through HGT. The Sinorhizobium meliloti genome is split between a 3.7 Mb chromosome, a 1.7 Mb chromid consisting largely of genes acquired through ancient HGT, and a 1.4 Mb megaplasmid consisting primarily of recently acquired genes. Here, RNA-sequencing is used to examine the transcriptional consequences of massive, synthetic genome reduction produced through the removal of the megaplasmid and/or the chromid. Removal of the pSymA megaplasmid influenced the transcription of only six genes. In contrast, removal of the chromid influenced expression of ∼8% of chromosomal genes and ∼4% of megaplasmid genes. This was mediated in part by the loss of the ETR DNA region whose presence on pSymB is due to a translocation from the chromosome. No obvious functional bias among the up-regulated genes was detected, although genes with putative homologs on the chromid were enriched. Down-regulated genes were enriched in motility and sensory transduction pathways. Four transcripts were examined further, and in each case the transcriptional change could be traced to loss of specific pSymB regions. In particularly, a chromosomal transporter was induced due to deletion of bdhA likely mediated through 3-hydroxybutyrate accumulation. These data provide new insights into the evolution of the multipartite bacterial genome, and more generally into the integration of horizontally acquired genes into the transcriptome.

p53 Maintains Genomic Stability by Preventing Interference between Transcription and Replication

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Constance Qiao Xin Yeo

2016-04-01

Full Text Available p53 tumor suppressor maintains genomic stability, typically acting through cell-cycle arrest, senescence, and apoptosis. We discovered a function of p53 in preventing conflicts between transcription and replication, independent of its canonical roles. p53 deficiency sensitizes cells to Topoisomerase (Topo II inhibitors, resulting in DNA damage arising spontaneously during replication. Topoisomerase IIα (TOP2A-DNA complexes preferentially accumulate in isogenic p53 mutant or knockout cells, reflecting an increased recruitment of TOP2A to regulate DNA topology. We propose that p53 acts to prevent DNA topological stress originating from transcription during the S phase and, therefore, promotes normal replication fork progression. Consequently, replication fork progression is impaired in the absence of p53, which is reversed by transcription inhibition. Pharmacologic inhibition of transcription also attenuates DNA damage and decreases Topo-II-DNA complexes, restoring cell viability in p53-deficient cells. Together, our results demonstrate a function of p53 that may underlie its role in tumor suppression.

Identification and Classification of New Transcripts in Dorper and Small-Tailed Han Sheep Skeletal Muscle Transcriptomes.

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Tianle Chao

Full Text Available High-throughput mRNA sequencing enables the discovery of new transcripts and additional parts of incompletely annotated transcripts. Compared with the human and cow genomes, the reference annotation level of the sheep genome is still low. An investigation of new transcripts in sheep skeletal muscle will improve our understanding of muscle development. Therefore, applying high-throughput sequencing, two cDNA libraries from the biceps brachii of small-tailed Han sheep and Dorper sheep were constructed, and whole-transcriptome analysis was performed to determine the unknown transcript catalogue of this tissue. In this study, 40,129 transcripts were finally mapped to the sheep genome. Among them, 3,467 transcripts were determined to be unannotated in the current reference sheep genome and were defined as new transcripts. Based on protein-coding capacity prediction and comparative analysis of sequence similarity, 246 transcripts were classified as portions of unannotated genes or incompletely annotated genes. Another 1,520 transcripts were predicted with high confidence to be long non-coding RNAs. Our analysis also revealed 334 new transcripts that displayed specific expression in ruminants and uncovered a number of new transcripts without intergenus homology but with specific expression in sheep skeletal muscle. The results confirmed a complex transcript pattern of coding and non-coding RNA in sheep skeletal muscle. This study provided important information concerning the sheep genome and transcriptome annotation, which could provide a basis for further study.

Genome-wide analysis of poly(A) site selection in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

KAUST Repository

Schlackow, M.

2013-10-23

Polyadenylation of pre-mRNAs, a critical step in eukaryotic gene expression, is mediated by cis elements collectively called the polyadenylation signal. Genome-wide analysis of such polyadenylation signals was missing in fission yeast, even though it is an important model organism. We demonstrate that the canonical AATAAA motif is the most frequent and functional polyadenylation signal in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Using analysis of RNA-Seq data sets from cells grown under various physiological conditions, we identify 3\\' UTRs for nearly 90% of the yeast genes. Heterogeneity of cleavage sites is common, as is alternative polyadenylation within and between conditions. We validated the computationally identified sequence elements likely to promote polyadenylation by functional assays, including qRT-PCR and 3\\'RACE analysis. The biological importance of the AATAAA motif is underlined by functional analysis of the genes containing it. Furthermore, it has been shown that convergent genes require trans elements, like cohesin for efficient transcription termination. Here we show that convergent genes lacking cohesin (on chromosome 2) are generally associated with longer overlapping mRNA transcripts. Our bioinformatic and experimental genome-wide results are summarized and can be accessed and customized in a user-friendly database Pomb(A).

Genome-wide analysis of poly(A) site selection in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

KAUST Repository

Schlackow, M.; Marguerat, S.; Proudfoot, N. J.; Bahler, J.; Erban, R.; Gullerova, M.

2013-01-01

Polyadenylation of pre-mRNAs, a critical step in eukaryotic gene expression, is mediated by cis elements collectively called the polyadenylation signal. Genome-wide analysis of such polyadenylation signals was missing in fission yeast, even though it is an important model organism. We demonstrate that the canonical AATAAA motif is the most frequent and functional polyadenylation signal in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Using analysis of RNA-Seq data sets from cells grown under various physiological conditions, we identify 3' UTRs for nearly 90% of the yeast genes. Heterogeneity of cleavage sites is common, as is alternative polyadenylation within and between conditions. We validated the computationally identified sequence elements likely to promote polyadenylation by functional assays, including qRT-PCR and 3'RACE analysis. The biological importance of the AATAAA motif is underlined by functional analysis of the genes containing it. Furthermore, it has been shown that convergent genes require trans elements, like cohesin for efficient transcription termination. Here we show that convergent genes lacking cohesin (on chromosome 2) are generally associated with longer overlapping mRNA transcripts. Our bioinformatic and experimental genome-wide results are summarized and can be accessed and customized in a user-friendly database Pomb(A).

Analysis of transcript and protein overlap in a human osteosarcoma cell line

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Emanuelsson Olof

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background An interesting field of research in genomics and proteomics is to compare the overlap between the transcriptome and the proteome. Recently, the tools to analyse gene and protein expression on a whole-genome scale have been improved, including the availability of the new generation sequencing instruments and high-throughput antibody-based methods to analyze the presence and localization of proteins. In this study, we used massive transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq to investigate the transcriptome of a human osteosarcoma cell line and compared the expression levels with in situ protein data obtained in-situ from antibody-based immunohistochemistry (IHC and immunofluorescence microscopy (IF. Results A large-scale analysis based on 2749 genes was performed, corresponding to approximately 13% of the protein coding genes in the human genome. We found the presence of both RNA and proteins to a large fraction of the analyzed genes with 60% of the analyzed human genes detected by all three methods. Only 34 genes (1.2% were not detected on the transcriptional or protein level with any method. Our data suggest that the majority of the human genes are expressed at detectable transcript or protein levels in this cell line. Since the reliability of antibodies depends on possible cross-reactivity, we compared the RNA and protein data using antibodies with different reliability scores based on various criteria, including Western blot analysis. Gene products detected in all three platforms generally have good antibody validation scores, while those detected only by antibodies, but not by RNA sequencing, generally consist of more low-scoring antibodies. Conclusion This suggests that some antibodies are staining the cells in an unspecific manner, and that assessment of transcript presence by RNA-seq can provide guidance for validation of the corresponding antibodies.

A hyperactive transcriptional state marks genome reactivation at the mitosis-G1 transition.

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Hsiung, Chris C-S; Bartman, Caroline R; Huang, Peng; Ginart, Paul; Stonestrom, Aaron J; Keller, Cheryl A; Face, Carolyne; Jahn, Kristen S; Evans, Perry; Sankaranarayanan, Laavanya; Giardine, Belinda; Hardison, Ross C; Raj, Arjun; Blobel, Gerd A

2016-06-15

During mitosis, RNA polymerase II (Pol II) and many transcription factors dissociate from chromatin, and transcription ceases globally. Transcription is known to restart in bulk by telophase, but whether de novo transcription at the mitosis-G1 transition is in any way distinct from later in interphase remains unknown. We tracked Pol II occupancy genome-wide in mammalian cells progressing from mitosis through late G1. Unexpectedly, during the earliest rounds of transcription at the mitosis-G1 transition, ∼50% of active genes and distal enhancers exhibit a spike in transcription, exceeding levels observed later in G1 phase. Enhancer-promoter chromatin contacts are depleted during mitosis and restored rapidly upon G1 entry but do not spike. Of the chromatin-associated features examined, histone H3 Lys27 acetylation levels at individual loci in mitosis best predict the mitosis-G1 transcriptional spike. Single-molecule RNA imaging supports that the mitosis-G1 transcriptional spike can constitute the maximum transcriptional activity per DNA copy throughout the cell division cycle. The transcriptional spike occurs heterogeneously and propagates to cell-to-cell differences in mature mRNA expression. Our results raise the possibility that passage through the mitosis-G1 transition might predispose cells to diverge in gene expression states. © 2016 Hsiung et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Genome-wide transcriptional responses of Alteromonas naphthalenivorans SN2 to contaminated seawater and marine tidal flat sediment.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Hyun Mi; Jeong, Hye Im; Kim, Kyung Hyun; Hahn, Yoonsoo; Madsen, Eugene L; Jeon, Che Ok

2016-02-18

A genome-wide transcriptional analysis of Alteromonas naphthalenivorans SN2 was performed to investigate its ecophysiological behavior in contaminated tidal flats and seawater. The experimental design mimicked these habitats that either added naphthalene or pyruvate; tidal flat-naphthalene (TF-N), tidal flat-pyruvate (TF-P), seawater-naphthalene (SW-N), and seawater-pyruvate (SW-P). The transcriptional profiles clustered by habitat (TF-N/TF-P and SW-N/SW-P), rather than carbon source, suggesting that the former may exert a greater influence on genome-wide expression in strain SN2 than the latter. Metabolic mapping of cDNA reads from strain SN2 based on KEGG pathway showed that metabolic and regulatory genes associated with energy metabolism, translation, and cell motility were highly expressed in all four test conditions, probably highlighting the copiotrophic properties of strain SN2 as an opportunistic marine r-strategist. Differential gene expression analysis revealed that strain SN2 displayed specific cellular responses to environmental variables (tidal flat, seawater, naphthalene, and pyruvate) and exhibited certain ecological fitness traits -- its notable PAH degradation capability in seasonally cold tidal flat might be reflected in elevated expression of stress response and chaperone proteins, while fast growth in nitrogen-deficient and aerobic seawater probably correlated with high expression of glutamine synthetase, enzymes utilizing nitrite/nitrate, and those involved in the removal of reactive oxygen species.

Transcription regulatory networks analysis using CAGE

KAUST Repository

Tegnér, Jesper N.

2009-10-01

Mapping out cellular networks in general and transcriptional networks in particular has proved to be a bottle-neck hampering our understanding of biological processes. Integrative approaches fusing computational and experimental technologies for decoding transcriptional networks at a high level of resolution is therefore of uttermost importance. Yet, this is challenging since the control of gene expression in eukaryotes is a complex multi-level process influenced by several epigenetic factors and the fine interplay between regulatory proteins and the promoter structure governing the combinatorial regulation of gene expression. In this chapter we review how the CAGE data can be integrated with other measurements such as expression, physical interactions and computational prediction of regulatory motifs, which together can provide a genome-wide picture of eukaryotic transcriptional regulatory networks at a new level of resolution. © 2010 by Pan Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved.

Specificity and robustness in transcription control networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Sengupta, Anirvan M; Djordjevic, Marko; Shraiman, Boris I

2002-02-19

Recognition by transcription factors of the regulatory DNA elements upstream of genes is the fundamental step in controlling gene expression. How does the necessity to provide stability with respect to mutation constrain the organization of transcription control networks? We examine the mutation load of a transcription factor interacting with a set of n regulatory response elements as a function of the factor/DNA binding specificity and conclude on theoretical grounds that the optimal specificity decreases with n. The predicted correlation between variability of binding sites (for a given transcription factor) and their number is supported by the genomic data for Escherichia coli. The analysis of E. coli genomic data was carried out using an algorithm suggested by the biophysical model of transcription factor/DNA binding. Complete results of the search for candidate transcription factor binding sites are available at http://www.physics.rockefeller.edu/~boris/public/search_ecoli.

Induced Genome-Wide Binding of Three Arabidopsis WRKY Transcription Factors during Early MAMP-Triggered Immunity.

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Birkenbihl, Rainer P; Kracher, Barbara; Somssich, Imre E

2017-01-01

During microbial-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity (MTI), molecules derived from microbes are perceived by cell surface receptors and upon signaling to the nucleus initiate a massive transcriptional reprogramming critical to mount an appropriate host defense response. WRKY transcription factors play an important role in regulating these transcriptional processes. Here, we determined on a genome-wide scale the flg22-induced in vivo DNA binding dynamics of three of the most prominent WRKY factors, WRKY18, WRKY40, and WRKY33. The three WRKY factors each bound to more than 1000 gene loci predominantly at W-box elements, the known WRKY binding motif. Binding occurred mainly in the 500-bp promoter regions of these genes. Many of the targeted genes are involved in signal perception and transduction not only during MTI but also upon damage-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity, providing a mechanistic link between these functionally interconnected basal defense pathways. Among the additional targets were genes involved in the production of indolic secondary metabolites and in modulating distinct plant hormone pathways. Importantly, among the targeted genes were numerous transcription factors, encoding predominantly ethylene response factors, active during early MTI, and WRKY factors, supporting the previously hypothesized existence of a WRKY subregulatory network. Transcriptional analysis revealed that WRKY18 and WRKY40 function redundantly as negative regulators of flg22-induced genes often to prevent exaggerated defense responses. © 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

Transcriptional and Genomic Targets of Neural Stem Cells for Functional Recovery after Hemorrhagic Stroke

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Le Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Hemorrhagic stroke is a life-threatening disease characterized by a sudden rupture of cerebral blood vessels, and it is widely believed that neural cell death occurs after exposure to blood metabolites or subsequently damaged cells. Neural stem cells (NSCs, which maintain neurogenesis and are found in subgranular zone and subventricular zone, are thought to be an endogenous neuroprotective mechanism for these brain injuries. However, due to the complexity of NSCs and their microenvironment, current strategies cannot satisfactorily enhance functional recovery after hemorrhagic stroke. It is well known that transcriptional and genomic pathways play important roles in ensuring the normal functions of NSCs, including proliferation, migration, differentiation, and neural reconnection. Recently, emerging evidence from the use of new technologies such as next-generation sequencing and transcriptome profiling has provided insight into our understanding of genomic function and regulation of NSCs. In the present article, we summarize and present the current data on the control of NSCs at both the transcriptional and genomic levels. Using bioinformatics methods, we sought to predict novel therapeutic targets of endogenous neurogenesis and exogenous NSC transplantation for functional recovery after hemorrhagic stroke, which could also advance our understanding of its pathophysiology.

Papillomavirus genomes in human cervical carcinoma: Analysis of their integration and transcriptional activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matulic, M.; Soric, J.

1994-01-01

Eighty-four biopsies derived from cervical tissues were analyzed for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA types 6, 16 and 18 using Southern blot hybridization. HPV 6 was found in none of the cervical biopsies, and HPV types 16 and 18 were found in 44% of them. The rate of HPV 16/18 positive samples increased proportionally to the severity of the lesion. In normal tissue there were no positive samples, in mild and moderate dysplasia HPV 16/18 was present in 20% and in severe dysplasia and invasive carcinomas in 37 and 50%, respectively. In biopsies from 13 cases with squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix and CIN III lesions HPV 16 was integrated within the host genome. It was concluded that the virus could be integrated at variable, presumably randomly selected chromosomal loci and with different number of copies. Transcription of HPV 16 and 18 was detected in one cervical cancer in HeLa cells, respectively. These results imply that HPV types 16 and 18 play an etiological role in the carcinogenesis of human cervical epithelial cells. (author)

A cysteine protease (cathepsin Z) from disk abalone, Haliotis discus discus: Genomic characterization and transcriptional profiling during bacterial infections.

Science.gov (United States)

Godahewa, G I; Perera, N C N; Lee, Sukkyoung; Kim, Myoung-Jin; Lee, Jehee

2017-09-05

Cathepsin Z (CTSZ) is lysosomal cysteine protease of the papain superfamily. It participates in the host immune defense via phagocytosis, signal transduction, cell-cell communication, proliferation, and migration of immune cells such as monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Hence, CTSZ is also acknowledged as an acute-phase protein in host immunity. In this study, we sought to identify the CTSZ homolog from disk abalone (AbCTSZ) and characterize it at the molecular, genomic, and transcriptional levels. AbCTSZ encodes a protein with 318 amino acids and a molecular mass of 36kDa. The structure of AbCTSZ reveals amino acid sequences that are characteristic of the signal sequence, pro-peptide, peptidase-C1 papain family cysteine protease domain, mini-loop, HIP motif, N-linked glycosylation sites, active sites, and conserved Cys residues. A pairwise comparison revealed that AbCTSZ shared the highest amino acid homology with its molluscan counterpart from Crassostrea gigas. A multiple alignment analysis revealed the conservation of functionally crucial elements of AbCTSZ, and a phylogenetic study further confirmed a proximal evolutionary relationship with its invertebrate counterparts. Further, an analysis of AbCTSZ genomic structure revealed seven exons separated by six introns, which differs from that of its vertebrate counterparts. Quantitative real time PCR (qPCR) detected the transcripts of AbCTSZ in early developmental stages and in eight different tissues. Higher levels of AbCTSZ transcripts were found in trochophore, gill, and hemocytes, highlighting its importance in the early development and immunity of disk abalone. In addition, we found that viable bacteria (Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Listeria monocytogenes) and bacterial lipopolysaccharides significantly modulated AbCTSZ transcription. Collectively, these lines of evidences suggest that AbCTSZ plays an indispensable role in the innate immunity of disk abalone. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier

Strawberry: Fast and accurate genome-guided transcript reconstruction and quantification from RNA-Seq.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ruolin; Dickerson, Julie

2017-11-01

We propose a novel method and software tool, Strawberry, for transcript reconstruction and quantification from RNA-Seq data under the guidance of genome alignment and independent of gene annotation. Strawberry consists of two modules: assembly and quantification. The novelty of Strawberry is that the two modules use different optimization frameworks but utilize the same data graph structure, which allows a highly efficient, expandable and accurate algorithm for dealing large data. The assembly module parses aligned reads into splicing graphs, and uses network flow algorithms to select the most likely transcripts. The quantification module uses a latent class model to assign read counts from the nodes of splicing graphs to transcripts. Strawberry simultaneously estimates the transcript abundances and corrects for sequencing bias through an EM algorithm. Based on simulations, Strawberry outperforms Cufflinks and StringTie in terms of both assembly and quantification accuracies. Under the evaluation of a real data set, the estimated transcript expression by Strawberry has the highest correlation with Nanostring probe counts, an independent experiment measure for transcript expression. Strawberry is written in C++14, and is available as open source software at https://github.com/ruolin/strawberry under the MIT license.

Identification of transcriptional signals in Encephalitozoon cuniculi widespread among Microsporidia phylum: support for accurate structural genome annotation

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Wincker Patrick

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Microsporidia are obligate intracellular eukaryotic parasites with genomes ranging in size from 2.3 Mbp to more than 20 Mbp. The extremely small (2.9 Mbp and highly compact (~1 gene/kb genome of the human parasite Encephalitozoon cuniculi has been fully sequenced. The aim of this study was to characterize noncoding motifs that could be involved in regulation of gene expression in E. cuniculi and to show whether these motifs are conserved among the phylum Microsporidia. Results To identify such signals, 5' and 3'RACE-PCR experiments were performed on different E. cuniculi mRNAs. This analysis confirmed that transcription overrun occurs in E. cuniculi and may result from stochastic recognition of the AAUAAA polyadenylation signal. Such experiments also showed highly reduced 5'UTR's (E. cuniculi genes presented a CCC-like motif immediately upstream from the coding start. To characterize other signals involved in differential transcriptional regulation, we then focused our attention on the gene family coding for ribosomal proteins. An AAATTT-like signal was identified upstream from the CCC-like motif. In rare cases the cytosine triplet was shown to be substituted by a GGG-like motif. Comparative genomic studies confirmed that these different signals are also located upstream from genes encoding ribosomal proteins in other microsporidian species including Antonospora locustae, Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Anncaliia algerae (syn. Brachiola algerae and Nosema ceranae. Based on these results a systematic analysis of the ~2000 E. cuniculi coding DNA sequences was then performed and brings to highlight that 364 translation initiation codons (18.29% of total CDSs had been badly predicted. Conclusion We identified various signals involved in the maturation of E. cuniculi mRNAs. Presence of such signals, in phylogenetically distant microsporidian species, suggests that a common regulatory mechanism exists among the microsporidia. Furthermore

Integrative Genomics Reveals Mechanisms of Copy Number Alterations Responsible for Transcriptional Deregulation in Colorectal Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Camps, Jordi; Nguyen, Quang Tri; Padilla-Nash, Hesed M.; Knutsen, Turid; McNeil, Nicole E.; Wangsa, Danny; Hummon, Amanda B.; Grade, Marian; Ried, Thomas; Difilippantonio, Michael J.

2016-01-01

To evaluate the mechanisms and consequences of chromosomal aberrations in colorectal cancer (CRC), we used a combination of spectral karyotyping, array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), and array-based global gene expression profiling on 31 primary carcinomas and 15 established cell lines. Importantly, aCGH showed that the genomic profiles of primary tumors are recapitulated in the cell lines. We revealed a preponderance of chromosome breakpoints at sites of copy number variants (CNVs) in the CRC cell lines, a novel mechanism of DNA breakage in cancer. The integration of gene expression and aCGH led to the identification of 157 genes localized within high-level copy number changes whose transcriptional deregulation was significantly affected across all of the samples, thereby suggesting that these genes play a functional role in CRC. Genomic amplification at 8q24 was the most recurrent event and led to the overexpression of MYC and FAM84B. Copy number dependent gene expression resulted in deregulation of known cancer genes such as APC, FGFR2, and ERBB2. The identification of only 36 genes whose localization near a breakpoint could account for their observed deregulated expression demonstrates that the major mechanism for transcriptional deregulation in CRC is genomic copy number changes resulting from chromosomal aberrations. PMID:19691111

Comparative Genomics of NAC Transcriptional Factors in Angiosperms: Implications for the Adaptation and Diversification of Flowering Plants

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira-Santana, Alejandro; Alcaraz, Luis David; Castaño, Enrique; Sanchez-Calderon, Lenin; Sanchez-Teyer, Felipe; Rodriguez-Zapata, Luis

2015-01-01

NAC proteins constitute one of the largest groups of plant-specific transcription factors and are known to play essential roles in various developmental processes. They are also important in plant responses to stresses such as drought, soil salinity, cold, and heat, which adversely affect growth. The current knowledge regarding the distribution of NAC proteins in plant lineages comes from relatively small samplings from the available data. In the present study, we broadened the number of plant species containing the NAC family origin and evolution to shed new light on the evolutionary history of this family in angiosperms. A comparative genome analysis was performed on 24 land plant species, and NAC ortholog groups were identified by means of bidirectional BLAST hits. Large NAC gene families are found in those species that have experienced more whole-genome duplication events, pointing to an expansion of the NAC family with divergent functions in flowering plants. A total of 3,187 NAC transcription factors that clustered into six major groups were used in the phylogenetic analysis. Many orthologous groups were found in the monocot and eudicot lineages, but only five orthologous groups were found between P. patens and each representative taxa of flowering plants. These groups were called basal orthologous groups and likely expanded into more recent taxa to cope with their environmental needs. This analysis on the angiosperm NAC family represents an effort to grasp the evolutionary and functional diversity within this gene family while providing a basis for further functional research on vascular plant gene families. PMID:26569117

Comparative Genomics of NAC Transcriptional Factors in Angiosperms: Implications for the Adaptation and Diversification of Flowering Plants.

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Alejandro Pereira-Santana

Full Text Available NAC proteins constitute one of the largest groups of plant-specific transcription factors and are known to play essential roles in various developmental processes. They are also important in plant responses to stresses such as drought, soil salinity, cold, and heat, which adversely affect growth. The current knowledge regarding the distribution of NAC proteins in plant lineages comes from relatively small samplings from the available data. In the present study, we broadened the number of plant species containing the NAC family origin and evolution to shed new light on the evolutionary history of this family in angiosperms. A comparative genome analysis was performed on 24 land plant species, and NAC ortholog groups were identified by means of bidirectional BLAST hits. Large NAC gene families are found in those species that have experienced more whole-genome duplication events, pointing to an expansion of the NAC family with divergent functions in flowering plants. A total of 3,187 NAC transcription factors that clustered into six major groups were used in the phylogenetic analysis. Many orthologous groups were found in the monocot and eudicot lineages, but only five orthologous groups were found between P. patens and each representative taxa of flowering plants. These groups were called basal orthologous groups and likely expanded into more recent taxa to cope with their environmental needs. This analysis on the angiosperm NAC family represents an effort to grasp the evolutionary and functional diversity within this gene family while providing a basis for further functional research on vascular plant gene families.

Downstream Antisense Transcription Predicts Genomic Features That Define the Specific Chromatin Environment at Mammalian Promoters.

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Christopher A Lavender

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Antisense transcription is a prevalent feature at mammalian promoters. Previous studies have primarily focused on antisense transcription initiating upstream of genes. Here, we characterize promoter-proximal antisense transcription downstream of gene transcription starts sites in human breast cancer cells, investigating the genomic context of downstream antisense transcription. We find extensive correlations between antisense transcription and features associated with the chromatin environment at gene promoters. Antisense transcription downstream of promoters is widespread, with antisense transcription initiation observed within 2 kb of 28% of gene transcription start sites. Antisense transcription initiates between nucleosomes regularly positioned downstream of these promoters. The nucleosomes between gene and downstream antisense transcription start sites carry histone modifications associated with active promoters, such as H3K4me3 and H3K27ac. This region is bound by chromatin remodeling and histone modifying complexes including SWI/SNF subunits and HDACs, suggesting that antisense transcription or resulting RNA transcripts contribute to the creation and maintenance of a promoter-associated chromatin environment. Downstream antisense transcription overlays additional regulatory features, such as transcription factor binding, DNA accessibility, and the downstream edge of promoter-associated CpG islands. These features suggest an important role for antisense transcription in the regulation of gene expression and the maintenance of a promoter-associated chromatin environment.

Genome-scale transcriptional activation by an engineered CRISPR-Cas9 complex.

Science.gov (United States)

Konermann, Silvana; Brigham, Mark D; Trevino, Alexandro E; Joung, Julia; Abudayyeh, Omar O; Barcena, Clea; Hsu, Patrick D; Habib, Naomi; Gootenberg, Jonathan S; Nishimasu, Hiroshi; Nureki, Osamu; Zhang, Feng

2015-01-29

Systematic interrogation of gene function requires the ability to perturb gene expression in a robust and generalizable manner. Here we describe structure-guided engineering of a CRISPR-Cas9 complex to mediate efficient transcriptional activation at endogenous genomic loci. We used these engineered Cas9 activation complexes to investigate single-guide RNA (sgRNA) targeting rules for effective transcriptional activation, to demonstrate multiplexed activation of ten genes simultaneously, and to upregulate long intergenic non-coding RNA (lincRNA) transcripts. We also synthesized a library consisting of 70,290 guides targeting all human RefSeq coding isoforms to screen for genes that, upon activation, confer resistance to a BRAF inhibitor. The top hits included genes previously shown to be able to confer resistance, and novel candidates were validated using individual sgRNA and complementary DNA overexpression. A gene expression signature based on the top screening hits correlated with markers of BRAF inhibitor resistance in cell lines and patient-derived samples. These results collectively demonstrate the potential of Cas9-based activators as a powerful genetic perturbation technology.

Transcriptional interference networks coordinate the expression of functionally related genes clustered in the same genomic loci.

Science.gov (United States)

Boldogköi, Zsolt

2012-01-01

The regulation of gene expression is essential for normal functioning of biological systems in every form of life. Gene expression is primarily controlled at the level of transcription, especially at the phase of initiation. Non-coding RNAs are one of the major players at every level of genetic regulation, including the control of chromatin organization, transcription, various post-transcriptional processes, and translation. In this study, the Transcriptional Interference Network (TIN) hypothesis was put forward in an attempt to explain the global expression of antisense RNAs and the overall occurrence of tandem gene clusters in the genomes of various biological systems ranging from viruses to mammalian cells. The TIN hypothesis suggests the existence of a novel layer of genetic regulation, based on the interactions between the transcriptional machineries of neighboring genes at their overlapping regions, which are assumed to play a fundamental role in coordinating gene expression within a cluster of functionally linked genes. It is claimed that the transcriptional overlaps between adjacent genes are much more widespread in genomes than is thought today. The Waterfall model of the TIN hypothesis postulates a unidirectional effect of upstream genes on the transcription of downstream genes within a cluster of tandemly arrayed genes, while the Seesaw model proposes a mutual interdependence of gene expression between the oppositely oriented genes. The TIN represents an auto-regulatory system with an exquisitely timed and highly synchronized cascade of gene expression in functionally linked genes located in close physical proximity to each other. In this study, we focused on herpesviruses. The reason for this lies in the compressed nature of viral genes, which allows a tight regulation and an easier investigation of the transcriptional interactions between genes. However, I believe that the same or similar principles can be applied to cellular organisms too.

Transcriptional interference networks coordinate the expression of functionally-related genes clustered in the same genomic loci

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Zsolt eBoldogkoi

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The regulation of gene expression is essential for normal functioning of biological systems in every form of life. Gene expression is primarily controlled at the level of transcription, especially at the phase of initiation. Non-coding RNAs are one of the major players at every level of genetic regulation, including the control of chromatin organisation, transcription, various post-transcriptional processes and translation. In this study, the Transcriptional Interference Network (TIN hypothesis was put forward in an attempt to explain the global expression of antisense RNAs and the overall occurrence of tandem gene clusters in the genomes of various biological systems ranging from viruses to mammalian cells. The TIN hypothesis suggests the existence of a novel layer of genetic regulation, based on the interactions between the transcriptional machineries of neighbouring genes at their overlapping regions, which are assumed to play a fundamental role in coordinating gene expression within a cluster of functionally-linked genes. It is claimed that the transcriptional overlaps between adjacent genes are much more widespread in genomes than is thought today. The Waterfall model of the TIN hypothesis postulates a unidirectional effect of upstream genes on the transcription of downstream genes within a cluster of tandemly-arrayed genes, while the Seesaw model proposes a mutual interdependence of gene expression between the oppositely-oriented genes. The TIN represents an auto-regulatory system with an exquisitely timed and highly synchronised cascade of gene expression in functionally-linked genes located in close physical proximity to each other. In this study, we focused on herpesviruses. The reason for this lies in the compressed nature of viral genes, which allows a tight regulation and an easier investigation of the transcriptional interactions between genes. However, I believe that the same or similar principles can be applied to cellular

Raalin, a transcript enriched in the honey bee brain, is a remnant of genomic rearrangement in Hymenoptera.

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Tirosh, Y; Morpurgo, N; Cohen, M; Linial, M; Bloch, G

2012-06-01

We identified a predicted compact cysteine-rich sequence in the honey bee genome that we called 'Raalin'. Raalin transcripts are enriched in the brain of adult honey bee workers and drones, with only minimum expression in other tissues or in pre-adult stages. Open-reading frame (ORF) homologues of Raalin were identified in the transcriptomes of fruit flies, mosquitoes and moths. The Raalin-like gene from Drosophila melanogaster encodes for a short secreted protein that is maximally expressed in the adult brain with negligible expression in other tissues or pre-imaginal stages. Raalin-like sequences have also been found in the recently sequenced genomes of six ant species, but not in the jewel wasp Nasonia vitripennis. As in the honey bee, the Raalin-like sequences of ants do not have an ORF. A comparison of the genome region containing Raalin in the genomes of bees, ants and the wasp provides evolutionary support for an extensive genome rearrangement in this sequence. Our analyses identify a new family of ancient cysteine-rich short sequences in insects in which insertions and genome rearrangements may have disrupted this locus in the branch leading to the Hymenoptera. The regulated expression of this transcript suggests that it has a brain-specific function. © 2012 The Authors. Insect Molecular Biology © 2012 The Royal Entomological Society.

Prevalence of transcription promoters within archaeal operons and coding sequences.

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Koide, Tie; Reiss, David J; Bare, J Christopher; Pang, Wyming Lee; Facciotti, Marc T; Schmid, Amy K; Pan, Min; Marzolf, Bruz; Van, Phu T; Lo, Fang-Yin; Pratap, Abhishek; Deutsch, Eric W; Peterson, Amelia; Martin, Dan; Baliga, Nitin S

2009-01-01

Despite the knowledge of complex prokaryotic-transcription mechanisms, generalized rules, such as the simplified organization of genes into operons with well-defined promoters and terminators, have had a significant role in systems analysis of regulatory logic in both bacteria and archaea. Here, we have investigated the prevalence of alternate regulatory mechanisms through genome-wide characterization of transcript structures of approximately 64% of all genes, including putative non-coding RNAs in Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1. Our integrative analysis of transcriptome dynamics and protein-DNA interaction data sets showed widespread environment-dependent modulation of operon architectures, transcription initiation and termination inside coding sequences, and extensive overlap in 3' ends of transcripts for many convergently transcribed genes. A significant fraction of these alternate transcriptional events correlate to binding locations of 11 transcription factors and regulators (TFs) inside operons and annotated genes-events usually considered spurious or non-functional. Using experimental validation, we illustrate the prevalence of overlapping genomic signals in archaeal transcription, casting doubt on the general perception of rigid boundaries between coding sequences and regulatory elements.

Transcription Profiling Demonstrates Epigenetic Control of Non-retroviral RNA Virus-Derived Elements in the Human Genome

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Kozue Sofuku

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Endogenous bornavirus-like nucleoprotein elements (EBLNs are DNA sequences in vertebrate genomes formed by the retrotransposon-mediated integration of ancient bornavirus sequence. Thus, EBLNs evidence a mechanism of retrotransposon-mediated RNA-to-DNA information flow from environment to animals. Although EBLNs are non-transposable, they share some features with retrotransposons. Here, to test whether hosts control the expression of EBLNs similarly to retrotransposons, we profiled the transcription of all Homo sapiens EBLNs (hsEBLN-1 to hsEBLN-7. We could detect transcription of all hsEBLNs in at least one tissue. Among them, hsEBLN-1 is transcribed almost exclusively in the testis. In most tissues, expression from the hsEBLN-1 locus is silenced epigenetically. Finally, we showed the possibility that hsEBLN-1 integration at this locus affects the expression of a neighboring gene. Our results suggest that hosts regulate the expression of endogenous non-retroviral virus elements similarly to how they regulate the expression of retrotransposons, possibly contributing to new transcripts and regulatory complexity to the human genome.

Versatile Gene-Specific Sequence Tags for Arabidopsis Functional Genomics: Transcript Profiling and Reverse Genetics Applications

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Hilson, Pierre; Allemeersch, Joke; Altmann, Thomas; Aubourg, Sébastien; Avon, Alexandra; Beynon, Jim; Bhalerao, Rishikesh P.; Bitton, Frédérique; Caboche, Michel; Cannoot, Bernard; Chardakov, Vasil; Cognet-Holliger, Cécile; Colot, Vincent; Crowe, Mark; Darimont, Caroline; Durinck, Steffen; Eickhoff, Holger; de Longevialle, Andéol Falcon; Farmer, Edward E.; Grant, Murray; Kuiper, Martin T.R.; Lehrach, Hans; Léon, Céline; Leyva, Antonio; Lundeberg, Joakim; Lurin, Claire; Moreau, Yves; Nietfeld, Wilfried; Paz-Ares, Javier; Reymond, Philippe; Rouzé, Pierre; Sandberg, Goran; Segura, Maria Dolores; Serizet, Carine; Tabrett, Alexandra; Taconnat, Ludivine; Thareau, Vincent; Van Hummelen, Paul; Vercruysse, Steven; Vuylsteke, Marnik; Weingartner, Magdalena; Weisbeek, Peter J.; Wirta, Valtteri; Wittink, Floyd R.A.; Zabeau, Marc; Small, Ian

2004-01-01

Microarray transcript profiling and RNA interference are two new technologies crucial for large-scale gene function studies in multicellular eukaryotes. Both rely on sequence-specific hybridization between complementary nucleic acid strands, inciting us to create a collection of gene-specific sequence tags (GSTs) representing at least 21,500 Arabidopsis genes and which are compatible with both approaches. The GSTs were carefully selected to ensure that each of them shared no significant similarity with any other region in the Arabidopsis genome. They were synthesized by PCR amplification from genomic DNA. Spotted microarrays fabricated from the GSTs show good dynamic range, specificity, and sensitivity in transcript profiling experiments. The GSTs have also been transferred to bacterial plasmid vectors via recombinational cloning protocols. These cloned GSTs constitute the ideal starting point for a variety of functional approaches, including reverse genetics. We have subcloned GSTs on a large scale into vectors designed for gene silencing in plant cells. We show that in planta expression of GST hairpin RNA results in the expected phenotypes in silenced Arabidopsis lines. These versatile GST resources provide novel and powerful tools for functional genomics. PMID:15489341

Genome-wide Reconstruction of OxyR and SoxRS Transcriptional Regulatory Networks under Oxidative Stress in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seo, Sang Woo; Kim, Donghyuk; Szubin, Richard

2015-01-01

Three transcription factors (TFs), OxyR, SoxR, and SoxS, play a critical role in transcriptional regulation of the defense system for oxidative stress in bacteria. However, their full genome-wide regulatory potential is unknown. Here, we perform a genome-scale reconstruction of the OxyR, SoxR, an...

Genome-Wide Spectra of Transcription Insertions and Deletions Reveal That Slippage Depends on RNA:DNA Hybrid Complementarity.

Science.gov (United States)

Traverse, Charles C; Ochman, Howard

2017-08-29

Advances in sequencing technologies have enabled direct quantification of genome-wide errors that occur during RNA transcription. These errors occur at rates that are orders of magnitude higher than rates during DNA replication, but due to technical difficulties such measurements have been limited to single-base substitutions and have not yet quantified the scope of transcription insertions and deletions. Previous reporter gene assay findings suggested that transcription indels are produced exclusively by elongation complex slippage at homopolymeric runs, so we enumerated indels across the protein-coding transcriptomes of Escherichia coli and Buchnera aphidicola , which differ widely in their genomic base compositions and incidence of repeat regions. As anticipated from prior assays, transcription insertions prevailed in homopolymeric runs of A and T; however, transcription deletions arose in much more complex sequences and were rarely associated with homopolymeric runs. By reconstructing the relocated positions of the elongation complex as inferred from the sequences inserted or deleted during transcription, we show that continuation of transcription after slippage hinges on the degree of nucleotide complementarity within the RNA:DNA hybrid at the new DNA template location. IMPORTANCE The high level of mistakes generated during transcription can result in the accumulation of malfunctioning and misfolded proteins which can alter global gene regulation and in the expenditure of energy to degrade these nonfunctional proteins. The transcriptome-wide occurrence of base substitutions has been elucidated in bacteria, but information on transcription insertions and deletions-errors that potentially have more dire effects on protein function-is limited to reporter gene constructs. Here, we capture the transcriptome-wide spectrum of insertions and deletions in Escherichia coli and Buchnera aphidicola and show that they occur at rates approaching those of base substitutions

Genome-wide mapping of transcription start sites yields novel insights into the primary transcriptome of Pseudomonas putida

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

D'Arrigo, Isotta; Bojanovic, Klara; Yang, Xiaochen

2016-01-01

was examined using an in vivo assay with GFP-fusion vectors and shown to function via a translational repression mechanism. Furthermore, 56 novel intergenic small RNAs and 8 putative actuaton transcripts were detected, as well as 8 novel open reading frames (ORFs). This study illustrates how global mapping...... of TSSs can yield novel insights into the transcriptional features and RNA output of bacterial genomes....

Genomic dissection of conserved transcriptional regulation in intestinal epithelial cells.

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Colin R Lickwar

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The intestinal epithelium serves critical physiologic functions that are shared among all vertebrates. However, it is unknown how the transcriptional regulatory mechanisms underlying these functions have changed over the course of vertebrate evolution. We generated genome-wide mRNA and accessible chromatin data from adult intestinal epithelial cells (IECs in zebrafish, stickleback, mouse, and human species to determine if conserved IEC functions are achieved through common transcriptional regulation. We found evidence for substantial common regulation and conservation of gene expression regionally along the length of the intestine from fish to mammals and identified a core set of genes comprising a vertebrate IEC signature. We also identified transcriptional start sites and other putative regulatory regions that are differentially accessible in IECs in all 4 species. Although these sites rarely showed sequence conservation from fish to mammals, surprisingly, they drove highly conserved IEC expression in a zebrafish reporter assay. Common putative transcription factor binding sites (TFBS found at these sites in multiple species indicate that sequence conservation alone is insufficient to identify much of the functionally conserved IEC regulatory information. Among the rare, highly sequence-conserved, IEC-specific regulatory regions, we discovered an ancient enhancer upstream from her6/HES1 that is active in a distinct population of Notch-positive cells in the intestinal epithelium. Together, these results show how combining accessible chromatin and mRNA datasets with TFBS prediction and in vivo reporter assays can reveal tissue-specific regulatory information conserved across 420 million years of vertebrate evolution. We define an IEC transcriptional regulatory network that is shared between fish and mammals and establish an experimental platform for studying how evolutionarily distilled regulatory information commonly controls IEC development

Transcriptional profiling in response to terminal drought stress reveals differential responses along the wheat genome

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Ferrari Francesco

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Water stress during grain filling has a marked effect on grain yield, leading to a reduced endosperm cell number and thus sink capacity to accumulate dry matter. The bread wheat cultivar Chinese Spring (CS, a Chinese Spring terminal deletion line (CS_5AL-10 and the durum wheat cultivar Creso were subjected to transcriptional profiling after exposure to mild and severe drought stress at the grain filling stage to find evidences of differential stress responses associated to different wheat genome regions. Results The transcriptome analysis of Creso, CS and its deletion line revealed 8,552 non redundant probe sets with different expression levels, mainly due to the comparisons between the two species. The drought treatments modified the expression of 3,056 probe sets. Besides a set of genes showing a similar drought response in Creso and CS, cluster analysis revealed several drought response features that can be associated to the different genomic structure of Creso, CS and CS_5AL-10. Some drought-related genes were expressed at lower level (or not expressed in Creso (which lacks the D genome or in the CS_5AL-10 deletion line compared to CS. The chromosome location of a set of these genes was confirmed by PCR-based mapping on the D genome (or the 5AL-10 region. Many clusters were characterized by different level of expression in Creso, CS and CS_AL-10, suggesting that the different genome organization of the three genotypes may affect plant adaptation to stress. Clusters with similar expression trend were grouped and functional classified to mine the biological mean of their activation or repression. Genes involved in ABA, proline, glycine-betaine and sorbitol pathways were found up-regulated by drought stress. Furthermore, the enhanced expression of a set of transposons and retrotransposons was detected in CS_5AL-10. Conclusion Bread and durum wheat genotypes were characterized by a different physiological reaction to water

Genome-Wide Analysis of the AP2/ERF Transcription Factors Family and the Expression Patterns of DREB Genes in Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis.

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Huili Wu

Full Text Available The AP2/ERF transcription factor family, one of the largest families unique to plants, performs a significant role in terms of regulation of growth and development, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis is a fast-growing non-timber forest species with the highest ecological, economic and social values of all bamboos in Asia. The draft genome of moso bamboo and the available genomes of other plants provide great opportunities to research global information on the AP2/ERF family in moso bamboo. In total, 116 AP2/ERF transcription factors were identified in moso bamboo. The phylogeny analyses indicated that the 116 AP2/ERF genes could be divided into three subfamilies: AP2, RAV and ERF; and the ERF subfamily genes were divided into 11 groups. The gene structures, exons/introns and conserved motifs of the PeAP2/ERF genes were analyzed. Analysis of the evolutionary patterns and divergence showed the PeAP2/ERF genes underwent a large-scale event around 15 million years ago (MYA and the division time of AP2/ERF family genes between rice and moso bamboo was 15-23 MYA. We surveyed the putative promoter regions of the PeDREBs and showed that largely stress-related cis-elements existed in these genes. Further analysis of expression patterns of PeDREBs revealed that the most were strongly induced by drought, low-temperature and/or high salinity stresses in roots and, in contrast, most PeDREB genes had negative functions in leaves under the same respective stresses. In this study there were two main interesting points: there were fewer members of the PeDREB subfamily in moso bamboo than in other plants and there were differences in DREB gene expression profiles between leaves and roots triggered in response to abiotic stress. The information produced from this study may be valuable in overcoming challenges in cultivating moso bamboo.

Mapping 3 ' transcript ends in the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) mitochondrial genome with RNA-Seq

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Marková, Silvia; Filipi, Karolína; Searle, J. B.; Kotlík, Petr

2015-01-01

Roč. 16, č. 870 (2015) ISSN 1471-2164 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP506/11/1872 Institutional support: RVO:67985904 Keywords : bicistronic transcript * mitochondrial genome * Myodes glareolus * transcriptome * polyadenylation * stop codon Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 3.867, year: 2015

Genomic survey of bZIP transcription factor genes related to tanshinone biosynthesis in Salvia miltiorrhiza

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Yu Zhang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Tanshinones are a class of bioactive components in the traditional Chinese medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza, and their biosynthesis and regulation have been widely studied. Current studies show that basic leucine zipper (bZIP proteins regulate plant secondary metabolism, growth and developmental processes. However, the bZIP transcription factors involved in tanshinone biosynthesis are unknown. Here, we conducted the first genome-wide survey of the bZIP gene family and analyzed the phylogeny, gene structure, additional conserved motifs and alternative splicing events in S. miltiorrhiza. A total of 70 SmbZIP transcription factors were identified and categorized into 11 subgroups based on their phylogenetic relationships with those in Arabidopsis. Moreover, seventeen SmbZIP genes underwent alternative splicing events. According to the transcriptomic data, the SmbZIP genes that were highly expressed in the Danshen root and periderm were selected. Based on the prediction of bZIP binding sites in the promoters and the co-expression analysis and co-induction patterns in response to Ag+ treatment via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR, we concluded that SmbZIP7 and SmbZIP20 potentially participate in the regulation of tanshinone biosynthesis. These results provide a foundation for further functional characterization of the candidate SmbZIP genes, which have the potential to increase tanshinone production. KEY WORDS: bZIP genes, Salvia miltiorrhiza, Phylogenetic analysis, Expression pattern analysis, Tanshinone biosynthesis

Genome-wide mapping of boundary element-associated factor (BEAF) binding sites in Drosophila melanogaster links BEAF to transcription.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Nan; Emberly, Eldon; Cuvier, Olivier; Hart, Craig M

2009-07-01

Insulator elements play a role in gene regulation that is potentially linked to nuclear organization. Boundary element-associated factors (BEAFs) 32A and 32B associate with hundreds of sites on Drosophila polytene chromosomes. We hybridized DNA isolated by chromatin immunoprecipitation to genome tiling microarrays to construct a genome-wide map of BEAF binding locations. A distinct difference in the association of 32A and 32B with chromatin was noted. We identified 1,820 BEAF peaks and found that more than 85% were less than 300 bp from transcription start sites. Half are between head-to-head gene pairs. BEAF-associated genes are transcriptionally active as judged by the presence of RNA polymerase II, dimethylated histone H3 K4, and the alternative histone H3.3. Forty percent of these genes are also associated with the polymerase negative elongation factor NELF. Like NELF-associated genes, most BEAF-associated genes are highly expressed. Using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, we found that the expression levels of most BEAF-associated genes decrease in embryos and cultured cells lacking BEAF. These results provide an unexpected link between BEAF and transcription, suggesting that BEAF plays a role in maintaining most associated promoter regions in an environment that facilitates high transcription levels.

Comprehensive genome-wide survey, genomic constitution and expression profiling of the NAC transcription factor family in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L..

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Swati Puranik

Full Text Available The NAC proteins represent a major plant-specific transcription factor family that has established enormously diverse roles in various plant processes. Aided by the availability of complete genomes, several members of this family have been identified in Arabidopsis, rice, soybean and poplar. However, no comprehensive investigation has been presented for the recently sequenced, naturally stress tolerant crop, Setaria italica (foxtail millet that is famed as a model crop for bioenergy research. In this study, we identified 147 putative NAC domain-encoding genes from foxtail millet by systematic sequence analysis and physically mapped them onto nine chromosomes. Genomic organization suggested that inter-chromosomal duplications may have been responsible for expansion of this gene family in foxtail millet. Phylogenetically, they were arranged into 11 distinct sub-families (I-XI, with duplicated genes fitting into one cluster and possessing conserved motif compositions. Comparative mapping with other grass species revealed some orthologous relationships and chromosomal rearrangements including duplication, inversion and deletion of genes. The evolutionary significance as duplication and divergence of NAC genes based on their amino acid substitution rates was understood. Expression profiling against various stresses and phytohormones provides novel insights into specific and/or overlapping expression patterns of SiNAC genes, which may be responsible for functional divergence among individual members in this crop. Further, we performed structure modeling and molecular simulation of a stress-responsive protein, SiNAC128, proffering an initial framework for understanding its molecular function. Taken together, this genome-wide identification and expression profiling unlocks new avenues for systematic functional analysis of novel NAC gene family candidates which may be applied for improvising stress adaption in plants.

Comprehensive genome-wide survey, genomic constitution and expression profiling of the NAC transcription factor family in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Puranik, Swati; Sahu, Pranav Pankaj; Mandal, Sambhu Nath; B, Venkata Suresh; Parida, Swarup Kumar; Prasad, Manoj

2013-01-01

The NAC proteins represent a major plant-specific transcription factor family that has established enormously diverse roles in various plant processes. Aided by the availability of complete genomes, several members of this family have been identified in Arabidopsis, rice, soybean and poplar. However, no comprehensive investigation has been presented for the recently sequenced, naturally stress tolerant crop, Setaria italica (foxtail millet) that is famed as a model crop for bioenergy research. In this study, we identified 147 putative NAC domain-encoding genes from foxtail millet by systematic sequence analysis and physically mapped them onto nine chromosomes. Genomic organization suggested that inter-chromosomal duplications may have been responsible for expansion of this gene family in foxtail millet. Phylogenetically, they were arranged into 11 distinct sub-families (I-XI), with duplicated genes fitting into one cluster and possessing conserved motif compositions. Comparative mapping with other grass species revealed some orthologous relationships and chromosomal rearrangements including duplication, inversion and deletion of genes. The evolutionary significance as duplication and divergence of NAC genes based on their amino acid substitution rates was understood. Expression profiling against various stresses and phytohormones provides novel insights into specific and/or overlapping expression patterns of SiNAC genes, which may be responsible for functional divergence among individual members in this crop. Further, we performed structure modeling and molecular simulation of a stress-responsive protein, SiNAC128, proffering an initial framework for understanding its molecular function. Taken together, this genome-wide identification and expression profiling unlocks new avenues for systematic functional analysis of novel NAC gene family candidates which may be applied for improvising stress adaption in plants.

CoryneRegNet: an ontology-based data warehouse of corynebacterial transcription factors and regulatory networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Baumbach, Jan; Brinkrolf, Karina; Czaja, Lisa F; Rahmann, Sven; Tauch, Andreas

2006-02-14

The application of DNA microarray technology in post-genomic analysis of bacterial genome sequences has allowed the generation of huge amounts of data related to regulatory networks. This data along with literature-derived knowledge on regulation of gene expression has opened the way for genome-wide reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks. These large-scale reconstructions can be converted into in silico models of bacterial cells that allow a systematic analysis of network behavior in response to changing environmental conditions. CoryneRegNet was designed to facilitate the genome-wide reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks of corynebacteria relevant in biotechnology and human medicine. During the import and integration process of data derived from experimental studies or literature knowledge CoryneRegNet generates links to genome annotations, to identified transcription factors and to the corresponding cis-regulatory elements. CoryneRegNet is based on a multi-layered, hierarchical and modular concept of transcriptional regulation and was implemented by using the relational database management system MySQL and an ontology-based data structure. Reconstructed regulatory networks can be visualized by using the yFiles JAVA graph library. As an application example of CoryneRegNet, we have reconstructed the global transcriptional regulation of a cellular module involved in SOS and stress response of corynebacteria. CoryneRegNet is an ontology-based data warehouse that allows a pertinent data management of regulatory interactions along with the genome-scale reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks. These models can further be combined with metabolic networks to build integrated models of cellular function including both metabolism and its transcriptional regulation.

Analysis Of Transcriptomes In A Porcine Tissue Collection Using RNA-Seq And Genome Assembly 10

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hornshøj, Henrik; Thomsen, Bo; Hedegaard, Jakob

2011-01-01

The release of Sus scrofa genome assembly 10 supports improvement of the pig genome annotation and in depth transcriptome analyses using next-generation sequencing technologies. In this study we analyze RNA-seq reads from a tissue collection, including 10 separate tissues from Duroc boars and 10...... short read alignment software we mapped the reads to the genome assembly 10. We extracted contig sequences of gene transcripts using the Cufflinks software. Based on this information we identified expressed genes that are present in the genome assembly. The portion of these genes being previously known...... was roughly estimated by sequence comparison to known genes. Similarly, we searched for genes that are expressed in the tissues but not present in the genome assembly by aligning the non-genome-mapped reads to known gene transcripts. For the genes predicted to have alternative transcript variants by Cufflinks...

Next-Generation Sequencing of Genomic DNA Fragments Bound to a Transcription Factor in Vitro Reveals Its Regulatory Potential

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Yukio Kurihara

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Several transcription factors (TFs coordinate to regulate expression of specific genes at the transcriptional level. In Arabidopsis thaliana it is estimated that approximately 10% of all genes encode TFs or TF-like proteins. It is important to identify target genes that are directly regulated by TFs in order to understand the complete picture of a plant’s transcriptome profile. Here, we investigate the role of the LONG HYPOCOTYL5 (HY5 transcription factor that acts as a regulator of photomorphogenesis. We used an in vitro genomic DNA binding assay coupled with immunoprecipitation and next-generation sequencing (gDB-seq instead of the in vivo chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP-based methods. The results demonstrate that the HY5-binding motif predicted here was similar to the motif reported previously and that in vitro HY5-binding loci largely overlapped with the HY5-targeted candidate genes identified in previous ChIP-chip analysis. By combining these results with microarray analysis, we identified hundreds of HY5-binding genes that were differentially expressed in hy5. We also observed delayed induction of some transcripts of HY5-binding genes in hy5 mutants in response to blue-light exposure after dark treatment. Thus, an in vitro gDNA-binding assay coupled with sequencing is a convenient and powerful method to bridge the gap between identifying TF binding potential and establishing function.

Genome-wide mRNA processing in methanogenic archaea reveals post-transcriptional regulation of ribosomal protein synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Lei; Yue, Lei; Feng, Deqin; Qi, Fengxia; Li, Jie; Dong, Xiuzhu

2017-07-07

Unlike stable RNAs that require processing for maturation, prokaryotic cellular mRNAs generally follow an 'all-or-none' pattern. Herein, we used a 5΄ monophosphate transcript sequencing (5΄P-seq) that specifically captured the 5΄-end of processed transcripts and mapped the genome-wide RNA processing sites (PSSs) in a methanogenic archaeon. Following statistical analysis and stringent filtration, we identified 1429 PSSs, among which 23.5% and 5.4% were located in 5΄ untranslated region (uPSS) and intergenic region (iPSS), respectively. A predominant uridine downstream PSSs served as a processing signature. Remarkably, 5΄P-seq detected overrepresented uPSS and iPSS in the polycistronic operons encoding ribosomal proteins, and the majority upstream and proximal ribosome binding sites, suggesting a regulatory role of processing on translation initiation. The processed transcripts showed increased stability and translation efficiency. Particularly, processing within the tricistronic transcript of rplA-rplJ-rplL enhanced the translation of rplL, which can provide a driving force for the 1:4 stoichiometry of L10 to L12 in the ribosome. Growth-associated mRNA processing intensities were also correlated with the cellular ribosomal protein levels, thereby suggesting that mRNA processing is involved in tuning growth-dependent ribosome synthesis. In conclusion, our findings suggest that mRNA processing-mediated post-transcriptional regulation is a potential mechanism of ribosomal protein synthesis and stoichiometry. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Genome-wide DNA binding pattern of the homeodomain transcription factor Sine oculis (So in the developing eye of Drosophila melanogaster

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Barbara Jusiak

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The eye of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster provides a highly tractable genetic model system for the study of animal development, and many genes that regulate Drosophila eye formation have homologs implicated in human development and disease. Among these is the homeobox gene sine oculis (so, which encodes a homeodomain transcription factor (TF that is both necessary for eye development and sufficient to reprogram a subset of cells outside the normal eye field toward an eye fate. We have performed a genome-wide analysis of So binding to DNA prepared from developing Drosophila eye tissue in order to identify candidate direct targets of So-mediated transcriptional regulation, as described in our recent article [20]. The data are available from NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO with the accession number GSE52943. Here we describe the methods, data analysis, and quality control of our So ChIP-seq dataset.

Transient Genome-Wide Transcriptional Response to Low-Dose Ionizing Radiation In Vivo in Humans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berglund, Susanne R.; Rocke, David M.; Dai Jian; Schwietert, Chad W.; Santana, Alison; Stern, Robin L.; Lehmann, Joerg; Hartmann Siantar, Christine L.; Goldberg, Zelanna

2008-01-01

Purpose: The in vivo effects of low-dose low linear energy transfer ionizing radiation on healthy human skin are largely unknown. Using a patient-based tissue acquisition protocol, we have performed a series of genomic analyses on the temporal dynamics over a 24-hour period to determine the radiation response after a single exposure of 10 cGy. Methods and Materials: RNA from each patient tissue sample was hybridized to an Affymetrix Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 array. Data analysis was performed on selected gene groups and pathways. Results: Nineteen gene groups and seven gene pathways that had been shown to be radiation responsive were analyzed. Of these, nine gene groups showed significant transient transcriptional changes in the human tissue samples, which returned to baseline by 24 hours postexposure. Conclusions: Low doses of ionizing radiation on full-thickness human skin produce a definable temporal response out to 24 hours postexposure. Genes involved in DNA and tissue remodeling, cell cycle transition, and inflammation show statistically significant changes in expression, despite variability between patients. These data serve as a reference for the temporal dynamics of ionizing radiation response following low-dose exposure in healthy full-thickness human skin

Genome-wide transcriptional analysis of two soybean genotypes under dehydration and rehydration conditions

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Soybean is an important crop that provides valuable proteins and oils for human use. Because soybean growth and development is extremely sensitive to water deficit, quality and crop yields are severely impacted by drought stress. In the face of limited water resources, drought-responsive genes are therefore of interest. Identification and analysis of dehydration- and rehydration-inducible differentially expressed genes (DEGs) would not only aid elucidation of molecular mechanisms of stress response, but also enable improvement of crop stress tolerance via gene transfer. Using Digital Gene Expression Tag profiling (DGE), a new technique based on Illumina sequencing, we analyzed expression profiles between two soybean genotypes to identify drought-responsive genes. Results Two soybean genotypes—drought-tolerant Jindou21 and drought-sensitive Zhongdou33—were subjected to dehydration and rehydration conditions. For analysis of DEGs under dehydration conditions, 20 cDNA libraries were generated from roots and leaves at two different time points under well-watered and dehydration conditions. We also generated eight libraries for analysis under rehydration conditions. Sequencing of the 28 libraries produced 25,000–33,000 unambiguous tags, which were mapped to reference sequences for annotation of expressed genes. Many genes exhibited significant expression differences among the libraries. DEGs in the drought-tolerant genotype were identified by comparison of DEGs among treatments and genotypes. In Jindou21, 518 and 614 genes were differentially expressed under dehydration in leaves and roots, respectively, with 24 identified both in leaves and roots. The main functional categories enriched in these DEGs were metabolic process, response to stresses, plant hormone signal transduction, protein processing, and plant-pathogen interaction pathway; the associated genes primarily encoded transcription factors, protein kinases, and other regulatory proteins. The

Whole-genome transcriptional analysis of Escherichia coli during heat inactivation processes related to industrial cooking.

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Guernec, A; Robichaud-Rincon, P; Saucier, L

2013-08-01

Escherichia coli K-12 was grown to the stationary phase, for maximum physiological resistance, in brain heart infusion (BHI) broth at 37°C. Cells were then heated at 58°C or 60°C to reach a process lethality value \\[\\mathbf{\\left(}{{\\mathit{F}}^{\\mathit{o}}}_{\\mathbf{70}}^{\\mathbf{10}}\\mathbf{\\right)} \\] of 2 or 3 or to a core temperature of 71°C (control industrial cooking temperature). Growth recovery and cell membrane integrity were evaluated immediately after heating, and a global transcription analysis was performed using gene expression microarrays. Only cells heated at 58°C with F(o) = 2 were still able to grow on liquid or solid BHI broth after heat treatment. However, their transcriptome did not differ from that of bacteria heated at 58°C with F(o) = 3 (P value for the false discovery rate [P-FDR] > 0.01), where no growth recovery was observed posttreatment. Genome-wide transcriptomic data obtained at 71°C were distinct from those of the other treatments without growth recovery. Quantification of heat shock gene expression by real-time PCR revealed that dnaK and groEL mRNA levels decreased significantly above 60°C to reach levels similar to those of control cells at 37°C (P citE, glyS, oppB, and asd, whose expression was upregulated at 71°C, may be worth investigating as good biomarkers for accurately determining the efficiency of heat treatments, especially when cells are too injured to be enumerated using growth media.

Deep Sequencing Reveals the Complete Genome and Evidence for Transcriptional Activity of the First Virus-Like Sequences Identified in Aristotelia chilensis (Maqui Berry

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Javier Villacreses

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Here, we report the genome sequence and evidence for transcriptional activity of a virus-like element in the native Chilean berry tree Aristotelia chilensis. We propose to name the endogenous sequence as Aristotelia chilensis Virus 1 (AcV1. High-throughput sequencing of the genome of this tree uncovered an endogenous viral element, with a size of 7122 bp, corresponding to the complete genome of AcV1. Its sequence contains three open reading frames (ORFs: ORFs 1 and 2 shares 66%–73% amino acid similarity with members of the Caulimoviridae virus family, especially the Petunia vein clearing virus (PVCV, Petuvirus genus. ORF1 encodes a movement protein (MP; ORF2 a Reverse Transcriptase (RT and a Ribonuclease H (RNase H domain; and ORF3 showed no amino acid sequence similarity with any other known virus proteins. Analogous to other known endogenous pararetrovirus sequences (EPRVs, AcV1 is integrated in the genome of Maqui Berry and showed low viral transcriptional activity, which was detected by deep sequencing technology (DNA and RNA-seq. Phylogenetic analysis of AcV1 and other pararetroviruses revealed a closer resemblance with Petuvirus. Overall, our data suggests that AcV1 could be a new member of Caulimoviridae family, genus Petuvirus, and the first evidence of this kind of virus in a fruit plant.

Comparative genome analysis of Pediococcus damnosus LMG 28219, a strain well-adapted to the beer environment.

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Snauwaert, Isabel; Stragier, Pieter; De Vuyst, Luc; Vandamme, Peter

2015-04-03

Pediococcus damnosus LMG 28219 is a lactic acid bacterium dominating the maturation phase of Flemish acid beer productions. It proved to be capable of growing in beer, thereby resisting this environment, which is unfavorable for microbial growth. The molecular mechanisms underlying its metabolic capabilities and niche adaptations were unknown up to now. In the present study, whole-genome sequencing and comparative genome analysis were used to investigate this strain's mechanisms to reside in the beer niche, with special focus on not only stress and hop resistances but also folate biosynthesis and exopolysaccharide (EPS) production. The draft genome sequence of P. damnosus LMG 28219 harbored 183 contigs, including an intact prophage region and several coding sequences involved in plasmid replication. The annotation of 2178 coding sequences revealed the presence of many transporters and transcriptional regulators and several genes involved in oxidative stress response, hop resistance, de novo folate biosynthesis, and EPS production. Comparative genome analysis of P. damnosus LMG 28219 with Pediococcus claussenii ATCC BAA-344(T) (beer origin) and Pediococcus pentosaceus ATCC 25745 (plant origin) revealed that various hop resistance genes and genes involved in de novo folate biosynthesis were unique to the strains isolated from beer. This contrasted with the genes related to osmotic stress responses, which were shared between the strains compared. Furthermore, transcriptional regulators were enriched in the genomes of bacteria capable of growth in beer, suggesting that those cause rapid up- or down-regulation of gene expression. Genome sequence analysis of P. damnosus LMG 28219 provided insights into the underlying mechanisms of its adaptation to the beer niche. The results presented will enable analysis of the transcriptome and proteome of P. damnosus LMG 28219, which will result in additional knowledge on its metabolic activities.

Genome-wide profiling of H3K56 acetylation and transcription factor binding sites in human adipocytes.

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Kinyui Alice Lo

Full Text Available The growing epidemic of obesity and metabolic diseases calls for a better understanding of adipocyte biology. The regulation of transcription in adipocytes is particularly important, as it is a target for several therapeutic approaches. Transcriptional outcomes are influenced by both histone modifications and transcription factor binding. Although the epigenetic states and binding sites of several important transcription factors have been profiled in the mouse 3T3-L1 cell line, such data are lacking in human adipocytes. In this study, we identified H3K56 acetylation sites in human adipocytes derived from mesenchymal stem cells. H3K56 is acetylated by CBP and p300, and deacetylated by SIRT1, all are proteins with important roles in diabetes and insulin signaling. We found that while almost half of the genome shows signs of H3K56 acetylation, the highest level of H3K56 acetylation is associated with transcription factors and proteins in the adipokine signaling and Type II Diabetes pathways. In order to discover the transcription factors that recruit acetyltransferases and deacetylases to sites of H3K56 acetylation, we analyzed DNA sequences near H3K56 acetylated regions and found that the E2F recognition sequence was enriched. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing, we confirmed that genes bound by E2F4, as well as those by HSF-1 and C/EBPα, have higher than expected levels of H3K56 acetylation, and that the transcription factor binding sites and acetylation sites are often adjacent but rarely overlap. We also discovered a significant difference between bound targets of C/EBPα in 3T3-L1 and human adipocytes, highlighting the need to construct species-specific epigenetic and transcription factor binding site maps. This is the first genome-wide profile of H3K56 acetylation, E2F4, C/EBPα and HSF-1 binding in human adipocytes, and will serve as an important resource for better understanding adipocyte

Gene expression of herpes simplex virus. II. Uv radiological analysis of viral transcription units

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Millette, R. L.; Klaiber, R.

1980-01-01

The transcriptional organization of the genome of herpes simplex virus type 1 was analyzed by measuring the sensitivity of viral polypeptide synthesis to uv irradiation of the infecting virus. Herpes simplex virus type 1 was irradiated with various doses of uv light and used to infect xeroderma pigmentosum fibroblasts. Immediate early transcription units were analyzed by having cycloheximide present throughout the period of infection, removing the drug at 8 h postinfection, and pulse-labeling proteins with [355]methionine. Delayed early transcription units were analyzed in similar studies by having 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine present during the experiment to block replication of the input irradiated genome. The results indicate that none of the immediate early genes analyzed can be cotranscribed, whereas some of the delayed early genes might be cotranscribed. No evidence was found for the existence of large, multigene transcription units

CoryneRegNet: An ontology-based data warehouse of corynebacterial transcription factors and regulatory networks

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Czaja Lisa F

2006-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The application of DNA microarray technology in post-genomic analysis of bacterial genome sequences has allowed the generation of huge amounts of data related to regulatory networks. This data along with literature-derived knowledge on regulation of gene expression has opened the way for genome-wide reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks. These large-scale reconstructions can be converted into in silico models of bacterial cells that allow a systematic analysis of network behavior in response to changing environmental conditions. Description CoryneRegNet was designed to facilitate the genome-wide reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks of corynebacteria relevant in biotechnology and human medicine. During the import and integration process of data derived from experimental studies or literature knowledge CoryneRegNet generates links to genome annotations, to identified transcription factors and to the corresponding cis-regulatory elements. CoryneRegNet is based on a multi-layered, hierarchical and modular concept of transcriptional regulation and was implemented by using the relational database management system MySQL and an ontology-based data structure. Reconstructed regulatory networks can be visualized by using the yFiles JAVA graph library. As an application example of CoryneRegNet, we have reconstructed the global transcriptional regulation of a cellular module involved in SOS and stress response of corynebacteria. Conclusion CoryneRegNet is an ontology-based data warehouse that allows a pertinent data management of regulatory interactions along with the genome-scale reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks. These models can further be combined with metabolic networks to build integrated models of cellular function including both metabolism and its transcriptional regulation.

Microarray and cDNA sequence analysis of transcription during nerve-dependent limb regeneration

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Bryant Susan V

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Microarray analysis and 454 cDNA sequencing were used to investigate a centuries-old problem in regenerative biology: the basis of nerve-dependent limb regeneration in salamanders. Innervated (NR and denervated (DL forelimbs of Mexican axolotls were amputated and transcripts were sampled after 0, 5, and 14 days of regeneration. Results Considerable similarity was observed between NR and DL transcriptional programs at 5 and 14 days post amputation (dpa. Genes with extracellular functions that are critical to wound healing were upregulated while muscle-specific genes were downregulated. Thus, many processes that are regulated during early limb regeneration do not depend upon nerve-derived factors. The majority of the transcriptional differences between NR and DL limbs were correlated with blastema formation; cell numbers increased in NR limbs after 5 dpa and this yielded distinct transcriptional signatures of cell proliferation in NR limbs at 14 dpa. These transcriptional signatures were not observed in DL limbs. Instead, gene expression changes within DL limbs suggest more diverse and protracted wound-healing responses. 454 cDNA sequencing complemented the microarray analysis by providing deeper sampling of transcriptional programs and associated biological processes. Assembly of new 454 cDNA sequences with existing expressed sequence tag (EST contigs from the Ambystoma EST database more than doubled (3935 to 9411 the number of non-redundant human-A. mexicanum orthologous sequences. Conclusion Many new candidate gene sequences were discovered for the first time and these will greatly enable future studies of wound healing, epigenetics, genome stability, and nerve-dependent blastema formation and outgrowth using the axolotl model.

Rapid and highly efficient construction of TALE-based transcriptional regulators and nucleases for genome modification.

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Li, Lixin; Piatek, Marek J; Atef, Ahmed; Piatek, Agnieszka; Wibowo, Anjar; Fang, Xiaoyun; Sabir, J S M; Zhu, Jian-Kang; Mahfouz, Magdy M

2012-03-01

Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) can be used as DNA-targeting modules by engineering their repeat domains to dictate user-selected sequence specificity. TALEs have been shown to function as site-specific transcriptional activators in a variety of cell types and organisms. TALE nucleases (TALENs), generated by fusing the FokI cleavage domain to TALE, have been used to create genomic double-strand breaks. The identity of the TALE repeat variable di-residues, their number, and their order dictate the DNA sequence specificity. Because TALE repeats are nearly identical, their assembly by cloning or even by synthesis is challenging and time consuming. Here, we report the development and use of a rapid and straightforward approach for the construction of designer TALE (dTALE) activators and nucleases with user-selected DNA target specificity. Using our plasmid set of 100 repeat modules, researchers can assemble repeat domains for any 14-nucleotide target sequence in one sequential restriction-ligation cloning step and in only 24 h. We generated several custom dTALEs and dTALENs with new target sequence specificities and validated their function by transient expression in tobacco leaves and in vitro DNA cleavage assays, respectively. Moreover, we developed a web tool, called idTALE, to facilitate the design of dTALENs and the identification of their genomic targets and potential off-targets in the genomes of several model species. Our dTALE repeat assembly approach along with the web tool idTALE will expedite genome-engineering applications in a variety of cell types and organisms including plants.

Genomics-enabled analysis of the emergent disease cotton bacterial blight.

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Anne Z Phillips

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Cotton bacterial blight (CBB, an important disease of (Gossypium hirsutum in the early 20th century, had been controlled by resistant germplasm for over half a century. Recently, CBB re-emerged as an agronomic problem in the United States. Here, we report analysis of cotton variety planting statistics that indicate a steady increase in the percentage of susceptible cotton varieties grown each year since 2009. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that strains from the current outbreak cluster with race 18 Xanthomonas citri pv. malvacearum (Xcm strains. Illumina based draft genomes were generated for thirteen Xcm isolates and analyzed along with 4 previously published Xcm genomes. These genomes encode 24 conserved and nine variable type three effectors. Strains in the race 18 clade contain 3 to 5 more effectors than other Xcm strains. SMRT sequencing of two geographically and temporally diverse strains of Xcm yielded circular chromosomes and accompanying plasmids. These genomes encode eight and thirteen distinct transcription activator-like effector genes. RNA-sequencing revealed 52 genes induced within two cotton cultivars by both tested Xcm strains. This gene list includes a homeologous pair of genes, with homology to the known susceptibility gene, MLO. In contrast, the two strains of Xcm induce different clade III SWEET sugar transporters. Subsequent genome wide analysis revealed patterns in the overall expression of homeologous gene pairs in cotton after inoculation by Xcm. These data reveal important insights into the Xcm-G. hirsutum disease complex and strategies for future development of resistant cultivars.

Targeted deficiency of the transcriptional activator Hnf1alpha alters subnuclear positioning of its genomic targets.

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Reini F Luco

2008-05-01

Full Text Available DNA binding transcriptional activators play a central role in gene-selective regulation. In part, this is mediated by targeting local covalent modifications of histone tails. Transcriptional regulation has also been associated with the positioning of genes within the nucleus. We have now examined the role of a transcriptional activator in regulating the positioning of target genes. This was carried out with primary beta-cells and hepatocytes freshly isolated from mice lacking Hnf1alpha, an activator encoded by the most frequently mutated gene in human monogenic diabetes (MODY3. We show that in Hnf1a-/- cells inactive endogenous Hnf1alpha-target genes exhibit increased trimethylated histone H3-Lys27 and reduced methylated H3-Lys4. Inactive Hnf1alpha-targets in Hnf1a-/- cells are also preferentially located in peripheral subnuclear domains enriched in trimethylated H3-Lys27, whereas active targets in wild-type cells are positioned in more central domains enriched in methylated H3-Lys4 and RNA polymerase II. We demonstrate that this differential positioning involves the decondensation of target chromatin, and show that it is spatially restricted rather than a reflection of non-specific changes in the nuclear organization of Hnf1a-deficient cells. This study, therefore, provides genetic evidence that a single transcriptional activator can influence the subnuclear location of its endogenous genomic targets in primary cells, and links activator-dependent changes in local chromatin structure to the spatial organization of the genome. We have also revealed a defect in subnuclear gene positioning in a model of a human transcription factor disease.

RNA Transcriptional Biosignature Analysis for Identifying Febrile Infants With Serious Bacterial Infections in the Emergency Department

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Mahajan, Prashant; Kuppermann, Nathan; Suarez, Nicolas; Mejias, Asuncion; Casper, Charlie; Dean, J. Michael; Ramilo, Octavio

2015-01-01

Objectives To develop the infrastructure and demonstrate the feasibility of conducting microarray-based RNA transcriptional profile analyses for the diagnosis of serious bacterial infections in febrile infants 60 days and younger in a multicenter pediatric emergency research network. Methods We designed a prospective multicenter cohort study with the aim of enrolling more than 4000 febrile infants 60 days and younger. To ensure success of conducting complex genomic studies in emergency department (ED) settings, we established an infrastructure within the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network, including 21 sites, to evaluate RNA transcriptional profiles in young febrile infants. We developed a comprehensive manual of operations and trained site investigators to obtain and process blood samples for RNA extraction and genomic analyses. We created standard operating procedures for blood sample collection, processing, storage, shipping, and analyses. We planned to prospectively identify, enroll, and collect 1 mL blood samples for genomic analyses from eligible patients to identify logistical issues with study procedures. Finally, we planned to batch blood samples and determined RNA quantity and quality at the central microarray laboratory and organized data analysis with the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network data coordinating center. Below we report on establishment of the infrastructure and the feasibility success in the first year based on the enrollment of a limited number of patients. Results We successfully established the infrastructure at 21 EDs. Over the first 5 months we enrolled 79% (74 of 94) of eligible febrile infants. We were able to obtain and ship 1 mL of blood from 74% (55 of 74) of enrolled participants, with at least 1 sample per participating ED. The 55 samples were shipped and evaluated at the microarray laboratory, and 95% (52 of 55) of blood samples were of adequate quality and contained sufficient RNA for expression

Global analysis of WRKY transcription factor superfamily in Setaria identifies potential candidates involved in abiotic stress signaling.

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Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Bonthala, Venkata S; Khandelwal, Rohit; Jaishankar, Jananee; Shweta, Shweta; Nawaz, Kashif; Prasad, Manoj

2015-01-01

Transcription factors (TFs) are major players in stress signaling and constitute an integral part of signaling networks. Among the major TFs, WRKY proteins play pivotal roles in regulation of transcriptional reprogramming associated with stress responses. In view of this, genome- and transcriptome-wide identification of WRKY TF family was performed in the C4model plants, Setaria italica (SiWRKY) and S. viridis (SvWRKY), respectively. The study identified 105 SiWRKY and 44 SvWRKY proteins that were computationally analyzed for their physicochemical properties. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis classified these proteins into three major groups, namely I, II, and III with majority of WRKY proteins belonging to group II (53 SiWRKY and 23 SvWRKY), followed by group III (39 SiWRKY and 11 SvWRKY) and group I (10 SiWRKY and 6 SvWRKY). Group II proteins were further classified into 5 subgroups (IIa to IIe) based on their phylogeny. Domain analysis showed the presence of WRKY motif and zinc finger-like structures in these proteins along with additional domains in a few proteins. All SiWRKY genes were physically mapped on the S. italica genome and their duplication analysis revealed that 10 and 8 gene pairs underwent tandem and segmental duplications, respectively. Comparative mapping of SiWRKY and SvWRKY genes in related C4 panicoid genomes demonstrated the orthologous relationships between these genomes. In silico expression analysis of SiWRKY and SvWRKY genes showed their differential expression patterns in different tissues and stress conditions. Expression profiling of candidate SiWRKY genes in response to stress (dehydration and salinity) and hormone treatments (abscisic acid, salicylic acid, and methyl jasmonate) suggested the putative involvement of SiWRKY066 and SiWRKY082 in stress and hormone signaling. These genes could be potential candidates for further characterization to delineate their functional roles in abiotic stress signaling.

Genomic androgen receptor-occupied regions with different functions, defined by histone acetylation, coregulators and transcriptional capacity.

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Li Jia

Full Text Available The androgen receptor (AR is a steroid-activated transcription factor that binds at specific DNA locations and plays a key role in the etiology of prostate cancer. While numerous studies have identified a clear connection between AR binding and expression of target genes for a limited number of loci, high-throughput elucidation of these sites allows for a deeper understanding of the complexities of this process.We have mapped 189 AR occupied regions (ARORs and 1,388 histone H3 acetylation (AcH3 loci to a 3% continuous stretch of human genomic DNA using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP microarray analysis. Of 62 highly reproducible ARORs, 32 (52% were also marked by AcH3. While the number of ARORs detected in prostate cancer cells exceeded the number of nearby DHT-responsive genes, the AcH3 mark defined a subclass of ARORs much more highly associated with such genes -- 12% of the genes flanking AcH3+ARORs were DHT-responsive, compared to only 1% of genes flanking AcH3-ARORs. Most ARORs contained enhancer activities as detected in luciferase reporter assays. Analysis of the AROR sequences, followed by site-directed ChIP, identified binding sites for AR transcriptional coregulators FoxA1, CEBPbeta, NFI and GATA2, which had diverse effects on endogenous AR target gene expression levels in siRNA knockout experiments.We suggest that only some ARORs function under the given physiological conditions, utilizing diverse mechanisms. This diversity points to differential regulation of gene expression by the same transcription factor related to the chromatin structure.

Enriching Genomic Resources and Marker Development from Transcript Sequences of Jatropha curcas for Microgravity Studies

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Tian, Wenlan; Paudel, Dev

2017-01-01

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is an economically important species with a great potential for biodiesel production. To enrich the jatropha genomic databases and resources for microgravity studies, we sequenced and annotated the transcriptome of jatropha and developed SSR and SNP markers from the transcriptome sequences. In total 1,714,433 raw reads with an average length of 441.2 nucleotides were generated. De novo assembling and clustering resulted in 115,611 uniquely assembled sequences (UASs) including 21,418 full-length cDNAs and 23,264 new jatropha transcript sequences. The whole set of UASs were fully annotated, out of which 59,903 (51.81%) were assigned with gene ontology (GO) term, 12,584 (10.88%) had orthologs in Eukaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOG), and 8,822 (7.63%) were mapped to 317 pathways in six different categories in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) database, and it contained 3,588 putative transcription factors. From the UASs, 9,798 SSRs were discovered with AG/CT as the most frequent (45.8%) SSR motif type. Further 38,693 SNPs were detected and 7,584 remained after filtering. This UAS set has enriched the current jatropha genomic databases and provided a large number of genetic markers, which can facilitate jatropha genetic improvement and many other genetic and biological studies. PMID:28154822

Rapid Genome-wide Recruitment of RNA Polymerase II Drives Transcription, Splicing, and Translation Events during T Cell Responses

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Kathrin Davari

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Summary: Activation of immune cells results in rapid functional changes, but how such fast changes are accomplished remains enigmatic. By combining time courses of 4sU-seq, RNA-seq, ribosome profiling (RP, and RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II ChIP-seq during T cell activation, we illustrate genome-wide temporal dynamics for ∼10,000 genes. This approach reveals not only immediate-early and posttranscriptionally regulated genes but also coupled changes in transcription and translation for >90% of genes. Recruitment, rather than release of paused RNA Pol II, primarily mediates transcriptional changes. This coincides with a genome-wide temporary slowdown in cotranscriptional splicing, even for polyadenylated mRNAs that are localized at the chromatin. Subsequent splicing optimization correlates with increasing Ser-2 phosphorylation of the RNA Pol II carboxy-terminal domain (CTD and activation of the positive transcription elongation factor (pTEFb. Thus, rapid de novo recruitment of RNA Pol II dictates the course of events during T cell activation, particularly transcription, splicing, and consequently translation. : Davari et al. visualize global changes in RNA Pol II binding, transcription, splicing, and translation. T cells change their functional program by rapid de novo recruitment of RNA Pol II and coupled changes in transcription and translation. This coincides with fluctuations in RNA Pol II phosphorylation and a temporary reduction in cotranscriptional splicing. Keywords: RNA Pol II, cotranscriptional splicing, T cell activation, ribosome profiling, 4sU, H3K36, Ser-5 RNA Pol II, Ser-2 RNA Pol II, immune response, immediate-early genes

Transcriptional Elongation Control of Hepatitis B Virus Covalently Closed Circular DNA Transcription by Super Elongation Complex and BRD4.

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Francisco, Joel Celio; Dai, Qian; Luo, Zhuojuan; Wang, Yan; Chong, Roxanne Hui-Heng; Tan, Yee Joo; Xie, Wei; Lee, Guan-Huei; Lin, Chengqi

2017-10-01

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. HBV reactivation during or after chemotherapy is a potentially fatal complication for cancer patients with chronic HBV infection. Transcription of HBV is a critical intermediate step of the HBV life cycle. However, factors controlling HBV transcription remain largely unknown. Here, we found that different P-TEFb complexes are involved in the transcription of the HBV viral genome. Both BRD4 and the super elongation complex (SEC) bind to the HBV genome. The treatment of bromodomain inhibitor JQ1 stimulates HBV transcription and increases the occupancy of BRD4 on the HBV genome, suggesting the bromodomain-independent recruitment of BRD4 to the HBV genome. JQ1 also leads to the increased binding of SEC to the HBV genome, and SEC is required for JQ1-induced HBV transcription. These findings reveal a novel mechanism by which the HBV genome hijacks the host P-TEFb-containing complexes to promote its own transcription. Our findings also point out an important clinical implication, that is, the potential risk of HBV reactivation during therapy with a BRD4 inhibitor, such as JQ1 or its analogues, which are a potential treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Comparative genomics and transcriptomics of trait-gene association

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Pierlé Sebastián

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Order Rickettsiales includes important tick-borne pathogens, from Rickettsia rickettsii, which causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever, to Anaplasma marginale, the most prevalent vector-borne pathogen of cattle. Although most pathogens in this Order are transmitted by arthropod vectors, little is known about the microbial determinants of transmission. A. marginale provides unique tools for studying the determinants of transmission, with multiple strain sequences available that display distinct and reproducible transmission phenotypes. The closed core A. marginale genome suggests that any phenotypic differences are due to single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs. We combined DNA/RNA comparative genomic approaches using strains with different tick transmission phenotypes and identified genes that segregate with transmissibility. Results Comparison of seven strains with different transmission phenotypes generated a list of SNPs affecting 18 genes and nine promoters. Transcriptional analysis found two candidate genes downstream from promoter SNPs that were differentially transcribed. To corroborate the comparative genomics approach we used three RNA-seq platforms to analyze the transcriptomes from two A. marginale strains with different transmission phenotypes. RNA-seq analysis confirmed the comparative genomics data and found 10 additional genes whose transcription between strains with distinct transmission efficiencies was significantly different. Six regions of the genome that contained no annotation were found to be transcriptionally active, and two of these newly identified transcripts were differentially transcribed. Conclusions This approach identified 30 genes and two novel transcripts potentially involved in tick transmission. We describe the transcriptome of an obligate intracellular bacterium in depth, while employing massive parallel sequencing to dissect an important trait in bacterial pathogenesis.

Genome-wide profiling of transcription factor binding and epigenetic marks in adipocytes by ChIP-seq

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Ronni; Mandrup, Susanne

2014-01-01

of the most widely used of these technologies. Using these methods, association of transcription factors, cofactors, and epigenetic marks can be mapped to DNA in a genome-wide manner. Here, we provide a detailed protocol for performing ChIP-seq analyses in preadipocytes and adipocytes. We have focused mainly...

Nanobody®-based chromatin immunoprecipitation/micro-array analysis for genome-wide identification of transcription factor DNA binding sites

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Nguyen-Duc, Trong; Peeters, Eveline; Muyldermans, Serge; Charlier, Daniel; Hassanzadeh-Ghassabeh, Gholamreza

2013-01-01

Nanobodies® are single-domain antibody fragments derived from camelid heavy-chain antibodies. Because of their small size, straightforward production in Escherichia coli, easy tailoring, high affinity, specificity, stability and solubility, nanobodies® have been exploited in various biotechnological applications. A major challenge in the post-genomics and post-proteomics era is the identification of regulatory networks involving nucleic acid–protein and protein–protein interactions. Here, we apply a nanobody® in chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by DNA microarray hybridization (ChIP-chip) for genome-wide identification of DNA–protein interactions. The Lrp-like regulator Ss-LrpB, arguably one of the best-studied specific transcription factors of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus, was chosen for this proof-of-principle nanobody®-assisted ChIP. Three distinct Ss-LrpB-specific nanobodies®, each interacting with a different epitope, were generated for ChIP. Genome-wide ChIP-chip with one of these nanobodies® identified the well-established Ss-LrpB binding sites and revealed several unknown target sequences. Furthermore, these ChIP-chip profiles revealed auxiliary operator sites in the open reading frame of Ss-lrpB. Our work introduces nanobodies® as a novel class of affinity reagents for ChIP. Taking into account the unique characteristics of nanobodies®, in particular, their short generation time, nanobody®-based ChIP is expected to further streamline ChIP-chip and ChIP-Seq experiments, especially in organisms with no (or limited) possibility of genetic manipulation. PMID:23275538

Yeast Sub1 and human PC4 are G-quadruplex binding proteins that suppress genome instability at co-transcriptionally formed G4 DNA.

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Lopez, Christopher R; Singh, Shivani; Hambarde, Shashank; Griffin, Wezley C; Gao, Jun; Chib, Shubeena; Yu, Yang; Ira, Grzegorz; Raney, Kevin D; Kim, Nayun

2017-06-02

G-quadruplex or G4 DNA is a non-B secondary DNA structure consisting of a stacked array of guanine-quartets that can disrupt critical cellular functions such as replication and transcription. When sequences that can adopt Non-B structures including G4 DNA are located within actively transcribed genes, the reshaping of DNA topology necessary for transcription process stimulates secondary structure-formation thereby amplifying the potential for genome instability. Using a reporter assay designed to study G4-induced recombination in the context of an actively transcribed locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we tested whether co-transcriptional activator Sub1, recently identified as a G4-binding factor, contributes to genome maintenance at G4-forming sequences. Our data indicate that, upon Sub1-disruption, genome instability linked to co-transcriptionally formed G4 DNA in Top1-deficient cells is significantly augmented and that its highly conserved DNA binding domain or the human homolog PC4 is sufficient to suppress G4-associated genome instability. We also show that Sub1 interacts specifically with co-transcriptionally formed G4 DNA in vivo and that yeast cells become highly sensitivity to G4-stabilizing chemical ligands by the loss of Sub1. Finally, we demonstrate the physical and genetic interaction of Sub1 with the G4-resolving helicase Pif1, suggesting a possible mechanism by which Sub1 suppresses instability at G4 DNA. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Genome and transcriptome analysis of the food-yeast Candida utilis.

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Yasuyuki Tomita

Full Text Available The industrially important food-yeast Candida utilis is a Crabtree effect-negative yeast used to produce valuable chemicals and recombinant proteins. In the present study, we conducted whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of C. utilis, which showed that this yeast diverged long before the formation of the CUG and Saccharomyces/Kluyveromyces clades. In addition, we performed comparative genome and transcriptome analyses using next-generation sequencing, which resulted in the identification of genes important for characteristic phenotypes of C. utilis such as those involved in nitrate assimilation, in addition to the gene encoding the functional hexose transporter. We also found that an antisense transcript of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene, which in silico analysis did not predict to be a functional gene, was transcribed in the stationary-phase, suggesting a novel system of repression of ethanol production. These findings should facilitate the development of more sophisticated systems for the production of useful reagents using C. utilis.

Genome-wide specificity of DNA binding, gene regulation, and chromatin remodeling by TALE- and CRISPR/Cas9-based transcriptional activators.

Science.gov (United States)

Polstein, Lauren R; Perez-Pinera, Pablo; Kocak, D Dewran; Vockley, Christopher M; Bledsoe, Peggy; Song, Lingyun; Safi, Alexias; Crawford, Gregory E; Reddy, Timothy E; Gersbach, Charles A

2015-08-01

Genome engineering technologies based on the CRISPR/Cas9 and TALE systems are enabling new approaches in science and biotechnology. However, the specificity of these tools in complex genomes and the role of chromatin structure in determining DNA binding are not well understood. We analyzed the genome-wide effects of TALE- and CRISPR-based transcriptional activators in human cells using ChIP-seq to assess DNA-binding specificity and RNA-seq to measure the specificity of perturbing the transcriptome. Additionally, DNase-seq was used to assess genome-wide chromatin remodeling that occurs as a result of their action. Our results show that these transcription factors are highly specific in both DNA binding and gene regulation and are able to open targeted regions of closed chromatin independent of gene activation. Collectively, these results underscore the potential for these technologies to make precise changes to gene expression for gene and cell therapies or fundamental studies of gene function. © 2015 Polstein et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Specific transcripts are elevated in Saccharomyces cerevisiae in response to DNA damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClanahan, T.; McEntee, K.

1984-01-01

Differential hybridization has been used to identify genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae displaying increased transcript levels after treatment of cells with UV irradiation or with the mutagen/carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (NQO). The authors describe the isolation and characterization of four DNA damage responsive genes obtained from screening ca. 9000 yeast genomic clones. Two of these clones, lambda 78A and pBR178C, contain repetitive elements in the yeast genome as shown by Southern hybridization analysis. Although the genomic hybridization pattern is distinct for each of these two clones, both of these sequences hybridize to large polyadenylated transcripts ca. 5 kilobases in length. Two other DNA damage responsive sequences, pBRA2 and pBR3016B, are single-copy genes and hybridize to 0.5- and 3.2-kilobase transcripts, respectively. Kinetic analysis of the 0.5-kilobase transcript homologous to pBRA2 indicates that the level of this RNA increases more than 15-fold within 20 min after exposure to 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide. Moreover, the level of this transcript is significantly elevated in cells containing the rad52-1 mutation which are deficient in DNA strand break repair and gene conversion. These results provide some of the first evidence that DNA damage stimulates transcription of specific genes in eucaryotic cells

Rapid and highly efficient construction of TALE-based transcriptional regulators and nucleases for genome modification

KAUST Repository

Li, Lixin

2012-01-22

Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) can be used as DNA-targeting modules by engineering their repeat domains to dictate user-selected sequence specificity. TALEs have been shown to function as site-specific transcriptional activators in a variety of cell types and organisms. TALE nucleases (TALENs), generated by fusing the FokI cleavage domain to TALE, have been used to create genomic double-strand breaks. The identity of the TALE repeat variable di-residues, their number, and their order dictate the DNA sequence specificity. Because TALE repeats are nearly identical, their assembly by cloning or even by synthesis is challenging and time consuming. Here, we report the development and use of a rapid and straightforward approach for the construction of designer TALE (dTALE) activators and nucleases with user-selected DNA target specificity. Using our plasmid set of 100 repeat modules, researchers can assemble repeat domains for any 14-nucleotide target sequence in one sequential restriction-ligation cloning step and in only 24 h. We generated several custom dTALEs and dTALENs with new target sequence specificities and validated their function by transient expression in tobacco leaves and in vitro DNA cleavage assays, respectively. Moreover, we developed a web tool, called idTALE, to facilitate the design of dTALENs and the identification of their genomic targets and potential off-targets in the genomes of several model species. Our dTALE repeat assembly approach along with the web tool idTALE will expedite genome-engineering applications in a variety of cell types and organisms including plants. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Method for determining transcriptional linkage by means of inhibition of deoxyribonucleic acid transcription by ultraviolet irradiation: evaluation in application to the investigation of in vivo transcription in bacteriophage T7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brautigam, A.R.

1975-01-01

A technique is presented for mapping promotor sites that utilizes the introduction of transcription-terminating lesions in DNA through uv irradiation which prevents transcription of genes in proportion to their distance from the promotor. This technique was applied to and evaluated in investigations of the transcriptional linkage of bacteriophage T7. All results substantiate the hypothesis that transcription in vivo does not proceed beyond the first uv lesion encountered in the template DNA and that such premature termination of transcription is the principal effect of the uv irradiation on the transcriptional template function of DNA. UV-induced inhibition of the initiation of transcription is insignificant by comparison. Uv inactivation of expression of individual T7 genes was found to follow pseudo first-order kinetics, allowing a gene-specific uv inactivation cross section to be evaluated for each gene. Promotor locations were inferred from the discontinuity in the numerical values of inactivation cross sections arising at the start of each new unit. By such analysis the bacteriophage T7 genome was found to consist of seven transcription units. In vivo E. coli RNA polymerase transcribes the T7 early region as a single unit from a pomotor region located at the left end of the genome. The T7 late region was found to consist of six transcription units, with promotors located just ahead of genes 1.7, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 17

Software for computing and annotating genomic ranges.

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Michael; Huber, Wolfgang; Pagès, Hervé; Aboyoun, Patrick; Carlson, Marc; Gentleman, Robert; Morgan, Martin T; Carey, Vincent J

2013-01-01

We describe Bioconductor infrastructure for representing and computing on annotated genomic ranges and integrating genomic data with the statistical computing features of R and its extensions. At the core of the infrastructure are three packages: IRanges, GenomicRanges, and GenomicFeatures. These packages provide scalable data structures for representing annotated ranges on the genome, with special support for transcript structures, read alignments and coverage vectors. Computational facilities include efficient algorithms for overlap and nearest neighbor detection, coverage calculation and other range operations. This infrastructure directly supports more than 80 other Bioconductor packages, including those for sequence analysis, differential expression analysis and visualization.

Ensembl Genomes: an integrative resource for genome-scale data from non-vertebrate species.

Science.gov (United States)

Kersey, Paul J; Staines, Daniel M; Lawson, Daniel; Kulesha, Eugene; Derwent, Paul; Humphrey, Jay C; Hughes, Daniel S T; Keenan, Stephan; Kerhornou, Arnaud; Koscielny, Gautier; Langridge, Nicholas; McDowall, Mark D; Megy, Karine; Maheswari, Uma; Nuhn, Michael; Paulini, Michael; Pedro, Helder; Toneva, Iliana; Wilson, Derek; Yates, Andrew; Birney, Ewan

2012-01-01

Ensembl Genomes (http://www.ensemblgenomes.org) is an integrative resource for genome-scale data from non-vertebrate species. The project exploits and extends technology (for genome annotation, analysis and dissemination) developed in the context of the (vertebrate-focused) Ensembl project and provides a complementary set of resources for non-vertebrate species through a consistent set of programmatic and interactive interfaces. These provide access to data including reference sequence, gene models, transcriptional data, polymorphisms and comparative analysis. Since its launch in 2009, Ensembl Genomes has undergone rapid expansion, with the goal of providing coverage of all major experimental organisms, and additionally including taxonomic reference points to provide the evolutionary context in which genes can be understood. Against the backdrop of a continuing increase in genome sequencing activities in all parts of the tree of life, we seek to work, wherever possible, with the communities actively generating and using data, and are participants in a growing range of collaborations involved in the annotation and analysis of genomes.

The WRKY Transcription Factor Genes in Lotus japonicus

OpenAIRE

Song, Hui; Wang, Pengfei; Nan, Zhibiao; Wang, Xingjun

2014-01-01

WRKY transcription factor genes play critical roles in plant growth and development, as well as stress responses. WRKY genes have been examined in various higher plants, but they have not been characterized in Lotus japonicus. The recent release of the L. japonicus whole genome sequence provides an opportunity for a genome wide analysis of WRKY genes in this species. In this study, we identified 61 WRKY genes in the L. japonicus genome. Based on the WRKY protein structure, L. japonicus WRKY (...

Detailed analysis of putative genes encoding small proteins in legume genomes

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Gabriel eGuillén

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Diverse plant genome sequencing projects coupled with powerful bioinformatics tools have facilitated massive data analysis to construct specialized databases classified according to cellular function. However, there are still a considerable number of genes encoding proteins whose function has not yet been characterized. Included in this category are small proteins (SPs, 30-150 amino acids encoded by short open reading frames (sORFs. SPs play important roles in plant physiology, growth, and development. Unfortunately, protocols focused on the genome-wide identification and characterization of sORFs are scarce or remain poorly implemented. As a result, these genes are underrepresented in many genome annotations. In this work, we exploited publicly available genome sequences of Phaseolus vulgaris, Medicago truncatula, Glycine max and Lotus japonicus to analyze the abundance of annotated SPs in plant legumes. Our strategy to uncover bona fide sORFs at the genome level was centered in bioinformatics analysis of characteristics such as evidence of expression (transcription, presence of known protein regions or domains, and identification of orthologous genes in the genomes explored. We collected 6170, 10461, 30521, and 23599 putative sORFs from P. vulgaris, G. max, M. truncatula, and L. japonicus genomes, respectively. Expressed sequence tags (ESTs available in the DFCI Gene Index database provided evidence that ~one-third of the predicted legume sORFs are expressed. Most potential SPs have a counterpart in a different plant species and counterpart regions or domains in larger proteins. Potential functional sORFs were also classified according to a reduced set of GO categories, and the expression of 13 of them during P. vulgaris nodule ontogeny was confirmed by qPCR. This analysis provides a collection of sORFs that potentially encode for meaningful SPs, and offers the possibility of their further functional evaluation.

Transcription Activator-Like Effectors (TALEs) Hybrid Nucleases for Genome Engineering Application

KAUST Repository

Wibowo, Anjar

2011-06-06

Gene targeting is a powerful genome engineering tool that can be used for a variety of biotechnological applications. Genomic double-strand DNA breaks generated by engineered site-specific nucleases can stimulate gene targeting. Hybrid nucleases are composed of DNA binding module and DNA cleavage module. Zinc Finger Nucleases were used to generate double-strand DNA breaks but it suffers from failures and lack of reproducibility. The transcription activator–like effectors (TALEs) from plant pathogenic Xanthomonas contain a unique type of DNA-binding domain that bind specific DNA targets. The purpose of this study is to generate novel sequence specific nucleases by fusing a de novo engineered Hax3 TALE-based DNA binding domain to a FokI cleavage domain. Our data show that the de novo engineered TALE nuclease can bind to its target sequence and create double-strand DNA breaks in vitro. We also show that the de novo engineered TALE nuclease is capable of generating double-strand DNA breaks in its target sequence in vivo, when transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that TALE-based hybrid nucleases can be tailored to bind a user-selected DNA sequence and generate site-specific genomic double-strand DNA breaks. TALE-based hybrid nucleases hold much promise as powerful molecular tools for gene targeting applications.

Bacterial Genome Editing Strategy for Control of Transcription and Protein Stability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauritsen, Ida; Martinez, Virginia; Ronda, Carlotta

2018-01-01

In molecular biology and cell factory engineering, tools that enable control of protein production and stability are highly important. Here, we describe protocols for tagging genes in Escherichia coli allowing for inducible degradation and transcriptional control of any soluble protein of interest....... The underlying molecular biology is based on the two cross-kingdom tools CRISPRi and the N-end rule for protein degradation. Genome editing is performed with the CRMAGE technology and randomization of the translational initiation region minimizes the polar effects of tag insertion. The approach has previously...... been applied for targeting proteins originating from essential operon-located genes and has potential to serve as a universal synthetic biology tool....

Genome-wide organization and expression profiling of the NAC transcription factor family in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Anil Kumar; Sharma, Vishal; Pal, Awadhesh Kumar; Acharya, Vishal; Ahuja, Paramvir Singh

2013-08-01

NAC [no apical meristem (NAM), Arabidopsis thaliana transcription activation factor [ATAF1/2] and cup-shaped cotyledon (CUC2)] proteins belong to one of the largest plant-specific transcription factor (TF) families and play important roles in plant development processes, response to biotic and abiotic cues and hormone signalling. Our genome-wide analysis identified 110 StNAC genes in potato encoding for 136 proteins, including 14 membrane-bound TFs. The physical map positions of StNAC genes on 12 potato chromosomes were non-random, and 40 genes were found to be distributed in 16 clusters. The StNAC proteins were phylogenetically clustered into 12 subgroups. Phylogenetic analysis of StNACs along with their Arabidopsis and rice counterparts divided these proteins into 18 subgroups. Our comparative analysis has also identified 36 putative TNAC proteins, which appear to be restricted to Solanaceae family. In silico expression analysis, using Illumina RNA-seq transcriptome data, revealed tissue-specific, biotic, abiotic stress and hormone-responsive expression profile of StNAC genes. Several StNAC genes, including StNAC072 and StNAC101that are orthologs of known stress-responsive Arabidopsis RESPONSIVE TO DEHYDRATION 26 (RD26) were identified as highly abiotic stress responsive. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis largely corroborated the expression profile of StNAC genes as revealed by the RNA-seq data. Taken together, this analysis indicates towards putative functions of several StNAC TFs, which will provide blue-print for their functional characterization and utilization in potato improvement.

Genome-wide identification and analysis of the SBP-box family genes in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.).

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jun; Hou, Hongmin; Li, Xiaoqin; Xiang, Jiang; Yin, Xiangjing; Gao, Hua; Zheng, Yi; Bassett, Carole L; Wang, Xiping

2013-09-01

SQUAMOSA promoter binding protein (SBP)-box genes encode a family of plant-specific transcription factors and play many crucial roles in plant development. In this study, 27 SBP-box gene family members were identified in the apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) genome, 15 of which were suggested to be putative targets of MdmiR156. Plant SBPs were classified into eight groups according to the phylogenetic analysis of SBP-domain proteins. Gene structure, gene chromosomal location and synteny analyses of MdSBP genes within the apple genome demonstrated that tandem and segmental duplications, as well as whole genome duplications, have likely contributed to the expansion and evolution of the SBP-box gene family in apple. Additionally, synteny analysis between apple and Arabidopsis indicated that several paired homologs of MdSBP and AtSPL genes were located in syntenic genomic regions. Tissue-specific expression analysis of MdSBP genes in apple demonstrated their diversified spatiotemporal expression patterns. Most MdmiR156-targeted MdSBP genes, which had relatively high transcript levels in stems, leaves, apical buds and some floral organs, exhibited a more differential expression pattern than most MdmiR156-nontargeted MdSBP genes. Finally, expression analysis of MdSBP genes in leaves upon various plant hormone treatments showed that many MdSBP genes were responsive to different plant hormones, indicating that MdSBP genes may be involved in responses to hormone signaling during stress or in apple development. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Genome Sequence and Analysis of the Soil Cellulolytic ActinomyceteThermobifida fusca

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lykidis, Athanasios; Mavromatis, Konstantinos; Ivanova, Natalia; Anderson, Iain; Land, Miriam; DiBartolo, Genevieve; Martinez, Michele; Lapidus, Alla; Lucas, Susan; Copeland, Alex; Richardson, Paul; Wilson,David B.; Kyrpides, Nikos

2007-02-01

Thermobifida fusca is a moderately thermophilic soilbacterium that belongs to Actinobacteria. 3 It is a major degrader ofplant cell walls and has been used as a model organism for the study of 4secreted, thermostable cellulases. The complete genome sequence showedthat T. fusca has a 5 single circular chromosome of 3642249 bp predictedto encode 3117 proteins and 65 RNA6 species with a coding densityof 85percent. Genome analysis revealed the existence of 29 putative 7glycoside hydrolases in addition to the previously identified cellulasesand xylanases. The 8 glycosyl hydrolases include enzymes predicted toexhibit mainly dextran/starch and xylan 9 degrading functions. T. fuscapossesses two protein secretion systems: the sec general secretion 10system and the twin-arginine translocation system. Several of thesecreted cellulases have 11 sequence signatures indicating theirsecretion may be mediated by the twin-arginine12 translocation system. T.fusca has extensive transport systems for import of carbohydrates 13coupled to transcriptional regulators controlling the expression of thetransporters and14 glycosylhydrolases. In addition to providing anoverview of the physiology of a soil 15 actinomycete, this study presentsinsights on the transcriptional regulation and secretion of16 cellulaseswhich may facilitate the industrial exploitation of thesesystems.

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of BrrTCP Transcription Factors in Brassica rapa ssp. rapa

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Jiancan Du

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The teosinte branched1/cycloidea/proliferating cell factor (TCP gene family is a plant-specific transcription factor that participates in the control of plant development by regulating cell proliferation. However, no report is currently available about this gene family in turnips (Brassica rapa ssp. rapa. In this study, a genome-wide analysis of TCP genes was performed in turnips. Thirty-nine TCP genes in turnip genome were identified and distributed on 10 chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis clearly showed that the family was classified as two clades: class I and class II. Gene structure and conserved motif analysis showed that the same clade genes have similar gene structures and conserved motifs. The expression profiles of 39 TCP genes were determined through quantitative real-time PCR. Most CIN-type BrrTCP genes were highly expressed in leaf. The members of CYC/TB1 subclade are highly expressed in flower bud and weakly expressed in root. By contrast, class I clade showed more widespread but less tissue-specific expression patterns. Yeast two-hybrid data show that BrrTCP proteins preferentially formed heterodimers. The function of BrrTCP2 was confirmed through ectopic expression of BrrTCP2 in wild-type and loss-of-function ortholog mutant of Arabidopsis. Overexpression of BrrTCP2 in wild-type Arabidopsis resulted in the diminished leaf size. Overexpression of BrrTCP2 in triple mutants of tcp2/4/10 restored the leaf phenotype of tcp2/4/10 to the phenotype of wild type. The comprehensive analysis of turnip TCP gene family provided the foundation to further study the roles of TCP genes in turnips.

Prediction of transcriptional regulatory sites in the complete genome sequence of Escherichia coli K-12.

Science.gov (United States)

Thieffry, D; Salgado, H; Huerta, A M; Collado-Vides, J

1998-06-01

As one of the best-characterized free-living organisms, Escherichia coli and its recently completed genomic sequence offer a special opportunity to exploit systematically the variety of regulatory data available in the literature in order to make a comprehensive set of regulatory predictions in the whole genome. The complete genome sequence of E.coli was analyzed for the binding of transcriptional regulators upstream of coding sequences. The biological information contained in RegulonDB (Huerta, A.M. et al., Nucleic Acids Res.,26,55-60, 1998) for 56 different transcriptional proteins was the support to implement a stringent strategy combining string search and weight matrices. We estimate that our search included representatives of 15-25% of the total number of regulatory binding proteins in E.coli. This search was performed on the set of 4288 putative regulatory regions, each 450 bp long. Within the regions with predicted sites, 89% are regulated by one protein and 81% involve only one site. These numbers are reasonably consistent with the distribution of experimental regulatory sites. Regulatory sites are found in 603 regions corresponding to 16% of operon regions and 10% of intra-operonic regions. Additional evidence gives stronger support to some of these predictions, including the position of the site, biological consistency with the function of the downstream gene, as well as genetic evidence for the regulatory interaction. The predictions described here were incorporated into the map presented in the paper describing the complete E.coli genome (Blattner,F.R. et al., Science, 277, 1453-1461, 1997). The complete set of predictions in GenBank format is available at the url: http://www. cifn.unam.mx/Computational_Biology/E.coli-predictions ecoli-reg@cifn.unam.mx, collado@cifn.unam.mx

A Herpesviral Immediate Early Protein Promotes Transcription Elongation of Viral Transcripts.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Hannah L; Dembowski, Jill A; DeLuca, Neal A

2017-06-13

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) genes are transcribed by cellular RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II). While four viral immediate early proteins (ICP4, ICP0, ICP27, and ICP22) function in some capacity in viral transcription, the mechanism by which ICP22 functions remains unclear. We observed that the FACT complex (comprised of SSRP1 and Spt16) was relocalized in infected cells as a function of ICP22. ICP22 was also required for the association of FACT and the transcription elongation factors SPT5 and SPT6 with viral genomes. We further demonstrated that the FACT complex interacts with ICP22 throughout infection. We therefore hypothesized that ICP22 recruits cellular transcription elongation factors to viral genomes for efficient transcription elongation of viral genes. We reevaluated the phenotype of an ICP22 mutant virus by determining the abundance of all viral mRNAs throughout infection by transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq). The accumulation of almost all viral mRNAs late in infection was reduced compared to the wild type, regardless of kinetic class. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq), we mapped the location of RNA Pol II on viral genes and found that RNA Pol II levels on the bodies of viral genes were reduced in the ICP22 mutant compared to wild-type virus. In contrast, the association of RNA Pol II with transcription start sites in the mutant was not reduced. Taken together, our results indicate that ICP22 plays a role in recruiting elongation factors like the FACT complex to the HSV-1 genome to allow for efficient viral transcription elongation late in viral infection and ultimately infectious virion production. IMPORTANCE HSV-1 interacts with many cellular proteins throughout productive infection. Here, we demonstrate the interaction of a viral protein, ICP22, with a subset of cellular proteins known to be involved in transcription elongation. We determined that ICP22 is required to recruit the FACT complex and other transcription

Assessing quality and completeness of human transcriptional regulatory pathways on a genome-wide scale

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Aifantis Iannis

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Pathway databases are becoming increasingly important and almost omnipresent in most types of biological and translational research. However, little is known about the quality and completeness of pathways stored in these databases. The present study conducts a comprehensive assessment of transcriptional regulatory pathways in humans for seven well-studied transcription factors: MYC, NOTCH1, BCL6, TP53, AR, STAT1, and RELA. The employed benchmarking methodology first involves integrating genome-wide binding with functional gene expression data to derive direct targets of transcription factors. Then the lists of experimentally obtained direct targets are compared with relevant lists of transcriptional targets from 10 commonly used pathway databases. Results The results of this study show that for the majority of pathway databases, the overlap between experimentally obtained target genes and targets reported in transcriptional regulatory pathway databases is surprisingly small and often is not statistically significant. The only exception is MetaCore pathway database which yields statistically significant intersection with experimental results in 84% cases. Additionally, we suggest that the lists of experimentally derived direct targets obtained in this study can be used to reveal new biological insight in transcriptional regulation and suggest novel putative therapeutic targets in cancer. Conclusions Our study opens a debate on validity of using many popular pathway databases to obtain transcriptional regulatory targets. We conclude that the choice of pathway databases should be informed by solid scientific evidence and rigorous empirical evaluation. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Prof. Wing Hung Wong, Dr. Thiago Motta Venancio (nominated by Dr. L Aravind, and Prof. Geoff J McLachlan.

Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Analysis of WRKY Gene Family in Capsicum annuum L.

Science.gov (United States)

Diao, Wei-Ping; Snyder, John C; Wang, Shu-Bin; Liu, Jin-Bing; Pan, Bao-Gui; Guo, Guang-Jun; Wei, Ge

2016-01-01

The WRKY family of transcription factors is one of the most important families of plant transcriptional regulators with members regulating multiple biological processes, especially in regulating defense against biotic and abiotic stresses. However, little information is available about WRKYs in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). The recent release of completely assembled genome sequences of pepper allowed us to perform a genome-wide investigation for pepper WRKY proteins. In the present study, a total of 71 WRKY genes were identified in the pepper genome. According to structural features of their encoded proteins, the pepper WRKY genes (CaWRKY) were classified into three main groups, with the second group further divided into five subgroups. Genome mapping analysis revealed that CaWRKY were enriched on four chromosomes, especially on chromosome 1, and 15.5% of the family members were tandemly duplicated genes. A phylogenetic tree was constructed depending on WRKY domain' sequences derived from pepper and Arabidopsis. The expression of 21 selected CaWRKY genes in response to seven different biotic and abiotic stresses (salt, heat shock, drought, Phytophtora capsici, SA, MeJA, and ABA) was evaluated by quantitative RT-PCR; Some CaWRKYs were highly expressed and up-regulated by stress treatment. Our results will provide a platform for functional identification and molecular breeding studies of WRKY genes in pepper.

Multiple RNAs from the mouse carboxypeptidase M locus: functional RNAs or transcription noise?

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Castilho Beatriz A

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A major effort of the scientific community has been to obtain complete pictures of the genomes of many organisms. This has been accomplished mainly by annotation of structural and functional elements in the genome sequence, a process that has been centred in the gene concept and, as a consequence, biased toward protein coding sequences. Recently, the explosion of transcriptome data generated and the discovery of many functional non-protein coding RNAs have painted a more detailed and complex scenario for the genome. Here we analyzed the mouse carboxypeptidase M locus in this broader perspective in order to define the mouse CPM gene structure and evaluate the existence of other transcripts from the same genomic region. Results Bioinformatic analysis of nucleotide sequences that map to the mouse CPM locus suggests that, in addition to the mouse CPM mRNA, it expresses at least 33 different transcripts, many of which seem to be non-coding RNAs. We randomly chose to evaluate experimentally four of these extra transcripts. They are expressed in a tissue specific manner, indicating that they are not artefacts or transcriptional noise. Furthermore, one of these four extra transcripts shows expression patterns that differed considerably from the other ones and from the mouse CPM gene, suggesting that there may be more than one transcriptional unit in this locus. In addition, we have confirmed the mouse CPM gene RefSeq sequence by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE and directional cloning. Conclusion This study supports the recent view that the majority of the genome is transcribed and that many of the resulting transcripts seem to be non-coding RNAs from introns of genes or from independent transcriptional units. Although some of the information on the transcriptome of many organisms may actually be artefacts or transcriptional noise, we argue that it can be experimentally evaluated and used to find and define biological

biomvRhsmm: Genomic Segmentation with Hidden Semi-Markov Model

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Yang Du

2014-01-01

Full Text Available High-throughput technologies like tiling array and next-generation sequencing (NGS generate continuous homogeneous segments or signal peaks in the genome that represent transcripts and transcript variants (transcript mapping and quantification, regions of deletion and amplification (copy number variation, or regions characterized by particular common features like chromatin state or DNA methylation ratio (epigenetic modifications. However, the volume and output of data produced by these technologies present challenges in analysis. Here, a hidden semi-Markov model (HSMM is implemented and tailored to handle multiple genomic profile, to better facilitate genome annotation by assisting in the detection of transcripts, regulatory regions, and copy number variation by holistic microarray or NGS. With support for various data distributions, instead of limiting itself to one specific application, the proposed hidden semi-Markov model is designed to allow modeling options to accommodate different types of genomic data and to serve as a general segmentation engine. By incorporating genomic positions into the sojourn distribution of HSMM, with optional prior learning using annotation or previous studies, the modeling output is more biologically sensible. The proposed model has been compared with several other state-of-the-art segmentation models through simulation benchmarking, which shows that our efficient implementation achieves comparable or better sensitivity and specificity in genomic segmentation.

Genome-Wide Mapping of Collier In Vivo Binding Sites Highlights Its Hierarchical Position in Different Transcription Regulatory Networks.

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Mathilde de Taffin

Full Text Available Collier, the single Drosophila COE (Collier/EBF/Olf-1 transcription factor, is required in several developmental processes, including head patterning and specification of muscle and neuron identity during embryogenesis. To identify direct Collier (Col targets in different cell types, we used ChIP-seq to map Col binding sites throughout the genome, at mid-embryogenesis. In vivo Col binding peaks were associated to 415 potential direct target genes. Gene Ontology analysis revealed a strong enrichment in proteins with DNA binding and/or transcription-regulatory properties. Characterization of a selection of candidates, using transgenic CRM-reporter assays, identified direct Col targets in dorso-lateral somatic muscles and specific neuron types in the central nervous system. These data brought new evidence that Col direct control of the expression of the transcription regulators apterous and eyes-absent (eya is critical to specifying neuronal identities. They also showed that cross-regulation between col and eya in muscle progenitor cells is required for specification of muscle identity, revealing a new parallel between the myogenic regulatory networks operating in Drosophila and vertebrates. Col regulation of eya, both in specific muscle and neuronal lineages, may illustrate one mechanism behind the evolutionary diversification of Col biological roles.

Genome-Wide Mapping of Collier In Vivo Binding Sites Highlights Its Hierarchical Position in Different Transcription Regulatory Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Dubois, Laurence; Bataillé, Laetitia; Painset, Anaïs; Le Gras, Stéphanie; Jost, Bernard; Crozatier, Michèle; Vincent, Alain

2015-01-01

Collier, the single Drosophila COE (Collier/EBF/Olf-1) transcription factor, is required in several developmental processes, including head patterning and specification of muscle and neuron identity during embryogenesis. To identify direct Collier (Col) targets in different cell types, we used ChIP-seq to map Col binding sites throughout the genome, at mid-embryogenesis. In vivo Col binding peaks were associated to 415 potential direct target genes. Gene Ontology analysis revealed a strong enrichment in proteins with DNA binding and/or transcription-regulatory properties. Characterization of a selection of candidates, using transgenic CRM-reporter assays, identified direct Col targets in dorso-lateral somatic muscles and specific neuron types in the central nervous system. These data brought new evidence that Col direct control of the expression of the transcription regulators apterous and eyes-absent (eya) is critical to specifying neuronal identities. They also showed that cross-regulation between col and eya in muscle progenitor cells is required for specification of muscle identity, revealing a new parallel between the myogenic regulatory networks operating in Drosophila and vertebrates. Col regulation of eya, both in specific muscle and neuronal lineages, may illustrate one mechanism behind the evolutionary diversification of Col biological roles. PMID:26204530

Software for computing and annotating genomic ranges.

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Michael Lawrence

Full Text Available We describe Bioconductor infrastructure for representing and computing on annotated genomic ranges and integrating genomic data with the statistical computing features of R and its extensions. At the core of the infrastructure are three packages: IRanges, GenomicRanges, and GenomicFeatures. These packages provide scalable data structures for representing annotated ranges on the genome, with special support for transcript structures, read alignments and coverage vectors. Computational facilities include efficient algorithms for overlap and nearest neighbor detection, coverage calculation and other range operations. This infrastructure directly supports more than 80 other Bioconductor packages, including those for sequence analysis, differential expression analysis and visualization.

Ensembl Genomes 2016: more genomes, more complexity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kersey, Paul Julian; Allen, James E; Armean, Irina; Boddu, Sanjay; Bolt, Bruce J; Carvalho-Silva, Denise; Christensen, Mikkel; Davis, Paul; Falin, Lee J; Grabmueller, Christoph; Humphrey, Jay; Kerhornou, Arnaud; Khobova, Julia; Aranganathan, Naveen K; Langridge, Nicholas; Lowy, Ernesto; McDowall, Mark D; Maheswari, Uma; Nuhn, Michael; Ong, Chuang Kee; Overduin, Bert; Paulini, Michael; Pedro, Helder; Perry, Emily; Spudich, Giulietta; Tapanari, Electra; Walts, Brandon; Williams, Gareth; Tello-Ruiz, Marcela; Stein, Joshua; Wei, Sharon; Ware, Doreen; Bolser, Daniel M; Howe, Kevin L; Kulesha, Eugene; Lawson, Daniel; Maslen, Gareth; Staines, Daniel M

2016-01-04

Ensembl Genomes (http://www.ensemblgenomes.org) is an integrating resource for genome-scale data from non-vertebrate species, complementing the resources for vertebrate genomics developed in the context of the Ensembl project (http://www.ensembl.org). Together, the two resources provide a consistent set of programmatic and interactive interfaces to a rich range of data including reference sequence, gene models, transcriptional data, genetic variation and comparative analysis. This paper provides an update to the previous publications about the resource, with a focus on recent developments. These include the development of new analyses and views to represent polyploid genomes (of which bread wheat is the primary exemplar); and the continued up-scaling of the resource, which now includes over 23 000 bacterial genomes, 400 fungal genomes and 100 protist genomes, in addition to 55 genomes from invertebrate metazoa and 39 genomes from plants. This dramatic increase in the number of included genomes is one part of a broader effort to automate the integration of archival data (genome sequence, but also associated RNA sequence data and variant calls) within the context of reference genomes and make it available through the Ensembl user interfaces. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Fully functional global genome repair of (6-4) photoproducts and compromised transcription-coupled repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in condensed mitotic chromatin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Komura, Jun-ichiro, E-mail: junkom@med.tohoku.ac.jp [Department of Cell Biology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8575 (Japan); Ikehata, Hironobu [Department of Cell Biology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8575 (Japan); Mori, Toshio [Radioisotope Research Center, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara 634-8521 (Japan); Ono, Tetsuya [Department of Cell Biology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8575 (Japan)

2012-03-10

During mitosis, chromatin is highly condensed, and activities such as transcription and semiconservative replication do not occur. Consequently, the condensed condition of mitotic chromatin is assumed to inhibit DNA metabolism by impeding the access of DNA-transacting proteins. However, about 40 years ago, several researchers observed unscheduled DNA synthesis in UV-irradiated mitotic chromosomes, suggesting the presence of excision repair. We re-examined this subject by directly measuring the removal of UV-induced DNA lesions by an ELISA and by a Southern-based technique in HeLa cells arrested at mitosis. We observed that the removal of (6-4) photoproducts from the overall genome in mitotic cells was as efficient as in interphase cells. This suggests that global genome repair of (6-4) photoproducts is fully functional during mitosis, and that the DNA in mitotic chromatin is accessible to proteins involved in this mode of DNA repair. Nevertheless, not all modes of DNA repair seem fully functional during mitosis. We also observed that the removal of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers from the dihydrofolate reductase and c-MYC genes in mitotic cells was very slow. This suggests that transcription-coupled repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers is compromised or non-functional during mitosis, which is probably the consequence of mitotic transcriptional repression. -- Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Global genome repair of (6-4) photoproducts is fully active in mitotic cells. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer DNA in condensed mitotic chromatin does not seem inaccessible or inert. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Mitotic transcriptional repression may impair transcription-coupled repair.

Fully functional global genome repair of (6-4) photoproducts and compromised transcription-coupled repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in condensed mitotic chromatin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komura, Jun-ichiro; Ikehata, Hironobu; Mori, Toshio; Ono, Tetsuya

2012-01-01

During mitosis, chromatin is highly condensed, and activities such as transcription and semiconservative replication do not occur. Consequently, the condensed condition of mitotic chromatin is assumed to inhibit DNA metabolism by impeding the access of DNA-transacting proteins. However, about 40 years ago, several researchers observed unscheduled DNA synthesis in UV-irradiated mitotic chromosomes, suggesting the presence of excision repair. We re-examined this subject by directly measuring the removal of UV-induced DNA lesions by an ELISA and by a Southern-based technique in HeLa cells arrested at mitosis. We observed that the removal of (6-4) photoproducts from the overall genome in mitotic cells was as efficient as in interphase cells. This suggests that global genome repair of (6-4) photoproducts is fully functional during mitosis, and that the DNA in mitotic chromatin is accessible to proteins involved in this mode of DNA repair. Nevertheless, not all modes of DNA repair seem fully functional during mitosis. We also observed that the removal of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers from the dihydrofolate reductase and c-MYC genes in mitotic cells was very slow. This suggests that transcription-coupled repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers is compromised or non-functional during mitosis, which is probably the consequence of mitotic transcriptional repression. -- Highlights: ► Global genome repair of (6-4) photoproducts is fully active in mitotic cells. ► DNA in condensed mitotic chromatin does not seem inaccessible or inert. ► Mitotic transcriptional repression may impair transcription-coupled repair.

SIGMA: A System for Integrative Genomic Microarray Analysis of Cancer Genomes

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Davies Jonathan J

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The prevalence of high resolution profiling of genomes has created a need for the integrative analysis of information generated from multiple methodologies and platforms. Although the majority of data in the public domain are gene expression profiles, and expression analysis software are available, the increase of array CGH studies has enabled integration of high throughput genomic and gene expression datasets. However, tools for direct mining and analysis of array CGH data are limited. Hence, there is a great need for analytical and display software tailored to cross platform integrative analysis of cancer genomes. Results We have created a user-friendly java application to facilitate sophisticated visualization and analysis such as cross-tumor and cross-platform comparisons. To demonstrate the utility of this software, we assembled array CGH data representing Affymetrix SNP chip, Stanford cDNA arrays and whole genome tiling path array platforms for cross comparison. This cancer genome database contains 267 profiles from commonly used cancer cell lines representing 14 different tissue types. Conclusion In this study we have developed an application for the visualization and analysis of data from high resolution array CGH platforms that can be adapted for analysis of multiple types of high throughput genomic datasets. Furthermore, we invite researchers using array CGH technology to deposit both their raw and processed data, as this will be a continually expanding database of cancer genomes. This publicly available resource, the System for Integrative Genomic Microarray Analysis (SIGMA of cancer genomes, can be accessed at http://sigma.bccrc.ca.

Global analysis of WRKY transcription factor superfamily in Setaria identifies potential candidates involved in abiotic stress signalling

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Mehanathan eMuthamilarasan

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Transcription factors (TFs are major players in stress signalling and constitute an integral part of signalling networks. Among the major TFs, WRKY proteins play pivotal roles in regulation of transcriptional reprogramming associated with stress responses. In view of this, genome- and transcriptome-wide identification of WRKY TF family was performed in the C4 model plants, Setaria italica (SiWRKY and S. viridis (SvWRKY, respectively. The study identified 105 SiWRKY and 44 SvWRKY proteins that were computationally analysed for their physicochemical properties. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis classified these proteins into three major groups, namely I, II and III with majority of WRKY proteins belonging to group II (53 SiWRKY and 23 SvWRKY, followed by group III (39 SiWRKY and 11 SvWRKY and group I (10 SiWRKY and 6 SvWRKY. Group II proteins were further classified into 5 subgroups (IIa to IIe based on their phylogeny. Domain analysis showed the presence of WRKY motif and zinc finger-like structures in these proteins along with additional domains in a few proteins. All SiWRKY genes were physically mapped on the S. italica genome and their duplication analysis revealed that 10 and 8 gene pairs underwent tandem and segmental duplications, respectively. Comparative mapping of SiWRKY and SvWRKY genes in related C4 panicoid genomes demonstrated the orthologous relationships between these genomes. In silico expression analysis of SiWRKY and SvWRKY genes showed their differential expression patterns in different tissues and stress conditions. Expression profiling of candidate SiWRKY genes in response to stress (dehydration and salinity and hormone treatments (abscisic acid, salicylic acid and methyl jasmonate suggested the putative involvement of SiWRKY066 and SiWRKY082 in stress and hormone signalling. These genes could be potential candidates for further characterization to delineate their functional roles in abiotic stress signalling.

Global analysis of WRKY transcription factor superfamily in Setaria identifies potential candidates involved in abiotic stress signaling

Science.gov (United States)

Muthamilarasan, Mehanathan; Bonthala, Venkata S.; Khandelwal, Rohit; Jaishankar, Jananee; Shweta, Shweta; Nawaz, Kashif; Prasad, Manoj

2015-01-01

Transcription factors (TFs) are major players in stress signaling and constitute an integral part of signaling networks. Among the major TFs, WRKY proteins play pivotal roles in regulation of transcriptional reprogramming associated with stress responses. In view of this, genome- and transcriptome-wide identification of WRKY TF family was performed in the C4model plants, Setaria italica (SiWRKY) and S. viridis (SvWRKY), respectively. The study identified 105 SiWRKY and 44 SvWRKY proteins that were computationally analyzed for their physicochemical properties. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis classified these proteins into three major groups, namely I, II, and III with majority of WRKY proteins belonging to group II (53 SiWRKY and 23 SvWRKY), followed by group III (39 SiWRKY and 11 SvWRKY) and group I (10 SiWRKY and 6 SvWRKY). Group II proteins were further classified into 5 subgroups (IIa to IIe) based on their phylogeny. Domain analysis showed the presence of WRKY motif and zinc finger-like structures in these proteins along with additional domains in a few proteins. All SiWRKY genes were physically mapped on the S. italica genome and their duplication analysis revealed that 10 and 8 gene pairs underwent tandem and segmental duplications, respectively. Comparative mapping of SiWRKY and SvWRKY genes in related C4 panicoid genomes demonstrated the orthologous relationships between these genomes. In silico expression analysis of SiWRKY and SvWRKY genes showed their differential expression patterns in different tissues and stress conditions. Expression profiling of candidate SiWRKY genes in response to stress (dehydration and salinity) and hormone treatments (abscisic acid, salicylic acid, and methyl jasmonate) suggested the putative involvement of SiWRKY066 and SiWRKY082 in stress and hormone signaling. These genes could be potential candidates for further characterization to delineate their functional roles in abiotic stress signaling. PMID:26635818

MYB Transcription Factors in Chinese Pear (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd.: Genome-Wide Identification, Classification and Expression Profiling during Fruit Development

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Yun Peng eCao

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The MYB family is one of the largest families of transcription factors in plants. Although some MYBs have been reported to play roles in secondary metabolism, no comprehensive study of the MYB family in Chinese pear (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd. has been reported. In the present study, we performed genome-wide analysis of MYB genes in Chinese pear, designated as PbMYBs, including analyses of their phylogenic relationships, structures, chromosomal locations, promoter regions, GO annotations and collinearity. A total of 129 PbMYB genes were identified in the pear genome and were divided into 31 subgroups based on phylogenetic analysis. These PbMYBs were unevenly distributed among 16 chromosomes (total of 17 chromosomes. The occurrence of gene duplication events indicated that whole-genome duplication and segmental duplication likely played key roles in expansion of the PbMYB gene family. Ka/Ks analysis suggested that the duplicated PbMYBs mainly experienced purifying selection with restrictive functional divergence after the duplication events. Interspecies microsynteny analysis revealed maximum orthology between pear and peach, followed by plum and strawberry. Subsequently, the expression patterns of 20 PbMYB genes that may be involved in lignin biosynthesis according to their phylogenetic relationships were examined throughout fruit development. Among the twenty genes examined, PbMYB25 and PbMYB52 exhibited expression patterns consistent with the typical variations in the lignin content previously reported. Moreover, sub-cellular localization analysis revealed that two proteins PbMYB25 and PbMYB52 were localized to the nucleus. All together, PbMYB25 and PbMYB52 were inferred to be candidate genes involved in the regulation of lignin biosynthesis during the development of pear fruit. This study provides useful information for further functional analysis of the MYB gene family in pear.

Genome-wide survey and expression analysis of the plant-specific NAC transcription factor family in soybean during development and dehydration stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Dung Tien; Nishiyama, Rie; Watanabe, Yasuko; Mochida, Keiichi; Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, Kazuko; Shinozaki, Kazuo; Tran, Lam-Son Phan

2011-08-01

Plant-specific NAC transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in regulating diverse biological processes, including development, senescence, growth, cell division and responses to environmental stress stimuli. Within the soybean genome, we identified 152 full-length GmNAC TFs, including 11 membrane-bound members. In silico analysis of the GmNACs, together with their Arabidopsis and rice counterparts, revealed similar NAC architecture. Next, we explored the soybean Affymetrix array and Illumina transcriptome sequence data to analyse tissue-specific expression profiles of GmNAC genes. Phylogenetic analysis using stress-related NAC TFs from Arabidopsis and rice as seeding sequences identified 58 of the 152 GmNACs as putative stress-responsive genes, including eight previously reported dehydration-responsive GmNACs. We could design gene-specific primers for quantitative real-time PCR verification of 38 out of 50 newly predicted stress-related genes. Twenty-five and six GmNACs were found to be induced and repressed 2-fold or more, respectively, in soybean roots and/or shoots in response to dehydration. GmNAC085, whose amino acid sequence was 39%; identical to that of well-known SNAC1/ONAC2, was the most induced gene upon dehydration, showing 390-fold and 20-fold induction in shoots and roots, respectively. Our systematic analysis has identified excellent tissue-specific and/or dehydration-responsive candidate GmNAC genes for in-depth characterization and future development of improved drought-tolerant transgenic soybeans.

Transcriptional analysis of the multicopy hao gene coding for hydroxylamine oxidoreductase in Nitrosomonas sp. strain ENI-11.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirota, Ryuichi; Kuroda, Akio; Ikeda, Tsukasa; Takiguchi, Noboru; Ohtake, Hisao; Kato, Junichi

2006-08-01

The nitrifying bacterium Nitrosomonas sp. strain ENI-11 has three copies of the gene encoding hydroxylamine oxidoreductase (hao(1), hao(2), and hao(3)) on its genome. Broad-host-range reporter plasmids containing transcriptional fusion genes between hao copies and lacZ were constructed to analyze the expression of each hydroxylamine oxidoreductase gene (hao) copy individually and quantitatively. beta-Galactosidase assays of ENI-11 harboring reporter plasmids revealed that all hao copies were transcribed in the wild-type strain. Promoter analysis of hao copies revealed that transcription of hao(3) was highest among the hao copies. Expression levels of hao(1) and hao(2) were 40% and 62% of that of hao(3) respectively. Transcription of hao(1) was negatively regulated, whereas a portion of hao(3) transcription was read through transcription from the rpsT promoter. When energy-depleted cells were incubated in the growth medium, only hao(3) expression increased. This result suggests that it is hao(3) that is responsible for recovery from energy-depleted conditions in Nitrosomonas sp. strain ENI-11.

Comparative genomic analysis of Drosophila melanogaster and vector mosquito developmental genes.

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Susanta K Behura

Full Text Available Genome sequencing projects have presented the opportunity for analysis of developmental genes in three vector mosquito species: Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Anopheles gambiae. A comparative genomic analysis of developmental genes in Drosophila melanogaster and these three important vectors of human disease was performed in this investigation. While the study was comprehensive, special emphasis centered on genes that 1 are components of developmental signaling pathways, 2 regulate fundamental developmental processes, 3 are critical for the development of tissues of vector importance, 4 function in developmental processes known to have diverged within insects, and 5 encode microRNAs (miRNAs that regulate developmental transcripts in Drosophila. While most fruit fly developmental genes are conserved in the three vector mosquito species, several genes known to be critical for Drosophila development were not identified in one or more mosquito genomes. In other cases, mosquito lineage-specific gene gains with respect to D. melanogaster were noted. Sequence analyses also revealed that numerous repetitive sequences are a common structural feature of Drosophila and mosquito developmental genes. Finally, analysis of predicted miRNA binding sites in fruit fly and mosquito developmental genes suggests that the repertoire of developmental genes targeted by miRNAs is species-specific. The results of this study provide insight into the evolution of developmental genes and processes in dipterans and other arthropods, serve as a resource for those pursuing analysis of mosquito development, and will promote the design and refinement of functional analysis experiments.

A genome-wide longitudinal transcriptome analysis of the aging model Podospora anserina.

Science.gov (United States)

Philipp, Oliver; Hamann, Andrea; Servos, Jörg; Werner, Alexandra; Koch, Ina; Osiewacz, Heinz D

2013-01-01

Aging of biological systems is controlled by various processes which have a potential impact on gene expression. Here we report a genome-wide transcriptome analysis of the fungal aging model Podospora anserina. Total RNA of three individuals of defined age were pooled and analyzed by SuperSAGE (serial analysis of gene expression). A bioinformatics analysis identified different molecular pathways to be affected during aging. While the abundance of transcripts linked to ribosomes and to the proteasome quality control system were found to decrease during aging, those associated with autophagy increase, suggesting that autophagy may act as a compensatory quality control pathway. Transcript profiles associated with the energy metabolism including mitochondrial functions were identified to fluctuate during aging. Comparison of wild-type transcripts, which are continuously down-regulated during aging, with those down-regulated in the long-lived, copper-uptake mutant grisea, validated the relevance of age-related changes in cellular copper metabolism. Overall, we (i) present a unique age-related data set of a longitudinal study of the experimental aging model P. anserina which represents a reference resource for future investigations in a variety of organisms, (ii) suggest autophagy to be a key quality control pathway that becomes active once other pathways fail, and (iii) present testable predictions for subsequent experimental investigations.

A genome-wide longitudinal transcriptome analysis of the aging model Podospora anserina.

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Oliver Philipp

Full Text Available Aging of biological systems is controlled by various processes which have a potential impact on gene expression. Here we report a genome-wide transcriptome analysis of the fungal aging model Podospora anserina. Total RNA of three individuals of defined age were pooled and analyzed by SuperSAGE (serial analysis of gene expression. A bioinformatics analysis identified different molecular pathways to be affected during aging. While the abundance of transcripts linked to ribosomes and to the proteasome quality control system were found to decrease during aging, those associated with autophagy increase, suggesting that autophagy may act as a compensatory quality control pathway. Transcript profiles associated with the energy metabolism including mitochondrial functions were identified to fluctuate during aging. Comparison of wild-type transcripts, which are continuously down-regulated during aging, with those down-regulated in the long-lived, copper-uptake mutant grisea, validated the relevance of age-related changes in cellular copper metabolism. Overall, we (i present a unique age-related data set of a longitudinal study of the experimental aging model P. anserina which represents a reference resource for future investigations in a variety of organisms, (ii suggest autophagy to be a key quality control pathway that becomes active once other pathways fail, and (iii present testable predictions for subsequent experimental investigations.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of WRKY transcriptional factor family in apple and analysis of their responses to waterlogging and drought stress.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Dong; Li, Yuanyuan; Bai, Yang; Li, Mingjun; Cheng, Lailiang

2016-06-01

As one of the largest transcriptional factor families in plants, WRKY genes play significant roles in various biotic and abiotic stress responses. Although the WRKY gene family has been characterized in a few plant species, the details remain largely unknown in the apple (Malus domestica Borkh.). In this study, we identified a total of 127 MdWRKYs from the apple genome, which were divided into four subgroups according to the WRKY domains and zinc finger motif. Most of them were mapped onto the apple's 17 chromosomes and were expressed in more than one tissue, including shoot tips, mature leaves, fruit and apple calli. We then contrasted WRKY expression patterns between calli grown in solid medium (control) and liquid medium (representing waterlogging stress) and found that 34 WRKY genes were differentially expressed between the two growing conditions. Finally, we determined the expression patterns of 10 selected WRKY genes in an apple rootstock, G41, in response to waterlogging and drought stress, which identified candidate genes involved in responses to water stress for functional analysis. Our data provide interesting candidate MdWRKYs for future functional analysis and demonstrate that apple callus is a useful system for characterizing gene expression and function in apple. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

SAGA, TFIID and regulation of transcription through chromatin

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schram, A.W.

2013-01-01

Chromatin has an important role in eukaryotic transcription. Research into this role is ongoing and genome-wide analysis has correlated various histone modifications to multiple elements in active and silent genes, such as enhancers, promoters and coding regions. Modifications often serve to recruit

Genome-wide organization and expression profiling of the R2R3-MYB transcription factor family in pineapple (Ananas comosus).

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chaoyang; Xie, Tao; Chen, Chenjie; Luan, Aiping; Long, Jianmei; Li, Chuhao; Ding, Yaqi; He, Yehua

2017-07-01

The MYB proteins comprise one of the largest families of plant transcription factors, which are involved in various plant physiological and biochemical processes. Pineapple (Ananas comosus) is one of three most important tropical fruits worldwide. The completion of pineapple genome sequencing provides a great opportunity to investigate the organization and evolutionary traits of pineapple MYB genes at the genome-wide level. In the present study, a total of 94 pineapple R2R3-MYB genes were identified and further phylogenetically classified into 26 subfamilies, as supported by the conserved gene structures and motif composition. Collinearity analysis indicated that the segmental duplication events played a crucial role in the expansion of pineapple MYB gene family. Further comparative phylogenetic analysis suggested that there have been functional divergences of MYB gene family during plant evolution. RNA-seq data from different tissues and developmental stages revealed distinct temporal and spatial expression profiles of the AcMYB genes. Further quantitative expression analysis showed the specific expression patterns of the selected putative stress-related AcMYB genes in response to distinct abiotic stress and hormonal treatments. The comprehensive expression analysis of the pineapple MYB genes, especially the tissue-preferential and stress-responsive genes, could provide valuable clues for further function characterization. In this work, we systematically identified AcMYB genes by analyzing the pineapple genome sequence using a set of bioinformatics approaches. Our findings provide a global insight into the organization, phylogeny and expression patterns of the pineapple R2R3-MYB genes, and hence contribute to the greater understanding of their biological roles in pineapple.

Two transcription products of the vesicular stomatitis virus genome may control L-cell protein synthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunigan, D.D.; Lucas-Lenard, J.M.

1983-01-01

When mouse L-cells are infected with vesicular stomatitis virus, there is a decrease in the rate of protein synthesis ranging from 20 to 85% of that in mock-infected cells. Vesicular stomatitis virus, irradiated with increasing doses of UV light, eventually loses this capacity to inhibit protein synthesis. The UV inactivation curve was biphasic, suggesting that transcription of two regions of the viral genome is necessary for the virus to become inactivated in this capacity. The first transcription produced corresponded to about 373 nucleotides, and the second corresponded to about 42 nucleotides. Inhibition of transcription of the larger product by irradiating the virus with low doses of UV light left a residual inhibition of protein synthesis consisting of approximately 60 to 65% of the total inhibition. This residual inhibition could be obviated by irradiating the virus with a UV dose of greater than 20,000 ergs/mm 2 and was thus considered to represent the effect of the smaller transcription product. In the R1 mutant of another author, the inhibition of transcription of the larger product sufficed to restore protein synthesis to the mock-infected level, suggesting that the smaller transcription product is nonfunctional with respect to protein synthesis inhibition. Extracts from cells infected with virus irradiated with low doses of UV light showed a protein synthesis capacity quite similar to that of their in vivo counterparts, indicating that these extracts closely reflect the in vivo effects of virus infection

Cloning and functional analysis of human mTERFL encoding a novel mitochondrial transcription termination factor-like protein

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Yao; Zhou Guangjin; Yu Min; He Yungang; Tang Wei; Lai Jianhua; He Jie; Liu Wanguo; Tan Deyong

2005-01-01

Serum plays an important role in the regulation of cell cycle and cell growth. To identify novel serum-inhibitory factors and study their roles in cell cycle regulation, we performed mRNA differential display analysis of U251 cells in the presence or absence of serum and cloned a novel gene encoding the human mitochondrial transcription termination factor-like protein (mTERFL). The full-length mTERFL cDNA has been isolated and the genomic structure determined. The mTERFL gene consists of three exons and encodes 385 amino acids with 52% sequence similarity to the human mitochondrial transcription termination factor (mTERF). However, mTERFL and mTERF have an opposite expression pattern in response to serum. The expression of mTERFL is dramatically inhibited by the addition of serum in serum-starved cells while the mTERF is rather induced. Northern blot analysis detected three mTERFL transcripts of 1.7, 3.2, and 3.5 kb. Besides the 3.2 kb transcript that is unique to skeletal muscle, other two transcripts express predominant in heart, liver, pancreas, and skeletal muscle. Expression of the GFP-mTERFL fusion protein in HeLa cells localized it to the mitochondria. Furthermore, ectopic expression of mTERFL suppresses cell growth and arrests cells in the G1 stage demonstrated by MTT and flow cytometry analysis. Collectively, our data suggest that mTERFL is a novel mTERF family member and a serum-inhibitory factor probably participating in the regulation of cell growth through the modulation of mitochondrial transcription

DNA replication factor C1 mediates genomic stability and transcriptional gene silencing in Arabidopsis

KAUST Repository

Liu, Qian; Wang, Junguo; Miki, Daisuke; Xia, Ran; Yu, Wenxiang; He, Junna; Zheng, Zhimin; Zhu, Jian-Kang; Gonga, Zhizhong

2010-01-01

Genetic screening identified a suppressor of ros1-1, a mutant of REPRESSOR OF SILENCING1 (ROS1; encoding a DNA demethylation protein). The suppressor is a mutation in the gene encoding the largest subunit of replication factor C (RFC1). This mutation of RFC1 reactivates the unlinked 35S-NPTII transgene, which is silenced in ros1 and also increases expression of the pericentromeric Athila retrotransposons named transcriptional silent information in a DNA methylationindependent manner. rfc1 is more sensitive than the wild type to the DNA-damaging agent methylmethane sulphonate and to the DNA inter- and intra- cross-linking agent cisplatin. The rfc1 mutant constitutively expresses the G2/M-specific cyclin CycB1;1 and other DNA repair-related genes. Treatment with DNA-damaging agents mimics the rfc1 mutation in releasing the silenced 35S-NPTII, suggesting that spontaneously induced genomic instability caused by the rfc1 mutation might partially contribute to the released transcriptional gene silencing (TGS). The frequency of somatic homologous recombination is significantly increased in the rfc1 mutant. Interestingly, ros1 mutants show increased telomere length, but rfc1 mutants show decreased telomere length and reduced expression of telomerase. Our results suggest that RFC1 helps mediate genomic stability and TGS in Arabidopsis thaliana. © 2010 American Society of Plant Biologists.

DNA replication factor C1 mediates genomic stability and transcriptional gene silencing in Arabidopsis

KAUST Repository

Liu, Qian

2010-07-01

Genetic screening identified a suppressor of ros1-1, a mutant of REPRESSOR OF SILENCING1 (ROS1; encoding a DNA demethylation protein). The suppressor is a mutation in the gene encoding the largest subunit of replication factor C (RFC1). This mutation of RFC1 reactivates the unlinked 35S-NPTII transgene, which is silenced in ros1 and also increases expression of the pericentromeric Athila retrotransposons named transcriptional silent information in a DNA methylationindependent manner. rfc1 is more sensitive than the wild type to the DNA-damaging agent methylmethane sulphonate and to the DNA inter- and intra- cross-linking agent cisplatin. The rfc1 mutant constitutively expresses the G2/M-specific cyclin CycB1;1 and other DNA repair-related genes. Treatment with DNA-damaging agents mimics the rfc1 mutation in releasing the silenced 35S-NPTII, suggesting that spontaneously induced genomic instability caused by the rfc1 mutation might partially contribute to the released transcriptional gene silencing (TGS). The frequency of somatic homologous recombination is significantly increased in the rfc1 mutant. Interestingly, ros1 mutants show increased telomere length, but rfc1 mutants show decreased telomere length and reduced expression of telomerase. Our results suggest that RFC1 helps mediate genomic stability and TGS in Arabidopsis thaliana. © 2010 American Society of Plant Biologists.

Human social genomics.

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Steven W Cole

2014-08-01

Full Text Available A growing literature in human social genomics has begun to analyze how everyday life circumstances influence human gene expression. Social-environmental conditions such as urbanity, low socioeconomic status, social isolation, social threat, and low or unstable social status have been found to associate with differential expression of hundreds of gene transcripts in leukocytes and diseased tissues such as metastatic cancers. In leukocytes, diverse types of social adversity evoke a common conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA characterized by increased expression of proinflammatory genes and decreased expression of genes involved in innate antiviral responses and antibody synthesis. Mechanistic analyses have mapped the neural "social signal transduction" pathways that stimulate CTRA gene expression in response to social threat and may contribute to social gradients in health. Research has also begun to analyze the functional genomics of optimal health and thriving. Two emerging opportunities now stand to revolutionize our understanding of the everyday life of the human genome: network genomics analyses examining how systems-level capabilities emerge from groups of individual socially sensitive genomes and near-real-time transcriptional biofeedback to empirically optimize individual well-being in the context of the unique genetic, geographic, historical, developmental, and social contexts that jointly shape the transcriptional realization of our innate human genomic potential for thriving.

Genome interplay in the grain transcriptome of hexaploid bread wheat.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeifer, Matthias; Kugler, Karl G; Sandve, Simen R; Zhan, Bujie; Rudi, Heidi; Hvidsten, Torgeir R; Mayer, Klaus F X; Olsen, Odd-Arne

2014-07-18

Allohexaploid bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) provides approximately 20% of calories consumed by humans. Lack of genome sequence for the three homeologous and highly similar bread wheat genomes (A, B, and D) has impeded expression analysis of the grain transcriptome. We used previously unknown genome information to analyze the cell type-specific expression of homeologous genes in the developing wheat grain and identified distinct co-expression clusters reflecting the spatiotemporal progression during endosperm development. We observed no global but cell type- and stage-dependent genome dominance, organization of the wheat genome into transcriptionally active chromosomal regions, and asymmetric expression in gene families related to baking quality. Our findings give insight into the transcriptional dynamics and genome interplay among individual grain cell types in a polyploid cereal genome. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Bivariate Genomic Footprinting Detects Changes in Transcription Factor Activity

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Songjoon Baek

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In response to activating signals, transcription factors (TFs bind DNA and regulate gene expression. TF binding can be measured by protection of the bound sequence from DNase digestion (i.e., footprint. Here, we report that 80% of TF binding motifs do not show a measurable footprint, partly because of a variable cleavage pattern within the motif sequence. To more faithfully portray the effect of TFs on chromatin, we developed an algorithm that captures two TF-dependent effects on chromatin accessibility: footprinting and motif-flanking accessibility. The algorithm, termed bivariate genomic footprinting (BaGFoot, efficiently detects TF activity. BaGFoot is robust to different accessibility assays (DNase-seq, ATAC-seq, all examined peak-calling programs, and a variety of cut bias correction approaches. BaGFoot reliably predicts TF binding and provides valuable information regarding the TFs affecting chromatin accessibility in various biological systems and following various biological events, including in cases where an absolute footprint cannot be determined.

Whole-genome transcription and DNA methylation analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells identified aberrant gene regulation pathways in systemic lupus erythematosus.

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Zhu, Honglin; Mi, Wentao; Luo, Hui; Chen, Tao; Liu, Shengxi; Raman, Indu; Zuo, Xiaoxia; Li, Quan-Zhen

2016-07-13

Recent achievement in genetics and epigenetics has led to the exploration of the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Identification of differentially expressed genes and their regulatory mechanism(s) at whole-genome level will provide a comprehensive understanding of the development of SLE and its devastating complications, lupus nephritis (LN). We performed whole-genome transcription and DNA methylation analysis in PBMC of 30 SLE patients, including 15 with LN (SLE LN(+)) and 15 without LN (SLE LN(-)), and 25 normal controls (NC) using HumanHT-12 Beadchips and Illumina Human Methy450 chips. The serum proinflammatory cytokines were quantified using Bio-plex Human Cytokine 27-plex assay. Differentially expressed genes and differentially methylated CpG were analyzed with GenomeStudio, R, and SAM software. The association between DNA methylation and gene expression were tested. Gene interaction pathways of the differentially expressed genes were analyzed by IPA software. We identified 552 upregulated genes and 550 downregulated genes in PBMC of SLE. Integration of DNA methylation and gene expression profiling showed that 334 upregulated genes were hypomethylated, and 479 downregulated genes were hypermethylated. Pathway analysis on the differential genes in SLE revealed significant enrichment in interferon (IFN) signaling and toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling pathways. Nine IFN- and seven TLR-related genes were identified and displayed step-wise increase in SLE LN(-) and SLE LN(+). Hypomethylated CpG sites were detected on these genes. The gene expressions for MX1, GPR84, and E2F2 were increased in SLE LN(+) as compared to SLE LN(-) patients. The serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, including IL17A, IP-10, bFGF, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-15, GM-CSF, IL-1RA, IL-5, and IL-12p70, were significantly elevated in SLE compared with NC. The levels of IL-15 and IL1RA correlated with their mRNA expression. The upregulation of IL-15 may be regulated by hypomethylated

Genome-wide transcriptional profiling of human glioblastoma cells in response to ITE treatment.

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Kang, Bo; Zhou, Yanwen; Zheng, Min; Wang, Ying-Jie

2015-09-01

A ligand-activated transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is recently revealed to play a key role in embryogenesis and tumorigenesis (Feng et al. [1], Safe et al. [2]) and 2-(1'H-indole-3'-carbonyl)-thiazole-4-carboxylic acid methyl ester (ITE) (Song et al. [3]) is an endogenous AhR ligand that possesses anti-tumor activity. In order to gain insights into how ITE acts via the AhR in embryogenesis and tumorigenesis, we analyzed the genome-wide transcriptional profiles of the following three groups of cells: the human glioblastoma U87 parental cells, U87 tumor sphere cells treated with vehicle (DMSO) and U87 tumor sphere cells treated with ITE. Here, we provide the details of the sample gathering strategy and show the quality controls and the analyses associated with our gene array data deposited into the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) under the accession code of GSE67986.

Bioinformatics Identification of Modules of Transcription Factor Binding Sites in Alzheimer's Disease-Related Genes by In Silico Promoter Analysis and Microarrays

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Regina Augustin

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The molecular mechanisms and genetic risk factors underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD pathogenesis are only partly understood. To identify new factors, which may contribute to AD, different approaches are taken including proteomics, genetics, and functional genomics. Here, we used a bioinformatics approach and found that distinct AD-related genes share modules of transcription factor binding sites, suggesting a transcriptional coregulation. To detect additional coregulated genes, which may potentially contribute to AD, we established a new bioinformatics workflow with known multivariate methods like support vector machines, biclustering, and predicted transcription factor binding site modules by using in silico analysis and over 400 expression arrays from human and mouse. Two significant modules are composed of three transcription factor families: CTCF, SP1F, and EGRF/ZBPF, which are conserved between human and mouse APP promoter sequences. The specific combination of in silico promoter and multivariate analysis can identify regulation mechanisms of genes involved in multifactorial diseases.

HAfTs are novel lncRNA transcripts from aflatoxin exposure.

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B Alex Merrick

Full Text Available The transcriptome can reveal insights into precancer biology. We recently conducted RNA-Seq analysis on liver RNA from male rats exposed to the carcinogen, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1, for 90 days prior to liver tumor onset. Among >1,000 differentially expressed transcripts, several novel, unannotated Cufflinks-assembled transcripts, or HAfTs (Hepatic Aflatoxin Transcripts were found. We hypothesized PCR-cloning and RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends could further HAfT identification. Sanger data was obtained for 6 transcripts by PCR and 16 transcripts by 5'- and 3'-RACE. BLAST alignments showed, with two exceptions, HAfT transcripts were lncRNAs, >200nt without apparent long open reading frames. Six rat HAfT transcripts were classified as 'novel' without RefSeq annotation. Sequence alignment and genomic synteny showed each rat lncRNA had a homologous locus in the mouse genome and over half had homologous loci in the human genome, including at least two loci (and possibly three others that were previously unannotated. While HAfT functions are not yet clear, coregulatory roles may be possible from their adjacent orientation to known coding genes with altered expression that include 8 HAfT-gene pairs. For example, a unique rat HAfT, homologous to Pvt1, was adjacent to known genes controlling cell proliferation. Additionally, PCR and RACE Sanger sequencing showed many alternative splice variants and refinements of exon sequences compared to Cufflinks assembled transcripts and gene prediction algorithms. Presence of multiple splice variants and short tandem repeats found in some HAfTs may be consequential for secondary structure, transcriptional regulation, and function. In summary, we report novel, differentially expressed lncRNAs after exposure to the genotoxicant, AFB1, prior to neoplastic lesions. Complete cloning and sequencing of such transcripts could pave the way for a new set of sensitive and early prediction markers for chemical

Elucidating the transcription cycle of the UV-inducible hyperthermophilic archaeal virus SSV1 by DNA microarrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Froels, Sabrina; Gordon, Paul M.K.; Panlilio, Mayi Arcellana; Schleper, Christa; Sensen, Christoph W.

2007-01-01

The spindle-shaped Sulfolobus virus SSV1 was the first of a series of unusual and uniquely shaped viruses isolated from hyperthermophilic Archaea. Using whole-genome microarrays we show here that the circular 15.5 kb DNA genome of SSV1 exhibits a chronological regulation of its transcription upon UV irradiation, reminiscent to the life cycles of bacteriophages and eukaryotic viruses. The transcriptional cycle starts with a small UV-specific transcript and continues with early transcripts on both its flanks. The late transcripts appear after the onset of viral replication and are extended to their full lengths towards the end of the approximately 8.5 h cycle. While we detected only small differences in genome-wide analysis of the host Sulfolobus solfataricus comparing infected versus uninfected strains, we found a marked difference with respect to the strength and speed of the general UV response of the host. Models for the regulation of the virus cycle, and putative functions of genes in SSV1 are presented

From human monocytes to genome-wide binding sites--a protocol for small amounts of blood: monocyte isolation/ChIP-protocol/library amplification/genome wide computational data analysis.

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Sebastian Weiterer

Full Text Available Chromatin immunoprecipitation in combination with a genome-wide analysis via high-throughput sequencing is the state of the art method to gain genome-wide representation of histone modification or transcription factor binding profiles. However, chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis in the context of human experimental samples is limited, especially in the case of blood cells. The typically extremely low yields of precipitated DNA are usually not compatible with library amplification for next generation sequencing. We developed a highly reproducible protocol to present a guideline from the first step of isolating monocytes from a blood sample to analyse the distribution of histone modifications in a genome-wide manner.The protocol describes the whole work flow from isolating monocytes from human blood samples followed by a high-sensitivity and small-scale chromatin immunoprecipitation assay with guidance for generating libraries compatible with next generation sequencing from small amounts of immunoprecipitated DNA.

RNA transcriptional biosignature analysis for identifying febrile infants with serious bacterial infections in the emergency department: a feasibility study.

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Mahajan, Prashant; Kuppermann, Nathan; Suarez, Nicolas; Mejias, Asuncion; Casper, Charlie; Dean, J Michael; Ramilo, Octavio

2015-01-01

To develop the infrastructure and demonstrate the feasibility of conducting microarray-based RNA transcriptional profile analyses for the diagnosis of serious bacterial infections in febrile infants 60 days and younger in a multicenter pediatric emergency research network. We designed a prospective multicenter cohort study with the aim of enrolling more than 4000 febrile infants 60 days and younger. To ensure success of conducting complex genomic studies in emergency department (ED) settings, we established an infrastructure within the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network, including 21 sites, to evaluate RNA transcriptional profiles in young febrile infants. We developed a comprehensive manual of operations and trained site investigators to obtain and process blood samples for RNA extraction and genomic analyses. We created standard operating procedures for blood sample collection, processing, storage, shipping, and analyses. We planned to prospectively identify, enroll, and collect 1 mL blood samples for genomic analyses from eligible patients to identify logistical issues with study procedures. Finally, we planned to batch blood samples and determined RNA quantity and quality at the central microarray laboratory and organized data analysis with the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network data coordinating center. Below we report on establishment of the infrastructure and the feasibility success in the first year based on the enrollment of a limited number of patients. We successfully established the infrastructure at 21 EDs. Over the first 5 months we enrolled 79% (74 of 94) of eligible febrile infants. We were able to obtain and ship 1 mL of blood from 74% (55 of 74) of enrolled participants, with at least 1 sample per participating ED. The 55 samples were shipped and evaluated at the microarray laboratory, and 95% (52 of 55) of blood samples were of adequate quality and contained sufficient RNA for expression analysis. It is possible to

Genome-wide analysis of the SBP-box gene family in Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis).

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Tan, Hua-Wei; Song, Xiao-Ming; Duan, Wei-Ke; Wang, Yan; Hou, Xi-Lin

2015-11-01

The SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN (SBP)-box gene family contains highly conserved plant-specific transcription factors that play an important role in plant development, especially in flowering. Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis) is a leafy vegetable grown worldwide and is used as a model crop for research in genome duplication. The present study aimed to characterize the SBP-box transcription factor genes in Chinese cabbage. Twenty-nine SBP-box genes were identified in the Chinese cabbage genome and classified into six groups. We identified 23 orthologous and 5 co-orthologous SBP-box gene pairs between Chinese cabbage and Arabidopsis. An interaction network among these genes was constructed. Sixteen SBP-box genes were expressed more abundantly in flowers than in other tissues, suggesting their involvement in flowering. We show that the MiR156/157 family members may regulate the coding regions or 3'-UTR regions of Chinese cabbage SBP-box genes. As SBP-box genes were found to potentially participate in some plant development pathways, quantitative real-time PCR analysis was performed and showed that Chinese cabbage SBP-box genes were also sensitive to the exogenous hormones methyl jasmonic acid and salicylic acid. The SBP-box genes have undergone gene duplication and loss, evolving a more refined regulation for diverse stimulation in plant tissues. Our comprehensive genome-wide analysis provides insights into the SBP-box gene family of Chinese cabbage.

Identification and functional analysis of two alternatively spliced transcripts of ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3) in linseed flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).

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Wang, Yanyan; Zhang, Tianbao; Song, Xiaxia; Zhang, Jianping; Dang, Zhanhai; Pei, Xinwu; Long, Yan

2018-01-01

Alternative splicing is a popular phenomenon in different types of plants. It can produce alternative spliced transcripts that encode proteins with altered functions. Previous studies have shown that one transcription factor, ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3), which encodes an important component in abscisic acid (ABA) signaling, is subjected to alternative splicing in both mono- and dicotyledons. In the current study, we identified two homologs of ABI3 in the genome of linseed flax. We screened two alternatively spliced flax LuABI3 transcripts, LuABI3-2 and LuABI3-3, and one normal flax LuABI3 transcript, LuABI3-1. Sequence analysis revealed that one of the alternatively spliced transcripts, LuABI3-3, retained a 6 bp intron. RNA accumulation analysis showed that all three transcripts were expressed during seed development, while subcellular localization and transgene experiments showed that LuABI3-3 had no biological function. The two normal transcripts, LuABI3-1 and LuABI3-2, are the important functional isoforms in flax and play significant roles in the ABA regulatory pathway during seed development, germination, and maturation.

Identification and functional analysis of two alternatively spliced transcripts of ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3 in linseed flax (Linum usitatissimum L..

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Yanyan Wang

Full Text Available Alternative splicing is a popular phenomenon in different types of plants. It can produce alternative spliced transcripts that encode proteins with altered functions. Previous studies have shown that one transcription factor, ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE3 (ABI3, which encodes an important component in abscisic acid (ABA signaling, is subjected to alternative splicing in both mono- and dicotyledons. In the current study, we identified two homologs of ABI3 in the genome of linseed flax. We screened two alternatively spliced flax LuABI3 transcripts, LuABI3-2 and LuABI3-3, and one normal flax LuABI3 transcript, LuABI3-1. Sequence analysis revealed that one of the alternatively spliced transcripts, LuABI3-3, retained a 6 bp intron. RNA accumulation analysis showed that all three transcripts were expressed during seed development, while subcellular localization and transgene experiments showed that LuABI3-3 had no biological function. The two normal transcripts, LuABI3-1 and LuABI3-2, are the important functional isoforms in flax and play significant roles in the ABA regulatory pathway during seed development, germination, and maturation.

Repetitive Elements in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae Transcriptional Regulation.

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Amanda Malvessi Cattani

Full Text Available Transcriptional regulation, a multiple-step process, is still poorly understood in the important pig pathogen Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Basic motifs like promoters and terminators have already been described, but no other cis-regulatory elements have been found. DNA repeat sequences have been shown to be an interesting potential source of cis-regulatory elements. In this work, a genome-wide search for tandem and palindromic repetitive elements was performed in the intergenic regions of all coding sequences from M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448. Computational analysis demonstrated the presence of 144 tandem repeats and 1,171 palindromic elements. The DNA repeat sequences were distributed within the 5' upstream regions of 86% of transcriptional units of M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448. Comparative analysis between distinct repetitive sequences found in related mycoplasma genomes demonstrated different percentages of conservation among pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains. qPCR assays revealed differential expression among genes showing variable numbers of repetitive elements. In addition, repeats found in 206 genes already described to be differentially regulated under different culture conditions of M. hyopneumoniae strain 232 showed almost 80% conservation in relation to M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448 repeats. Altogether, these findings suggest a potential regulatory role of tandem and palindromic DNA repeats in the M. hyopneumoniae transcriptional profile.

Repetitive Elements in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae Transcriptional Regulation.

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Cattani, Amanda Malvessi; Siqueira, Franciele Maboni; Guedes, Rafael Lucas Muniz; Schrank, Irene Silveira

2016-01-01

Transcriptional regulation, a multiple-step process, is still poorly understood in the important pig pathogen Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Basic motifs like promoters and terminators have already been described, but no other cis-regulatory elements have been found. DNA repeat sequences have been shown to be an interesting potential source of cis-regulatory elements. In this work, a genome-wide search for tandem and palindromic repetitive elements was performed in the intergenic regions of all coding sequences from M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448. Computational analysis demonstrated the presence of 144 tandem repeats and 1,171 palindromic elements. The DNA repeat sequences were distributed within the 5' upstream regions of 86% of transcriptional units of M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448. Comparative analysis between distinct repetitive sequences found in related mycoplasma genomes demonstrated different percentages of conservation among pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains. qPCR assays revealed differential expression among genes showing variable numbers of repetitive elements. In addition, repeats found in 206 genes already described to be differentially regulated under different culture conditions of M. hyopneumoniae strain 232 showed almost 80% conservation in relation to M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448 repeats. Altogether, these findings suggest a potential regulatory role of tandem and palindromic DNA repeats in the M. hyopneumoniae transcriptional profile.

Genome-wide analysis of differential transcriptional and epigenetic variability across human immune cell types

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ecker, Simone; Chen, Lu; Pancaldi, Vera

2017-01-01

Background: A healthy immune system requires immune cells that adapt rapidly to environmental challenges. This phenotypic plasticity can be mediated by transcriptional and epigenetic variability. Results: We apply a novel analytical approach to measure and compare transcriptional and epigenetic v...

Comparing Mycobacterium tuberculosis genomes using genome topology networks.

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Jiang, Jianping; Gu, Jianlei; Zhang, Liang; Zhang, Chenyi; Deng, Xiao; Dou, Tonghai; Zhao, Guoping; Zhou, Yan

2015-02-14

Over the last decade, emerging research methods, such as comparative genomic analysis and phylogenetic study, have yielded new insights into genotypes and phenotypes of closely related bacterial strains. Several findings have revealed that genomic structural variations (SVs), including gene gain/loss, gene duplication and genome rearrangement, can lead to different phenotypes among strains, and an investigation of genes affected by SVs may extend our knowledge of the relationships between SVs and phenotypes in microbes, especially in pathogenic bacteria. In this work, we introduce a 'Genome Topology Network' (GTN) method based on gene homology and gene locations to analyze genomic SVs and perform phylogenetic analysis. Furthermore, the concept of 'unfixed ortholog' has been proposed, whose members are affected by SVs in genome topology among close species. To improve the precision of 'unfixed ortholog' recognition, a strategy to detect annotation differences and complete gene annotation was applied. To assess the GTN method, a set of thirteen complete M. tuberculosis genomes was analyzed as a case study. GTNs with two different gene homology-assigning methods were built, the Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG) method and the orthoMCL clustering method, and two phylogenetic trees were constructed accordingly, which may provide additional insights into whole genome-based phylogenetic analysis. We obtained 24 unfixable COG groups, of which most members were related to immunogenicity and drug resistance, such as PPE-repeat proteins (COG5651) and transcriptional regulator TetR gene family members (COG1309). The GTN method has been implemented in PERL and released on our website. The tool can be downloaded from http://homepage.fudan.edu.cn/zhouyan/gtn/ , and allows re-annotating the 'lost' genes among closely related genomes, analyzing genes affected by SVs, and performing phylogenetic analysis. With this tool, many immunogenic-related and drug resistance-related genes

Genome-wide identification of direct HBx genomic targets

KAUST Repository

Guerrieri, Francesca

2017-02-17

Background The Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) HBx regulatory protein is required for HBV replication and involved in HBV-related carcinogenesis. HBx interacts with chromatin modifying enzymes and transcription factors to modulate histone post-translational modifications and to regulate viral cccDNA transcription and cellular gene expression. Aiming to identify genes and non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) directly targeted by HBx, we performed a chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) to analyse HBV recruitment on host cell chromatin in cells replicating HBV. Results ChIP-Seq high throughput sequencing of HBx-bound fragments was used to obtain a high-resolution, unbiased, mapping of HBx binding sites across the genome in HBV replicating cells. Protein-coding genes and ncRNAs involved in cell metabolism, chromatin dynamics and cancer were enriched among HBx targets together with genes/ncRNAs known to modulate HBV replication. The direct transcriptional activation of genes/miRNAs that potentiate endocytosis (Ras-related in brain (RAB) GTPase family) and autophagy (autophagy related (ATG) genes, beclin-1, miR-33a) and the transcriptional repression of microRNAs (miR-138, miR-224, miR-576, miR-596) that directly target the HBV pgRNA and would inhibit HBV replication, contribute to HBx-mediated increase of HBV replication. Conclusions Our ChIP-Seq analysis of HBx genome wide chromatin recruitment defined the repertoire of genes and ncRNAs directly targeted by HBx and led to the identification of new mechanisms by which HBx positively regulates cccDNA transcription and HBV replication.

A differential genome-wide transcriptome analysis: impact of cellular copper on complex biological processes like aging and development.

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Jörg Servos

Full Text Available The regulation of cellular copper homeostasis is crucial in biology. Impairments lead to severe dysfunctions and are known to affect aging and development. Previously, a loss-of-function mutation in the gene encoding the copper-sensing and copper-regulated transcription factor GRISEA of the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina was reported to lead to cellular copper depletion and a pleiotropic phenotype with hypopigmentation of the mycelium and the ascospores, affected fertility and increased lifespan by approximately 60% when compared to the wild type. This phenotype is linked to a switch from a copper-dependent standard to an alternative respiration leading to both a reduced generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS and of adenosine triphosphate (ATP. We performed a genome-wide comparative transcriptome analysis of a wild-type strain and the copper-depleted grisea mutant. We unambiguously assigned 9,700 sequences of the transcriptome in both strains to the more than 10,600 predicted and annotated open reading frames of the P. anserina genome indicating 90% coverage of the transcriptome. 4,752 of the transcripts differed significantly in abundance with 1,156 transcripts differing at least 3-fold. Selected genes were investigated by qRT-PCR analyses. Apart from this general characterization we analyzed the data with special emphasis on molecular pathways related to the grisea mutation taking advantage of the available complete genomic sequence of P. anserina. This analysis verified but also corrected conclusions from earlier data obtained by single gene analysis, identified new candidates of factors as part of the cellular copper homeostasis system including target genes of transcription factor GRISEA, and provides a rich reference source of quantitative data for further in detail investigations. Overall, the present study demonstrates the importance of systems biology approaches also in cases were mutations in single genes are analyzed to

Genome and Transcriptome Analysis of the Fungal Pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Causing Banana Vascular Wilt Disease

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Huicai; Fan, Dingding; Zhu, Yabin; Feng, Yue; Wang, Guofen; Peng, Chunfang; Jiang, Xuanting; Zhou, Dajie; Ni, Peixiang; Liang, Changcong; Liu, Lei; Wang, Jun; Mao, Chao

2014-01-01

Background The asexual fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) causing vascular wilt disease is one of the most devastating pathogens of banana (Musa spp.). To understand the molecular underpinning of pathogenicity in Foc, the genomes and transcriptomes of two Foc isolates were sequenced. Methodology/Principal Findings Genome analysis revealed that the genome structures of race 1 and race 4 isolates were highly syntenic with those of F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici strain Fol4287. A large number of putative virulence associated genes were identified in both Foc genomes, including genes putatively involved in root attachment, cell degradation, detoxification of toxin, transport, secondary metabolites biosynthesis and signal transductions. Importantly, relative to the Foc race 1 isolate (Foc1), the Foc race 4 isolate (Foc4) has evolved with some expanded gene families of transporters and transcription factors for transport of toxins and nutrients that may facilitate its ability to adapt to host environments and contribute to pathogenicity to banana. Transcriptome analysis disclosed a significant difference in transcriptional responses between Foc1 and Foc4 at 48 h post inoculation to the banana ‘Brazil’ in comparison with the vegetative growth stage. Of particular note, more virulence-associated genes were up regulated in Foc4 than in Foc1. Several signaling pathways like the mitogen-activated protein kinase Fmk1 mediated invasion growth pathway, the FGA1-mediated G protein signaling pathway and a pathogenicity associated two-component system were activated in Foc4 rather than in Foc1. Together, these differences in gene content and transcription response between Foc1 and Foc4 might account for variation in their virulence during infection of the banana variety ‘Brazil’. Conclusions/Significance Foc genome sequences will facilitate us to identify pathogenicity mechanism involved in the banana vascular wilt disease development. These will thus advance

The transcription elongation factor Bur1-Bur2 interacts with replication protein A and maintains genome stability during replication stress

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausing, Emanuel; Mayer, Andreas; Chanarat, Sittinan

2010-01-01

Multiple DNA-associated processes such as DNA repair, replication, and recombination are crucial for the maintenance of genome integrity. Here, we show a novel interaction between the transcription elongation factor Bur1-Bur2 and replication protein A (RPA), the eukaryotic single-stranded DNA......-binding protein with functions in DNA repair, recombination, and replication. Bur1 interacted via its C-terminal domain with RPA, and bur1-¿C mutants showed a deregulated DNA damage response accompanied by increased sensitivity to DNA damage and replication stress as well as increased levels of persisting Rad52...... foci. Interestingly, the DNA damage sensitivity of an rfa1 mutant was suppressed by bur1 mutation, further underscoring a functional link between these two protein complexes. The transcription elongation factor Bur1-Bur2 interacts with RPA and maintains genome integrity during DNA replication stress....

Ensembl Genomes 2013: scaling up access to genome-wide data.

Science.gov (United States)

Kersey, Paul Julian; Allen, James E; Christensen, Mikkel; Davis, Paul; Falin, Lee J; Grabmueller, Christoph; Hughes, Daniel Seth Toney; Humphrey, Jay; Kerhornou, Arnaud; Khobova, Julia; Langridge, Nicholas; McDowall, Mark D; Maheswari, Uma; Maslen, Gareth; Nuhn, Michael; Ong, Chuang Kee; Paulini, Michael; Pedro, Helder; Toneva, Iliana; Tuli, Mary Ann; Walts, Brandon; Williams, Gareth; Wilson, Derek; Youens-Clark, Ken; Monaco, Marcela K; Stein, Joshua; Wei, Xuehong; Ware, Doreen; Bolser, Daniel M; Howe, Kevin Lee; Kulesha, Eugene; Lawson, Daniel; Staines, Daniel Michael

2014-01-01

Ensembl Genomes (http://www.ensemblgenomes.org) is an integrating resource for genome-scale data from non-vertebrate species. The project exploits and extends technologies for genome annotation, analysis and dissemination, developed in the context of the vertebrate-focused Ensembl project, and provides a complementary set of resources for non-vertebrate species through a consistent set of programmatic and interactive interfaces. These provide access to data including reference sequence, gene models, transcriptional data, polymorphisms and comparative analysis. This article provides an update to the previous publications about the resource, with a focus on recent developments. These include the addition of important new genomes (and related data sets) including crop plants, vectors of human disease and eukaryotic pathogens. In addition, the resource has scaled up its representation of bacterial genomes, and now includes the genomes of over 9000 bacteria. Specific extensions to the web and programmatic interfaces have been developed to support users in navigating these large data sets. Looking forward, analytic tools to allow targeted selection of data for visualization and download are likely to become increasingly important in future as the number of available genomes increases within all domains of life, and some of the challenges faced in representing bacterial data are likely to become commonplace for eukaryotes in future.

DNA to DNA transcription might exist in eukaryotic cells

OpenAIRE

Li, Gao-De

2016-01-01

Till now, in biological sciences, the term, transcription, mainly refers to DNA to RNA transcription. But our recently published experimental findings obtained from Plasmodium falciparum strongly suggest the existence of DNA to DNA transcription in the genome of eukaryotic cells, which could shed some light on the functions of certain noncoding DNA in the human and other eukaryotic genomes.

DNA Topoisomerases in Transcription

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rødgaard, Morten Terpager

2015-01-01

This Ph.D. thesis summarizes the main results of my studies on the interplay between DNA topoisomerases and transcription. The work was performed from 2011 to 2015 at Aarhus University in the Laboratory of Genome Research, and was supervised by associate professor Anni H. Andersen. Most of the ex......This Ph.D. thesis summarizes the main results of my studies on the interplay between DNA topoisomerases and transcription. The work was performed from 2011 to 2015 at Aarhus University in the Laboratory of Genome Research, and was supervised by associate professor Anni H. Andersen. Most...... topoisomerase-DNA cleavage complex. The second study is an investigation of how topoisomerases influence gene regulation by keeping the genome in an optimal topological state....

High resolution analysis of the human transcriptome: detection of extensive alternative splicing independent of transcriptional activity

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Rouet Fabien

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Commercially available microarrays have been used in many settings to generate expression profiles for a variety of applications, including target selection for disease detection, classification, profiling for pharmacogenomic response to therapeutics, and potential disease staging. However, many commercially available microarray platforms fail to capture transcript diversity produced by alternative splicing, a major mechanism for driving proteomic diversity through transcript heterogeneity. Results The human Genome-Wide SpliceArray™ (GWSA, a novel microarray platform, utilizes an existing probe design concept to monitor such transcript diversity on a genome scale. The human GWSA allows the detection of alternatively spliced events within the human genome through the use of exon body and exon junction probes to provide a direct measure of each transcript, through simple calculations derived from expression data. This report focuses on the performance and validation of the array when measured against standards recently published by the Microarray Quality Control (MAQC Project. The array was shown to be highly quantitative, and displayed greater than 85% correlation with the HG-U133 Plus 2.0 array at the gene level while providing more extensive coverage of each gene. Almost 60% of splice events among genes demonstrating differential expression of greater than 3 fold also contained extensive splicing alterations. Importantly, almost 10% of splice events within the gene set displaying constant overall expression values had evidence of transcript diversity. Two examples illustrate the types of events identified: LIM domain 7 showed no differential expression at the gene level, but demonstrated deregulation of an exon skip event, while erythrocyte membrane protein band 4.1 -like 3 was differentially expressed and also displayed deregulation of a skipped exon isoform. Conclusion Significant changes were detected independent of

Analysis of IAV Replication and Co-infection Dynamics by a Versatile RNA Viral Genome Labeling Method

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Dan Dou

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Genome delivery to the proper cellular compartment for transcription and replication is a primary goal of viruses. However, methods for analyzing viral genome localization and differentiating genomes with high identity are lacking, making it difficult to investigate entry-related processes and co-examine heterogeneous RNA viral populations. Here, we present an RNA labeling approach for single-cell analysis of RNA viral replication and co-infection dynamics in situ, which uses the versatility of padlock probes. We applied this method to identify influenza A virus (IAV infections in cells and lung tissue with single-nucleotide specificity and to classify entry and replication stages by gene segment localization. Extending the classification strategy to co-infections of IAVs with single-nucleotide variations, we found that the dependence on intracellular trafficking places a time restriction on secondary co-infections necessary for genome reassortment. Altogether, these data demonstrate how RNA viral genome labeling can help dissect entry and co-infections.

In Vitro Whole Genome DNA Binding Analysis of the Bacterial Replication Initiator and Transcription Factor DnaA.

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Janet L Smith

2015-05-01

Full Text Available DnaA, the replication initiation protein in bacteria, is an AAA+ ATPase that binds and hydrolyzes ATP and exists in a heterogeneous population of ATP-DnaA and ADP-DnaA. DnaA binds cooperatively to the origin of replication and several other chromosomal regions, and functions as a transcription factor at some of these regions. We determined the binding properties of Bacillus subtilis DnaA to genomic DNA in vitro at single nucleotide resolution using in vitro DNA affinity purification and deep sequencing (IDAP-Seq. We used these data to identify 269 binding regions, refine the consensus sequence of the DnaA binding site, and compare the relative affinity of binding regions for ATP-DnaA and ADP-DnaA. Most sites had a slightly higher affinity for ATP-DnaA than ADP-DnaA, but a few had a strong preference for binding ATP-DnaA. Of the 269 sites, only the eight strongest binding ones have been observed to bind DnaA in vivo, suggesting that other cellular factors or the amount of available DnaA in vivo restricts DnaA binding to these additional sites. Conversely, we found several chromosomal regions that were bound by DnaA in vivo but not in vitro, and that the nucleoid-associated protein Rok was required for binding in vivo. Our in vitro characterization of the inherent ability of DnaA to bind the genome at single nucleotide resolution provides a backdrop for interpreting data on in vivo binding and regulation of DnaA, and is an approach that should be adaptable to many other DNA binding proteins.

A Herpesviral Immediate Early Protein Promotes Transcription Elongation of Viral Transcripts

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Hannah L. Fox

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1 genes are transcribed by cellular RNA polymerase II (RNA Pol II. While four viral immediate early proteins (ICP4, ICP0, ICP27, and ICP22 function in some capacity in viral transcription, the mechanism by which ICP22 functions remains unclear. We observed that the FACT complex (comprised of SSRP1 and Spt16 was relocalized in infected cells as a function of ICP22. ICP22 was also required for the association of FACT and the transcription elongation factors SPT5 and SPT6 with viral genomes. We further demonstrated that the FACT complex interacts with ICP22 throughout infection. We therefore hypothesized that ICP22 recruits cellular transcription elongation factors to viral genomes for efficient transcription elongation of viral genes. We reevaluated the phenotype of an ICP22 mutant virus by determining the abundance of all viral mRNAs throughout infection by transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq. The accumulation of almost all viral mRNAs late in infection was reduced compared to the wild type, regardless of kinetic class. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq, we mapped the location of RNA Pol II on viral genes and found that RNA Pol II levels on the bodies of viral genes were reduced in the ICP22 mutant compared to wild-type virus. In contrast, the association of RNA Pol II with transcription start sites in the mutant was not reduced. Taken together, our results indicate that ICP22 plays a role in recruiting elongation factors like the FACT complex to the HSV-1 genome to allow for efficient viral transcription elongation late in viral infection and ultimately infectious virion production.

Integration of multi-omics data of a genome-reduced bacterium: Prevalence of post-transcriptional regulation and its correlation with protein abundances

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Chen, Wei-Hua; van Noort, Vera; Lluch-Senar, Maria; Hennrich, Marco L.; H. Wodke, Judith A.; Yus, Eva; Alibés, Andreu; Roma, Guglielmo; Mende, Daniel R.; Pesavento, Christina; Typas, Athanasios; Gavin, Anne-Claude; Serrano, Luis; Bork, Peer

2016-01-01

We developed a comprehensive resource for the genome-reduced bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae comprising 1748 consistently generated ‘-omics’ data sets, and used it to quantify the power of antisense non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), lysine acetylation, and protein phosphorylation in predicting protein abundance (11%, 24% and 8%, respectively). These factors taken together are four times more predictive of the proteome abundance than of mRNA abundance. In bacteria, post-translational modifications (PTMs) and ncRNA transcription were both found to increase with decreasing genomic GC-content and genome size. Thus, the evolutionary forces constraining genome size and GC-content modify the relative contributions of the different regulatory layers to proteome homeostasis, and impact more genomic and genetic features than previously appreciated. Indeed, these scaling principles will enable us to develop more informed approaches when engineering minimal synthetic genomes. PMID:26773059

Nucleotide sequences of cDNAs for human papillomavirus type 18 transcripts in HeLa cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inagaki, Yutaka; Tsunokawa, Youko; Takebe, Naoko; Terada, Masaaki; Sugimura, Takashi; Nawa, Hiroyuki; Nakanishi, Shigetada

1988-01-01

HeLa cells expressed 3.4- and 1.6-kilobase (kb) transcripts of the integrated human papillomavirus (HPV) type 18 genome. Two types of cDNA clones representing each size of HPV type 18 transcript were isolated. Sequence analysis of these two types of cDNA clones revealed that the 3.4-kb transcript contained E6, E7, the 5' portion of E1, and human sequence and that the 1.6-kb transcript contained spliced and frameshifted E6 (E6 * ), E7, and human sequence. There was a common human sequence containing a poly(A) addition signal in the 3' end portions of both transcripts, indicating that they were transcribed from the HPV genome at the same integration site with different splicing. Furthermore, the 1.6-kb transcript contained both of the two viral TATA boxes upstream of E6, strongly indicating that a cellular promoter was used for its transcription

A compendium of transcription factor and Transcriptionally active protein coding gene families in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.).

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Misra, Vikram A; Wang, Yu; Timko, Michael P

2017-11-22

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is the most important food and forage legume in the semi-arid tropics of sub-Saharan Africa where approximately 80% of worldwide production takes place primarily on low-input, subsistence farm sites. Among the major goals of cowpea breeding and improvement programs are the rapid manipulation of agronomic traits for seed size and quality and improved resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses to enhance productivity. Knowing the suite of transcription factors (TFs) and transcriptionally active proteins (TAPs) that control various critical plant cellular processes would contribute tremendously to these improvement aims. We used a computational approach that employed three different predictive pipelines to data mine the cowpea genome and identified over 4400 genes representing 136 different TF and TAP families. We compare the information content of cowpea to two evolutionarily close species common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and soybean (Glycine max) to gauge the relative informational content. Our data indicate that correcting for genome size cowpea has fewer TF and TAP genes than common bean (4408 / 5291) and soybean (4408/ 11,065). Members of the GROWTH-REGULATING FACTOR (GRF) and Auxin/indole-3-acetic acid (Aux/IAA) gene families appear to be over-represented in the genome relative to common bean and soybean, whereas members of the MADS (Minichromosome maintenance deficient 1 (MCM1), AGAMOUS, DEFICIENS, and serum response factor (SRF)) and C2C2-YABBY appear to be under-represented. Analysis of the AP2-EREBP APETALA2-Ethylene Responsive Element Binding Protein (AP2-EREBP), NAC (NAM (no apical meristem), ATAF1, 2 (Arabidopsis transcription activation factor), CUC (cup-shaped cotyledon)), and WRKY families, known to be important in defense signaling, revealed changes and phylogenetic rearrangements relative to common bean and soybean that suggest these groups may have evolved different functions. The availability of detailed

Genome-wide analysis and identification of stress-responsive genes of the NAM-ATAF1,2-CUC2 transcription factor family in apple.

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Su, Hongyan; Zhang, Shizhong; Yuan, Xiaowei; Chen, Changtian; Wang, Xiao-Fei; Hao, Yu-Jin

2013-10-01

NAC (NAM, ATAF1,2, and CUC2) proteins constitute one of the largest families of plant-specific transcription factors. To date, little is known about the NAC genes in the apple (Malus domestica). In this study, a total of 180 NAC genes were identified in the apple genome and were phylogenetically clustered into six groups (I-VI) with the NAC genes from Arabidopsis and rice. The predicted apple NAC genes were distributed across all of 17 chromosomes at various densities. Additionally, the gene structure and motif compositions of the apple NAC genes were analyzed. Moreover, the expression of 29 selected apple NAC genes was analyzed in different tissues and under different abiotic stress conditions. All of the selected genes, with the exception of four genes, were expressed in at least one of the tissues tested, which indicates that the NAC genes are involved in various aspects of the physiological and developmental processes of the apple. Encouragingly, 17 of the selected genes were found to respond to one or more of the abiotic stress treatments, and these 17 genes included not only the expected 7 genes that were clustered with the well-known stress-related marker genes in group IV but also 10 genes located in other subgroups, none of which contains members that have been reported to be stress-related. To the best of our knowledge, this report describes the first genome-wide analysis of the apple NAC gene family, and the results should provide valuable information for understanding the classification and putative functions of this family. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Asymmetric Modification of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Genomes by an Endogenous Cytidine Deaminase inside HBV Cores Informs a Model of Reverse Transcription.

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Nair, Smita; Zlotnick, Adam

2018-05-15

Cytidine deaminases inhibit replication of a broad range of DNA viruses by deaminating cytidines on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) to generate uracil. While several lines of evidence have revealed hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome editing by deamination, it is still unclear which nucleic acid intermediate of HBV is modified. Hepatitis B virus has a relaxed circular double-stranded DNA (rcDNA) genome that is reverse transcribed within virus cores from a RNA template. The HBV genome also persists as covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) in the nucleus of an infected cell. In the present study, we found that in HBV-producing HepAD38 and HepG2.2.15 cell lines, endogenous cytidine deaminases edited 10 to 25% of HBV rcDNA genomes, asymmetrically with almost all mutations on the 5' half of the minus strand. This region corresponds to the last half of the minus strand to be protected by plus-strand synthesis. Within this half of the genome, the number of mutations peaks in the middle. Overexpressed APOBEC3A and APOBEC3G could be packaged in HBV capsids but did not change the amount or distribution of mutations. We found no deamination on pregenomic RNA (pgRNA), indicating that an intact genome is encapsidated and deaminated during or after reverse transcription. The deamination pattern suggests a model of rcDNA synthesis in which pgRNA and then newly synthesized minus-sense single-stranded DNA are protected from deaminase by interaction with the virus capsid; during plus-strand synthesis, when enough dsDNA has been synthesized to displace the remaining minus strand from the capsid surface, the single-stranded DNA becomes deaminase sensitive. IMPORTANCE Host-induced mutation of the HBV genome by APOBEC proteins may be a path to clearing the virus. We examined cytidine-to-thymidine mutations in the genomes of HBV particles grown in the presence or absence of overexpressed APOBEC proteins. We found that genomes were subjected to deamination activity during reverse transcription

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of SBP-like transcription factor genes in Moso Bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis).

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Pan, Feng; Wang, Yue; Liu, Huanglong; Wu, Min; Chu, Wenyuan; Chen, Danmei; Xiang, Yan

2017-06-27

The SQUAMOSA promoter binding protein-like (SPL) proteins are plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) that function in a variety of developmental processes including growth, flower development, and signal transduction. SPL proteins are encoded by a gene family, and these genes have been characterized in two model grass species, Zea mays and Oryza sativa. The SPL gene family has not been well studied in moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), a woody grass species. We identified 32 putative PeSPL genes in the P. edulis genome. Phylogenetic analysis arranged the PeSPL protein sequences in eight groups. Similarly, phylogenetic analysis of the SBP-like and SBP proteins from rice and maize clustered them into eight groups analogous to those from P. edulis. Furthermore, the deduced PeSPL proteins in each group contained very similar conserved sequence motifs. Our analyses indicate that the PeSPL genes experienced a large-scale duplication event ~15 million years ago (MYA), and that divergence between the PeSPL and OsSPL genes occurred 34 MYA. The stress-response expression profiles and tissue-specificity of the putative PeSPL gene promoter regions showed that SPL genes in moso bamboo have potential biological functions in stress resistance as well as in growth and development. We therefore examined PeSPL gene expression in response to different plant hormone and drought (polyethylene glycol-6000; PEG) treatments to mimic biotic and abiotic stresses. Expression of three (PeSPL10, -12, -17), six (PeSPL1, -10, -12, -17, -20, -31), and nine (PeSPL5, -8, -9, -14, -15, -19, -20, -31, -32) genes remained relatively stable after treating with salicylic acid (SA), gibberellic acid (GA), and PEG, respectively, while the expression patterns of other genes changed. In addition, analysis of tissue-specific expression of the moso bamboo SPL genes during development showed differences in their spatiotemporal expression patterns, and many were expressed at high levels in flowers and

BRD4 is associated with raccoon polyomavirus genome and mediates viral gene transcription and maintenance of a stem cell state in neuroglial tumour cells.

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Church, Molly E; Estrada, Marko; Leutenegger, Christian M; Dela Cruz, Florante N; Pesavento, Patricia A; Woolard, Kevin D

2016-11-01

Polyomavirus infection often results in persistence of the viral genome with little or no virion production. However, infection of certain cell types can result in high viral gene transcription and either cytolysis or neoplastic transformation. While infection by polyomavirus is common in humans and many animals, major questions regarding viral persistence of most polyomaviruses remain unanswered. Specifically, identification of target cells for viral infection and the mechanisms polyomaviruses employ to maintain viral genomes within cells are important not only in ascribing causality to polyomaviruses in disease, but in understanding specific mechanisms by which they cause disease. Here, we characterize the cell of origin in raccoon polyomavirus (RacPyV)-associated neuroglial brain tumours as a neural stem cell. Moreover, we identify an association between the viral genome and the host cell bromodomain protein, BRD4, which is involved in numerous cellular functions, including cell cycle progression, differentiation of stem cells, tethering of persistent DNA viruses, and regulation of viral and host-cell gene transcription. We demonstrate that inhibition of BRD4 by the small molecule inhibitors (+)-JQ1 and IBET-151 (GSK1210151A) results in reduced RacPyV genome within cells in vitro, as well as significant reduction of viral gene transcripts LT and VP1, highlighting its importance in both maintenance of the viral genome and in driving oncogenic transformation by RacPyV. This work implicates BRD4 as a central protein involved in RacPyV neuroglial tumour cell proliferation and in the maintenance of a stem cell state.

Genome-wide analysis of WRKY gene family in Cucumis sativus.

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Ling, Jian; Jiang, Weijie; Zhang, Ying; Yu, Hongjun; Mao, Zhenchuan; Gu, Xingfang; Huang, Sanwen; Xie, Bingyan

2011-09-28

WRKY proteins are a large family of transcriptional regulators in higher plant. They are involved in many biological processes, such as plant development, metabolism, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Prior to the present study, only one full-length cucumber WRKY protein had been reported. The recent publication of the draft genome sequence of cucumber allowed us to conduct a genome-wide search for cucumber WRKY proteins, and to compare these positively identified proteins with their homologs in model plants, such as Arabidopsis. We identified a total of 55 WRKY genes in the cucumber genome. According to structural features of their encoded proteins, the cucumber WRKY (CsWRKY) genes were classified into three groups (group 1-3). Analysis of expression profiles of CsWRKY genes indicated that 48 WRKY genes display differential expression either in their transcript abundance or in their expression patterns under normal growth conditions, and 23 WRKY genes were differentially expressed in response to at least one abiotic stresses (cold, drought or salinity). The expression profile of stress-inducible CsWRKY genes were correlated with those of their putative Arabidopsis WRKY (AtWRKY) orthologs, except for the group 3 WRKY genes. Interestingly, duplicated group 3 AtWRKY genes appear to have been under positive selection pressure during evolution. In contrast, there was no evidence of recent gene duplication or positive selection pressure among CsWRKY group 3 genes, which may have led to the expressional divergence of group 3 orthologs. Fifty-five WRKY genes were identified in cucumber and the structure of their encoded proteins, their expression, and their evolution were examined. Considering that there has been extensive expansion of group 3 WRKY genes in angiosperms, the occurrence of different evolutionary events could explain the functional divergence of these genes.

Whole genome homology-based identification of candidate genes ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Josephine Erhiakporeh

2016-07-06

Jul 6, 2016 ... candidate genes for drought tolerance in sesame. (Sesamum ... Our results provided genomic resources for further functional analysis and genetic engineering .... reverse transcribed using the Reverse Transcription System.

Genome-wide analysis of Pax8 binding provides new insights into thyroid functions

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Ruiz-Llorente Sergio

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The transcription factor Pax8 is essential for the differentiation of thyroid cells. However, there are few data on genes transcriptionally regulated by Pax8 other than thyroid-related genes. To better understand the role of Pax8 in the biology of thyroid cells, we obtained transcriptional profiles of Pax8-silenced PCCl3 thyroid cells using whole genome expression arrays and integrated these signals with global cis-regulatory sequencing studies performed by ChIP-Seq analysis Results Exhaustive analysis of Pax8 immunoprecipitated peaks demonstrated preferential binding to intragenic regions and CpG-enriched islands, which suggests a role of Pax8 in transcriptional regulation of orphan CpG regions. In addition, ChIP-Seq allowed us to identify Pax8 partners, including proteins involved in tertiary DNA structure (CTCF and chromatin remodeling (Sp1, and these direct transcriptional interactions were confirmed in vivo. Moreover, both factors modulate Pax8-dependent transcriptional activation of the sodium iodide symporter (Nis gene promoter. We ultimately combined putative and novel Pax8 binding sites with actual target gene expression regulation to define Pax8-dependent genes. Functional classification suggests that Pax8-regulated genes may be directly involved in important processes of thyroid cell function such as cell proliferation and differentiation, apoptosis, cell polarity, motion and adhesion, and a plethora of DNA/protein-related processes. Conclusion Our study provides novel insights into the role of Pax8 in thyroid biology, exerted through transcriptional regulation of important genes involved in critical thyrocyte processes. In addition, we found new transcriptional partners of Pax8, which functionally cooperate with Pax8 in the regulation of thyroid gene transcription. Besides, our data demonstrate preferential location of Pax8 in non-promoter CpG regions. These data point to an orphan CpG island-mediated mechanism

Microbial genome analysis: the COG approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Galperin, Michael Y; Kristensen, David M; Makarova, Kira S; Wolf, Yuri I; Koonin, Eugene V

2017-09-14

For the past 20 years, the Clusters of Orthologous Genes (COG) database had been a popular tool for microbial genome annotation and comparative genomics. Initially created for the purpose of evolutionary classification of protein families, the COG have been used, apart from straightforward functional annotation of sequenced genomes, for such tasks as (i) unification of genome annotation in groups of related organisms; (ii) identification of missing and/or undetected genes in complete microbial genomes; (iii) analysis of genomic neighborhoods, in many cases allowing prediction of novel functional systems; (iv) analysis of metabolic pathways and prediction of alternative forms of enzymes; (v) comparison of organisms by COG functional categories; and (vi) prioritization of targets for structural and functional characterization. Here we review the principles of the COG approach and discuss its key advantages and drawbacks in microbial genome analysis. Published by Oxford University Press 2017. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Novel Genomic and Evolutionary Insight of WRKY Transcription Factors in Plant Lineage.

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Mohanta, Tapan Kumar; Park, Yong-Hwan; Bae, Hanhong

2016-11-17

The evolutionarily conserved WRKY transcription factor (TF) regulates different aspects of gene expression in plants, and modulates growth, development, as well as biotic and abiotic stress responses. Therefore, understanding the details regarding WRKY TFs is very important. In this study, large-scale genomic analyses of the WRKY TF gene family from 43 plant species were conducted. The results of our study revealed that WRKY TFs could be grouped and specifically classified as those belonging to the monocot or dicot plant lineage. In this study, we identified several novel WRKY TFs. To our knowledge, this is the first report on a revised grouping system of the WRKY TF gene family in plants. The different forms of novel chimeric forms of WRKY TFs in the plant genome might play a crucial role in their evolution. Tissue-specific gene expression analyses in Glycine max and Phaseolus vulgaris showed that WRKY11-1, WRKY11-2 and WRKY11-3 were ubiquitously expressed in all tissue types, and WRKY15-2 was highly expressed in the stem, root, nodule and pod tissues in G. max and P. vulgaris.

Co-transcriptional formation of DNA:RNA hybrid G-quadruplex and potential function as constitutional cis element for transcription control.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Ke-wei; Xiao, Shan; Liu, Jia-quan; Zhang, Jia-yu; Hao, Yu-hua; Tan, Zheng

2013-05-01

G-quadruplex formation in genomic DNA is considered to regulate transcription. Previous investigations almost exclusively focused on intramolecular G-quadruplexes formed by DNA carrying four or more G-tracts, and structure formation has rarely been studied in physiologically relevant processes. Here, we report an almost entirely neglected, but actually much more prevalent form of G-quadruplexes, DNA:RNA hybrid G-quadruplexes (HQ) that forms in transcription. HQ formation requires as few as two G-tracts instead of four on a non-template DNA strand. Potential HQ sequences (PHQS) are present in >97% of human genes, with an average of 73 PHQSs per gene. HQ modulates transcription under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Transcriptomal analysis of human tissues implies that maximal gene expression may be limited by the number of PHQS in genes. These features suggest that HQs may play fundamental roles in transcription regulation and other transcription-mediated processes.

Genome-wide Analysis of Gene Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Yun

to protein: through epigenetic modifications, transcription regulators or post-transcriptional controls. The following papers concern several layers of gene regulation with questions answered by different HTS approaches. Genome-wide screening of epigenetic changes by ChIP-seq allowed us to study both spatial...... and temporal alterations of histone modifications (Papers I and II). Coupling the data with machine learning approaches, we established a prediction framework to assess the most informative histone marks as well as their most influential nucleosome positions in predicting the promoter usages. (Papers I...... they regulated or if the sites had global elevated usage rates by multiple TFs. Using RNA-seq, 5’end-seq in combination with depletion of 5’exonuclease as well as nonsensemediated decay (NMD) factors, we systematically analyzed NMD substrates as well as their degradation intermediates in human cells (Paper V...

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Synonymous Codon Usage Patterns in Riemerella anatipestifer

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Jibin Liu

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Riemerella anatipestifer (RA belongs to the Flavobacteriaceae family and can cause a septicemia disease in poultry. The synonymous codon usage patterns of bacteria reflect a series of evolutionary changes that enable bacteria to improve tolerance of the various environments. We detailed the codon usage patterns of RA isolates from the available 12 sequenced genomes by multiple codon and statistical analysis. Nucleotide compositions and relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU analysis revealed that A or U ending codons are predominant in RA. Neutrality analysis found no significant correlation between GC12 and GC3 (p > 0.05. Correspondence analysis and ENc-plot results showed that natural selection dominated over mutation in the codon usage bias. The tree of cluster analysis based on RSCU was concordant with dendrogram based on genomic BLAST by neighbor-joining method. By comparative analysis, about 50 highly expressed genes that were orthologs across all 12 strains were found in the top 5% of high CAI value. Based on these CAI values, we infer that RA contains a number of predicted highly expressed coding sequences, involved in transcriptional regulation and metabolism, reflecting their requirement for dealing with diverse environmental conditions. These results provide some useful information on the mechanisms that contribute to codon usage bias and evolution of RA.

Genomic analysis of Xenopus organizer function

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Suhai Sándor

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Studies of the Xenopus organizer have laid the foundation for our understanding of the conserved signaling pathways that pattern vertebrate embryos during gastrulation. The two primary activities of the organizer, BMP and Wnt inhibition, can regulate a spectrum of genes that pattern essentially all aspects of the embryo during gastrulation. As our knowledge of organizer signaling grows, it is imperative that we begin knitting together our gene-level knowledge into genome-level signaling models. The goal of this paper was to identify complete lists of genes regulated by different aspects of organizer signaling, thereby providing a deeper understanding of the genomic mechanisms that underlie these complex and fundamental signaling events. Results To this end, we ectopically overexpress Noggin and Dkk-1, inhibitors of the BMP and Wnt pathways, respectively, within ventral tissues. After isolating embryonic ventral halves at early and late gastrulation, we analyze the transcriptional response to these molecules within the generated ectopic organizers using oligonucleotide microarrays. An efficient statistical analysis scheme, combined with a new Gene Ontology biological process annotation of the Xenopus genome, allows reliable and faithful clustering of molecules based upon their roles during gastrulation. From this data, we identify new organizer-related expression patterns for 19 genes. Moreover, our data sub-divides organizer genes into separate head and trunk organizing groups, which each show distinct responses to Noggin and Dkk-1 activity during gastrulation. Conclusion Our data provides a genomic view of the cohorts of genes that respond to Noggin and Dkk-1 activity, allowing us to separate the role of each in organizer function. These patterns demonstrate a model where BMP inhibition plays a largely inductive role during early developmental stages, thereby initiating the suites of genes needed to pattern dorsal tissues

Genome-Wide Search for Competing Endogenous RNAs Responsible for the Effects Induced by Ebola Virus Replication and Transcription Using a trVLP System

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Zhong-Yi Wang

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Understanding how infected cells respond to Ebola virus (EBOV and how this response changes during the process of viral replication and transcription are very important for establishing effective antiviral strategies. In this study, we conducted a genome-wide screen to identify long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs, circular RNAs (circRNAs, micro RNAs (miRNAs, and mRNAs differentially expressed during replication and transcription using a tetracistronic transcription and replication-competent virus-like particle (trVLP system that models the life cycle of EBOV in 293T cells. To characterize the expression patterns of these differentially expressed RNAs, we performed a series cluster analysis, and up- or down-regulated genes were selected to establish a gene co-expression network. Competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA networks based on the RNAs responsible for the effects induced by EBOV replication and transcription in human cells, including circRNAs, lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs, were constructed for the first time. Based on these networks, the interaction details of circRNA-chr19 were explored. Our results demonstrated that circRNA-chr19 targeting miR-30b-3p regulated CLDN18 expression by functioning as a ceRNA. These findings may have important implications for further studies of the mechanisms of EBOV replication and transcription. These RNAs potentially have important functions and may be promising targets for EBOV therapy.

Optimization of oligonucleotide arrays and RNA amplification protocols for analysis of transcript structure and alternative splicing.

Science.gov (United States)

Castle, John; Garrett-Engele, Phil; Armour, Christopher D; Duenwald, Sven J; Loerch, Patrick M; Meyer, Michael R; Schadt, Eric E; Stoughton, Roland; Parrish, Mark L; Shoemaker, Daniel D; Johnson, Jason M

2003-01-01

Microarrays offer a high-resolution means for monitoring pre-mRNA splicing on a genomic scale. We have developed a novel, unbiased amplification protocol that permits labeling of entire transcripts. Also, hybridization conditions, probe characteristics, and analysis algorithms were optimized for detection of exons, exon-intron edges, and exon junctions. These optimized protocols can be used to detect small variations and isoform mixtures, map the tissue specificity of known human alternative isoforms, and provide a robust, scalable platform for high-throughput discovery of alternative splicing.

Virtual Northern analysis of the human genome.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evan H Hurowitz

2007-05-01

Full Text Available We applied the Virtual Northern technique to human brain mRNA to systematically measure human mRNA transcript lengths on a genome-wide scale.We used separation by gel electrophoresis followed by hybridization to cDNA microarrays to measure 8,774 mRNA transcript lengths representing at least 6,238 genes at high (>90% confidence. By comparing these transcript lengths to the Refseq and H-Invitational full-length cDNA databases, we found that nearly half of our measurements appeared to represent novel transcript variants. Comparison of length measurements determined by hybridization to different cDNAs derived from the same gene identified clones that potentially correspond to alternative transcript variants. We observed a close linear relationship between ORF and mRNA lengths in human mRNAs, identical in form to the relationship we had previously identified in yeast. Some functional classes of protein are encoded by mRNAs whose untranslated regions (UTRs tend to be longer or shorter than average; these functional classes were similar in both human and yeast.Human transcript diversity is extensive and largely unannotated. Our length dataset can be used as a new criterion for judging the completeness of cDNAs and annotating mRNA sequences. Similar relationships between the lengths of the UTRs in human and yeast mRNAs and the functions of the proteins they encode suggest that UTR sequences serve an important regulatory role among eukaryotes.

Virtual Northern analysis of the human genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurowitz, Evan H; Drori, Iddo; Stodden, Victoria C; Donoho, David L; Brown, Patrick O

2007-05-23

We applied the Virtual Northern technique to human brain mRNA to systematically measure human mRNA transcript lengths on a genome-wide scale. We used separation by gel electrophoresis followed by hybridization to cDNA microarrays to measure 8,774 mRNA transcript lengths representing at least 6,238 genes at high (>90%) confidence. By comparing these transcript lengths to the Refseq and H-Invitational full-length cDNA databases, we found that nearly half of our measurements appeared to represent novel transcript variants. Comparison of length measurements determined by hybridization to different cDNAs derived from the same gene identified clones that potentially correspond to alternative transcript variants. We observed a close linear relationship between ORF and mRNA lengths in human mRNAs, identical in form to the relationship we had previously identified in yeast. Some functional classes of protein are encoded by mRNAs whose untranslated regions (UTRs) tend to be longer or shorter than average; these functional classes were similar in both human and yeast. Human transcript diversity is extensive and largely unannotated. Our length dataset can be used as a new criterion for judging the completeness of cDNAs and annotating mRNA sequences. Similar relationships between the lengths of the UTRs in human and yeast mRNAs and the functions of the proteins they encode suggest that UTR sequences serve an important regulatory role among eukaryotes.

[Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the WRKY gene family in peach].

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Yan-bing; Ji, Zhi-rui; Chi, Fu-mei; Qiao, Zhuang; Xu, Cheng-nan; Zhang, Jun-xiang; Zhou, Zong-shan; Dong, Qing-long

2016-03-01

The WRKY transcription factors are one of the largest families of transcriptional regulators and play diverse regulatory roles in biotic and abiotic stresses, plant growth and development processes. In this study, the WRKY DNA-binding domain (Pfam Database number: PF03106) downloaded from Pfam protein families database was exploited to identify WRKY genes from the peach (Prunus persica 'Lovell') genome using HMMER 3.0. The obtained amino acid sequences were analyzed with DNAMAN 5.0, WebLogo 3, MEGA 5.1, MapInspect and MEME bioinformatics softwares. Totally 61 peach WRKY genes were found in the peach genome. Our phylogenetic analysis revealed that peach WRKY genes were classified into three Groups: Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ. The WRKY N-terminal and C-terminal domains of Group Ⅰ (group I-N and group I-C) were monophyletic. The Group Ⅱ was sub-divided into five distinct clades (groupⅡ-a, Ⅱ-b, Ⅱ-c, Ⅱ-d and Ⅱ-e). Our domain analysis indicated that the WRKY regions contained a highly conserved heptapeptide stretch WRKYGQK at its N-terminus followed by a zinc-finger motif. The chromosome mapping analysis showed that peach WRKY genes were distributed with different densities over 8 chromosomes. The intron-exon structure analysis revealed that structures of the WRKY gene were highly conserved in the peach. The conserved motif analysis showed that the conserved motifs 1, 2 and 3, which specify the WRKY domain, were observed in all peach WRKY proteins, motif 5 as the unknown domain was observed in group Ⅱ-d, two WRKY domains were assigned to GroupⅠ. SqRT-PCR and qRT-PCR results indicated that 16 PpWRKY genes were expressed in roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits at various expression levels. Our analysis thus identified the PpWRKY gene families, and future functional studies are needed to reveal its specific roles.

Comparing genomic expression patterns across plant species reveals highly diverged transcriptional dynamics in response to salt stress

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Close Timothy J

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rice and barley are both members of Poaceae (grass family but have a marked difference in salt tolerance. The molecular mechanism underlying this difference was previously unexplored. This study employs a comparative genomics approach to identify analogous and contrasting gene expression patterns between rice and barley. Results A hierarchical clustering approach identified several interesting expression trajectories among rice and barley genotypes. There were no major conserved expression patterns between the two species in response to salt stress. A wheat salt-stress dataset was queried for comparison with rice and barley. Roughly one-third of the salt-stress responses of barley were conserved with wheat while overlap between wheat and rice was minimal. These results demonstrate that, at transcriptome level, rice is strikingly different compared to the more closely related barley and wheat. This apparent lack of analogous transcriptional programs in response to salt stress is further highlighted through close examination of genes associated with root growth and development. Conclusion The analysis provides support for the hypothesis that conservation of transcriptional signatures in response to environmental cues depends on the genetic similarity among the genotypes within a species, and on the phylogenetic distance between the species.

Comprehensive transcriptional profiling of NaCl-stressed Arabidopsis roots reveals novel classes of responsive genes

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Deyholos Michael K

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Roots are an attractive system for genomic and post-genomic studies of NaCl responses, due to their primary importance to agriculture, and because of their relative structural and biochemical simplicity. Excellent genomic resources have been established for the study of Arabidopsis roots, however, a comprehensive microarray analysis of the root transcriptome following NaCl exposure is required to further understand plant responses to abiotic stress and facilitate future, systems-based analyses of the underlying regulatory networks. Results We used microarrays of 70-mer oligonucleotide probes representing 23,686 Arabidopsis genes to identify root transcripts that changed in relative abundance following 6 h, 24 h, or 48 h of hydroponic exposure to 150 mM NaCl. Enrichment analysis identified groups of structurally or functionally related genes whose members were statistically over-represented among up- or down-regulated transcripts. Our results are consistent with generally observed stress response themes, and highlight potentially important roles for underappreciated gene families, including: several groups of transporters (e.g. MATE, LeOPT1-like; signalling molecules (e.g. PERK kinases, MLO-like receptors, carbohydrate active enzymes (e.g. XTH18, transcription factors (e.g. members of ZIM, WRKY, NAC, and other proteins (e.g. 4CL-like, COMT-like, LOB-Class 1. We verified the NaCl-inducible expression of selected transcription factors and other genes by qRT-PCR. Conclusion Micorarray profiling of NaCl-treated Arabidopsis roots revealed dynamic changes in transcript abundance for at least 20% of the genome, including hundreds of transcription factors, kinases/phosphatases, hormone-related genes, and effectors of homeostasis, all of which highlight the complexity of this stress response. Our identification of these transcriptional responses, and groups of evolutionarily related genes with either similar or divergent

A sequence-based survey of the complex structural organization of tumor genomes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Collins, Colin; Raphael, Benjamin J.; Volik, Stanislav; Yu, Peng; Wu, Chunxiao; Huang, Guiqing; Linardopoulou, Elena V.; Trask, Barbara J.; Waldman, Frederic; Costello, Joseph; Pienta, Kenneth J.; Mills, Gordon B.; Bajsarowicz, Krystyna; Kobayashi, Yasuko; Sridharan, Shivaranjani; Paris, Pamela; Tao, Quanzhou; Aerni, Sarah J.; Brown, Raymond P.; Bashir, Ali; Gray, Joe W.; Cheng, Jan-Fang; de Jong, Pieter; Nefedov, Mikhail; Ried, Thomas; Padilla-Nash, Hesed M.; Collins, Colin C.

2008-04-03

The genomes of many epithelial tumors exhibit extensive chromosomal rearrangements. All classes of genome rearrangements can be identified using End Sequencing Profiling (ESP), which relies on paired-end sequencing of cloned tumor genomes. In this study, brain, breast, ovary and prostate tumors along with three breast cancer cell lines were surveyed with ESP yielding the largest available collection of sequence-ready tumor genome breakpoints and providing evidence that some rearrangements may be recurrent. Sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) confirmed translocations and complex tumor genome structures that include coamplification and packaging of disparate genomic loci with associated molecular heterogeneity. Comparison of the tumor genomes suggests recurrent rearrangements. Some are likely to be novel structural polymorphisms, whereas others may be bona fide somatic rearrangements. A recurrent fusion transcript in breast tumors and a constitutional fusion transcript resulting from a segmental duplication were identified. Analysis of end sequences for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) revealed candidate somatic mutations and an elevated rate of novel SNPs in an ovarian tumor. These results suggest that the genomes of many epithelial tumors may be far more dynamic and complex than previously appreciated and that genomic fusions including fusion transcripts and proteins may be common, possibly yielding tumor-specific biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Effects of in ovo electroporation on endogenous gene expression: genome-wide analysis

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Chambers David

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In ovo electroporation is a widely used technique to study gene function in developmental biology. Despite the widespread acceptance of this technique, no genome-wide analysis of the effects of in ovo electroporation, principally the current applied across the tissue and exogenous vector DNA introduced, on endogenous gene expression has been undertaken. Here, the effects of electric current and expression of a GFP-containing construct, via electroporation into the midbrain of Hamburger-Hamilton stage 10 chicken embryos, are analysed by microarray. Results Both current alone and in combination with exogenous DNA expression have a small but reproducible effect on endogenous gene expression, changing the expression of the genes represented on the array by less than 0.1% (current and less than 0.5% (current + DNA, respectively. The subset of genes regulated by electric current and exogenous DNA span a disparate set of cellular functions. However, no genes involved in the regional identity were affected. In sharp contrast to this, electroporation of a known transcription factor, Dmrt5, caused a much greater change in gene expression. Conclusions These findings represent the first systematic genome-wide analysis of the effects of in ovo electroporation on gene expression during embryonic development. The analysis reveals that this process has minimal impact on the genetic basis of cell fate specification. Thus, the study demonstrates the validity of the in ovo electroporation technique to study gene function and expression during development. Furthermore, the data presented here can be used as a resource to refine the set of transcriptional responders in future in ovo electroporation studies of specific gene function.

Retrotransposon-centered analysis of piRNA targeting shows a shift from active to passive retrotransposon transcription in developing mouse testes

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Mourier Tobias

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Piwi-associated RNAs (piRNAs bind transcripts from retrotransposable elements (RTE in mouse germline cells and seemingly act as guides for genomic methylation, thereby repressing the activity of RTEs. It is currently unknown if and how Piwi proteins distinguish RTE transcripts from other cellular RNAs. During germline development, the main target of piRNAs switch between different types of RTEs. Using the piRNA targeting of RTEs as an indicator of RTE activity, and considering the entire population of genomic RTE loci along with their age and location, this study aims at further elucidating the dynamics of RTE activity during mouse germline development. Results Due to the inherent sequence redundancy between RTE loci, assigning piRNA targeting to specific loci is problematic. This limits the analysis, although certain features of piRNA targeting of RTE loci are apparent. As expected, young RTEs display a much higher level of piRNA targeting than old RTEs. Further, irrespective of age, RTE loci near protein-coding coding genes are targeted to a greater extent than RTE loci far from genes. During development, a shift in piRNA targeting is observed, with a clear increase in the relative piRNA targeting of RTEs residing within boundaries of protein-coding gene transcripts. Conclusions Reanalyzing published piRNA sequences and taking into account the features of individual RTE loci provide novel insight into the activity of RTEs during development. The obtained results are consistent with some degree of proportionality between what transcripts become substrates for Piwi protein complexes and the level by which the transcripts are present in the cell. A transition from active transcription of RTEs to passive co-transcription of RTE sequences residing within protein-coding transcripts appears to take place in postnatal development. Hence, the previously reported increase in piRNA targeting of SINEs in postnatal testis development

CoryneCenter – An online resource for the integrated analysis of corynebacterial genome and transcriptome data

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Hüser Andrea T

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The introduction of high-throughput genome sequencing and post-genome analysis technologies, e.g. DNA microarray approaches, has created the potential to unravel and scrutinize complex gene-regulatory networks on a large scale. The discovery of transcriptional regulatory interactions has become a major topic in modern functional genomics. Results To facilitate the analysis of gene-regulatory networks, we have developed CoryneCenter, a web-based resource for the systematic integration and analysis of genome, transcriptome, and gene regulatory information for prokaryotes, especially corynebacteria. For this purpose, we extended and combined the following systems into a common platform: (1 GenDB, an open source genome annotation system, (2 EMMA, a MAGE compliant application for high-throughput transcriptome data storage and analysis, and (3 CoryneRegNet, an ontology-based data warehouse designed to facilitate the reconstruction and analysis of gene regulatory interactions. We demonstrate the potential of CoryneCenter by means of an application example. Using microarray hybridization data, we compare the gene expression of Corynebacterium glutamicum under acetate and glucose feeding conditions: Known regulatory networks are confirmed, but moreover CoryneCenter points out additional regulatory interactions. Conclusion CoryneCenter provides more than the sum of its parts. Its novel analysis and visualization features significantly simplify the process of obtaining new biological insights into complex regulatory systems. Although the platform currently focusses on corynebacteria, the integrated tools are by no means restricted to these species, and the presented approach offers a general strategy for the analysis and verification of gene regulatory networks. CoryneCenter provides freely accessible projects with the underlying genome annotation, gene expression, and gene regulation data. The system is publicly available at http://www.CoryneCenter.de.

Genome-wide association between DNA methylation and alternative splicing in an invertebrate

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Flores Kevin

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Gene bodies are the most evolutionarily conserved targets of DNA methylation in eukaryotes. However, the regulatory functions of gene body DNA methylation remain largely unknown. DNA methylation in insects appears to be primarily confined to exons. Two recent studies in Apis mellifera (honeybee and Nasonia vitripennis (jewel wasp analyzed transcription and DNA methylation data for one gene in each species to demonstrate that exon-specific DNA methylation may be associated with alternative splicing events. In this study we investigated the relationship between DNA methylation, alternative splicing, and cross-species gene conservation on a genome-wide scale using genome-wide transcription and DNA methylation data. Results We generated RNA deep sequencing data (RNA-seq to measure genome-wide mRNA expression at the exon- and gene-level. We produced a de novo transcriptome from this RNA-seq data and computationally predicted splice variants for the honeybee genome. We found that exons that are included in transcription are higher methylated than exons that are skipped during transcription. We detected enrichment for alternative splicing among methylated genes compared to unmethylated genes using fisher’s exact test. We performed a statistical analysis to reveal that the presence of DNA methylation or alternative splicing are both factors associated with a longer gene length and a greater number of exons in genes. In concordance with this observation, a conservation analysis using BLAST revealed that each of these factors is also associated with higher cross-species gene conservation. Conclusions This study constitutes the first genome-wide analysis exhibiting a positive relationship between exon-level DNA methylation and mRNA expression in the honeybee. Our finding that methylated genes are enriched for alternative splicing suggests that, in invertebrates, exon-level DNA methylation may play a role in the construction of splice

Genome-wide transcription responses to synchrotron microbeam radiotherapy.

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Sprung, Carl N; Yang, Yuqing; Forrester, Helen B; Li, Jason; Zaitseva, Marina; Cann, Leonie; Restall, Tina; Anderson, Robin L; Crosbie, Jeffrey C; Rogers, Peter A W

2012-10-01

The majority of cancer patients achieve benefit from radiotherapy. A significant limitation of radiotherapy is its relatively low therapeutic index, defined as the maximum radiation dose that causes acceptable normal tissue damage to the minimum dose required to achieve tumor control. Recently, a new radiotherapy modality using synchrotron-generated X-ray microbeam radiotherapy has been demonstrated in animal models to ablate tumors with concurrent sparing of normal tissue. Very little work has been undertaken into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that differentiate microbeam radiotherapy from broad beam. The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the whole genome transcriptional response of in vivo microbeam radiotherapy versus broad beam irradiated tumors. We hypothesized that gene expression changes after microbeam radiotherapy are different from those seen after broad beam. We found that in EMT6.5 tumors at 4-48 h postirradiation, microbeam radiotherapy differentially regulates a number of genes, including major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II antigen gene family members, and other immunity-related genes including Ciita, Ifng, Cxcl1, Cxcl9, Indo and Ubd when compared to broad beam. Our findings demonstrate molecular differences in the tumor response to microbeam versus broad beam irradiation and these differences provide insight into the underlying mechanisms of microbeam radiotherapy and broad beam.

Bradyrhizobium elkanii nod regulon: insights through genomic analysis

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Luciane M. P. Passaglia

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract A successful symbiotic relationship between soybean [Glycine max (L. Merr.] and Bradyrhizobium species requires expression of the bacterial structural nod genes that encode for the synthesis of lipochitooligosaccharide nodulation signal molecules, known as Nod factors (NFs. Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens USDA 110 possesses a wide nodulation gene repertoire that allows NF assembly and modification, with transcription of the nodYABCSUIJnolMNOnodZ operon depending upon specific activators, i.e., products of regulatory nod genes that are responsive to signaling molecules such as flavonoid compounds exuded by host plant roots. Central to this regulatory circuit of nod gene expression are NodD proteins, members of the LysR-type regulator family. In this study, publicly available Bradyrhizobium elkanii sequenced genomes were compared with the closely related B. diazoefficiens USDA 110 reference genome to determine the similarities between those genomes, especially with regards to the nod operon and nod regulon. Bioinformatics analyses revealed a correlation between functional mechanisms and key elements that play an essential role in the regulation of nod gene expression. These analyses also revealed new genomic features that had not been clearly explored before, some of which were unique for some B. elkanii genomes.

Genome-wide systematic characterization of the bZIP transcriptional factor family in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.).

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Li, Dayong; Fu, Fuyou; Zhang, Huijuan; Song, Fengming

2015-10-12

Transcription factors of the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) family represent exclusively in eukaryotes and have been shown to regulate diverse biological processes in plant growth and development as well as in abiotic and biotic stress responses. However, little is known about the bZIP family in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). The SlbZIP genes were identified using local BLAST and hidden Markov model profile searches. The phylogenetic trees, conserved motifs and gene structures were generated by MEGA6.06, MEME tool and gene Structure Display Server, respectively. The syntenic block diagrams were generated by the Circos software. The transcriptional gene expression profiles were obtained using Genevestigator tool and quantitative RT-PCR. In the present study, we carried out a genome-wide identification and systematic analyses of 69 SlbZIP genes that distributes unevenly on the tomato chromosomes. This family can be divided into 9 groups according to the phylogenetic relationship among the SlbZIP proteins. Six kinds of intron patterns (a-f) within the basic and hinge regions are defined. The additional conserved motifs and their presence of the group specificity were also identified. Further, we predicted the DNA-binding patterns and the dimerization property on the basis of the characteristic features in the basic and hinge regions and the leucine zipper, respectively, which supports our classification greatly and helps to classify 24 distinct subfamilies. Within the SlbZIP family, a total of 40 SlbZIP genes are located in the segmental duplicate regions in the tomato genome, suggesting that the segment chromosomal duplications contribute greatly to the expansion of the tomato SlbZIP family. Expression profiling analyses of 59 SlbZIP genes using quantitative RT-PCR and publicly available microarray data indicate that the tomato SlbZIP genes have distinct and diverse expression patterns in different tissues and developmental stages and many of the tomato bZIP genes

Cloning, nucleotide sequence and transcriptional analysis of the uvrA gene from Neisseria gonorrhoeae

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Black, C.G.; Fyfe, J.A.M.; Davies, J.K.

1997-01-01

A recombinant plasmid capable of restoring UV resistance to an Escherichia coli uvrA mutant was isolated from a genomic library of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame whose deduced amino acid sequence displayed significant similarity to those of the UvrA proteins of other bacterial species. A second open reading frame (ORF259) was identified upstream from, and in the opposite orientation to the gonococcal uvrA gene. Transcriptional fusions between portions of the gonococcal uvrA upstream region and a reporter gene were used to localise promoter activity in both E. coli and N. gonorrhoeae. The transcriptional starting points of uvrA and ORF259 were mapped in E. coli by primer extension analysis, and corresponding σ 70 promoters were identified. The arrangement of the uvrA-ORF259 intergenic region is similar to that of the gonococcal recA-aroD intergenic region. Both contain inverted copies of the 10 bp neisserial DNA uptake sequence situated between divergently transcribed genes. However, there is no evidence that either the uptake sequence or the proximity of the promoters influences expression of these genes. (author)

Genomic organization, transcript variants and comparative analysis of the human nucleoporin 155 (NUP155) gene

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, X.; Yang, J.; Yu, J.

2002-01-01

Nucleoporin 155 (Nup155) is a major component of the nuclear pore complex (NPC) involved in cellular nucleo-cytoplasmic transport. We have acquired the complete sequence and interpreted the genomic organization of the Nup155 orthologos from human (Homo sapiens) and pufferfish (Fugu rubripes), which...... complementary to RNAs of the Nup155 orthologs from Fugu and mouse. Comparative analysis of the Nup155 orthologs in many species, including H. sapiens, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, F. rubripes, Arabidopsis thaliana, Drosophila melanogaster, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has revealed two paralogs in S...

The integrated microbial genome resource of analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Checcucci, Alice; Mengoni, Alessio

2015-01-01

Integrated Microbial Genomes and Metagenomes (IMG) is a biocomputational system that allows to provide information and support for annotation and comparative analysis of microbial genomes and metagenomes. IMG has been developed by the US Department of Energy (DOE)-Joint Genome Institute (JGI). IMG platform contains both draft and complete genomes, sequenced by Joint Genome Institute and other public and available genomes. Genomes of strains belonging to Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya domains are present as well as those of viruses and plasmids. Here, we provide some essential features of IMG system and case study for pangenome analysis.

Genome-wide analysis of regions similar to promoters of histone genes

KAUST Repository

Chowdhary, Rajesh; Bajic, Vladimir B.; Dong, Difeng; Wong, Limsoon; Liu, Jun S

2010-01-01

of histone and histone-coregulated gene transcription initiation. While these hypotheses still remain to be verified, we believe that these form a useful resource for researchers to further explore regulation of human histone genes and human genome

Analysis of genomic regions of Trichoderma harzianum IOC-3844 related to biomass degradation.

Science.gov (United States)

Crucello, Aline; Sforça, Danilo Augusto; Horta, Maria Augusta Crivelente; dos Santos, Clelton Aparecido; Viana, Américo José Carvalho; Beloti, Lilian Luzia; de Toledo, Marcelo Augusto Szymanski; Vincentz, Michel; Kuroshu, Reginaldo Massanobu; de Souza, Anete Pereira

2015-01-01

Trichoderma harzianum IOC-3844 secretes high levels of cellulolytic-active enzymes and is therefore a promising strain for use in biotechnological applications in second-generation bioethanol production. However, the T. harzianum biomass degradation mechanism has not been well explored at the genetic level. The present work investigates six genomic regions (~150 kbp each) in this fungus that are enriched with genes related to biomass conversion. A BAC library consisting of 5,760 clones was constructed, with an average insert length of 90 kbp. The assembled BAC sequences revealed 232 predicted genes, 31.5% of which were related to catabolic pathways, including those involved in biomass degradation. An expression profile analysis based on RNA-Seq data demonstrated that putative regulatory elements, such as membrane transport proteins and transcription factors, are located in the same genomic regions as genes related to carbohydrate metabolism and exhibit similar expression profiles. Thus, we demonstrate a rapid and efficient tool that focuses on specific genomic regions by combining a BAC library with transcriptomic data. This is the first BAC-based structural genomic study of the cellulolytic fungus T. harzianum, and its findings provide new perspectives regarding the use of this species in biomass degradation processes.

Plastid: nucleotide-resolution analysis of next-generation sequencing and genomics data.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, Joshua G; Weissman, Jonathan S

2016-11-22

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) informs many biological questions with unprecedented depth and nucleotide resolution. These assays have created a need for analytical tools that enable users to manipulate data nucleotide-by-nucleotide robustly and easily. Furthermore, because many NGS assays encode information jointly within multiple properties of read alignments - for example, in ribosome profiling, the locations of ribosomes are jointly encoded in alignment coordinates and length - analytical tools are often required to extract the biological meaning from the alignments before analysis. Many assay-specific pipelines exist for this purpose, but there remains a need for user-friendly, generalized, nucleotide-resolution tools that are not limited to specific experimental regimes or analytical workflows. Plastid is a Python library designed specifically for nucleotide-resolution analysis of genomics and NGS data. As such, Plastid is designed to extract assay-specific information from read alignments while retaining generality and extensibility to novel NGS assays. Plastid represents NGS and other biological data as arrays of values associated with genomic or transcriptomic positions, and contains configurable tools to convert data from a variety of sources to such arrays. Plastid also includes numerous tools to manipulate even discontinuous genomic features, such as spliced transcripts, with nucleotide precision. Plastid automatically handles conversion between genomic and feature-centric coordinates, accounting for splicing and strand, freeing users of burdensome accounting. Finally, Plastid's data models use consistent and familiar biological idioms, enabling even beginners to develop sophisticated analytical workflows with minimal effort. Plastid is a versatile toolkit that has been used to analyze data from multiple NGS assays, including RNA-seq, ribosome profiling, and DMS-seq. It forms the genomic engine of our ORF annotation tool, ORF-RATER, and is readily

Computer and Statistical Analysis of Transcription Factor Binding and Chromatin Modifications by ChIP-seq data in Embryonic Stem Cell

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Orlov Yuriy

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Advances in high throughput sequencing technology have enabled the identification of transcription factor (TF binding sites in genome scale. TF binding studies are important for medical applications and stem cell research. Somatic cells can be reprogrammed to a pluripotent state by the combined introduction of factors such as Oct4, Sox2, c-Myc, Klf4. These reprogrammed cells share many characteristics with embryonic stem cells (ESCs and are known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs. The signaling requirements for maintenance of human and murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs differ considerably. Genome wide ChIP-seq TF binding maps in mouse stem cells include Oct4, Sox2, Nanog, Tbx3, Smad2 as well as group of other factors. ChIP-seq allows study of new candidate transcription factors for reprogramming. It was shown that Nr5a2 could replace Oct4 for reprogramming. Epigenetic modifications play important role in regulation of gene expression adding additional complexity to transcription network functioning. We have studied associations between different histone modification using published data together with RNA Pol II sites. We found strong associations between activation marks and TF binding sites and present it qualitatively. To meet issues of statistical analysis of genome ChIP-sequencing maps we developed computer program to filter out noise signals and find significant association between binding site affinity and number of sequence reads. The data provide new insights into the function of chromatin organization and regulation in stem cells.

Nascent-Seq reveals novel features of mouse circadian transcriptional regulation

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Menet, Jerome S; Rodriguez, Joseph; Abruzzi, Katharine C; Rosbash, Michael

2012-01-01

A substantial fraction of the metazoan transcriptome undergoes circadian oscillations in many cells and tissues. Based on the transcription feedback loops important for circadian timekeeping, it is commonly assumed that this mRNA cycling reflects widespread transcriptional regulation. To address this issue, we directly measured the circadian dynamics of mouse liver transcription using Nascent-Seq (genome-wide sequencing of nascent RNA). Although many genes are rhythmically transcribed, many rhythmic mRNAs manifest poor transcriptional rhythms, indicating a prominent contribution of post-transcriptional regulation to circadian mRNA expression. This analysis of rhythmic transcription also showed that the rhythmic DNA binding profile of the transcription factors CLOCK and BMAL1 does not determine the transcriptional phase of most target genes. This likely reflects gene-specific collaborations of CLK:BMAL1 with other transcription factors. These insights from Nascent-Seq indicate that it should have broad applicability to many other gene expression regulatory issues. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00011.001 PMID:23150795

Dcode.org anthology of comparative genomic tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Loots, Gabriela G; Ovcharenko, Ivan

2005-07-01

Comparative genomics provides the means to demarcate functional regions in anonymous DNA sequences. The successful application of this method to identifying novel genes is currently shifting to deciphering the non-coding encryption of gene regulation across genomes. To facilitate the practical application of comparative sequence analysis to genetics and genomics, we have developed several analytical and visualization tools for the analysis of arbitrary sequences and whole genomes. These tools include two alignment tools, zPicture and Mulan; a phylogenetic shadowing tool, eShadow for identifying lineage- and species-specific functional elements; two evolutionary conserved transcription factor analysis tools, rVista and multiTF; a tool for extracting cis-regulatory modules governing the expression of co-regulated genes, Creme 2.0; and a dynamic portal to multiple vertebrate and invertebrate genome alignments, the ECR Browser. Here, we briefly describe each one of these tools and provide specific examples on their practical applications. All the tools are publicly available at the http://www.dcode.org/ website.

Genomics Portals: integrative web-platform for mining genomics data.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinde, Kaustubh; Phatak, Mukta; Johannes, Freudenberg M; Chen, Jing; Li, Qian; Vineet, Joshi K; Hu, Zhen; Ghosh, Krishnendu; Meller, Jaroslaw; Medvedovic, Mario

2010-01-13

A large amount of experimental data generated by modern high-throughput technologies is available through various public repositories. Our knowledge about molecular interaction networks, functional biological pathways and transcriptional regulatory modules is rapidly expanding, and is being organized in lists of functionally related genes. Jointly, these two sources of information hold a tremendous potential for gaining new insights into functioning of living systems. Genomics Portals platform integrates access to an extensive knowledge base and a large database of human, mouse, and rat genomics data with basic analytical visualization tools. It provides the context for analyzing and interpreting new experimental data and the tool for effective mining of a large number of publicly available genomics datasets stored in the back-end databases. The uniqueness of this platform lies in the volume and the diversity of genomics data that can be accessed and analyzed (gene expression, ChIP-chip, ChIP-seq, epigenomics, computationally predicted binding sites, etc), and the integration with an extensive knowledge base that can be used in such analysis. The integrated access to primary genomics data, functional knowledge and analytical tools makes Genomics Portals platform a unique tool for interpreting results of new genomics experiments and for mining the vast amount of data stored in the Genomics Portals backend databases. Genomics Portals can be accessed and used freely at http://GenomicsPortals.org.

Comparative Genomic and Transcriptional Analyses of CRISPR Systems Across the Genus Pyrobaculum

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David L Bernick

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Within the domain Archaea, the CRISPR immune system appears to be nearly ubiquitous based on computational genome analyses. Initial studies in bacteria demonstrated that the CRISPR system targets invading plasmid and viral DNA. Recent experiments in the model archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus uncovered a novel RNA-targeting variant of the CRISPR system potentially unique to archaea. Because our understanding of CRISPR system evolution in other archaea is limited, we have taken a comparative genomic and transcriptomic view of the CRISPR arrays across six diverse species within the crenarchaeal genus Pyrobaculum. We present transcriptional data from each of four species in the genus (P. aerophilum, P. islandicum, P. calidifontis, P. arsenaticum, analyzing mature CRISPR-associated small RNA abundance from over 20 arrays. Within the genus, there is remarkable conservation of CRISPR array structure, as well as unique features that are have not been studied in other archaeal systems. These unique features include: a nearly invariant CRISPR promoter, conservation of direct repeat families, the 5' polarity of CRISPR-associated small RNA abundance, and a novel CRISPR-specific association with homologues of nurA and herA. These analyses provide a genus-level evolutionary perspective on archaeal CRISPR systems, broadening our understanding beyond existing non-comparative model systems.

Dissecting the expression relationships between RNA-binding proteins and their cognate targets in eukaryotic post-transcriptional regulatory networks

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Nishtala, Sneha; Neelamraju, Yaseswini; Janga, Sarath Chandra

2016-05-01

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) are pivotal in orchestrating several steps in the metabolism of RNA in eukaryotes thereby controlling an extensive network of RBP-RNA interactions. Here, we employed CLIP (cross-linking immunoprecipitation)-seq datasets for 60 human RBPs and RIP-ChIP (RNP immunoprecipitation-microarray) data for 69 yeast RBPs to construct a network of genome-wide RBP- target RNA interactions for each RBP. We show in humans that majority (~78%) of the RBPs are strongly associated with their target transcripts at transcript level while ~95% of the studied RBPs were also found to be strongly associated with expression levels of target transcripts when protein expression levels of RBPs were employed. At transcript level, RBP - RNA interaction data for the yeast genome, exhibited a strong association for 63% of the RBPs, confirming the association to be conserved across large phylogenetic distances. Analysis to uncover the features contributing to these associations revealed the number of target transcripts and length of the selected protein-coding transcript of an RBP at the transcript level while intensity of the CLIP signal, number of RNA-Binding domains, location of the binding site on the transcript, to be significant at the protein level. Our analysis will contribute to improved modelling and prediction of post-transcriptional networks.

Integration of transcript expression, copy number and LOH analysis of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hawthorn Lesleyann

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A major challenge in the interpretation of genomic profiling data generated from breast cancer samples is the identification of driver genes as distinct from bystander genes which do not impact tumorigenesis. One way to assess the relative importance of alterations in the transcriptome profile is to combine parallel analyses that assess changes in the copy number alterations (CNAs. This integrated analysis permits the identification of genes with altered expression that map within specific chromosomal regions which demonstrate copy number alterations, providing a mechanistic approach to identify the 'driver genes'. Methods We have performed whole genome analysis of CNAs using the Affymetrix 250K Mapping array on 22 infiltrating ductal carcinoma samples (IDCs. Analysis of transcript expression alterations was performed using the Affymetrix U133 Plus2.0 array on 16 IDC samples. Fourteen IDC samples were analyzed using both platforms and the data integrated. We also incorporated data from loss of heterozygosity (LOH analysis to identify genes showing altered expression in LOH regions. Results Common chromosome gains and amplifications were identified at 1q21.3, 6p21.3, 7p11.2-p12.1, 8q21.11 and 8q24.3. A novel amplicon was identified at 5p15.33. Frequent losses were found at 1p36.22, 8q23.3, 11p13, 11q23, and 22q13. Over 130 genes were identified with concurrent increases or decreases in expression that mapped to these regions of copy number alterations. LOH analysis revealed three tumors with whole chromosome or p arm allelic loss of chromosome 17. Genes were identified that mapped to copy neutral LOH regions. LOH with accompanying copy loss was detected on Xp24 and Xp25 and genes mapping to these regions with decreased expression were identified. Gene expression data highlighted the PPARα/RXRα Activation Pathway as down-regulated in the tumor samples. Conclusion We have demonstrated the utility of the application of

Genome-wide investigation and transcriptome analysis of the WRKY gene family in Gossypium.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Mingquan; Chen, Jiadong; Jiang, Yurong; Lin, Lifeng; Cao, YueFen; Wang, Minhua; Zhang, Yuting; Rong, Junkang; Ye, Wuwei

2015-02-01

WRKY transcription factors play important roles in various stress responses in diverse plant species. In cotton, this family has not been well studied, especially in relation to fiber development. Here, the genomes and transcriptomes of Gossypium raimondii and Gossypium arboreum were investigated to identify fiber development related WRKY genes. This represents the first comprehensive comparative study of WRKY transcription factors in both diploid A and D cotton species. In total, 112 G. raimondii and 109 G. arboreum WRKY genes were identified. No significant gene structure or domain alterations were detected between the two species, but many SNPs distributed unequally in exon and intron regions. Physical mapping revealed that the WRKY genes in G. arboreum were not located in the corresponding chromosomes of G. raimondii, suggesting great chromosome rearrangement in the diploid cotton genomes. The cotton WRKY genes, especially subgroups I and II, have expanded through multiple whole genome duplications and tandem duplications compared with other plant species. Sequence comparison showed many functionally divergent sites between WRKY subgroups, while the genes within each group are under strong purifying selection. Transcriptome analysis suggested that many WRKY genes participate in specific fiber development processes such as fiber initiation, elongation and maturation with different expression patterns between species. Complex WRKY gene expression such as differential Dt and At allelic gene expression in G. hirsutum and alternative splicing events were also observed in both diploid and tetraploid cottons during fiber development process. In conclusion, this study provides important information on the evolution and function of WRKY gene family in cotton species.

Genome-wide ChIP-seq analysis of human TOP2B occupancy in MCF7 breast cancer epithelial cells

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Catriona M. Manville

2015-11-01

Full Text Available We report the whole genome ChIP seq for human TOP2B from MCF7 cells. Using three different peak calling methods, regions of binding were identified in the presence or absence of the nuclear hormone estradiol, as TOP2B has been reported to play a role in ligand-induced transcription. TOP2B peaks were found across the whole genome, 50% of the peaks fell either within a gene or within 5 kb of a transcription start site. TOP2B peaks coincident with gene promoters were less frequently associated with epigenetic features marking active promoters in estradiol treated than in untreated cells. Significantly enriched transcription factor motifs within the DNA sequences underlying the peaks were identified. These included SP1, KLF4, TFAP2A, MYF, REST, CTCF, ESR1 and ESR2. Gene ontology analysis of genes associated with TOP2B peaks found neuronal development terms including axonogenesis and axon guidance were significantly enriched. In the absence of functional TOP2B there are errors in axon guidance in the zebrafish eye. Specific heparin sulphate structures are involved in retinal axon targeting. The glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis–heparin sulphate/heparin pathway is significantly enriched in the TOP2B gene ontology analysis, suggesting changes in this pathway in the absence of TOP2B may cause the axon guidance faults.

Transcription and DNA Damage: Holding Hands or Crossing Swords?

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D'Alessandro, Giuseppina; d'Adda di Fagagna, Fabrizio

2017-10-27

Transcription has classically been considered a potential threat to genome integrity. Collision between transcription and DNA replication machinery, and retention of DNA:RNA hybrids, may result in genome instability. On the other hand, it has been proposed that active genes repair faster and preferentially via homologous recombination. Moreover, while canonical transcription is inhibited in the proximity of DNA double-strand breaks, a growing body of evidence supports active non-canonical transcription at DNA damage sites. Small non-coding RNAs accumulate at DNA double-strand break sites in mammals and other organisms, and are involved in DNA damage signaling and repair. Furthermore, RNA binding proteins are recruited to DNA damage sites and participate in the DNA damage response. Here, we discuss the impact of transcription on genome stability, the role of RNA binding proteins at DNA damage sites, and the function of small non-coding RNAs generated upon damage in the signaling and repair of DNA lesions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PRISM offers a comprehensive genomic approach to transcription factor function prediction

KAUST Repository

Wenger, A. M.; Clarke, S. L.; Guturu, H.; Chen, J.; Schaar, B. T.; McLean, C. Y.; Bejerano, G.

2013-01-01

The human genome encodes 1500-2000 different transcription factors (TFs). ChIP-seq is revealing the global binding profiles of a fraction of TFs in a fraction of their biological contexts. These data show that the majority of TFs bind directly next to a large number of context-relevant target genes, that most binding is distal, and that binding is context specific. Because of the effort and cost involved, ChIP-seq is seldom used in search of novel TF function. Such exploration is instead done using expression perturbation and genetic screens. Here we propose a comprehensive computational framework for transcription factor function prediction. We curate 332 high-quality nonredundant TF binding motifs that represent all major DNA binding domains, and improve cross-species conserved binding site prediction to obtain 3.3 million conserved, mostly distal, binding site predictions. We combine these with 2.4 million facts about all human and mouse gene functions, in a novel statistical framework, in search of enrichments of particular motifs next to groups of target genes of particular functions. Rigorous parameter tuning and a harsh null are used to minimize false positives. Our novel PRISM (predicting regulatory information from single motifs) approach obtains 2543 TF function predictions in a large variety of contexts, at a false discovery rate of 16%. The predictions are highly enriched for validated TF roles, and 45 of 67 (67%) tested binding site regions in five different contexts act as enhancers in functionally matched cells.

PRISM offers a comprehensive genomic approach to transcription factor function prediction

KAUST Repository

Wenger, A. M.

2013-02-04

The human genome encodes 1500-2000 different transcription factors (TFs). ChIP-seq is revealing the global binding profiles of a fraction of TFs in a fraction of their biological contexts. These data show that the majority of TFs bind directly next to a large number of context-relevant target genes, that most binding is distal, and that binding is context specific. Because of the effort and cost involved, ChIP-seq is seldom used in search of novel TF function. Such exploration is instead done using expression perturbation and genetic screens. Here we propose a comprehensive computational framework for transcription factor function prediction. We curate 332 high-quality nonredundant TF binding motifs that represent all major DNA binding domains, and improve cross-species conserved binding site prediction to obtain 3.3 million conserved, mostly distal, binding site predictions. We combine these with 2.4 million facts about all human and mouse gene functions, in a novel statistical framework, in search of enrichments of particular motifs next to groups of target genes of particular functions. Rigorous parameter tuning and a harsh null are used to minimize false positives. Our novel PRISM (predicting regulatory information from single motifs) approach obtains 2543 TF function predictions in a large variety of contexts, at a false discovery rate of 16%. The predictions are highly enriched for validated TF roles, and 45 of 67 (67%) tested binding site regions in five different contexts act as enhancers in functionally matched cells.

Comprehensive analysis of the specificity of transcription activator-like effector nucleases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juillerat, Alexandre; Dubois, Gwendoline; Valton, Julien

2014-01-01

A key issue when designing and using DNA-targeting nucleases is specificity. Ideally, an optimal DNA-targeting tool has only one recognition site within a genomic sequence. In practice, however, almost all designer nucleases available today can accommodate one to several mutations within...... their target site. The ability to predict the specificity of targeting is thus highly desirable. Here, we describe the first comprehensive experimental study focused on the specificity of the four commonly used repeat variable diresidues (RVDs; NI:A, HD:C, NN:G and NG:T) incorporated in transcription activator......-like effector nucleases (TALEN). The analysis of >15 500 unique TALEN/DNA cleavage profiles allowed us to monitor the specificity gradient of the RVDs along a TALEN/DNA binding array and to present a specificity scoring matrix for RVD/nucleotide association. Furthermore, we report that TALEN can only...

Systems assessment of transcriptional regulation on central carbon metabolism by Cra and CRP.

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Kim, Donghyuk; Seo, Sang Woo; Gao, Ye; Nam, Hojung; Guzman, Gabriela I; Cho, Byung-Kwan; Palsson, Bernhard O

2018-04-06

Two major transcriptional regulators of carbon metabolism in bacteria are Cra and CRP. CRP is considered to be the main mediator of catabolite repression. Unlike for CRP, in vivo DNA binding information of Cra is scarce. Here we generate and integrate ChIP-exo and RNA-seq data to identify 39 binding sites for Cra and 97 regulon genes that are regulated by Cra in Escherichia coli. An integrated metabolic-regulatory network was formed by including experimentally-derived regulatory information and a genome-scale metabolic network reconstruction. Applying analysis methods of systems biology to this integrated network showed that Cra enables optimal bacterial growth on poor carbon sources by redirecting and repressing glycolysis flux, by activating the glyoxylate shunt pathway, and by activating the respiratory pathway. In these regulatory mechanisms, the overriding regulatory activity of Cra over CRP is fundamental. Thus, elucidation of interacting transcriptional regulation of core carbon metabolism in bacteria by two key transcription factors was possible by combining genome-wide experimental measurement and simulation with a genome-scale metabolic model.

Structure and transcription of the Helicoverpa armigera densovirus (HaDV2) genome and its expression strategy in LD652 cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Pengjun; Graham, Robert I; Wilson, Kenneth; Wu, Kongming

2017-02-07

Densoviruses (DVs) are highly pathogenic to their hosts. However, we previously reported a mutualistic DV (HaDV2). Very little was known about the characteristics of this virus, so herein we undertook a series of experiments to explore the molecular biology of HaDV2 further. Phylogenetic analysis showed that HaDV2 was similar to members of the genus Iteradensovirus. However, compared to current members of the genus Iteradensovirus, the sequence identity of HaDV2 is less than 44% at the nucleotide-level, and lower than 36, 28 and 19% at the amino-acid-level of VP, NS1 and NS2 proteins, respectively. Moreover, NS1 and NS2 proteins from HaDV2 were smaller than those from other iteradensoviruses due to their shorter N-terminal sequences. Two transcripts of about 2.2 kb coding for the NS proteins and the VP proteins were identified by Northern Blot and RACE analysis. Using specific anti-NS1 and anti-NS2 antibodies, Western Blot analysis revealed a 78 kDa and a 48 kDa protein, respectively. Finally, the localization of both NS1 and NS2 proteins within the cell nucleus was determined by using Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) labelling. The genome organization, terminal hairpin structure, transcription and expression strategies as well as the mutualistic relationship with its host, suggested that HaDV2 was a novel member of the genus Iteradensovirus within the subfamily Densovirinae.

Coordinated Evolution of Transcriptional and Post-Transcriptional Regulation for Mitochondrial Functions in Yeast Strains.

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Xuepeng Sun

Full Text Available Evolution of gene regulation has been proposed to play an important role in environmental adaptation. Exploring mechanisms underlying coordinated evolutionary changes at various levels of gene regulation could shed new light on how organism adapt in nature. In this study, we focused on regulatory differences between a laboratory Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain BY4742 and a pathogenic S. cerevisiae strain, YJM789. The two strains diverge in many features, including growth rate, morphology, high temperature tolerance, and pathogenicity. Our RNA-Seq and ribosomal footprint profiling data showed that gene expression differences are pervasive, and genes functioning in mitochondria are mostly divergent between the two strains at both transcriptional and translational levels. Combining functional genomics data from other yeast strains, we further demonstrated that significant divergence of expression for genes functioning in the electron transport chain (ETC was likely caused by differential expression of a transcriptional factor, HAP4, and that post-transcriptional regulation mediated by an RNA-binding protein, PUF3, likely led to expression divergence for genes involved in mitochondrial translation. We also explored mito-nuclear interactions via mitochondrial DNA replacement between strains. Although the two mitochondrial genomes harbor substantial sequence divergence, neither growth nor gene expression were affected by mitochondrial DNA replacement in both fermentative and respiratory growth media, indicating compatible mitochondrial and nuclear genomes between these two strains in the tested conditions. Collectively, we used mitochondrial functions as an example to demonstrate for the first time that evolution at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels could lead to coordinated regulatory changes underlying strain specific functional variations.

Comparative Genome Analysis of Enterobacter cloacae

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wing-Yee; Wong, Chi-Fat; Chung, Karl Ming-Kar; Jiang, Jing-Wei; Leung, Frederick Chi-Ching

2013-01-01

The Enterobacter cloacae species includes an extremely diverse group of bacteria that are associated with plants, soil and humans. Publication of the complete genome sequence of the plant growth-promoting endophytic E. cloacae subsp. cloacae ENHKU01 provided an opportunity to perform the first comparative genome analysis between strains of this dynamic species. Examination of the pan-genome of E. cloacae showed that the conserved core genome retains the general physiological and survival genes of the species, while genomic factors in plasmids and variable regions determine the virulence of the human pathogenic E. cloacae strain; additionally, the diversity of fimbriae contributes to variation in colonization and host determination of different E. cloacae strains. Comparative genome analysis further illustrated that E. cloacae strains possess multiple mechanisms for antagonistic action against other microorganisms, which involve the production of siderophores and various antimicrobial compounds, such as bacteriocins, chitinases and antibiotic resistance proteins. The presence of Type VI secretion systems is expected to provide further fitness advantages for E. cloacae in microbial competition, thus allowing it to survive in different environments. Competition assays were performed to support our observations in genomic analysis, where E. cloacae subsp. cloacae ENHKU01 demonstrated antagonistic activities against a wide range of plant pathogenic fungal and bacterial species. PMID:24069314

Comparative Genomic Analysis of Clinical and Environmental Vibrio Vulnificus Isolates Revealed Biotype 3 Evolutionary Relationships

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Yael eKotton

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In 1996 a common-source outbreak of severe soft tissue and bloodstream infections erupted among Israeli fish farmers and fish consumers due to changes in fish marketing policies. The causative pathogen was a new strain of Vibrio vulnificus, named biotype 3, which displayed a unique biochemical and genotypic profile. Initial observations suggested that the pathogen erupted as a result of genetic recombination between two distinct populations. We applied a whole genome shotgun sequencing approach using several V. vulnificus strains from Israel in order to study the pan genome of V. vulnificus and determine the phylogenetic relationship of biotype 3 with existing populations. The core genome of V. vulnificus based on 16 draft and complete genomes consisted of 3068 genes, representing between 59% and 78% of the whole genome of 16 strains. The accessory genome varied in size from 781 kbp to 2044 kbp. Phylogenetic analysis based on whole, core, and accessory genomes displayed similar clustering patterns with two main clusters, clinical (C and environmental (E, all biotype 3 strains formed a distinct group within the E cluster. Annotation of accessory genomic regions found in biotype 3 strains and absent from the core genome yielded 1732 genes, of which the vast majority encoded hypothetical proteins, phage-related proteins, and mobile element proteins. A total of 1916 proteins (including 713 hypothetical proteins were present in all human pathogenic strains (both biotype 3 and non-biotype 3 and absent from the environmental strains. Clustering analysis of the non-hypothetical proteins revealed 148 protein clusters shared by all human pathogenic strains; these included transcriptional regulators, arylsulfatases, methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins, acetyltransferases, GGDEF family proteins, transposases, type IV secretory system (T4SS proteins, and integrases. Our study showed that V. vulnificus biotype 3 evolved from environmental populations and

An Annotation Agnostic Algorithm for Detecting Nascent RNA Transcripts in GRO-Seq.

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Azofeifa, Joseph G; Allen, Mary A; Lladser, Manuel E; Dowell, Robin D

2017-01-01

We present a fast and simple algorithm to detect nascent RNA transcription in global nuclear run-on sequencing (GRO-seq). GRO-seq is a relatively new protocol that captures nascent transcripts from actively engaged polymerase, providing a direct read-out on bona fide transcription. Most traditional assays, such as RNA-seq, measure steady state RNA levels which are affected by transcription, post-transcriptional processing, and RNA stability. GRO-seq data, however, presents unique analysis challenges that are only beginning to be addressed. Here, we describe a new algorithm, Fast Read Stitcher (FStitch), that takes advantage of two popular machine-learning techniques, hidden Markov models and logistic regression, to classify which regions of the genome are transcribed. Given a small user-defined training set, our algorithm is accurate, robust to varying read depth, annotation agnostic, and fast. Analysis of GRO-seq data without a priori need for annotation uncovers surprising new insights into several aspects of the transcription process.

Iterative Chat Transcript Analysis: Making Meaning from Existing Data

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Steven Baumgart

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Objective – In order to better contextualize library data about patron satisfaction with reference services, we analyzed an existing corpus of chat transcripts. Having conducted a similar analysis in 2010, we also compared librarian behaviors over time. Methods – Drawing from the library literature, we identified a set of librarian behaviors closely associated with patron satisfaction. These behaviors include listening to and understanding patrons’ needs, inviting patrons to use the service again, and providing instruction or completing a search for patrons. Analysis of the chat transcripts included establishing a coding schema, applying these codes to individual chat transcripts, and analyzing these codes across the corpus of transcripts for frequency and correlation with other codes. The currently presented analysis used chat transcripts from the fall of 2013 and seeks changes in librarian behavior over time in order to gauge the success of establishing best practices and improving training standardization over the last three years. Results – The analysis shows that librarian behaviors have changed over time, pointing to what campus librarians are doing well, and that implementation of best practices at a campus level after the 2010 analysis may have increased these positive behaviors. The analysis also shows opportunities for further standardization and reinforcement of best practices. Conclusion – Qualitative analysis of already-collected data serves as a model for other units and suggests areas for process improvement, including enhanced coder training and code schema design. Further analysis of chat patrons’ questions is also warranted, including investigation of the relationship between subject- and location-specific questions and referrals.

ChIP-on-chip analysis identifies IL-22 as direct target gene of ectopically expressed FOXP3 transcription factor in human T cells

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Jeron Andreas

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The transcription factor (TF forkhead box P3 (FOXP3 is constitutively expressed at high levels in naturally occurring CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (nTregs. It is not only the most accepted marker for that cell population but is also considered lineage determinative. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP of TFs in combination with genomic tiling microarray analysis (ChIP-on-chip has been shown to be an appropriate tool for identifying FOXP3 transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs on a genome-wide scale. In combination with microarray expression analysis, the ChIP-on-chip technique allows identification of direct FOXP3 target genes. Results ChIP-on-chip analysis of the human FOXP3 expressed in resting and PMA/ionomycin–stimulated Jurkat T cells revealed several thousand putative FOXP3 binding sites and demonstrated the importance of intronic regions for FOXP3 binding. The analysis of expression data showed that the stimulation-dependent down-regulation of IL-22 was correlated with direct FOXP3 binding in the IL-22 promoter region. This association was confirmed by real-time PCR analysis of ChIP-DNA. The corresponding ChIP-region also contained a matching FOXP3 consensus sequence. Conclusions Knowledge of the general distribution patterns of FOXP3 TFBSs in the human genome under resting and activated conditions will contribute to a better understanding of this TF and its influence on direct target genes, as well as its importance for the phenotype and function of Tregs. Moreover, FOXP3-dependent repression of Th17-related IL-22 may be relevant to an understanding of the phenomenon of Treg/Th17 cell plasticity.

Genomic and transcriptional landscape of P2RY8-CRLF2-positive childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Science.gov (United States)

Vesely, C; Frech, C; Eckert, C; Cario, G; Mecklenbräuker, A; zur Stadt, U; Nebral, K; Kraler, F; Fischer, S; Attarbaschi, A; Schuster, M; Bock, C; Cavé, H; von Stackelberg, A; Schrappe, M; Horstmann, M A; Mann, G; Haas, O A; Panzer-Grümayer, R

2017-01-01

Children with P2RY8-CRLF2-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia have an increased relapse risk. Their mutational and transcriptional landscape, as well as the respective patterns at relapse remain largely elusive. We, therefore, performed an integrated analysis of whole-exome and RNA sequencing in 41 major clone fusion-positive cases including 19 matched diagnosis/relapse pairs. We detected a variety of frequently subclonal and highly instable JAK/STAT but also RTK/Ras pathway-activating mutations in 76% of cases at diagnosis and virtually all relapses. Unlike P2RY8-CRLF2 that was lost in 32% of relapses, all other genomic alterations affecting lymphoid development (58%) and cell cycle (39%) remained stable. Only IKZF1 alterations predominated in relapsing cases (P=0.001) and increased from initially 36 to 58% in matched cases. IKZF1’s critical role is further corroborated by its specific transcriptional signature comprising stem cell features with signs of impaired lymphoid differentiation, enhanced focal adhesion, activated hypoxia pathway, deregulated cell cycle and increased drug resistance. Our findings support the notion that P2RY8-CRLF2 is dispensable for relapse development and instead highlight the prominent rank of IKZF1 for relapse development by mediating self-renewal and homing to the bone marrow niche. Consequently, reverting aberrant IKAROS signaling or its disparate programs emerges as an attractive potential treatment option in these leukemias. PMID:27899802

Genome-wide analysis of the WRKY gene family in cotton.

Science.gov (United States)

Dou, Lingling; Zhang, Xiaohong; Pang, Chaoyou; Song, Meizhen; Wei, Hengling; Fan, Shuli; Yu, Shuxun

2014-12-01

WRKY proteins are major transcription factors involved in regulating plant growth and development. Although many studies have focused on the functional identification of WRKY genes, our knowledge concerning many areas of WRKY gene biology is limited. For example, in cotton, the phylogenetic characteristics, global expression patterns, molecular mechanisms regulating expression, and target genes/pathways of WRKY genes are poorly characterized. Therefore, in this study, we present a genome-wide analysis of the WRKY gene family in cotton (Gossypium raimondii and Gossypium hirsutum). We identified 116 WRKY genes in G. raimondii from the completed genome sequence, and we cloned 102 WRKY genes in G. hirsutum. Chromosomal location analysis indicated that WRKY genes in G. raimondii evolved mainly from segmental duplication followed by tandem amplifications. Phylogenetic analysis of alga, bryophyte, lycophyta, monocot and eudicot WRKY domains revealed family member expansion with increasing complexity of the plant body. Microarray, expression profiling and qRT-PCR data revealed that WRKY genes in G. hirsutum may regulate the development of fibers, anthers, tissues (roots, stems, leaves and embryos), and are involved in the response to stresses. Expression analysis showed that most group II and III GhWRKY genes are highly expressed under diverse stresses. Group I members, representing the ancestral form, seem to be insensitive to abiotic stress, with low expression divergence. Our results indicate that cotton WRKY genes might have evolved by adaptive duplication, leading to sensitivity to diverse stresses. This study provides fundamental information to inform further analysis and understanding of WRKY gene functions in cotton species.

The Intertwined Roles of DNA Damage and Transcription

OpenAIRE

Di Palo, Giacomo

2016-01-01

DNA damage and transcription are two interconnected events. Transcription can induce damage and scheduled DNA damage can be required for transcription. Here, we analyzed genome-wide distribution of 8oxodG-marked oxidative DNA damage obtained by OxiDIP-Seq, and we found a correlation with transcription of protein coding genes.

Dynamic analysis of stochastic transcription cycles.

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Claire V Harper

2011-04-01

Full Text Available In individual mammalian cells the expression of some genes such as prolactin is highly variable over time and has been suggested to occur in stochastic pulses. To investigate the origins of this behavior and to understand its functional relevance, we quantitatively analyzed this variability using new mathematical tools that allowed us to reconstruct dynamic transcription rates of different reporter genes controlled by identical promoters in the same living cell. Quantitative microscopic analysis of two reporter genes, firefly luciferase and destabilized EGFP, was used to analyze the dynamics of prolactin promoter-directed gene expression in living individual clonal and primary pituitary cells over periods of up to 25 h. We quantified the time-dependence and cyclicity of the transcription pulses and estimated the length and variation of active and inactive transcription phases. We showed an average cycle period of approximately 11 h and demonstrated that while the measured time distribution of active phases agreed with commonly accepted models of transcription, the inactive phases were differently distributed and showed strong memory, with a refractory period of transcriptional inactivation close to 3 h. Cycles in transcription occurred at two distinct prolactin-promoter controlled reporter genes in the same individual clonal or primary cells. However, the timing of the cycles was independent and out-of-phase. For the first time, we have analyzed transcription dynamics from two equivalent loci in real-time in single cells. In unstimulated conditions, cells showed independent transcription dynamics at each locus. A key result from these analyses was the evidence for a minimum refractory period in the inactive-phase of transcription. The response to acute signals and the result of manipulation of histone acetylation was consistent with the hypothesis that this refractory period corresponded to a phase of chromatin remodeling which significantly

Improvement of genome assembly completeness and identification of novel full-length protein-coding genes by RNA-seq in the giant panda genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Meili; Hu, Yibo; Liu, Jingxing; Wu, Qi; Zhang, Chenglin; Yu, Jun; Xiao, Jingfa; Wei, Fuwen; Wu, Jiayan

2015-12-11

High-quality and complete gene models are the basis of whole genome analyses. The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) genome was the first genome sequenced on the basis of solely short reads, but the genome annotation had lacked the support of transcriptomic evidence. In this study, we applied RNA-seq to globally improve the genome assembly completeness and to detect novel expressed transcripts in 12 tissues from giant pandas, by using a transcriptome reconstruction strategy that combined reference-based and de novo methods. Several aspects of genome assembly completeness in the transcribed regions were effectively improved by the de novo assembled transcripts, including genome scaffolding, the detection of small-size assembly errors, the extension of scaffold/contig boundaries, and gap closure. Through expression and homology validation, we detected three groups of novel full-length protein-coding genes. A total of 12.62% of the novel protein-coding genes were validated by proteomic data. GO annotation analysis showed that some of the novel protein-coding genes were involved in pigmentation, anatomical structure formation and reproduction, which might be related to the development and evolution of the black-white pelage, pseudo-thumb and delayed embryonic implantation of giant pandas. The updated genome annotation will help further giant panda studies from both structural and functional perspectives.

Uncovering transcriptional regulation of metabolism by using metabolic network topology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Patil, Kiran Raosaheb; Nielsen, Jens

2005-01-01

in the metabolic network that follow a common transcriptional response. Thus, the algorithm enables identification of so-called reporter metabolites (metabolites around which the most significant transcriptional changes occur) and a set of connected genes with significant and coordinated response to genetic......Cellular response to genetic and environmental perturbations is often reflected and/or mediated through changes in the metabolism, because the latter plays a key role in providing Gibbs free energy and precursors for biosynthesis. Such metabolic changes are often exerted through transcriptional...... therefore developed an algorithm that is based on hypothesis-driven data analysis to uncover the transcriptional regulatory architecture of metabolic networks. By using information on the metabolic network topology from genome-scale metabolic reconstruction, we show that it is possible to reveal patterns...

Harnessing CRISPR/Cas systems for programmable transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation

KAUST Repository

Mahas, Ahmed

2017-11-29

Genome editing has enabled broad advances and novel approaches in studies of gene function and structure; now, emerging methods aim to precisely engineer post-transcriptional processes. Developing precise, efficient molecular tools to alter the transcriptome holds great promise for biotechnology and synthetic biology applications. Different approaches have been employed for targeted degradation of RNA species in eukaryotes, but they lack programmability and versatility, thereby limiting their utility for diverse applications. The CRISPR/Cas9 system has been harnessed for genome editing in many eukaryotic species and, using a catalytically inactive Cas9 variant, the CRISPR/dCas9 system has been repurposed for transcriptional regulation. Recent studies have used other CRISPR/Cas systems for targeted RNA degradation and RNA-based manipulations. For example, Cas13a, a Type VI-A endonuclease, has been identified as an RNA-guided RNA ribonuclease and used for manipulation of RNA. Here, we discuss different modalities for targeted RNA interference with an emphasis on the potential applications of CRISPR/Cas systems as programmable transcriptional regulators for broad uses, including functional biology, biotechnology, and synthetic biology applications.

Harnessing CRISPR/Cas systems for programmable transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation

KAUST Repository

Mahas, Ahmed; Neal Stewart, C.; Mahfouz, Magdy M.

2017-01-01

Genome editing has enabled broad advances and novel approaches in studies of gene function and structure; now, emerging methods aim to precisely engineer post-transcriptional processes. Developing precise, efficient molecular tools to alter the transcriptome holds great promise for biotechnology and synthetic biology applications. Different approaches have been employed for targeted degradation of RNA species in eukaryotes, but they lack programmability and versatility, thereby limiting their utility for diverse applications. The CRISPR/Cas9 system has been harnessed for genome editing in many eukaryotic species and, using a catalytically inactive Cas9 variant, the CRISPR/dCas9 system has been repurposed for transcriptional regulation. Recent studies have used other CRISPR/Cas systems for targeted RNA degradation and RNA-based manipulations. For example, Cas13a, a Type VI-A endonuclease, has been identified as an RNA-guided RNA ribonuclease and used for manipulation of RNA. Here, we discuss different modalities for targeted RNA interference with an emphasis on the potential applications of CRISPR/Cas systems as programmable transcriptional regulators for broad uses, including functional biology, biotechnology, and synthetic biology applications.

NMD Microarray Analysis for Rapid Genome-Wide Screen of Mutated Genes in Cancer

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Maija Wolf

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Gene mutations play a critical role in cancer development and progression, and their identification offers possibilities for accurate diagnostics and therapeutic targeting. Finding genes undergoing mutations is challenging and slow, even in the post-genomic era. A new approach was recently developed by Noensie and Dietz to prioritize and focus the search, making use of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD inhibition and microarray analysis (NMD microarrays in the identification of transcripts containing nonsense mutations. We combined NMD microarrays with array-based CGH (comparative genomic hybridization in order to identify inactivation of tumor suppressor genes in cancer. Such a “mutatomics” screening of prostate cancer cell lines led to the identification of inactivating mutations in the EPHB2 gene. Up to 8% of metastatic uncultured prostate cancers also showed mutations of this gene whose loss of function may confer loss of tissue architecture. NMD microarray analysis could turn out to be a powerful research method to identify novel mutated genes in cancer cell lines, providing targets that could then be further investigated for their clinical relevance and therapeutic potential.

Genome-wide analysis of the AP2/ERF family in Musa species reveals divergence and neofunctionalisation during evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Lakhwani, Deepika; Pandey, Ashutosh; Dhar, Yogeshwar Vikram; Bag, Sumit Kumar; Trivedi, Prabodh Kumar; Asif, Mehar Hasan

2016-01-06

AP2/ERF domain containing transcription factor super family is one of the important regulators in the plant kingdom. The involvement of AP2/ERF family members has been elucidated in various processes associated with plant growth, development as well as in response to hormones, biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, we carried out genome-wide analysis to identify members of AP2/ERF family in Musa acuminata (A genome) and Musa balbisiana (B genome) and changes leading to neofunctionalisation of genes. Analysis identified 265 and 318 AP2/ERF encoding genes in M. acuminata and M. balbisiana respectively which were further classified into ERF, DREB, AP2, RAV and Soloist groups. Comparative analysis indicated that AP2/ERF family has undergone duplication, loss and divergence during evolution and speciation of the Musa A and B genomes. We identified nine genes which are up-regulated during fruit ripening and might be components of the regulatory machinery operating during ethylene-dependent ripening in banana. Tissue-specific expression analysis of the genes suggests that different regulatory mechanisms might be involved in peel and pulp ripening process through recruiting specific ERFs in these tissues. Analysis also suggests that MaRAV-6 and MaERF026 have structurally diverged from their M. balbisiana counterparts and have attained new functions during ripening.

Decoding genome-wide GadEWX-transcriptional regulatory networks reveals multifaceted cellular responses to acid stress in Escherichia coli

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seo, Sang Woo; Kim, Donghyuk; O'Brien, Edward J.

2015-01-01

The regulators GadE, GadW and GadX (which we refer to as GadEWX) play a critical role in the transcriptional regulation of the glutamate-dependent acid resistance (GDAR) system in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655. However, the genome-wide regulatory role of GadEWX is still unknown. Here we comprehens...

The Trichoplax Genome and the Nature of Placozoans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Srivastava, Mansi; Begovic, Emina; Chapman, Jarrod; Putnam, Nicholas H.; Hellsten, Uffe; Kawashima, Takeshi; Kuo, Alan; Mitros, Therese; Salamov, Asaf; Carpenter, Meredith L.; Signorovitch, Ana Y.; Moreno, Maria A.; Kamm, Kai; Grimwood, Jane; Schmutz, Jeremy; Shapiro, Harris; Grigoriev, Igor V.; Buss, Leo W.; Schierwater, Bernd; Dellaporta, Stephen L.; Rokhsar, Daniel S.

2008-08-01

Placozoans are arguably the simplest free-living animals, possibly evoking an early stage in metazoan evolution, yet their biology is poorly understood. Here we report the sequencing and analysis of the {approx}98 million base pair nuclear genome of the placozoan Trichoplax adhaerens. Whole genome phylogenetic analysis suggests that placozoans belong to a 'eumetazoan' clade that includes cnidarians and bilaterians, with sponges as the earliest diverging animals. The compact genome exhibits conserved gene content, gene structure, and synteny relative to the human and other complex eumetazoan genomes. Despite the apparent cellular and organismal simplicity of Trichoplax, its genome encodes a rich array of transcription factor and signaling pathway genes that are typically associated with diverse cell types and developmental processes in eumetazoans, motivating further searches for cryptic cellular complexity and/or as yet unobserved life history stages.

Complex and extensive post-transcriptional regulation revealed by integrative proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of metabolite stress response in Clostridium acetobutylicum.

Science.gov (United States)

Venkataramanan, Keerthi P; Min, Lie; Hou, Shuyu; Jones, Shawn W; Ralston, Matthew T; Lee, Kelvin H; Papoutsakis, E Terry

2015-01-01

Clostridium acetobutylicum is a model organism for both clostridial biology and solvent production. The organism is exposed to its own toxic metabolites butyrate and butanol, which trigger an adaptive stress response. Integrative analysis of proteomic and RNAseq data may provide novel insights into post-transcriptional regulation. The identified iTRAQ-based quantitative stress proteome is made up of 616 proteins with a 15 % genome coverage. The differentially expressed proteome correlated poorly with the corresponding differential RNAseq transcriptome. Up to 31 % of the differentially expressed proteins under stress displayed patterns opposite to those of the transcriptome, thus suggesting significant post-transcriptional regulation. The differential proteome of the translation machinery suggests that cells employ a different subset of ribosomal proteins under stress. Several highly upregulated proteins but with low mRNA levels possessed mRNAs with long 5'UTRs and strong RBS scores, thus supporting the argument that regulatory elements on the long 5'UTRs control their translation. For example, the oxidative stress response rubrerythrin was upregulated only at the protein level up to 40-fold without significant mRNA changes. We also identified many leaderless transcripts, several displaying different transcriptional start sites, thus suggesting mRNA-trimming mechanisms under stress. Downregulation of Rho and partner proteins pointed to changes in transcriptional elongation and termination under stress. The integrative proteomic-transcriptomic analysis demonstrated complex expression patterns of a large fraction of the proteome. Such patterns could not have been detected with one or the other omic analyses. Our analysis proposes the involvement of specific molecular mechanisms of post-transcriptional regulation to explain the observed complex stress response.

Genome analysis methods - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods Genome analysis... methods Data detail Data name Genome analysis methods DOI 10.18908/lsdba.nbdc01194-01-005 De...scription of data contents The current status and related information of the genomic analysis about each org...anism (March, 2014). In the case of organisms carried out genomic analysis, the d...e File name: pgdbj_dna_marker_linkage_map_genome_analysis_methods_en.zip File URL: ftp://ftp.biosciencedbc.j

Alkane Biosynthesis Genes in Cyanobacteria and Their Transcriptional Organization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klähn, Stephan; Baumgartner, Desirée; Pfreundt, Ulrike; Voigt, Karsten; Schön, Verena; Steglich, Claudia; Hess, Wolfgang R.

2014-01-01

In cyanobacteria, alkanes are synthesized from a fatty acyl-ACP by two enzymes, acyl–acyl carrier protein reductase and aldehyde deformylating oxygenase. Despite the great interest in the exploitation for biofuel production, nothing is known about the transcriptional organization of their genes or the physiological function of alkane synthesis. The comparison of 115 microarray datasets indicates the relatively constitutive expression of aar and ado genes. The analysis of 181 available genomes showed that in 90% of the genomes both genes are present, likely indicating their physiological relevance. In 61% of them they cluster together with genes encoding acetyl-CoA carboxyl transferase and a short-chain dehydrogenase, strengthening the link to fatty acid metabolism and in 76% of the genomes they are located in tandem, suggesting constraints on the gene arrangement. However, contrary to the expectations for an operon, we found in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 specific promoters for the two genes, sll0208 (ado) and sll0209 (aar), which give rise to monocistronic transcripts. Moreover, the upstream located ado gene is driven by a proximal as well as a second, distal, promoter, from which a third transcript, the ~160 nt sRNA SyR9 is transcribed. Thus, the transcriptional organization of the alkane biosynthesis genes in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 is of substantial complexity. We verified all three promoters to function independently from each other and show a similar promoter arrangement also in the more distant Nodularia spumigena, Trichodesmium erythraeum, Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, Prochlorococcus MIT9313, and MED4. The presence of separate regulatory elements and the dominance of monocistronic mRNAs suggest the possible autonomous regulation of ado and aar. The complex transcriptional organization of the alkane synthesis gene cluster has possible metabolic implications and should be considered when manipulating the expression of these genes in cyanobacteria.

Alkane biosynthesis genes in cyanobacteria and their transcriptional organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephan eKlähn

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In cyanobacteria, alkanes are synthesized from a fatty acyl-ACP by two enzymes, acyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (AAR and aldehyde deformylating oxygenase (ADO. Despite the great interest in the exploitation for biofuel production, nothing is known about the transcriptional organization of their genes or the physiological function of alkane synthesis. The comparison of 115 microarray datasets indicates the relatively constitutive expression of aar and ado genes. The analysis of 181 available genomes showed that in 90% of the genomes both genes are present, likely indicating their physiological relevance. In 61% of them they cluster together with genes encoding acetyl-CoA carboxyl transferase and a short chain dehydrogenase, strengthening the link to fatty acid metabolism and in 76% of the genomes they are located in tandem, suggesting constraints on the gene arrangement. However, contrary to the expectations for an operon, we found in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 specific promoters for the two genes, sll0208 (ado and sll0209 (aar, that give rise to monocistronic transcripts. Moreover, the upstream located ado gene is driven by a proximal as well as a second, distal, promoter, from which a third transcript, the ~160 nt sRNA SyR9 is transcribed. Thus, the transcriptional organization of the alkane biosynthesis genes in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 is of substantial complexity. We verified all three promoters to function independently from each other and show a similar promoter arrangement also in the more distant Nodularia spumigena, Trichodesmium erythraeum, Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, Prochlorococcus MIT9313 and MED4. The presence of separate regulatory elements and the dominance of monocistronic mRNAs suggest the possible autonomous regulation of ado and aar. The complex transcriptional organization of the alkane synthesis gene cluster has possible metabolic implications and should be considered when manipulating the expression of these genes in

Alkane Biosynthesis Genes in Cyanobacteria and Their Transcriptional Organization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klähn, Stephan; Baumgartner, Desirée; Pfreundt, Ulrike; Voigt, Karsten; Schön, Verena; Steglich, Claudia; Hess, Wolfgang R., E-mail: wolfgang.hess@biologie.uni-freiburg.de [Genetics and Experimental Bioinformatics, Institute of Biology 3, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg (Germany)

2014-07-14

In cyanobacteria, alkanes are synthesized from a fatty acyl-ACP by two enzymes, acyl–acyl carrier protein reductase and aldehyde deformylating oxygenase. Despite the great interest in the exploitation for biofuel production, nothing is known about the transcriptional organization of their genes or the physiological function of alkane synthesis. The comparison of 115 microarray datasets indicates the relatively constitutive expression of aar and ado genes. The analysis of 181 available genomes showed that in 90% of the genomes both genes are present, likely indicating their physiological relevance. In 61% of them they cluster together with genes encoding acetyl-CoA carboxyl transferase and a short-chain dehydrogenase, strengthening the link to fatty acid metabolism and in 76% of the genomes they are located in tandem, suggesting constraints on the gene arrangement. However, contrary to the expectations for an operon, we found in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 specific promoters for the two genes, sll0208 (ado) and sll0209 (aar), which give rise to monocistronic transcripts. Moreover, the upstream located ado gene is driven by a proximal as well as a second, distal, promoter, from which a third transcript, the ~160 nt sRNA SyR9 is transcribed. Thus, the transcriptional organization of the alkane biosynthesis genes in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 is of substantial complexity. We verified all three promoters to function independently from each other and show a similar promoter arrangement also in the more distant Nodularia spumigena, Trichodesmium erythraeum, Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, Prochlorococcus MIT9313, and MED4. The presence of separate regulatory elements and the dominance of monocistronic mRNAs suggest the possible autonomous regulation of ado and aar. The complex transcriptional organization of the alkane synthesis gene cluster has possible metabolic implications and should be considered when manipulating the expression of these genes in cyanobacteria.

Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis of Growth-Supporting Dehalogenation of Chlorinated Methanes in Methylobacterium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pauline Chaignaud

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Bacterial adaptation to growth with toxic halogenated chemicals was explored in the context of methylotrophic metabolism of Methylobacterium extorquens, by comparing strains CM4 and DM4, which show robust growth with chloromethane and dichloromethane, respectively. Dehalogenation of chlorinated methanes initiates growth-supporting degradation, with intracellular release of protons and chloride ions in both cases. The core, variable and strain-specific genomes of strains CM4 and DM4 were defined by comparison with genomes of non-dechlorinating strains. In terms of gene content, adaptation toward dehalogenation appears limited, strains CM4 and DM4 sharing between 75 and 85% of their genome with other strains of M. extorquens. Transcript abundance in cultures of strain CM4 grown with chloromethane and of strain DM4 grown with dichloromethane was compared to growth with methanol as a reference C1 growth substrate. Previously identified strain-specific dehalogenase-encoding genes were the most transcribed with chlorinated methanes, alongside other genes encoded by genomic islands (GEIs and plasmids involved in growth with chlorinated compounds as carbon and energy source. None of the 163 genes shared by strains CM4 and DM4 but not by other strains of M. extorquens showed higher transcript abundance in cells grown with chlorinated methanes. Among the several thousand genes of the M. extorquens core genome, 12 genes were only differentially abundant in either strain CM4 or strain DM4. Of these, 2 genes of known function were detected, for the membrane-bound proton translocating pyrophosphatase HppA and the housekeeping molecular chaperone protein DegP. This indicates that the adaptive response common to chloromethane and dichloromethane is limited at the transcriptional level, and involves aspects of the general stress response as well as of a dehalogenation-specific response to intracellular hydrochloric acid production. Core genes only differentially

G-Quadruplexes Involving Both Strands of Genomic DNA Are Highly Abundant and Colocalize with Functional Sites in the Human Genome.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrzej S Kudlicki

Full Text Available The G-quadruplex is a non-canonical DNA structure biologically significant in DNA replication, transcription and telomere stability. To date, only G4s with all guanines originating from the same strand of DNA have been considered in the context of the human nuclear genome. Here, I discuss interstrand topological configurations of G-quadruplex DNA, consisting of guanines from both strands of genomic DNA; an algorithm is presented for predicting such structures. I have identified over 550,000 non-overlapping interstrand G-quadruplex forming sequences in the human genome--significantly more than intrastrand configurations. Functional analysis of interstrand G-quadruplex sites shows strong association with transcription initiation, the results are consistent with the XPB and XPD transcriptional helicases binding only to G-quadruplex DNA with interstrand topology. Interstrand quadruplexes are also enriched in origin of replication sites. Several topology classes of interstrand quadruplex-forming sequences are possible, and different topologies are enriched in different types of structural elements. The list of interstrand quadruplex forming sequences, and the computer program used for their prediction are available at the web address http://moment.utmb.edu/allquads.

New families of human regulatory RNA structures identified by comparative analysis of vertebrate genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Brian J; Moltke, Ida; Roth, Adam; Washietl, Stefan; Wen, Jiayu; Kellis, Manolis; Breaker, Ronald; Pedersen, Jakob Skou

2011-11-01

Regulatory RNA structures are often members of families with multiple paralogous instances across the genome. Family members share functional and structural properties, which allow them to be studied as a whole, facilitating both bioinformatic and experimental characterization. We have developed a comparative method, EvoFam, for genome-wide identification of families of regulatory RNA structures, based on primary sequence and secondary structure similarity. We apply EvoFam to a 41-way genomic vertebrate alignment. Genome-wide, we identify 220 human, high-confidence families outside protein-coding regions comprising 725 individual structures, including 48 families with known structural RNA elements. Known families identified include both noncoding RNAs, e.g., miRNAs and the recently identified MALAT1/MEN β lincRNA family; and cis-regulatory structures, e.g., iron-responsive elements. We also identify tens of new families supported by strong evolutionary evidence and other statistical evidence, such as GO term enrichments. For some of these, detailed analysis has led to the formulation of specific functional hypotheses. Examples include two hypothesized auto-regulatory feedback mechanisms: one involving six long hairpins in the 3'-UTR of MAT2A, a key metabolic gene that produces the primary human methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine; the other involving a tRNA-like structure in the intron of the tRNA maturation gene POP1. We experimentally validate the predicted MAT2A structures. Finally, we identify potential new regulatory networks, including large families of short hairpins enriched in immunity-related genes, e.g., TNF, FOS, and CTLA4, which include known transcript destabilizing elements. Our findings exemplify the diversity of post-transcriptional regulation and provide a resource for further characterization of new regulatory mechanisms and families of noncoding RNAs.

Genomics Portals: integrative web-platform for mining genomics data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghosh Krishnendu

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A large amount of experimental data generated by modern high-throughput technologies is available through various public repositories. Our knowledge about molecular interaction networks, functional biological pathways and transcriptional regulatory modules is rapidly expanding, and is being organized in lists of functionally related genes. Jointly, these two sources of information hold a tremendous potential for gaining new insights into functioning of living systems. Results Genomics Portals platform integrates access to an extensive knowledge base and a large database of human, mouse, and rat genomics data with basic analytical visualization tools. It provides the context for analyzing and interpreting new experimental data and the tool for effective mining of a large number of publicly available genomics datasets stored in the back-end databases. The uniqueness of this platform lies in the volume and the diversity of genomics data that can be accessed and analyzed (gene expression, ChIP-chip, ChIP-seq, epigenomics, computationally predicted binding sites, etc, and the integration with an extensive knowledge base that can be used in such analysis. Conclusion The integrated access to primary genomics data, functional knowledge and analytical tools makes Genomics Portals platform a unique tool for interpreting results of new genomics experiments and for mining the vast amount of data stored in the Genomics Portals backend databases. Genomics Portals can be accessed and used freely at http://GenomicsPortals.org.

Requirements for DNA strand transfer during reverse transcription in mutant HIV-1 virions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berkhout, B.; van Wamel, J.; Klaver, B.

1995-01-01

Retroviruses convert their RNA genome into a DNA form by means of reverse transcription. According to the current model of reverse transcription, two strand transfer reactions are needed to synthesize a full-length DNA genome. Because reverse transcription is initiated close to the 5' end of the RNA

Evolution of a Pathogen: A Comparative Genomics Analysis Identifies a Genetic Pathway to Pathogenesis in Acinetobacter

Science.gov (United States)

Sahl, Jason W.; Gillece, John D.; Schupp, James M.; Waddell, Victor G.; Driebe, Elizabeth M.; Engelthaler, David M.; Keim, Paul

2013-01-01

Acinetobacter baumannii is an emergent and global nosocomial pathogen. In addition to A. baumannii, other Acinetobacter species, especially those in the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus-baumannii (Acb) complex, have also been associated with serious human infection. Although mechanisms of attachment, persistence on abiotic surfaces, and pathogenesis in A. baumannii have been identified, the genetic mechanisms that explain the emergence of A. baumannii as the most widespread and virulent Acinetobacter species are not fully understood. Recent whole genome sequencing has provided insight into the phylogenetic structure of the genus Acinetobacter. However, a global comparison of genomic features between Acinetobacter spp. has not been described in the literature. In this study, 136 Acinetobacter genomes, including 67 sequenced in this study, were compared to identify the acquisition and loss of genes in the expansion of the Acinetobacter genus. A whole genome phylogeny confirmed that A. baumannii is a monophyletic clade and that the larger Acb complex is also a well-supported monophyletic group. The whole genome phylogeny provided the framework for a global genomic comparison based on a blast score ratio (BSR) analysis. The BSR analysis demonstrated that specific genes have been both lost and acquired in the evolution of A. baumannii. In addition, several genes associated with A. baumannii pathogenesis were found to be more conserved in the Acb complex, and especially in A. baumannii, than in other Acinetobacter genomes; until recently, a global analysis of the distribution and conservation of virulence factors across the genus was not possible. The results demonstrate that the acquisition of specific virulence factors has likely contributed to the widespread persistence and virulence of A. baumannii. The identification of novel features associated with transcriptional regulation and acquired by clades in the Acb complex presents targets for better understanding the

Global RNA association with the transcriptionally active chromosome of chloroplasts.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehniger, Marie-Kristin; Finster, Sabrina; Melonek, Joanna; Oetke, Svenja; Krupinska, Karin; Schmitz-Linneweber, Christian

2017-10-01

Processed chloroplast RNAs are co-enriched with preparations of the chloroplast transcriptionally active chromosome. Chloroplast genomes are organized as a polyploid DNA-protein structure called the nucleoid. Transcriptionally active chloroplast DNA together with tightly bound protein factors can be purified by gel filtration as a functional entity called the transcriptionally active chromosome (TAC). Previous proteomics analyses of nucleoids and of TACs demonstrated a considerable overlap in protein composition including RNA binding proteins. Therefore the RNA content of TAC preparations from Nicotiana tabacum was determined using whole genome tiling arrays. A large number of chloroplast RNAs was found to be associated with the TAC. The pattern of RNAs attached to the TAC consists of RNAs produced by different chloroplast RNA polymerases and differs from the pattern of RNA found in input controls. An analysis of RNA splicing and RNA editing of selected RNA species demonstrated that TAC-associated RNAs are processed to a similar extent as the RNA in input controls. Thus, TAC fractions contain a specific subset of the processed chloroplast transcriptome.

Transcriptional landscape of ncRNA and Repeat elements in somatic cells

KAUST Repository

Ghosheh, Yanal

2016-12-01

The advancement of Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) sequencing technology has enabled many projects targeted towards the identification of genome structure and transcriptome complexity of organisms. The first conclusions of the human and mouse projects have underscored two important, yet unexpected, findings. First, while almost the entire genome is transcribed, only 5% of it encodes for proteins. Thereby, most transcripts are noncoding RNA. This includes both short RNA (<200 nucleotides (nt)) comprising piRNAs; microRNAs (miRNAs); endogenous Short Interfering RNAs (siRNAs) among others, and includes lncRNA (>200nt). Second, a significant portion of the mammalian genome (45%) is composed of Repeat Elements (REs). RE are mostly relics of ancestral viruses that during evolution have invaded the host genome by producing thousands of copies. Their roles within their host genomes have yet to be fully explored considering that they sometimes produce lncRNA, and have been shown to influence expression at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Moreover, because some REs can still mobilize within host genomes, host genomes have evolved mechanisms, mainly epigenetic, to maintain REs under tight control. Recent reports indicate that REs activity is regulated in somatic cells, particularily in the brain, suggesting a physiological role of RE mobilization during normal development. In this thesis, I focus on the analysis of ncRNAs, specifically REs; piRNAs; lncRNAs in human and mouse post-mitotic somatic cells. The main aspects of this analysis are: Using sRNA-Seq, I show that piRNAs, a class of ncRNAs responsible for the silencing of Transposable elements (TEs) in testes, are present also in adult mouse brain. Furthermore, their regulation shows only a subset of testes piRNAs are expressed in the brain and may be controlled by known neurogenesis factors. To investigate the dynamics of the transcriptome during cellular differentiation, I examined deep RNA-Seq and Cap

Direct Transcriptional Consequences of Somatic Mutation in Breast Cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam Shlien

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Disordered transcriptomes of cancer encompass direct effects of somatic mutation on transcription, coordinated secondary pathway alterations, and increased transcriptional noise. To catalog the rules governing how somatic mutation exerts direct transcriptional effects, we developed an exhaustive pipeline for analyzing RNA sequencing data, which we integrated with whole genomes from 23 breast cancers. Using X-inactivation analyses, we found that cancer cells are more transcriptionally active than intermixed stromal cells. This is especially true in estrogen receptor (ER-negative tumors. Overall, 59% of substitutions were expressed. Nonsense mutations showed lower expression levels than expected, with patterns characteristic of nonsense-mediated decay. 14% of 4,234 rearrangements caused transcriptional abnormalities, including exon skips, exon reusage, fusions, and premature polyadenylation. We found productive, stable transcription from sense-to-antisense gene fusions and gene-to-intergenic rearrangements, suggesting that these mutation classes drive more transcriptional disruption than previously suspected. Systematic integration of transcriptome with genome data reveals the rules by which transcriptional machinery interprets somatic mutation.

A code for transcription initiation in mammalian genomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frith, Martin C.; Valen, Eivind Dale; Krogh, Anders

2007-01-01

that initiation events are clustered on the chromosomes at multiple scales - clusters within clusters - indicating multiple regulatory processes. Within the smallest of such clusters, which can be interpreted as core promoters, the local DNA sequence predicts the relative transcription start usage of each...... of large- and small-scale effects: the selection of transcription start sites is largely governed by the local DNA sequence, whereas the transcriptional activity of a locus is regulated at a different level; it is affected by distal features or events such as enhancers and chromatin remodeling....

Transcriptome analysis of duck liver and identification of differentially expressed transcripts in response to duck hepatitis A virus genotype C infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Cheng; Lan, Daoliang; Zhang, Huanrong; Ma, Jing; Yue, Hua

2013-01-01

Duck is an economically important poultry and animal model for human viral hepatitis B. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying host-virus interaction remain unclear because of limited information on the duck genome. This study aims to characterize the duck normal liver transcriptome and to identify the differentially expressed transcripts at 24 h after duck hepatitis A virus genotype C (DHAV-C) infection using Illumina-Solexa sequencing. After removal of low-quality sequences and assembly, a total of 52,757 unigenes was obtained from the normal liver group. Further blast analysis showed that 18,918 unigenes successfully matched the known genes in the database. GO analysis revealed that 25,116 unigenes took part in 61 categories of biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions. Among the 25 clusters of orthologous group categories (COG), the cluster for "General function prediction only" represented the largest group, followed by "Transcription" and "Replication, recombination, and repair." KEGG analysis showed that 17,628 unigenes were involved in 301 pathways. Through comparison of normal and infected transcriptome data, we identified 20 significantly differentially expressed unigenes, which were further confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Of the 20 unigenes, nine matched the known genes in the database, including three up-regulated genes (virus replicase polyprotein, LRRC3B, and PCK1) and six down-regulated genes (CRP, AICL-like 2, L1CAM, CYB26A1, CHAC1, and ADAM32). The remaining 11 novel unigenes that did not match any known genes in the database may provide a basis for the discovery of new transcripts associated with infection. This study provided a gene expression pattern for normal duck liver and for the previously unrecognized changes in gene transcription that are altered during DHAV-C infection. Our data revealed useful information for future studies on the duck genome and provided new insights into the molecular