phyloXML: XML for evolutionary biology and comparative genomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Mira V; Zmasek, Christian M

2009-10-27

Evolutionary trees are central to a wide range of biological studies. In many of these studies, tree nodes and branches need to be associated (or annotated) with various attributes. For example, in studies concerned with organismal relationships, tree nodes are associated with taxonomic names, whereas tree branches have lengths and oftentimes support values. Gene trees used in comparative genomics or phylogenomics are usually annotated with taxonomic information, genome-related data, such as gene names and functional annotations, as well as events such as gene duplications, speciations, or exon shufflings, combined with information related to the evolutionary tree itself. The data standards currently used for evolutionary trees have limited capacities to incorporate such annotations of different data types. We developed a XML language, named phyloXML, for describing evolutionary trees, as well as various associated data items. PhyloXML provides elements for commonly used items, such as branch lengths, support values, taxonomic names, and gene names and identifiers. By using "property" elements, phyloXML can be adapted to novel and unforeseen use cases. We also developed various software tools for reading, writing, conversion, and visualization of phyloXML formatted data. PhyloXML is an XML language defined by a complete schema in XSD that allows storing and exchanging the structures of evolutionary trees as well as associated data. More information about phyloXML itself, the XSD schema, as well as tools implementing and supporting phyloXML, is available at http://www.phyloxml.org.

Genomes, Phylogeny, and Evolutionary Systems Biology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Medina, Monica

2005-03-25

With the completion of the human genome and the growing number of diverse genomes being sequenced, a new age of evolutionary research is currently taking shape. The myriad of technological breakthroughs in biology that are leading to the unification of broad scientific fields such as molecular biology, biochemistry, physics, mathematics and computer science are now known as systems biology. Here I present an overview, with an emphasis on eukaryotes, of how the postgenomics era is adopting comparative approaches that go beyond comparisons among model organisms to shape the nascent field of evolutionary systems biology.

Genome-wide identification of nuclear receptor (NR) genes and the evolutionary significance of the NR1O subfamily in the monogonont rotifer Brachionus spp.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Duck-Hyun; Kim, Hui-Su; Hwang, Dae-Sik; Kim, Hee-Jin; Hagiwara, Atsushi; Lee, Jae-Seong; Jeong, Chang-Bum

2017-10-01

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are a large family of transcription factors that are involved in many fundamental biological processes. NRs are considered to have originated from a common ancestor, and are highly conserved throughout the whole animal taxa. Therefore, the genome-wide identification of NR genes in an animal taxon can provide insight into the evolutionary tendencies of NRs. Here, we identified all the NR genes in the monogonont rotifer Brachionus spp., which are considered an ecologically key species due to their abundance and world-wide distribution. The NR family was composed of 40, 32, 29, and 32 genes in the genomes of the rotifers B. calyciflorus, B. koreanus, B. plicatilis, and B. rotundiformis, respectively, which were classified into seven distinct subfamilies. The composition of each subfamily was highly conserved between species, except for NR1O genes, suggesting that they have undergone sporadic evolutionary processes for adaptation to their different environmental pressures. In addition, despite the dynamics of NR evolution, the significance of the conserved endocrine system, particularly for estrogen receptor (ER)-signaling, in rotifers was discussed on the basis of phylogenetic analyses. The results of this study may help provide a better understanding the evolution of NRs, and expand our knowledge of rotifer endocrine systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

LRR-RLK family from two Citrus species: genome-wide identification and evolutionary aspects.

Science.gov (United States)

Magalhães, Diogo M; Scholte, Larissa L S; Silva, Nicholas V; Oliveira, Guilherme C; Zipfel, Cyril; Takita, Marco A; De Souza, Alessandra A

2016-08-12

Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) represent the largest subfamily of plant RLKs. The functions of most LRR-RLKs have remained undiscovered, and a few that have been experimentally characterized have been shown to have important roles in growth and development as well as in defense responses. Although RLK subfamilies have been previously studied in many plants, no comprehensive study has been performed on this gene family in Citrus species, which have high economic importance and are frequent targets for emerging pathogens. In this study, we performed in silico analysis to identify and classify LRR-RLK homologues in the predicted proteomes of Citrus clementina (clementine) and Citrus sinensis (sweet orange). In addition, we used large-scale phylogenetic approaches to elucidate the evolutionary relationships of the LRR-RLKs and further narrowed the analysis to the LRR-XII group, which contains several previously described cell surface immune receptors. We built integrative protein signature databases for Citrus clementina and Citrus sinensis using all predicted protein sequences obtained from whole genomes. A total of 300 and 297 proteins were identified as LRR-RLKs in C. clementina and C. sinensis, respectively. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees were estimated using Arabidopsis LRR-RLK as a template and they allowed us to classify Citrus LRR-RLKs into 16 groups. The LRR-XII group showed a remarkable expansion, containing approximately 150 paralogs encoded in each Citrus genome. Phylogenetic analysis also demonstrated the existence of two distinct LRR-XII clades, each one constituted mainly by RD and non-RD kinases. We identified 68 orthologous pairs from the C. clementina and C. sinensis LRR-XII genes. In addition, among the paralogs, we identified a subset of 78 and 62 clustered genes probably derived from tandem duplication events in the genomes of C. clementina and C. sinensis, respectively. This work provided the first comprehensive

AID/APOBEC cytosine deaminase induces genome-wide kataegis

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Lada Artem G

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Clusters of localized hypermutation in human breast cancer genomes, named “kataegis” (from the Greek for thunderstorm, are hypothesized to result from multiple cytosine deaminations catalyzed by AID/APOBEC proteins. However, a direct link between APOBECs and kataegis is still lacking. We have sequenced the genomes of yeast mutants induced in diploids by expression of the gene for PmCDA1, a hypermutagenic deaminase from sea lamprey. Analysis of the distribution of 5,138 induced mutations revealed localized clusters very similar to those found in tumors. Our data provide evidence that unleashed cytosine deaminase activity is an evolutionary conserved, prominent source of genome-wide kataegis events. Reviewers This article was reviewed by: Professor Sandor Pongor, Professor Shamil R. Sunyaev, and Dr Vladimir Kuznetsov.

Clusters of orthologous genes for 41 archaeal genomes and implications for evolutionary genomics of archaea

OpenAIRE

Wolf Yuri I; Novichkov Pavel S; Sorokin Alexander V; Makarova Kira S; Koonin Eugene V

2007-01-01

Abstract Background An evolutionary classification of genes from sequenced genomes that distinguishes between orthologs and paralogs is indispensable for genome annotation and evolutionary reconstruction. Shortly after multiple genome sequences of bacteria, archaea, and unicellular eukaryotes became available, an attempt on such a classification was implemented in Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COGs). Rapid accumulation of genome sequences creates opportunities for refining COGs ...

Rapid scoring of genes in microbial pan-genome-wide association studies with Scoary.

Science.gov (United States)

Brynildsrud, Ola; Bohlin, Jon; Scheffer, Lonneke; Eldholm, Vegard

2016-11-25

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have become indispensable in human medicine and genomics, but very few have been carried out on bacteria. Here we introduce Scoary, an ultra-fast, easy-to-use, and widely applicable software tool that scores the components of the pan-genome for associations to observed phenotypic traits while accounting for population stratification, with minimal assumptions about evolutionary processes. We call our approach pan-GWAS to distinguish it from traditional, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based GWAS. Scoary is implemented in Python and is available under an open source GPLv3 license at https://github.com/AdmiralenOla/Scoary .

Human genomic disease variants: a neutral evolutionary explanation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dudley, Joel T; Kim, Yuseob; Liu, Li; Markov, Glenn J; Gerold, Kristyn; Chen, Rong; Butte, Atul J; Kumar, Sudhir

2012-08-01

Many perspectives on the role of evolution in human health include nonempirical assumptions concerning the adaptive evolutionary origins of human diseases. Evolutionary analyses of the increasing wealth of clinical and population genomic data have begun to challenge these presumptions. In order to systematically evaluate such claims, the time has come to build a common framework for an empirical and intellectual unification of evolution and modern medicine. We review the emerging evidence and provide a supporting conceptual framework that establishes the classical neutral theory of molecular evolution (NTME) as the basis for evaluating disease- associated genomic variations in health and medicine. For over a decade, the NTME has already explained the origins and distribution of variants implicated in diseases and has illuminated the power of evolutionary thinking in genomic medicine. We suggest that a majority of disease variants in modern populations will have neutral evolutionary origins (previously neutral), with a relatively smaller fraction exhibiting adaptive evolutionary origins (previously adaptive). This pattern is expected to hold true for common as well as rare disease variants. Ultimately, a neutral evolutionary perspective will provide medicine with an informative and actionable framework that enables objective clinical assessment beyond convenient tendencies to invoke past adaptive events in human history as a root cause of human disease.

Genome-wide analysis of the phosphoinositide kinome from two ciliates reveals novel evolutionary links for phosphoinositide kinases in eukaryotic cells.

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George Leondaritis

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The complexity of phosphoinositide signaling in higher eukaryotes is partly due to expansion of specific families and types of phosphoinositide kinases (PIKs that can generate all phosphoinositides via multiple routes. This is particularly evident in the PI3Ks and PIPKs, and it is considered an evolutionary trait associated with metazoan diversification. Yet, there are limited comprehensive studies on the PIK repertoire of free living unicellular organisms. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We undertook a genome-wide analysis of putative PIK genes in two free living ciliated cells, Tetrahymena and Paramecium. The Tetrahymena thermophila and Paramecium tetraurelia genomes were probed with representative kinases from all families and types. Putative homologs were verified by EST, microarray and deep RNA sequencing database searches and further characterized for domain structure, catalytic efficiency, expression patterns and phylogenetic relationships. In total, we identified and characterized 22 genes in the Tetrahymena thermophila genome and 62 highly homologues genes in Paramecium tetraurelia suggesting a tight evolutionary conservation in the ciliate lineage. Comparison to the kinome of fungi reveals a significant expansion of PIK genes in ciliates. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study highlights four important aspects concerning ciliate and other unicellular PIKs. First, ciliate-specific expansion of PI4KIII-like genes. Second, presence of class I PI3Ks which, at least in Tetrahymena, are associated with a metazoan-type machinery for PIP3 signaling. Third, expansion of divergent PIPK enzymes such as the recently described type IV transmembrane PIPKs. Fourth, presence of possible type II PIPKs and presumably inactive PIKs (hence, pseudo-PIKs not previously described. Taken together, our results provide a solid framework for future investigation of the roles of PIKs in ciliates and indicate that novel functions and novel regulatory

Molluscan Evolutionary Genomics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simison, W. Brian; Boore, Jeffrey L.

2005-12-01

In the last 20 years there have been dramatic advances in techniques of high-throughput DNA sequencing, most recently accelerated by the Human Genome Project, a program that has determined the three billion base pair code on which we are based. Now this tremendous capability is being directed at other genome targets that are being sampled across the broad range of life. This opens up opportunities as never before for evolutionary and organismal biologists to address questions of both processes and patterns of organismal change. We stand at the dawn of a new 'modern synthesis' period, paralleling that of the early 20th century when the fledgling field of genetics first identified the underlying basis for Darwin's theory. We must now unite the efforts of systematists, paleontologists, mathematicians, computer programmers, molecular biologists, developmental biologists, and others in the pursuit of discovering what genomics can teach us about the diversity of life. Genome-level sampling for mollusks to date has mostly been limited to mitochondrial genomes and it is likely that these will continue to provide the best targets for broad phylogenetic sampling in the near future. However, we are just beginning to see an inroad into complete nuclear genome sequencing, with several mollusks and other eutrochozoans having been selected for work about to begin. Here, we provide an overview of the state of molluscan mitochondrial genomics, highlight a few of the discoveries from this research, outline the promise of broadening this dataset, describe upcoming projects to sequence whole mollusk nuclear genomes, and challenge the community to prepare for making the best use of these data.

Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for a model invasive ascidian Botryllus schlosseri.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yangchun; Li, Shiguo; Zhan, Aibin

2018-04-01

Invasive species cause huge damages to ecology, environment and economy globally. The comprehensive understanding of invasion mechanisms, particularly genetic bases of micro-evolutionary processes responsible for invasion success, is essential for reducing potential damages caused by invasive species. The golden star tunicate, Botryllus schlosseri, has become a model species in invasion biology, mainly owing to its high invasiveness nature and small well-sequenced genome. However, the genome-wide genetic markers have not been well developed in this highly invasive species, thus limiting the comprehensive understanding of genetic mechanisms of invasion success. Using restriction site-associated DNA (RAD) tag sequencing, here we developed a high-quality resource of 14,119 out of 158,821 SNPs for B. schlosseri. These SNPs were relatively evenly distributed at each chromosome. SNP annotations showed that the majority of SNPs (63.20%) were located at intergenic regions, and 21.51% and 14.58% were located at introns and exons, respectively. In addition, the potential use of the developed SNPs for population genomics studies was primarily assessed, such as the estimate of observed heterozygosity (H O ), expected heterozygosity (H E ), nucleotide diversity (π), Wright's inbreeding coefficient (F IS ) and effective population size (Ne). Our developed SNP resource would provide future studies the genome-wide genetic markers for genetic and genomic investigations, such as genetic bases of micro-evolutionary processes responsible for invasion success.

Signatures of selection in the Iberian honey bee: a genome wide approach using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)

OpenAIRE

Chavez-Galarza, Julio; Johnston, J. Spencer; Azevedo, João; Muñoz, Irene; De la Rúa, Pilar; Patton, John C.; Pinto, M. Alice

2011-01-01

Dissecting genome-wide (expansions, contractions, admixture) from genome-specific effects (selection) is a goal of central importance in evolutionary biology because it leads to more robust inferences of demographic history and to identification of adaptive divergence. The publication of the honey bee genome and the development of high-density SNPs genotyping, provide us with powerful tools, allowing us to identify signatures of selection in the honey bee genome. These signatur...

Mitochondrial genome sequencing helps show the evolutionary mechanism of mitochondrial genome formation in Brassica

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Angiosperm mitochondrial genomes are more complex than those of other organisms. Analyses of the mitochondrial genome sequences of at least 11 angiosperm species have showed several common properties; these cannot easily explain, however, how the diverse mitotypes evolved within each genus or species. We analyzed the evolutionary relationships of Brassica mitotypes by sequencing. Results We sequenced the mitotypes of cam (Brassica rapa), ole (B. oleracea), jun (B. juncea), and car (B. carinata) and analyzed them together with two previously sequenced mitotypes of B. napus (pol and nap). The sizes of whole single circular genomes of cam, jun, ole, and car are 219,747 bp, 219,766 bp, 360,271 bp, and 232,241 bp, respectively. The mitochondrial genome of ole is largest as a resulting of the duplication of a 141.8 kb segment. The jun mitotype is the result of an inherited cam mitotype, and pol is also derived from the cam mitotype with evolutionary modifications. Genes with known functions are conserved in all mitotypes, but clear variation in open reading frames (ORFs) with unknown functions among the six mitotypes was observed. Sequence relationship analysis showed that there has been genome compaction and inheritance in the course of Brassica mitotype evolution. Conclusions We have sequenced four Brassica mitotypes, compared six Brassica mitotypes and suggested a mechanism for mitochondrial genome formation in Brassica, including evolutionary events such as inheritance, duplication, rearrangement, genome compaction, and mutation. PMID:21988783

Pan-Genome Analysis Links the Hereditary Variation of Leptospirillum ferriphilum With Its Evolutionary Adaptation

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Xian Zhang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Niche adaptation has long been recognized to drive intra-species differentiation and speciation, yet knowledge about its relatedness with hereditary variation of microbial genomes is relatively limited. Using Leptospirillum ferriphilum species as a case study, we present a detailed analysis of genomic features of five recognized strains. Genome-to-genome distance calculation preliminarily determined the roles of spatial distance and environmental heterogeneity that potentially contribute to intra-species variation within L. ferriphilum species at the genome level. Mathematical models were further constructed to extrapolate the expansion of L. ferriphilum genomes (an ‘open’ pan-genome, indicating the emergence of novel genes with new sequenced genomes. The identification of diverse mobile genetic elements (MGEs (such as transposases, integrases, and phage-associated genes revealed the prevalence of horizontal gene transfer events, which is an important evolutionary mechanism that provides avenues for the recruitment of novel functionalities and further for the genetic divergence of microbial genomes. Comprehensive analysis also demonstrated that the genome reduction by gene loss in a broad sense might contribute to the observed diversification. We thus inferred a plausible explanation to address this observation: the community-dependent adaptation that potentially economizes the limiting resources of the entire community. Now that the introduction of new genes is accompanied by a parallel abandonment of some other ones, our results provide snapshots on the biological fitness cost of environmental adaptation within the L. ferriphilum genomes. In short, our genome-wide analyses bridge the relation between genetic variation of L. ferriphilum with its evolutionary adaptation.

Extracting the evolutionary signal from genomes.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dutilh, B.E.

2007-01-01

Several methods to analyze aspects of evolution are developed, that depend on the availability of complete genomes. While I consistently find a phylogenetic signal using many approaches, a question that is winning concern is how these evolutionary relationships should be interpreted. Since Darwin’s

Genome-wide Selective Sweeps in Natural Bacterial Populations Revealed by Time-series Metagenomics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, Leong-Keat; Bendall, Matthew L.; Malfatti, Stephanie; Schwientek, Patrick; Tremblay, Julien; Schackwitz, Wendy; Martin, Joel; Pati, Amrita; Bushnell, Brian; Foster, Brian; Kang, Dongwan; Tringe, Susannah G.; Bertilsson, Stefan; Moran, Mary Ann; Shade, Ashley; Newton, Ryan J.; Stevens, Sarah; McMcahon, Katherine D.; Mamlstrom, Rex R.

2014-05-12

Multiple evolutionary models have been proposed to explain the formation of genetically and ecologically distinct bacterial groups. Time-series metagenomics enables direct observation of evolutionary processes in natural populations, and if applied over a sufficiently long time frame, this approach could capture events such as gene-specific or genome-wide selective sweeps. Direct observations of either process could help resolve how distinct groups form in natural microbial assemblages. Here, from a three-year metagenomic study of a freshwater lake, we explore changes in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequencies and patterns of gene gain and loss in populations of Chlorobiaceae and Methylophilaceae. SNP analyses revealed substantial genetic heterogeneity within these populations, although the degree of heterogeneity varied considerably among closely related, co-occurring Methylophilaceae populations. SNP allele frequencies, as well as the relative abundance of certain genes, changed dramatically over time in each population. Interestingly, SNP diversity was purged at nearly every genome position in one of the Chlorobiaceae populations over the course of three years, while at the same time multiple genes either swept through or were swept from this population. These patterns were consistent with a genome-wide selective sweep, a process predicted by the ecotype model? of diversification, but not previously observed in natural populations.

Genome-wide Selective Sweeps in Natural Bacterial Populations Revealed by Time-series Metagenomics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, Leong-Keat; Bendall, Matthew L.; Malfatti, Stephanie; Schwientek, Patrick; Tremblay, Julien; Schackwitz, Wendy; Martin, Joel; Pati, Amrita; Bushnell, Brian; Foster, Brian; Kang, Dongwan; Tringe, Susannah G.; Bertilsson, Stefan; Moran, Mary Ann; Shade, Ashley; Newton, Ryan J.; Stevens, Sarah; McMahon, Katherine D.; Malmstrom, Rex R.

2014-06-18

Multiple evolutionary models have been proposed to explain the formation of genetically and ecologically distinct bacterial groups. Time-series metagenomics enables direct observation of evolutionary processes in natural populations, and if applied over a sufficiently long time frame, this approach could capture events such as gene-specific or genome-wide selective sweeps. Direct observations of either process could help resolve how distinct groups form in natural microbial assemblages. Here, from a three-year metagenomic study of a freshwater lake, we explore changes in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequencies and patterns of gene gain and loss in populations of Chlorobiaceae and Methylophilaceae. SNP analyses revealed substantial genetic heterogeneity within these populations, although the degree of heterogeneity varied considerably among closely related, co-occurring Methylophilaceae populations. SNP allele frequencies, as well as the relative abundance of certain genes, changed dramatically over time in each population. Interestingly, SNP diversity was purged at nearly every genome position in one of the Chlorobiaceae populations over the course of three years, while at the same time multiple genes either swept through or were swept from this population. These patterns were consistent with a genome-wide selective sweep, a process predicted by the ‘ecotype model’ of diversification, but not previously observed in natural populations.

Genome-wide identification of SAUR genes in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus).

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Na; Huang, Xing; Bao, Yaning; Wang, Bo; Zeng, Hongxia; Cheng, Weishun; Tang, Mi; Li, Yuhua; Ren, Jian; Sun, Yuhong

2017-07-01

The early auxin responsive SAUR family is an important gene family in auxin signal transduction. We here present the first report of a genome-wide identification of SAUR genes in watermelon genome. We successfully identified 65 ClaSAURs and provide a genomic framework for future study on these genes. Phylogenetic result revealed a Cucurbitaceae-specific SAUR subfamily and contribute to understanding of the evolutionary pattern of SAUR genes in plants. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis demonstrates the existed expression of 11 randomly selected SAUR genes in watermelon tissues. ClaSAUR36 was highly expressed in fruit, for which further study might bring a new prospective for watermelon fruit development. Moreover, correlation analysis revealed the similar expression profiles of SAUR genes between watermelon and Arabidopsis during shoot organogenesis. This work gives us a new support for the conserved auxin machinery in plants.

Evolutionary Genomics of Life in (and from) the Sea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boore, Jeffrey L.; Dehal, Paramvir; Fuerstenberg, Susan I.

2006-01-09

High throughput genome sequencing centers that were originally built for the Human Genome Project (Lander et al., 2001; Venter et al., 2001) have now become an engine for comparative genomics. The six largest centers alone are now producing over 150 billion nucleotides per year, more than 50 times the amount of DNA in the human genome, and nearly all of this is directed at projects that promise great insights into the pattern and processes of evolution. Unfortunately, this data is being produced at a pace far exceeding the capacity of the scientific community to provide insightful analysis, and few scientists with training and experience in evolutionary biology have played prominent roles to date. One of the consequences is that poor quality analyses are typical; for example, orthology among genes is generally determined by simple measures of sequence similarity, when this has been discredited by molecular evolutionary biologists decades ago. Here we discuss the how genomes are chosen for sequencing and how the scientific community can have input. We describe the PhIGs database and web tools (Dehal and Boore 2005a; http://PhIGs.org), which provide phylogenetic analysis of all gene families for all completely sequenced genomes and the associated 'Synteny Viewer', which allows comparisons of the relative positions of orthologous genes. This is the best tool available for inferring gene function across multiple genomes. We also describe how we have used the PhIGs methods with the whole genome sequences of a tunicate, fish, mouse, and human to conclusively demonstrate that two rounds of whole genome duplication occurred at the base of vertebrates (Dehal and Boore 2005b). This evidence is found in the large scale structure of the positions of paralogous genes that arose from duplications inferred by evolutionary analysis to have occurred at the base of vertebrates.

Genome-wide analytical approaches for reverse metabolic engineering of industrially relevant phenotypes in yeast

Science.gov (United States)

Oud, Bart; Maris, Antonius J A; Daran, Jean-Marc; Pronk, Jack T

2012-01-01

Successful reverse engineering of mutants that have been obtained by nontargeted strain improvement has long presented a major challenge in yeast biotechnology. This paper reviews the use of genome-wide approaches for analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains originating from evolutionary engineering or random mutagenesis. On the basis of an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods, we conclude that for the initial identification of relevant genetic changes, whole genome sequencing is superior to other analytical techniques, such as transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, or array-based genome analysis. Key advantages of this technique over gene expression analysis include the independency of genome sequences on experimental context and the possibility to directly and precisely reproduce the identified changes in naive strains. The predictive value of genome-wide analysis of strains with industrially relevant characteristics can be further improved by classical genetics or simultaneous analysis of strains derived from parallel, independent strain improvement lineages. PMID:22152095

Genome-wide analytical approaches for reverse metabolic engineering of industrially relevant phenotypes in yeast.

Science.gov (United States)

Oud, Bart; van Maris, Antonius J A; Daran, Jean-Marc; Pronk, Jack T

2012-03-01

Successful reverse engineering of mutants that have been obtained by nontargeted strain improvement has long presented a major challenge in yeast biotechnology. This paper reviews the use of genome-wide approaches for analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains originating from evolutionary engineering or random mutagenesis. On the basis of an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods, we conclude that for the initial identification of relevant genetic changes, whole genome sequencing is superior to other analytical techniques, such as transcriptome, metabolome, proteome, or array-based genome analysis. Key advantages of this technique over gene expression analysis include the independency of genome sequences on experimental context and the possibility to directly and precisely reproduce the identified changes in naive strains. The predictive value of genome-wide analysis of strains with industrially relevant characteristics can be further improved by classical genetics or simultaneous analysis of strains derived from parallel, independent strain improvement lineages. © 2011 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide identification, evolutionary and expression analysis of the aspartic protease gene superfamily in grape

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Aspartic proteases (APs) are a large family of proteolytic enzymes found in almost all organisms. In plants, they are involved in many biological processes, such as senescence, stress responses, programmed cell death, and reproduction. Prior to the present study, no grape AP gene(s) had been reported, and their research on woody species was very limited. Results In this study, a total of 50 AP genes (VvAP) were identified in the grape genome, among which 30 contained the complete ASP domain. Synteny analysis within grape indicated that segmental and tandem duplication events contributed to the expansion of the grape AP family. Additional analysis between grape and Arabidopsis demonstrated that several grape AP genes were found in the corresponding syntenic blocks of Arabidopsis, suggesting that these genes arose before the divergence of grape and Arabidopsis. Phylogenetic relationships of the 30 VvAPs with the complete ASP domain and their Arabidopsis orthologs, as well as their gene and protein features were analyzed and their cellular localization was predicted. Moreover, expression profiles of VvAP genes in six different tissues were determined, and their transcript abundance under various stresses and hormone treatments were measured. Twenty-seven VvAP genes were expressed in at least one of the six tissues examined; nineteen VvAPs responded to at least one abiotic stress, 12 VvAPs responded to powdery mildew infection, and most of the VvAPs responded to SA and ABA treatments. Furthermore, integrated synteny and phylogenetic analysis identified orthologous AP genes between grape and Arabidopsis, providing a unique starting point for investigating the function of grape AP genes. Conclusions The genome-wide identification, evolutionary and expression analyses of grape AP genes provide a framework for future analysis of AP genes in defining their roles during stress response. Integrated synteny and phylogenetic analyses provide novel insight into the

The Schistosoma mansoni phylome: using evolutionary genomics to gain insight into a parasite’s biology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silva Larissa

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Schistosoma mansoni is one of the causative agents of schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease that affects about 237 million people worldwide. Despite recent efforts, we still lack a general understanding of the relevant host-parasite interactions, and the possible treatments are limited by the emergence of resistant strains and the absence of a vaccine. The S. mansoni genome was completely sequenced and still under continuous annotation. Nevertheless, more than 45% of the encoded proteins remain without experimental characterization or even functional prediction. To improve our knowledge regarding the biology of this parasite, we conducted a proteome-wide evolutionary analysis to provide a broad view of the S. mansoni’s proteome evolution and to improve its functional annotation. Results Using a phylogenomic approach, we reconstructed the S. mansoni phylome, which comprises the evolutionary histories of all parasite proteins and their homologs across 12 other organisms. The analysis of a total of 7,964 phylogenies allowed a deeper understanding of genomic complexity and evolutionary adaptations to a parasitic lifestyle. In particular, the identification of lineage-specific gene duplications pointed to the diversification of several protein families that are relevant for host-parasite interaction, including proteases, tetraspanins, fucosyltransferases, venom allergen-like proteins, and tegumental-allergen-like proteins. In addition to the evolutionary knowledge, the phylome data enabled us to automatically re-annotate 3,451 proteins through a phylogenetic-based approach rather than solely sequence similarity searches. To allow further exploitation of this valuable data, all information has been made available at PhylomeDB (http://www.phylomedb.org. Conclusions In this study, we used an evolutionary approach to assess S. mansoni parasite biology, improve genome/proteome functional annotation, and provide insights into

The evolutionary value of recombination is constrained by genome modularity.

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Darren P Martin

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Genetic recombination is a fundamental evolutionary mechanism promoting biological adaptation. Using engineered recombinants of the small single-stranded DNA plant virus, Maize streak virus (MSV, we experimentally demonstrate that fragments of genetic material only function optimally if they reside within genomes similar to those in which they evolved. The degree of similarity necessary for optimal functionality is correlated with the complexity of intragenomic interaction networks within which genome fragments must function. There is a striking correlation between our experimental results and the types of MSV recombinants that are detectable in nature, indicating that obligatory maintenance of intragenome interaction networks strongly constrains the evolutionary value of recombination for this virus and probably for genomes in general.

Evolutionary genomics and HIV restriction factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Pyndiah, Nitisha; Telenti, Amalio; Rausell, Antonio

2015-03-01

To provide updated insights into innate antiviral immunity and highlight prototypical evolutionary features of well characterized HIV restriction factors. Recently, a new HIV restriction factor, Myxovirus resistance 2, has been discovered and the region/residue responsible for its activity identified using an evolutionary approach. Furthermore, IFI16, an innate immunity protein known to sense several viruses, has been shown to contribute to the defense to HIV-1 by causing cell death upon sensing HIV-1 DNA. Restriction factors against HIV show characteristic signatures of positive selection. Different patterns of accelerated sequence evolution can distinguish antiviral strategies--offense or defence--as well as the level of specificity of the antiviral properties. Sequence analysis of primate orthologs of restriction factors serves to localize functional domains and sites responsible for antiviral action. We use recent discoveries to illustrate how evolutionary genomic analyses help identify new antiviral genes and their mechanisms of action.

Mammalian RNA polymerase II core promoters: insights from genome-wide studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sandelin, Albin; Carninci, Piero; Lenhard, Boris

2007-01-01

The identification and characterization of mammalian core promoters and transcription start sites is a prerequisite to understanding how RNA polymerase II transcription is controlled. New experimental technologies have enabled genome-wide discovery and characterization of core promoters, revealing...... in the mammalian transcriptome and proteome. Promoters can be described by their start site usage distribution, which is coupled to the occurrence of cis-regulatory elements, gene function and evolutionary constraints. A comprehensive survey of mammalian promoters is a major step towards describing...

Genome Analysis of a Transmissible Lineage of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Reveals Pathoadaptive Mutations and Distinct Evolutionary Paths of Hypermutators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marvig, Rasmus Lykke; Johansen, Helle Krogh; Molin, Søren

2013-01-01

Genome sequencing of bacterial pathogens has advanced our understanding of their evolution, epidemiology, and response to antibiotic therapy. However, we still have only a limited knowledge of the molecular changes in in vivo evolving bacterial populations in relation to long-term, chronic...... targeted by mutations to optimize pathogen fitness (pathoadaptive mutations). These genes were related to antibiotic resistance, the cell envelope, or regulatory functions, and we find that the prevalence of pathoadaptive mutations correlates with evolutionary success of co-evolving sub-lineages. The long...... likelihood to acquire mutations and identify two homopolymer-containing genes preferentially mutated in hypermutators. This homopolymer facilitated differential mutagenesis provides a novel genome-wide perspective on the different evolutionary trajectories of hypermutators, which may help explain...

RAD-seq derived genome-wide nuclear markers resolve the phylogeny of tunas

KAUST Repository

Díaz-Arce, Natalia

2016-06-07

Although species from the genus Thunnus include some of the most commercially important and most severely overexploited fishes, the phylogeny of this genus is still unresolved, hampering evolutionary and traceability studies that could help improve conservation and management strategies for these species. Previous attempts based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers were unsuccessful in inferring a congruent and reliable phylogeny, probably due to mitochondrial introgression events and lack of enough phylogenetically informative markers. Here we infer the first genome-wide nuclear marker-based phylogeny of tunas using restriction site associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) data. Our results, derived from phylogenomic inferences obtained from 128 nucleotide matrices constructed using alternative data assembly procedures, support a single Thunnus evolutionary history that challenges previous assumptions based on morphological and molecular data.

Impacts of Genome-Wide Analyses on Our Understanding of Human Herpesvirus Diversity and Evolution.

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Renner, Daniel W; Szpara, Moriah L

2018-01-01

Until fairly recently, genome-wide evolutionary dynamics and within-host diversity were more commonly examined in the context of small viruses than in the context of large double-stranded DNA viruses such as herpesviruses. The high mutation rates and more compact genomes of RNA viruses have inspired the investigation of population dynamics for these species, and recent data now suggest that herpesviruses might also be considered candidates for population modeling. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) and bioinformatics have expanded our understanding of herpesviruses through genome-wide comparisons of sequence diversity, recombination, allele frequency, and selective pressures. Here we discuss recent data on the mechanisms that generate herpesvirus genomic diversity and underlie the evolution of these virus families. We focus on human herpesviruses, with key insights drawn from veterinary herpesviruses and other large DNA virus families. We consider the impacts of cell culture on herpesvirus genomes and how to accurately describe the viral populations under study. The need for a strong foundation of high-quality genomes is also discussed, since it underlies all secondary genomic analyses such as RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), chromatin immunoprecipitation, and ribosome profiling. Areas where we foresee future progress, such as the linking of viral genetic differences to phenotypic or clinical outcomes, are highlighted as well. Copyright © 2017 Renner and Szpara.

Impacts of Genome-Wide Analyses on Our Understanding of Human Herpesvirus Diversity and Evolution

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Renner, Daniel W.

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Until fairly recently, genome-wide evolutionary dynamics and within-host diversity were more commonly examined in the context of small viruses than in the context of large double-stranded DNA viruses such as herpesviruses. The high mutation rates and more compact genomes of RNA viruses have inspired the investigation of population dynamics for these species, and recent data now suggest that herpesviruses might also be considered candidates for population modeling. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) and bioinformatics have expanded our understanding of herpesviruses through genome-wide comparisons of sequence diversity, recombination, allele frequency, and selective pressures. Here we discuss recent data on the mechanisms that generate herpesvirus genomic diversity and underlie the evolution of these virus families. We focus on human herpesviruses, with key insights drawn from veterinary herpesviruses and other large DNA virus families. We consider the impacts of cell culture on herpesvirus genomes and how to accurately describe the viral populations under study. The need for a strong foundation of high-quality genomes is also discussed, since it underlies all secondary genomic analyses such as RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), chromatin immunoprecipitation, and ribosome profiling. Areas where we foresee future progress, such as the linking of viral genetic differences to phenotypic or clinical outcomes, are highlighted as well. PMID:29046445

Codon usage is associated with the evolutionary age of genes in metazoan genomes

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Linial Nathan

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Codon usage may vary significantly between different organisms and between genes within the same organism. Several evolutionary processes have been postulated to be the predominant determinants of codon usage: selection, mutation, and genetic drift. However, the relative contribution of each of these factors in different species remains debatable. The availability of complete genomes for tens of multicellular organisms provides an opportunity to inspect the relationship between codon usage and the evolutionary age of genes. Results We assign an evolutionary age to a gene based on the relative positions of its identified homologues in a standard phylogenetic tree. This yields a classification of all genes in a genome to several evolutionary age classes. The present study starts from the observation that each age class of genes has a unique codon usage and proceeds to provide a quantitative analysis of the codon usage in these classes. This observation is made for the genomes of Homo sapiens, Mus musculus, and Drosophila melanogaster. It is even more remarkable that the differences between codon usages in different age groups exhibit similar and consistent behavior in various organisms. While we find that GC content and gene length are also associated with the evolutionary age of genes, they can provide only a partial explanation for the observed codon usage. Conclusion While factors such as GC content, mutational bias, and selection shape the codon usage in a genome, the evolutionary history of an organism over hundreds of millions of years is an overlooked property that is strongly linked to GC content, protein length, and, even more significantly, to the codon usage of metazoan genomes.

Genome-wide comparative analysis of phylogenetic trees: the prokaryotic forest of life.

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Puigbò, Pere; Wolf, Yuri I; Koonin, Eugene V

2012-01-01

Genome-wide comparison of phylogenetic trees is becoming an increasingly common approach in evolutionary genomics, and a variety of approaches for such comparison have been developed. In this article, we present several methods for comparative analysis of large numbers of phylogenetic trees. To compare phylogenetic trees taking into account the bootstrap support for each internal branch, the Boot-Split Distance (BSD) method is introduced as an extension of the previously developed Split Distance method for tree comparison. The BSD method implements the straightforward idea that comparison of phylogenetic trees can be made more robust by treating tree splits differentially depending on the bootstrap support. Approaches are also introduced for detecting tree-like and net-like evolutionary trends in the phylogenetic Forest of Life (FOL), i.e., the entirety of the phylogenetic trees for conserved genes of prokaryotes. The principal method employed for this purpose includes mapping quartets of species onto trees to calculate the support of each quartet topology and so to quantify the tree and net contributions to the distances between species. We describe the application of these methods to analyze the FOL and the results obtained with these methods. These results support the concept of the Tree of Life (TOL) as a central evolutionary trend in the FOL as opposed to the traditional view of the TOL as a "species tree."

Clustering of Pan- and Core-genome of Lactobacillus provides Novel Evolutionary Insights for Differentiation.

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Inglin, Raffael C; Meile, Leo; Stevens, Marc J A

2018-04-24

Bacterial taxonomy aims to classify bacteria based on true evolutionary events and relies on a polyphasic approach that includes phenotypic, genotypic and chemotaxonomic analyses. Until now, complete genomes are largely ignored in taxonomy. The genus Lactobacillus consists of 173 species and many genomes are available to study taxonomy and evolutionary events. We analyzed and clustered 98 completely sequenced genomes of the genus Lactobacillus and 234 draft genomes of 5 different Lactobacillus species, i.e. L. reuteri, L. delbrueckii, L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus and L. helveticus. The core-genome of the genus Lactobacillus contains 266 genes and the pan-genome 20'800 genes. Clustering of the Lactobacillus pan- and core-genome resulted in two highly similar trees. This shows that evolutionary history is traceable in the core-genome and that clustering of the core-genome is sufficient to explore relationships. Clustering of core- and pan-genomes at species' level resulted in similar trees as well. Detailed analyses of the core-genomes showed that the functional class "genetic information processing" is conserved in the core-genome but that "signaling and cellular processes" is not. The latter class encodes functions that are involved in environmental interactions. Evolution of lactobacilli seems therefore directed by the environment. The type species L. delbrueckii was analyzed in detail and its pan-genome based tree contained two major clades whose members contained different genes yet identical functions. In addition, evidence for horizontal gene transfer between strains of L. delbrueckii, L. plantarum, and L. rhamnosus, and between species of the genus Lactobacillus is presented. Our data provide evidence for evolution of some lactobacilli according to a parapatric-like model for species differentiation. Core-genome trees are useful to detect evolutionary relationships in lactobacilli and might be useful in taxonomic analyses. Lactobacillus' evolution is directed

Exploring relationships between host genome and microbiome: new insights from genome-wide association studies.

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Muslihudeen Abdul-Razaq Abdul-Aziz

2016-10-01

Full Text Available As our understanding of the human microbiome expands, impacts on health and disease continue to be revealed. Alterations in the microbiome can result in dysbiosis, which has now been linked to subsequent autoimmune and metabolic diseases, highlighting the need to identify factors that shape the microbiome. Research has identified that the composition and functions of the human microbiome can be influenced by diet, age, gender, and environment. More recently, studies have explored how human genetic variation may also influence the microbiome. Here, we review several recent analytical advances in this new research area, including those that use genome-wide association studies to examine host genome-microbiome interactions, while controlling for the influence of other factors. We find that current research is limited by small sample sizes, lack of cohort replication, and insufficient confirmatory mechanistic studies. In addition, we discuss the importance of understanding long-term interactions between the host genome and microbiome, as well as the potential impacts of disrupting this relationship, and explore new research avenues that may provide information about the co-evolutionary history of humans and their microorganisms.

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) as a bridge between ecology and evolutionary genomics.

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Bybee, Seth; Córdoba-Aguilar, Alex; Duryea, M Catherine; Futahashi, Ryo; Hansson, Bengt; Lorenzo-Carballa, M Olalla; Schilder, Ruud; Stoks, Robby; Suvorov, Anton; Svensson, Erik I; Swaegers, Janne; Takahashi, Yuma; Watts, Phillip C; Wellenreuther, Maren

2016-01-01

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) present an unparalleled insect model to integrate evolutionary genomics with ecology for the study of insect evolution. Key features of Odonata include their ancient phylogenetic position, extensive phenotypic and ecological diversity, several unique evolutionary innovations, ease of study in the wild and usefulness as bioindicators for freshwater ecosystems worldwide. In this review, we synthesize studies on the evolution, ecology and physiology of odonates, highlighting those areas where the integration of ecology with genomics would yield significant insights into the evolutionary processes that would not be gained easily by working on other animal groups. We argue that the unique features of this group combined with their complex life cycle, flight behaviour, diversity in ecological niches and their sensitivity to anthropogenic change make odonates a promising and fruitful taxon for genomics focused research. Future areas of research that deserve increased attention are also briefly outlined.

Genome-Wide Association Studies In Plant Pathosystems: Toward an Ecological Genomics Approach

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Claudia Bartoli

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The emergence and re-emergence of plant pathogenic microorganisms are processes that imply perturbations in both host and pathogen ecological niches. Global change is largely assumed to drive the emergence of new etiological agents by altering the equilibrium of the ecological habitats which in turn places hosts more in contact with pathogen reservoirs. In this context, the number of epidemics is expected to increase dramatically in the next coming decades both in wild and crop plants. Under these considerations, the identification of the genetic variants underlying natural variation of resistance is a pre-requisite to estimate the adaptive potential of wild plant populations and to develop new breeding resistant cultivars. On the other hand, the prediction of pathogen's genetic determinants underlying disease emergence can help to identify plant resistance alleles. In the genomic era, whole genome sequencing combined with the development of statistical methods led to the emergence of Genome Wide Association (GWA mapping, a powerful tool for detecting genomic regions associated with natural variation of disease resistance in both wild and cultivated plants. However, GWA mapping has been less employed for the detection of genetic variants associated with pathogenicity in microbes. Here, we reviewed GWA studies performed either in plants or in pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, fungi and oomycetes. In addition, we highlighted the benefits and caveats of the emerging joint GWA mapping approach that allows for the simultaneous identification of genes interacting between genomes of both partners. Finally, based on co-evolutionary processes in wild populations, we highlighted a phenotyping-free joint GWA mapping approach as a promising tool for describing the molecular landscape underlying plant - microbe interactions.

Genomic consequences of selection and genome-wide association mapping in soybean.

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Wen, Zixiang; Boyse, John F; Song, Qijian; Cregan, Perry B; Wang, Dechun

2015-09-03

Crop improvement always involves selection of specific alleles at genes controlling traits of agronomic importance, likely resulting in detectable signatures of selection within the genome of modern soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.). The identification of these signatures of selection is meaningful from the perspective of evolutionary biology and for uncovering the genetic architecture of agronomic traits. To this end, two populations of soybean, consisting of 342 landraces and 1062 improved lines, were genotyped with the SoySNP50K Illumina BeadChip containing 52,041 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and systematically phenotyped for 9 agronomic traits. A cross-population composite likelihood ratio (XP-CLR) method was used to screen the signals of selective sweeps. A total of 125 candidate selection regions were identified, many of which harbored genes potentially involved in crop improvement. To further investigate whether these candidate regions were in fact enriched for genes affected by selection, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were conducted on 7 selection traits targeted in soybean breeding (grain yield, plant height, lodging, maturity date, seed coat color, seed protein and oil content) and 2 non-selection traits (pubescence and flower color). Major genomic regions associated with selection traits overlapped with candidate selection regions, whereas no overlap of this kind occurred for the non-selection traits, suggesting that the selection sweeps identified are associated with traits of agronomic importance. Multiple novel loci and refined map locations of known loci related to these traits were also identified. These findings illustrate that comparative genomic analyses, especially when combined with GWAS, are a promising approach to dissect the genetic architecture of complex traits.

Clusters of orthologous genes for 41 archaeal genomes and implications for evolutionary genomics of archaea

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Wolf Yuri I

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background An evolutionary classification of genes from sequenced genomes that distinguishes between orthologs and paralogs is indispensable for genome annotation and evolutionary reconstruction. Shortly after multiple genome sequences of bacteria, archaea, and unicellular eukaryotes became available, an attempt on such a classification was implemented in Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COGs. Rapid accumulation of genome sequences creates opportunities for refining COGs but also represents a challenge because of error amplification. One of the practical strategies involves construction of refined COGs for phylogenetically compact subsets of genomes. Results New Archaeal Clusters of Orthologous Genes (arCOGs were constructed for 41 archaeal genomes (13 Crenarchaeota, 27 Euryarchaeota and one Nanoarchaeon using an improved procedure that employs a similarity tree between smaller, group-specific clusters, semi-automatically partitions orthology domains in multidomain proteins, and uses profile searches for identification of remote orthologs. The annotation of arCOGs is a consensus between three assignments based on the COGs, the CDD database, and the annotations of homologs in the NR database. The 7538 arCOGs, on average, cover ~88% of the genes in a genome compared to a ~76% coverage in COGs. The finer granularity of ortholog identification in the arCOGs is apparent from the fact that 4538 arCOGs correspond to 2362 COGs; ~40% of the arCOGs are new. The archaeal gene core (protein-coding genes found in all 41 genome consists of 166 arCOGs. The arCOGs were used to reconstruct gene loss and gene gain events during archaeal evolution and gene sets of ancestral forms. The Last Archaeal Common Ancestor (LACA is conservatively estimated to possess 996 genes compared to 1245 and 1335 genes for the last common ancestors of Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota, respectively. It is inferred that LACA was a chemoautotrophic hyperthermophile

Contrasting evolutionary dynamics between angiosperm and mammalian genomes

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kejnovský, Eduard; Leitch, I.J.; Leitch, A.R.

2009-01-01

Roč. 24, č. 10 (2009), s. 572-582 ISSN 0169-5347 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LC06004 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50040507; CEZ:AV0Z50040702 Keywords : genomes * evolutionary dynamics * recombination Subject RIV: BO - Biophysics Impact factor: 11.564, year: 2009

Complex evolutionary patterns revealed by mitochondrial genomes of the domestic horse.

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Ning, T; Li, J; Lin, K; Xiao, H; Wylie, S; Hua, S; Li, H; Zhang, Y-P

2014-01-01

The domestic horse is the most widely used and important stock and recreational animal, valued for its strength and endurance. The energy required by the domestic horse is mainly supplied by mitochondria via oxidative phosphorylation. Thus, selection may have played an essential role in the evolution of the horse mitochondria. Besides, demographic events also affect the DNA polymorphic pattern on mitochondria. To understand the evolutionary patterns of the mitochondria of the domestic horse, we used a deep sequencing approach to obtain the complete sequences of 15 mitochondrial genomes, and four mitochondrial gene sequences, ND6, ATP8, ATP6 and CYTB, collected from 509, 363, 363 and 409 domestic horses, respectively. Evidence of strong substitution rate heterogeneity was found at nonsynonymous sites across the genomes. Signatures of recent positive selection on mtDNA of domestic horse were detected. Specifically, five amino acids in the four mitochondrial genes were identified as the targets of positive selection. Coalescentbased simulations imply that recent population expansion is the most probable explanation for the matrilineal population history for domestic horse. Our findings reveal a complex pattern of non-neutral evolution of the mitochondrial genome in the domestic horses.

Evolutionary genomics and population structure of Entamoeba histolytica

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Koushik Das

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Amoebiasis caused by the gastrointestinal parasite Entamoeba histolytica has diverse disease outcomes. Study of genome and evolution of this fascinating parasite will help us to understand the basis of its virulence and explain why, when and how it causes diseases. In this review, we have summarized current knowledge regarding evolutionary genomics of E. histolytica and discussed their association with parasite phenotypes and its differential pathogenic behavior. How genetic diversity reveals parasite population structure has also been discussed. Queries concerning their evolution and population structure which were required to be addressed have also been highlighted. This significantly large amount of genomic data will improve our knowledge about this pathogenic species of Entamoeba.

A contig-based strategy for the genome-wide discovery of microRNAs without complete genome resources.

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Jun-Zhi Wen

Full Text Available MicroRNAs (miRNAs are important regulators of many cellular processes and exist in a wide range of eukaryotes. High-throughput sequencing is a mainstream method of miRNA identification through which it is possible to obtain the complete small RNA profile of an organism. Currently, most approaches to miRNA identification rely on a reference genome for the prediction of hairpin structures. However, many species of economic and phylogenetic importance are non-model organisms without complete genome sequences, and this limits miRNA discovery. Here, to overcome this limitation, we have developed a contig-based miRNA identification strategy. We applied this method to a triploid species of edible banana (GCTCV-119, Musa spp. AAA group and identified 180 pre-miRNAs and 314 mature miRNAs, which is three times more than those were predicted by the available dataset-based methods (represented by EST+GSS. Based on the recently published miRNA data set of Musa acuminate, the recall rate and precision of our strategy are estimated to be 70.6% and 92.2%, respectively, significantly better than those of EST+GSS-based strategy (10.2% and 50.0%, respectively. Our novel, efficient and cost-effective strategy facilitates the study of the functional and evolutionary role of miRNAs, as well as miRNA-based molecular breeding, in non-model species of economic or evolutionary interest.

Genome-wide comparative analysis of NBS-encoding genes between Brassica species and Arabidopsis thaliana.

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Yu, Jingyin; Tehrim, Sadia; Zhang, Fengqi; Tong, Chaobo; Huang, Junyan; Cheng, Xiaohui; Dong, Caihua; Zhou, Yanqiu; Qin, Rui; Hua, Wei; Liu, Shengyi

2014-01-03

Plant disease resistance (R) genes with the nucleotide binding site (NBS) play an important role in offering resistance to pathogens. The availability of complete genome sequences of Brassica oleracea and Brassica rapa provides an important opportunity for researchers to identify and characterize NBS-encoding R genes in Brassica species and to compare with analogues in Arabidopsis thaliana based on a comparative genomics approach. However, little is known about the evolutionary fate of NBS-encoding genes in the Brassica lineage after split from A. thaliana. Here we present genome-wide analysis of NBS-encoding genes in B. oleracea, B. rapa and A. thaliana. Through the employment of HMM search and manual curation, we identified 157, 206 and 167 NBS-encoding genes in B. oleracea, B. rapa and A. thaliana genomes, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis among 3 species classified NBS-encoding genes into 6 subgroups. Tandem duplication and whole genome triplication (WGT) analyses revealed that after WGT of the Brassica ancestor, NBS-encoding homologous gene pairs on triplicated regions in Brassica ancestor were deleted or lost quickly, but NBS-encoding genes in Brassica species experienced species-specific gene amplification by tandem duplication after divergence of B. rapa and B. oleracea. Expression profiling of NBS-encoding orthologous gene pairs indicated the differential expression pattern of retained orthologous gene copies in B. oleracea and B. rapa. Furthermore, evolutionary analysis of CNL type NBS-encoding orthologous gene pairs among 3 species suggested that orthologous genes in B. rapa species have undergone stronger negative selection than those in B .oleracea species. But for TNL type, there are no significant differences in the orthologous gene pairs between the two species. This study is first identification and characterization of NBS-encoding genes in B. rapa and B. oleracea based on whole genome sequences. Through tandem duplication and whole genome

Evolutionary Fates and Dynamic Functionalization of Young Duplicate Genes in Arabidopsis Genomes.

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Wang, Jun; Tao, Feng; Marowsky, Nicholas C; Fan, Chuanzhu

2016-09-01

Gene duplication is a primary means to generate genomic novelties, playing an essential role in speciation and adaptation. Particularly in plants, a high abundance of duplicate genes has been maintained for significantly long periods of evolutionary time. To address the manner in which young duplicate genes were derived primarily from small-scale gene duplication and preserved in plant genomes and to determine the underlying driving mechanisms, we generated transcriptomes to produce the expression profiles of five tissues in Arabidopsis thaliana and the closely related species Arabidopsis lyrata and Capsella rubella Based on the quantitative analysis metrics, we investigated the evolutionary processes of young duplicate genes in Arabidopsis. We determined that conservation, neofunctionalization, and specialization are three main evolutionary processes for Arabidopsis young duplicate genes. We explicitly demonstrated the dynamic functionalization of duplicate genes along the evolutionary time scale. Upon origination, duplicates tend to maintain their ancestral functions; but as they survive longer, they might be likely to develop distinct and novel functions. The temporal evolutionary processes and functionalization of plant duplicate genes are associated with their ancestral functions, dynamic DNA methylation levels, and histone modification abundances. Furthermore, duplicate genes tend to be initially expressed in pollen and then to gain more interaction partners over time. Altogether, our study provides novel insights into the dynamic retention processes of young duplicate genes in plant genomes. © 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.

Genome Wide Identification, Evolutionary, and Expression Analysis of VQ Genes from Two Pyrus Species.

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Cao, Yunpeng; Meng, Dandan; Abdullah, Muhammad; Jin, Qing; Lin, Yi; Cai, Yongping

2018-04-23

The VQ motif-containing gene, a member of the plant-specific genes, is involved in the plant developmental process and various stress responses. The VQ motif-containing gene family has been studied in several plants, such as rice ( Oryza sativa ), maize ( Zea mays ), and Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana ). However, no systematic study has been performed in Pyrus species, which have important economic value. In our study, we identified 41 and 28 VQ motif-containing genes in Pyrus bretschneideri and Pyrus communis , respectively. Phylogenetic trees were calculated using A. thaliana and O. sativa VQ motif-containing genes as a template, allowing us to categorize these genes into nine subfamilies. Thirty-two and eight paralogous of VQ motif-containing genes were found in P. bretschneideri and P. communis , respectively, showing that the VQ motif-containing genes had a more remarkable expansion in P. bretschneideri than in P. communis . A total of 31 orthologous pairs were identified from the P. bretschneideri and P. communis VQ motif-containing genes. Additionally, among the paralogs, we found that these duplication gene pairs probably derived from segmental duplication/whole-genome duplication (WGD) events in the genomes of P. bretschneideri and P. communis , respectively. The gene expression profiles in both P. bretschneideri and P. communis fruits suggested functional redundancy for some orthologous gene pairs derived from a common ancestry, and sub-functionalization or neo-functionalization for some of them. Our study provided the first systematic evolutionary analysis of the VQ motif-containing genes in Pyrus , and highlighted the diversification and duplication of VQ motif-containing genes in both P. bretschneideri and P. communis .

Comparative genome-wide analysis and evolutionary history of haemoglobin-processing and haem detoxification enzymes in malarial parasites.

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Ponsuwanna, Patrath; Kochakarn, Theerarat; Bunditvorapoom, Duangkamon; Kümpornsin, Krittikorn; Otto, Thomas D; Ridenour, Chase; Chotivanich, Kesinee; Wilairat, Prapon; White, Nicholas J; Miotto, Olivo; Chookajorn, Thanat

2016-01-29

Malaria parasites have evolved a series of intricate mechanisms to survive and propagate within host red blood cells. Intra-erythrocytic parasitism requires these organisms to digest haemoglobin and detoxify iron-bound haem. These tasks are executed by haemoglobin-specific proteases and haem biocrystallization factors that are components of a large multi-subunit complex. Since haemoglobin processing machineries are functionally and genetically linked to the modes of action and resistance mechanisms of several anti-malarial drugs, an understanding of their evolutionary history is important for drug development and drug resistance prevention. Maximum likelihood trees of genetic repertoires encoding haemoglobin processing machineries within Plasmodium species, and with the representatives of Apicomplexan species with various host tropisms, were created. Genetic variants were mapped onto existing three-dimensional structures. Genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data were used to analyse the selective pressure and the effect of these mutations at the structural level. Recent expansions in the falcipain and plasmepsin repertoires are unique to human malaria parasites especially in the Plasmodium falciparum and P. reichenowi lineage. Expansion of haemoglobin-specific plasmepsins occurred after the separation event of Plasmodium species, but the other members of the plasmepsin family were evolutionarily conserved with one copy for each sub-group in every Apicomplexan species. Haemoglobin-specific falcipains are separated from invasion-related falcipain, and their expansions within one specific locus arose independently in both P. falciparum and P. vivax lineages. Gene conversion between P. falciparum falcipain 2A and 2B was observed in artemisinin-resistant strains. Comparison between the numbers of non-synonymous and synonymous mutations suggests a strong selective pressure at falcipain and plasmepsin genes. The locations of amino acid changes from non

Prevalent Role of Gene Features in Determining Evolutionary Fates of Whole-Genome Duplication Duplicated Genes in Flowering Plants1[W][OA

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Jiang, Wen-kai; Liu, Yun-long; Xia, En-hua; Gao, Li-zhi

2013-01-01

The evolution of genes and genomes after polyploidization has been the subject of extensive studies in evolutionary biology and plant sciences. While a significant number of duplicated genes are rapidly removed during a process called fractionation, which operates after the whole-genome duplication (WGD), another considerable number of genes are retained preferentially, leading to the phenomenon of biased gene retention. However, the evolutionary mechanisms underlying gene retention after WGD remain largely unknown. Through genome-wide analyses of sequence and functional data, we comprehensively investigated the relationships between gene features and the retention probability of duplicated genes after WGDs in six plant genomes, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), poplar (Populus trichocarpa), soybean (Glycine max), rice (Oryza sativa), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and maize (Zea mays). The results showed that multiple gene features were correlated with the probability of gene retention. Using a logistic regression model based on principal component analysis, we resolved evolutionary rate, structural complexity, and GC3 content as the three major contributors to gene retention. Cluster analysis of these features further classified retained genes into three distinct groups in terms of gene features and evolutionary behaviors. Type I genes are more prone to be selected by dosage balance; type II genes are possibly subject to subfunctionalization; and type III genes may serve as potential targets for neofunctionalization. This study highlights that gene features are able to act jointly as primary forces when determining the retention and evolution of WGD-derived duplicated genes in flowering plants. These findings thus may help to provide a resolution to the debate on different evolutionary models of gene fates after WGDs. PMID:23396833

Tempo and mode of genomic mutations unveil human evolutionary history.

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Hara, Yuichiro

2015-01-01

Mutations that have occurred in human genomes provide insight into various aspects of evolutionary history such as speciation events and degrees of natural selection. Comparing genome sequences between human and great apes or among humans is a feasible approach for inferring human evolutionary history. Recent advances in high-throughput or so-called 'next-generation' DNA sequencing technologies have enabled the sequencing of thousands of individual human genomes, as well as a variety of reference genomes of hominids, many of which are publicly available. These sequence data can help to unveil the detailed demographic history of the lineage leading to humans as well as the explosion of modern human population size in the last several thousand years. In addition, high-throughput sequencing illustrates the tempo and mode of de novo mutations, which are producing human genetic variation at this moment. Pedigree-based human genome sequencing has shown that mutation rates vary significantly across the human genome. These studies have also provided an improved timescale of human evolution, because the mutation rate estimated from pedigree analysis is half that estimated from traditional analyses based on molecular phylogeny. Because of the dramatic reduction in sequencing cost, sequencing on-demand samples designed for specific studies is now also becoming popular. To produce data of sufficient quality to meet the requirements of the study, it is necessary to set an explicit sequencing plan that includes the choice of sample collection methods, sequencing platforms, and number of sequence reads.

Genome size as a key to evolutionary complex aquatic plants: polyploidy and hybridization in Callitriche (Plantaginaceae.

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Jan Prančl

Full Text Available Despite their complex evolutionary histories, aquatic plants are highly underrepresented in contemporary biosystematic studies. Of them, the genus Callitriche is particularly interesting because of such evolutionary features as wide variation in chromosome numbers and pollination systems. However, taxonomic difficulties have prevented broader investigation of this genus. In this study we applied flow cytometry to Callitriche for the first time in order to gain an insight into evolutionary processes and genome size differentiation in the genus. Flow cytometry complemented by confirmation of chromosome counts was applied to an extensive dataset of 1077 Callitriche individuals from 495 localities in 11 European countries and the USA. Genome size was determined for 12 taxa. The results suggest that many important processes have interacted in the evolution of the genus, including polyploidization and hybridization. Incongruence between genome size and ploidy level, intraspecific variation in genome size, formation of autotriploid and hybridization between species with different pollination systems were also detected. Hybridization takes place particularly in the diploid-tetraploid complex C. cophocarpa-C. platycarpa, for which the triploid hybrids were frequently recorded in the area of co-occurrence of its parents. A hitherto unknown hybrid (probably C. hamulata × C. cophocarpa with a unique chromosome number was discovered in the Czech Republic. However, hybridization occurs very rarely among most of the studied species. The main ecological preferences were also compared among the taxa collected. Although Callitriche taxa often grow in mixed populations, the ecological preferences of individual species are distinctly different in some cases. Anyway, flow cytometry is a very efficient method for taxonomic delimitation, determination and investigation of Callitriche species, and is even able to distinguish homoploid taxa and identify introduced

Rapid evolutionary change of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L plastome, and the genomic diversification of legume chloroplasts

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Dávila Guillermo

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Fabaceae (legumes is one of the largest families of flowering plants, and some members are important crops. In contrast to what we know about their great diversity or economic importance, our knowledge at the genomic level of chloroplast genomes (cpDNAs or plastomes for these crops is limited. Results We sequenced the complete genome of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Negro Jamapa chloroplast. The plastome of P. vulgaris is a 150,285 bp circular molecule. It has gene content similar to that of other legume plastomes, but contains two pseudogenes, rpl33 and rps16. A distinct inversion occurred at the junction points of trnH-GUG/rpl14 and rps19/rps8, as in adzuki bean 1. These two pseudogenes and the inversion were confirmed in 10 varieties representing the two domestication centers of the bean. Genomic comparative analysis indicated that inversions generally occur in legume plastomes and the magnitude and localization of insertions/deletions (indels also vary. The analysis of repeat sequences demonstrated that patterns and sequences of tandem repeats had an important impact on sequence diversification between legume plastomes and tandem repeats did not belong to dispersed repeats. Interestingly, P. vulgaris plastome had higher evolutionary rates of change on both genomic and gene levels than G. max, which could be the consequence of pressure from both mutation and natural selection. Conclusion Legume chloroplast genomes are widely diversified in gene content, gene order, indel structure, abundance and localization of repetitive sequences, intracellular sequence exchange and evolutionary rates. The P. vulgaris plastome is a rapidly evolving genome.

Genome Wide Identification, Phylogeny, and Expression of Aquaporin Genes in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio.

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Chuanju Dong

Full Text Available Aquaporins (Aqps are integral membrane proteins that facilitate the transport of water and small solutes across cell membranes. Among vertebrate species, Aqps are highly conserved in both gene structure and amino acid sequence. These proteins are vital for maintaining water homeostasis in living organisms, especially for aquatic animals such as teleost fish. Studies on teleost Aqps are mainly limited to several model species with diploid genomes. Common carp, which has a tetraploidized genome, is one of the most common aquaculture species being adapted to a wide range of aquatic environments. The complete common carp genome has recently been released, providing us the possibility for gene evolution of aqp gene family after whole genome duplication.In this study, we identified a total of 37 aqp genes from common carp genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that most of aqps are highly conserved. Comparative analysis was performed across five typical vertebrate genomes. We found that almost all of the aqp genes in common carp were duplicated in the evolution of the gene family. We postulated that the expansion of the aqp gene family in common carp was the result of an additional whole genome duplication event and that the aqp gene family in other teleosts has been lost in their evolution history with the reason that the functions of genes are redundant and conservation. Expression patterns were assessed in various tissues, including brain, heart, spleen, liver, intestine, gill, muscle, and skin, which demonstrated the comprehensive expression profiles of aqp genes in the tetraploidized genome. Significant gene expression divergences have been observed, revealing substantial expression divergences or functional divergences in those duplicated aqp genes post the latest WGD event.To some extent, the gene families are also considered as a unique source for evolutionary studies. Moreover, the whole set of common carp aqp gene family provides an

Genomic selection: genome-wide prediction in plant improvement.

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Desta, Zeratsion Abera; Ortiz, Rodomiro

2014-09-01

Association analysis is used to measure relations between markers and quantitative trait loci (QTL). Their estimation ignores genes with small effects that trigger underpinning quantitative traits. By contrast, genome-wide selection estimates marker effects across the whole genome on the target population based on a prediction model developed in the training population (TP). Whole-genome prediction models estimate all marker effects in all loci and capture small QTL effects. Here, we review several genomic selection (GS) models with respect to both the prediction accuracy and genetic gain from selection. Phenotypic selection or marker-assisted breeding protocols can be replaced by selection, based on whole-genome predictions in which phenotyping updates the model to build up the prediction accuracy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Revealing less derived nature of cartilaginous fish genomes with their evolutionary time scale inferred with nuclear genes.

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Adina J Renz

Full Text Available Cartilaginous fishes, divided into Holocephali (chimaeras and Elasmoblanchii (sharks, rays and skates, occupy a key phylogenetic position among extant vertebrates in reconstructing their evolutionary processes. Their accurate evolutionary time scale is indispensable for better understanding of the relationship between phenotypic and molecular evolution of cartilaginous fishes. However, our current knowledge on the time scale of cartilaginous fish evolution largely relies on estimates using mitochondrial DNA sequences. In this study, making the best use of the still partial, but large-scale sequencing data of cartilaginous fish species, we estimate the divergence times between the major cartilaginous fish lineages employing nuclear genes. By rigorous orthology assessment based on available genomic and transcriptomic sequence resources for cartilaginous fishes, we selected 20 protein-coding genes in the nuclear genome, spanning 2973 amino acid residues. Our analysis based on the Bayesian inference resulted in the mean divergence time of 421 Ma, the late Silurian, for the Holocephali-Elasmobranchii split, and 306 Ma, the late Carboniferous, for the split between sharks and rays/skates. By applying these results and other documented divergence times, we measured the relative evolutionary rate of the Hox A cluster sequences in the cartilaginous fish lineages, which resulted in a lower substitution rate with a factor of at least 2.4 in comparison to tetrapod lineages. The obtained time scale enables mapping phenotypic and molecular changes in a quantitative framework. It is of great interest to corroborate the less derived nature of cartilaginous fish at the molecular level as a genome-wide phenomenon.

Genome-wide patterns of nucleotide polymorphism in domesticated rice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Caicedo, Ana L; Williamson, Scott H; Hernandez, Ryan D

2007-01-01

Domesticated Asian rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the oldest domesticated crop species in the world, having fed more people than any other plant in human history. We report the patterns of DNA sequence variation in rice and its wild ancestor, O. rufipogon, across 111 randomly chosen gene fragments......, and use these to infer the evolutionary dynamics that led to the origins of rice. There is a genome-wide excess of high-frequency derived single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in O. sativa varieties, a pattern that has not been reported for other crop species. We developed several alternative models...... to explain contemporary patterns of polymorphisms in rice, including a (i) selectively neutral population bottleneck model, (ii) bottleneck plus migration model, (iii) multiple selective sweeps model, and (iv) bottleneck plus selective sweeps model. We find that a simple bottleneck model, which has been...

New pillars of evolutionary theory in the light of genomics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopez Carrascal, Camilo Ernesto

2011-01-01

The evolutionist theory proposed by Darwin is one of the fundamental pillars in biology. Darwin's theory was solidified with the modern synthesis of evolutionary biology thanks to the rediscovery of Mendel's work, which laid the genetic basis of heredity. In recent years, great progress has been acquired in the sequencing and analyses of complete genomes, which have provided several elements to discuss some Darwinists tenets of evolution. The evidence of gene duplication and whole-genome duplication, the horizontal gene transfer and the endosymbiosis process question the idea that evolution proceeds through the gradual accumulation of infinitesimally small random changes. The new evidence of neutral selection on the genomics context reveals other mechanisms of evolution not necessarily related with the idea of progress or with an adaptationist program as was originally stated by the Darwin's theory. in this paper, I present these and other concepts such as gene regulation, molecular mechanisms of development and some environmental aspects (epigenesis and phenotypic plasticity) as starting points to think in the necessity to update the evolutionary theory which in my opinion should be more inclusive, pluralistic and consistent with our current knowledge.

BPhyOG: An interactive server for genome-wide inference of bacterial phylogenies based on overlapping genes

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Lin Kui

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Overlapping genes (OGs in bacterial genomes are pairs of adjacent genes of which the coding sequences overlap partly or entirely. With the rapid accumulation of sequence data, many OGs in bacterial genomes have now been identified. Indeed, these might prove a consistent feature across all microbial genomes. Our previous work suggests that OGs can be considered as robust markers at the whole genome level for the construction of phylogenies. An online, interactive web server for inferring phylogenies is needed for biologists to analyze phylogenetic relationships among a set of bacterial genomes of interest. Description BPhyOG is an online interactive server for reconstructing the phylogenies of completely sequenced bacterial genomes on the basis of their shared overlapping genes. It provides two tree-reconstruction methods: Neighbor Joining (NJ and Unweighted Pair-Group Method using Arithmetic averages (UPGMA. Users can apply the desired method to generate phylogenetic trees, which are based on an evolutionary distance matrix for the selected genomes. The distance between two genomes is defined by the normalized number of their shared OG pairs. BPhyOG also allows users to browse the OGs that were used to infer the phylogenetic relationships. It provides detailed annotation for each OG pair and the features of the component genes through hyperlinks. Users can also retrieve each of the homologous OG pairs that have been determined among 177 genomes. It is a useful tool for analyzing the tree of life and overlapping genes from a genomic standpoint. Conclusion BPhyOG is a useful interactive web server for genome-wide inference of any potential evolutionary relationship among the genomes selected by users. It currently includes 177 completely sequenced bacterial genomes containing 79,855 OG pairs, the annotation and homologous OG pairs of which are integrated comprehensively. The reliability of phylogenies complemented by

Phylogenomic, Pan-genomic, Pathogenomic and Evolutionary Genomic Insights into the Agronomically Relevant Enterobacteria Pantoea ananatis and Pantoea stewartii

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Pieter De Maayer

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Pantoea ananatis is ubiquitously found in the environment and causes disease on a wide range of plant hosts. By contrast, its sister species, Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii is the host-specific causative agent of the devastating maize disease Stewart’s wilt. This pathogen has a restricted lifecycle, overwintering in an insect vector before being introduced into susceptible maize cultivars, causing disease and returning to overwinter in its vector. The other subspecies of P. stewartii subsp. indologenes, has been isolated from different plant hosts and is predicted to proliferate in different environmental niches. Here we have, by the use of comparative genomics and a comprehensive suite of bioinformatic tools, analyzed the genomes of ten P. stewartii and nineteen P. ananatis strains. Our phylogenomic analyses have revealed that there are two distinct clades within P. ananatis while far less phylogenetic diversity was observed among the P. stewartii subspecies. Pan-genome analyses revealed a large core genome comprising of 3,571 protein coding sequences is shared among the twenty-nine compared strains. Furthermore, we showed that an extensive accessory genome made up largely by a mobilome of plasmids, integrated prophages, integrative and conjugative elements and insertion elements has resulted in extensive diversification of P. stewartii and P. ananatis. While these organisms share many pathogenicity determinants, our comparative genomic analyses show that they differ in terms of the secretion systems they encode. The genomic differences identified in this study have allowed us to postulate on the divergent evolutionary histories of the analyzed P. ananatis and P. stewartii strains and on the molecular basis underlying their ecological success and host range.

Phylogenomic, Pan-genomic, Pathogenomic and Evolutionary Genomic Insights into the Agronomically Relevant Enterobacteria Pantoea ananatis and Pantoea stewartii.

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De Maayer, Pieter; Aliyu, Habibu; Vikram, Surendra; Blom, Jochen; Duffy, Brion; Cowan, Don A; Smits, Theo H M; Venter, Stephanus N; Coutinho, Teresa A

2017-01-01

Pantoea ananatis is ubiquitously found in the environment and causes disease on a wide range of plant hosts. By contrast, its sister species, Pantoea stewartii subsp. stewartii is the host-specific causative agent of the devastating maize disease Stewart's wilt. This pathogen has a restricted lifecycle, overwintering in an insect vector before being introduced into susceptible maize cultivars, causing disease and returning to overwinter in its vector. The other subspecies of P. stewartii subsp. indologenes , has been isolated from different plant hosts and is predicted to proliferate in different environmental niches. Here we have, by the use of comparative genomics and a comprehensive suite of bioinformatic tools, analyzed the genomes of ten P. stewartii and nineteen P. ananatis strains. Our phylogenomic analyses have revealed that there are two distinct clades within P. ananatis while far less phylogenetic diversity was observed among the P. stewartii subspecies. Pan-genome analyses revealed a large core genome comprising of 3,571 protein coding sequences is shared among the twenty-nine compared strains. Furthermore, we showed that an extensive accessory genome made up largely by a mobilome of plasmids, integrated prophages, integrative and conjugative elements and insertion elements has resulted in extensive diversification of P. stewartii and P. ananatis . While these organisms share many pathogenicity determinants, our comparative genomic analyses show that they differ in terms of the secretion systems they encode. The genomic differences identified in this study have allowed us to postulate on the divergent evolutionary histories of the analyzed P. ananatis and P. stewartii strains and on the molecular basis underlying their ecological success and host range.

Evolutionary Fates and Dynamic Functionalization of Young Duplicate Genes in Arabidopsis Genomes1[OPEN

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Wang, Jun; Tao, Feng; Marowsky, Nicholas C.; Fan, Chuanzhu

2016-01-01

Gene duplication is a primary means to generate genomic novelties, playing an essential role in speciation and adaptation. Particularly in plants, a high abundance of duplicate genes has been maintained for significantly long periods of evolutionary time. To address the manner in which young duplicate genes were derived primarily from small-scale gene duplication and preserved in plant genomes and to determine the underlying driving mechanisms, we generated transcriptomes to produce the expression profiles of five tissues in Arabidopsis thaliana and the closely related species Arabidopsis lyrata and Capsella rubella. Based on the quantitative analysis metrics, we investigated the evolutionary processes of young duplicate genes in Arabidopsis. We determined that conservation, neofunctionalization, and specialization are three main evolutionary processes for Arabidopsis young duplicate genes. We explicitly demonstrated the dynamic functionalization of duplicate genes along the evolutionary time scale. Upon origination, duplicates tend to maintain their ancestral functions; but as they survive longer, they might be likely to develop distinct and novel functions. The temporal evolutionary processes and functionalization of plant duplicate genes are associated with their ancestral functions, dynamic DNA methylation levels, and histone modification abundances. Furthermore, duplicate genes tend to be initially expressed in pollen and then to gain more interaction partners over time. Altogether, our study provides novel insights into the dynamic retention processes of young duplicate genes in plant genomes. PMID:27485883

Evolutionary force of AT-rich repeats to trap genomic and episomal DNAs into the rice genome: lessons from endogenous pararetrovirus.

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Liu, Ruifang; Koyanagi, Kanako O; Chen, Sunlu; Kishima, Yuji

2012-12-01

In plant genomes, the incorporation of DNA segments is not a common method of artificial gene transfer. Nevertheless, various segments of pararetroviruses have been found in plant genomes in recent decades. The rice genome contains a number of segments of endogenous rice tungro bacilliform virus-like sequences (ERTBVs), many of which are present between AT dinucleotide repeats (ATrs). Comparison of genomic sequences between two closely related rice subspecies, japonica and indica, allowed us to verify the preferential insertion of ERTBVs into ATrs. In addition to ERTBVs, the comparative analyses showed that ATrs occasionally incorporate repeat sequences including transposable elements, and a wide range of other sequences. Besides the known genomic sequences, the insertion sequences also represented DNAs of unclear origins together with ERTBVs, suggesting that ATrs have integrated episomal DNAs that would have been suspended in the nucleus. Such insertion DNAs might be trapped by ATrs in the genome in a host-dependent manner. Conversely, other simple mono- and dinucleotide sequence repeats (SSR) were less frequently involved in insertion events relative to ATrs. Therefore, ATrs could be regarded as hot spots of double-strand breaks that induce non-homologous end joining. The insertions within ATrs occasionally generated new gene-related sequences or involved structural modifications of existing genes. Likewise, in a comparison between Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabidopsis lyrata, the insertions preferred ATrs to other SSRs. Therefore ATrs in plant genomes could be considered as genomic dumping sites that have trapped various DNA molecules and may have exerted a powerful evolutionary force. © 2012 The Authors. The Plant Journal © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Genome-Wide Mutation Rate Response to pH Change in the Coral Reef Pathogen Vibrio shilonii AK1.

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Strauss, Chloe; Long, Hongan; Patterson, Caitlyn E; Te, Ronald; Lynch, Michael

2017-08-22

Recent application of mutation accumulation techniques combined with whole-genome sequencing (MA/WGS) has greatly promoted studies of spontaneous mutation. However, such explorations have rarely been conducted on marine organisms, and it is unclear how marine habitats have influenced genome stability. This report resolves the mutation rate and spectrum of the coral reef pathogen Vibrio shilonii , which causes coral bleaching and endangers the biodiversity maintained by coral reefs. We found that its mutation rate and spectrum are highly similar to those of other studied bacteria from various habitats, despite the saline environment. The mutational properties of this marine bacterium are thus controlled by other general evolutionary forces such as natural selection and genetic drift. We also found that as pH drops, the mutation rate decreases and the mutation spectrum is biased in the direction of generating G/C nucleotides. This implies that evolutionary features of this organism and perhaps other marine microbes might be altered by the increasingly acidic ocean water caused by excess CO 2 emission. Nonetheless, further exploration is needed as the pH range tested in this study was rather narrow and many other possible mutation determinants, such as carbonate increase, are associated with ocean acidification. IMPORTANCE This study explored the pH dependence of a bacterial genome-wide mutation rate. We discovered that the genome-wide rates of appearance of most mutation types decrease linearly and that the mutation spectrum is biased in generating more G/C nucleotides with pH drop in the coral reef pathogen V. shilonii . Copyright © 2017 Strauss et al.

Estimating true evolutionary distances under the DCJ model.

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Lin, Yu; Moret, Bernard M E

2008-07-01

Modern techniques can yield the ordering and strandedness of genes on each chromosome of a genome; such data already exists for hundreds of organisms. The evolutionary mechanisms through which the set of the genes of an organism is altered and reordered are of great interest to systematists, evolutionary biologists, comparative genomicists and biomedical researchers. Perhaps the most basic concept in this area is that of evolutionary distance between two genomes: under a given model of genomic evolution, how many events most likely took place to account for the difference between the two genomes? We present a method to estimate the true evolutionary distance between two genomes under the 'double-cut-and-join' (DCJ) model of genome rearrangement, a model under which a single multichromosomal operation accounts for all genomic rearrangement events: inversion, transposition, translocation, block interchange and chromosomal fusion and fission. Our method relies on a simple structural characterization of a genome pair and is both analytically and computationally tractable. We provide analytical results to describe the asymptotic behavior of genomes under the DCJ model, as well as experimental results on a wide variety of genome structures to exemplify the very high accuracy (and low variance) of our estimator. Our results provide a tool for accurate phylogenetic reconstruction from multichromosomal gene rearrangement data as well as a theoretical basis for refinements of the DCJ model to account for biological constraints. All of our software is available in source form under GPL at http://lcbb.epfl.ch.

GWAMA: software for genome-wide association meta-analysis

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Mägi Reedik

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite the recent success of genome-wide association studies in identifying novel loci contributing effects to complex human traits, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity, much of the genetic component of variation in these phenotypes remains unexplained. One way to improving power to detect further novel loci is through meta-analysis of studies from the same population, increasing the sample size over any individual study. Although statistical software analysis packages incorporate routines for meta-analysis, they are ill equipped to meet the challenges of the scale and complexity of data generated in genome-wide association studies. Results We have developed flexible, open-source software for the meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies. The software incorporates a variety of error trapping facilities, and provides a range of meta-analysis summary statistics. The software is distributed with scripts that allow simple formatting of files containing the results of each association study and generate graphical summaries of genome-wide meta-analysis results. Conclusions The GWAMA (Genome-Wide Association Meta-Analysis software has been developed to perform meta-analysis of summary statistics generated from genome-wide association studies of dichotomous phenotypes or quantitative traits. Software with source files, documentation and example data files are freely available online at http://www.well.ox.ac.uk/GWAMA.

Genomic Analysis of Hepatitis B Virus Reveals Antigen State and Genotype as Sources of Evolutionary Rate Variation

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Harrison, Abby; Lemey, Philippe; Hurles, Matthew; Moyes, Chris; Horn, Susanne; Pryor, Jan; Malani, Joji; Supuri, Mathias; Masta, Andrew; Teriboriki, Burentau; Toatu, Tebuka; Penny, David; Rambaut, Andrew; Shapiro, Beth

2011-01-01

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genomes are small, semi-double-stranded DNA circular genomes that contain alternating overlapping reading frames and replicate through an RNA intermediary phase. This complex biology has presented a challenge to estimating an evolutionary rate for HBV, leading to difficulties resolving the evolutionary and epidemiological history of the virus. Here, we re-examine rates of HBV evolution using a novel data set of 112 within-host, transmission history (pedigree) and among-host genomes isolated over 20 years from the indigenous peoples of the South Pacific, combined with 313 previously published HBV genomes. We employ Bayesian phylogenetic approaches to examine several potential causes and consequences of evolutionary rate variation in HBV. Our results reveal rate variation both between genotypes and across the genome, as well as strikingly slower rates when genomes are sampled in the Hepatitis B e antigen positive state, compared to the e antigen negative state. This Hepatitis B e antigen rate variation was found to be largely attributable to changes during the course of infection in the preCore and Core genes and their regulatory elements. PMID:21765983

Codon usage bias: causative factors, quantification methods and genome-wide patterns: with emphasis on insect genomes.

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Behura, Susanta K; Severson, David W

2013-02-01

Codon usage bias refers to the phenomenon where specific codons are used more often than other synonymous codons during translation of genes, the extent of which varies within and among species. Molecular evolutionary investigations suggest that codon bias is manifested as a result of balance between mutational and translational selection of such genes and that this phenomenon is widespread across species and may contribute to genome evolution in a significant manner. With the advent of whole-genome sequencing of numerous species, both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, genome-wide patterns of codon bias are emerging in different organisms. Various factors such as expression level, GC content, recombination rates, RNA stability, codon position, gene length and others (including environmental stress and population size) can influence codon usage bias within and among species. Moreover, there has been a continuous quest towards developing new concepts and tools to measure the extent of codon usage bias of genes. In this review, we outline the fundamental concepts of evolution of the genetic code, discuss various factors that may influence biased usage of synonymous codons and then outline different principles and methods of measurement of codon usage bias. Finally, we discuss selected studies performed using whole-genome sequences of different insect species to show how codon bias patterns vary within and among genomes. We conclude with generalized remarks on specific emerging aspects of codon bias studies and highlight the recent explosion of genome-sequencing efforts on arthropods (such as twelve Drosophila species, species of ants, honeybee, Nasonia and Anopheles mosquitoes as well as the recent launch of a genome-sequencing project involving 5000 insects and other arthropods) that may help us to understand better the evolution of codon bias and its biological significance. © 2012 The Authors. Biological Reviews © 2012 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Evolutionary genomics of miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) in Brassica.

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Nouroz, Faisal; Noreen, Shumaila; Heslop-Harrison, J S

2015-12-01

Miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs) are truncated derivatives of autonomous DNA transposons, and are dispersed abundantly in most eukaryotic genomes. We aimed to characterize various MITEs families in Brassica in terms of their presence, sequence characteristics and evolutionary activity. Dot plot analyses involving comparison of homoeologous bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) sequences allowed identification of 15 novel families of mobile MITEs. Of which, 5 were Stowaway-like with TA Target Site Duplications (TSDs), 4 Tourist-like with TAA/TTA TSDs, 5 Mutator-like with 9-10 bp TSDs and 1 novel MITE (BoXMITE1) flanked by 3 bp TSDs. Our data suggested that there are about 30,000 MITE-related sequences in Brassica rapa and B. oleracea genomes. In situ hybridization showed one abundant family was dispersed in the A-genome, while another was located near 45S rDNA sites. PCR analysis using primers flanking sequences of MITE elements detected MITE insertion polymorphisms between and within the three Brassica (AA, BB, CC) genomes, with many insertions being specific to single genomes and others showing evidence of more recent evolutionary insertions. Our BAC sequence comparison strategy enables identification of evolutionarily active MITEs with no prior knowledge of MITE sequences. The details of MITE families reported in Brassica enable their identification, characterization and annotation. Insertion polymorphisms of MITEs and their transposition activity indicated important mechanism of genome evolution and diversification. MITE families derived from known Mariner, Harbinger and Mutator DNA transposons were discovered, as well as some novel structures. The identification of Brassica MITEs will have broad applications in Brassica genomics, breeding, hybridization and phylogeny through their use as DNA markers.

A genome wide survey of SNP variation reveals the genetic structure of sheep breeds.

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James W Kijas

Full Text Available The genetic structure of sheep reflects their domestication and subsequent formation into discrete breeds. Understanding genetic structure is essential for achieving genetic improvement through genome-wide association studies, genomic selection and the dissection of quantitative traits. After identifying the first genome-wide set of SNP for sheep, we report on levels of genetic variability both within and between a diverse sample of ovine populations. Then, using cluster analysis and the partitioning of genetic variation, we demonstrate sheep are characterised by weak phylogeographic structure, overlapping genetic similarity and generally low differentiation which is consistent with their short evolutionary history. The degree of population substructure was, however, sufficient to cluster individuals based on geographic origin and known breed history. Specifically, African and Asian populations clustered separately from breeds of European origin sampled from Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. Furthermore, we demonstrate the presence of stratification within some, but not all, ovine breeds. The results emphasize that careful documentation of genetic structure will be an essential prerequisite when mapping the genetic basis of complex traits. Furthermore, the identification of a subset of SNP able to assign individuals into broad groupings demonstrates even a small panel of markers may be suitable for applications such as traceability.

Classification, Naming and Evolutionary History of Glycosyltransferases from Sequenced Green and Red Algal Genomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ulvskov, Peter; Paiva, Dionisio Soares; Domozych, David

2013-01-01

. In order to elucidate possible evolutionary links between the three advanced lineages in Archaeplastida, a genomic analysis was initiated. Fully sequenced genomes from the Rhodophyta and Virideplantae and the well-defined CAZy database on glycosyltransferases were included in the analysis. The number...

Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of the TIFY Gene Family in Grape

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Zhang, Yucheng; Gao, Min; Singer, Stacy D.; Fei, Zhangjun; Wang, Hua; Wang, Xiping

2012-01-01

Background The TIFY gene family constitutes a plant-specific group of genes with a broad range of functions. This family encodes four subfamilies of proteins, including ZML, TIFY, PPD and JASMONATE ZIM-Domain (JAZ) proteins. JAZ proteins are targets of the SCFCOI1 complex, and function as negative regulators in the JA signaling pathway. Recently, it has been reported in both Arabidopsis and rice that TIFY genes, and especially JAZ genes, may be involved in plant defense against insect feeding, wounding, pathogens and abiotic stresses. Nonetheless, knowledge concerning the specific expression patterns and evolutionary history of plant TIFY family members is limited, especially in a woody species such as grape. Methodology/Principal Findings A total of two TIFY, four ZML, two PPD and 11 JAZ genes were identified in the Vitis vinifera genome. Phylogenetic analysis of TIFY protein sequences from grape, Arabidopsis and rice indicated that the grape TIFY proteins are more closely related to those of Arabidopsis than those of rice. Both segmental and tandem duplication events have been major contributors to the expansion of the grape TIFY family. In addition, synteny analysis between grape and Arabidopsis demonstrated that homologues of several grape TIFY genes were found in the corresponding syntenic blocks of Arabidopsis, suggesting that these genes arose before the divergence of lineages that led to grape and Arabidopsis. Analyses of microarray and quantitative real-time RT-PCR expression data revealed that grape TIFY genes are not a major player in the defense against biotrophic pathogens or viruses. However, many of these genes were responsive to JA and ABA, but not SA or ET. Conclusion The genome-wide identification, evolutionary and expression analyses of grape TIFY genes should facilitate further research of this gene family and provide new insights regarding their evolutionary history and regulatory control. PMID:22984514

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...

Genome-Wide Analysis of the Musa WRKY Gene Family: Evolution and Differential Expression during Development and Stress.

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Goel, Ridhi; Pandey, Ashutosh; Trivedi, Prabodh K; Asif, Mehar H

2016-01-01

The WRKY gene family plays an important role in the development and stress responses in plants. As information is not available on the WRKY gene family in Musa species, genome-wide analysis has been carried out in this study using available genomic information from two species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Analysis identified 147 and 132 members of the WRKY gene family in M. acuminata and M. balbisiana, respectively. Evolutionary analysis suggests that the WRKY gene family expanded much before the speciation in both the species. Most of the orthologs retained in two species were from the γ duplication event which occurred prior to α and β genome-wide duplication (GWD) events. Analysis also suggests that subtle changes in nucleotide sequences during the course of evolution have led to the development of new motifs which might be involved in neo-functionalization of different WRKY members in two species. Expression and cis-regulatory motif analysis suggest possible involvement of Group II and Group III WRKY members during various stresses and growth/development including fruit ripening process respectively.

Genome-wide analysis of the Musa WRKY gene family: evolution and differential expression during development and stress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ridhi eGoel

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The WRKY gene family plays an important role in the development and stress responses in plants. As information is not available on the WRKY gene family in Musa species, genome-wide analysis has been carried out in this study using available genomic information from two species, Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana. Analysis identified 147 and 132 members of the WRKY gene family in M. acuminata and M. balbisiana respectively. Evolutionary analysis suggests that the WRKY gene family expanded much before the speciation in both the species. Most of the orthologs retained in two species were from the γ duplication event which occurred prior to α and β genome-wide duplication (GWD events. Analysis also suggests that subtle changes in nucleotide sequences during the course of evolution have led to the development of new motifs which might be involved in neo-functionalization of different WRKY members in two species. Expression and cis-regulatory motif analysis suggest possible involvement of Group II and Group III WRKY members during various stresses and growth/ development including fruit ripening process respectively.

Comparative genomics reveals insights into avian genome evolution and adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Guojie; Li, Cai; Li, Qiye; Li, Bo; Larkin, Denis M.; Lee, Chul; Storz, Jay F.; Antunes, Agostinho; Greenwold, Matthew J.; Meredith, Robert W.; Ödeen, Anders; Cui, Jie; Zhou, Qi; Xu, Luohao; Pan, Hailin; Wang, Zongji; Jin, Lijun; Zhang, Pei; Hu, Haofu; Yang, Wei; Hu, Jiang; Xiao, Jin; Yang, Zhikai; Liu, Yang; Xie, Qiaolin; Yu, Hao; Lian, Jinmin; Wen, Ping; Zhang, Fang; Li, Hui; Zeng, Yongli; Xiong, Zijun; Liu, Shiping; Zhou, Long; Huang, Zhiyong; An, Na; Wang, Jie; Zheng, Qiumei; Xiong, Yingqi; Wang, Guangbiao; Wang, Bo; Wang, Jingjing; Fan, Yu; da Fonseca, Rute R.; Alfaro-Núñez, Alonzo; Schubert, Mikkel; Orlando, Ludovic; Mourier, Tobias; Howard, Jason T.; Ganapathy, Ganeshkumar; Pfenning, Andreas; Whitney, Osceola; Rivas, Miriam V.; Hara, Erina; Smith, Julia; Farré, Marta; Narayan, Jitendra; Slavov, Gancho; Romanov, Michael N; Borges, Rui; Machado, João Paulo; Khan, Imran; Springer, Mark S.; Gatesy, John; Hoffmann, Federico G.; Opazo, Juan C.; Håstad, Olle; Sawyer, Roger H.; Kim, Heebal; Kim, Kyu-Won; Kim, Hyeon Jeong; Cho, Seoae; Li, Ning; Huang, Yinhua; Bruford, Michael W.; Zhan, Xiangjiang; Dixon, Andrew; Bertelsen, Mads F.; Derryberry, Elizabeth; Warren, Wesley; Wilson, Richard K; Li, Shengbin; Ray, David A.; Green, Richard E.; O’Brien, Stephen J.; Griffin, Darren; Johnson, Warren E.; Haussler, David; Ryder, Oliver A.; Willerslev, Eske; Graves, Gary R.; Alström, Per; Fjeldså, Jon; Mindell, David P.; Edwards, Scott V.; Braun, Edward L.; Rahbek, Carsten; Burt, David W.; Houde, Peter; Zhang, Yong; Yang, Huanming; Wang, Jian; Jarvis, Erich D.; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Wang, Jun

2015-01-01

Birds are the most species-rich class of tetrapod vertebrates and have wide relevance across many research fields. We explored bird macroevolution using full genomes from 48 avian species representing all major extant clades. The avian genome is principally characterized by its constrained size, which predominantly arose because of lineage-specific erosion of repetitive elements, large segmental deletions, and gene loss. Avian genomes furthermore show a remarkably high degree of evolutionary stasis at the levels of nucleotide sequence, gene synteny, and chromosomal structure. Despite this pattern of conservation, we detected many non-neutral evolutionary changes in protein-coding genes and noncoding regions. These analyses reveal that pan-avian genomic diversity covaries with adaptations to different lifestyles and convergent evolution of traits. PMID:25504712

A novel statistic for genome-wide interaction analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuesen Wu

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Although great progress in genome-wide association studies (GWAS has been made, the significant SNP associations identified by GWAS account for only a few percent of the genetic variance, leading many to question where and how we can find the missing heritability. There is increasing interest in genome-wide interaction analysis as a possible source of finding heritability unexplained by current GWAS. However, the existing statistics for testing interaction have low power for genome-wide interaction analysis. To meet challenges raised by genome-wide interactional analysis, we have developed a novel statistic for testing interaction between two loci (either linked or unlinked. The null distribution and the type I error rates of the new statistic for testing interaction are validated using simulations. Extensive power studies show that the developed statistic has much higher power to detect interaction than classical logistic regression. The results identified 44 and 211 pairs of SNPs showing significant evidence of interactions with FDR<0.001 and 0.001genome-wide interaction analysis is a valuable tool for finding remaining missing heritability unexplained by the current GWAS, and the developed novel statistic is able to search significant interaction between SNPs across the genome. Real data analysis showed that the results of genome-wide interaction analysis can be replicated in two independent studies.

IDEA: Interactive Display for Evolutionary Analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Egan, Amy; Mahurkar, Anup; Crabtree, Jonathan; Badger, Jonathan H; Carlton, Jane M; Silva, Joana C

2008-12-08

The availability of complete genomic sequences for hundreds of organisms promises to make obtaining genome-wide estimates of substitution rates, selective constraints and other molecular evolution variables of interest an increasingly important approach to addressing broad evolutionary questions. Two of the programs most widely used for this purpose are codeml and baseml, parts of the PAML (Phylogenetic Analysis by Maximum Likelihood) suite. A significant drawback of these programs is their lack of a graphical user interface, which can limit their user base and considerably reduce their efficiency. We have developed IDEA (Interactive Display for Evolutionary Analyses), an intuitive graphical input and output interface which interacts with PHYLIP for phylogeny reconstruction and with codeml and baseml for molecular evolution analyses. IDEA's graphical input and visualization interfaces eliminate the need to edit and parse text input and output files, reducing the likelihood of errors and improving processing time. Further, its interactive output display gives the user immediate access to results. Finally, IDEA can process data in parallel on a local machine or computing grid, allowing genome-wide analyses to be completed quickly. IDEA provides a graphical user interface that allows the user to follow a codeml or baseml analysis from parameter input through to the exploration of results. Novel options streamline the analysis process, and post-analysis visualization of phylogenies, evolutionary rates and selective constraint along protein sequences simplifies the interpretation of results. The integration of these functions into a single tool eliminates the need for lengthy data handling and parsing, significantly expediting access to global patterns in the data.

Genome landscape and evolutionary plasticity of chromosomes in malaria mosquitoes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ai Xia

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Nonrandom distribution of rearrangements is a common feature of eukaryotic chromosomes that is not well understood in terms of genome organization and evolution. In the major African malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, polymorphic inversions are highly nonuniformly distributed among five chromosomal arms and are associated with epidemiologically important adaptations. However, it is not clear whether the genomic content of the chromosomal arms is associated with inversion polymorphism and fixation rates.To better understand the evolutionary dynamics of chromosomal inversions, we created a physical map for an Asian malaria mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, and compared it with the genome of An. gambiae. We also developed and deployed novel Bayesian statistical models to analyze genome landscapes in individual chromosomal arms An. gambiae. Here, we demonstrate that, despite the paucity of inversion polymorphisms on the X chromosome, this chromosome has the fastest rate of inversion fixation and the highest density of transposable elements, simple DNA repeats, and GC content. The highly polymorphic and rapidly evolving autosomal 2R arm had overrepresentation of genes involved in cellular response to stress supporting the role of natural selection in maintaining adaptive polymorphic inversions. In addition, the 2R arm had the highest density of regions involved in segmental duplications that clustered in the breakpoint-rich zone of the arm. In contrast, the slower evolving 2L, 3R, and 3L, arms were enriched with matrix-attachment regions that potentially contribute to chromosome stability in the cell nucleus.These results highlight fundamental differences in evolutionary dynamics of the sex chromosome and autosomes and revealed the strong association between characteristics of the genome landscape and rates of chromosomal evolution. We conclude that a unique combination of various classes of genes and repetitive DNA in each arm, rather than a single type

Genome-wide Comparative Analyses Reveal the Dynamic Evolution of Nucleotide-Binding Leucine-Rich Repeat Gene Family among Solanaceae Plants

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Eunyoung Seo

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Plants have evolved an elaborate innate immune system against invading pathogens. Within this system, intracellular nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR immune receptors are known play critical roles in effector-triggered immunity (ETI plant defense. We performed genome-wide identification and classification of NLR-coding sequences from the genomes of pepper, tomato, and potato using fixed criteria. We then compared genomic duplication and evolution features. We identified intact 267, 443, and 755 NLR-encoding genes in tomato, potato, and pepper genomes, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses and classification of Solanaceae NLRs revealed that the majority of NLR super family members fell into 14 subgroups, including a TIR-NLR (TNL subgroup and 13 non-TNL subgroups. Specific subgroups have expanded in each genome, with the expansion in pepper showing subgroup-specific physical clusters. Comparative analysis of duplications showed distinct duplication patterns within pepper and among Solanaceae plants suggesting subgroup- or species-specific gene duplication events after speciation, resulting in divergent evolution. Taken together, genome-wide analyses of NLR family members provide insights into their evolutionary history in Solanaceae. These findings also provide important foundational knowledge for understanding NLR evolution and will empower broader characterization of disease resistance genes to be used for crop breeding.

Genus-wide comparison of Pseudovibrio bacterial genomes reveal diverse adaptations to different marine invertebrate hosts.

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Alex, Anoop; Antunes, Agostinho

2018-01-01

Bacteria belonging to the genus Pseudovibrio have been frequently found in association with a wide variety of marine eukaryotic invertebrate hosts, indicative of their versatile and symbiotic lifestyle. A recent comparison of the sponge-associated Pseudovibrio genomes has shed light on the mechanisms influencing a successful symbiotic association with sponges. In contrast, the genomic architecture of Pseudovibrio bacteria associated with other marine hosts has received less attention. Here, we performed genus-wide comparative analyses of 18 Pseudovibrio isolated from sponges, coral, tunicates, flatworm, and seawater. The analyses revealed a certain degree of commonality among the majority of sponge- and coral-associated bacteria. Isolates from other marine invertebrate host, tunicates, exhibited a genetic repertoire for cold adaptation and specific metabolic abilities including mucin degradation in the Antarctic tunicate-associated bacterium Pseudovibrio sp. Tun.PHSC04_5.I4. Reductive genome evolution was simultaneously detected in the flatworm-associated bacteria and the sponge-associated bacterium P. axinellae AD2, through the loss of major secretion systems (type III/VI) and virulence/symbioses factors such as proteins involved in adhesion and attachment to the host. Our study also unraveled the presence of a CRISPR-Cas system in P. stylochi UST20140214-052 a flatworm-associated bacterium possibly suggesting the role of CRISPR-based adaptive immune system against the invading virus particles. Detection of mobile elements and genomic islands (GIs) in all bacterial members highlighted the role of horizontal gene transfer for the acquisition of novel genetic features, likely enhancing the bacterial ecological fitness. These findings are insightful to understand the role of genome diversity in Pseudovibrio as an evolutionary strategy to increase their colonizing success across a wide range of marine eukaryotic hosts.

IDEA: Interactive Display for Evolutionary Analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlton Jane M

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The availability of complete genomic sequences for hundreds of organisms promises to make obtaining genome-wide estimates of substitution rates, selective constraints and other molecular evolution variables of interest an increasingly important approach to addressing broad evolutionary questions. Two of the programs most widely used for this purpose are codeml and baseml, parts of the PAML (Phylogenetic Analysis by Maximum Likelihood suite. A significant drawback of these programs is their lack of a graphical user interface, which can limit their user base and considerably reduce their efficiency. Results We have developed IDEA (Interactive Display for Evolutionary Analyses, an intuitive graphical input and output interface which interacts with PHYLIP for phylogeny reconstruction and with codeml and baseml for molecular evolution analyses. IDEA's graphical input and visualization interfaces eliminate the need to edit and parse text input and output files, reducing the likelihood of errors and improving processing time. Further, its interactive output display gives the user immediate access to results. Finally, IDEA can process data in parallel on a local machine or computing grid, allowing genome-wide analyses to be completed quickly. Conclusion IDEA provides a graphical user interface that allows the user to follow a codeml or baseml analysis from parameter input through to the exploration of results. Novel options streamline the analysis process, and post-analysis visualization of phylogenies, evolutionary rates and selective constraint along protein sequences simplifies the interpretation of results. The integration of these functions into a single tool eliminates the need for lengthy data handling and parsing, significantly expediting access to global patterns in the data.

Comparative Genomics of the Bacterial Genus Streptococcus Illuminates Evolutionary Implications of Species Groups

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Gao, Xiao-Yang; Zhi, Xiao-Yang; Li, Hong-Wei; Klenk, Hans-Peter; Li, Wen-Jun

2014-01-01

Members of the genus Streptococcus within the phylum Firmicutes are among the most diverse and significant zoonotic pathogens. This genus has gone through considerable taxonomic revision due to increasing improvements of chemotaxonomic approaches, DNA hybridization and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. It is proposed to place the majority of streptococci into “species groups”. However, the evolutionary implications of species groups are not clear presently. We use comparative genomic approaches to yield a better understanding of the evolution of Streptococcus through genome dynamics, population structure, phylogenies and virulence factor distribution of species groups. Genome dynamics analyses indicate that the pan-genome size increases with the addition of newly sequenced strains, while the core genome size decreases with sequential addition at the genus level and species group level. Population structure analysis reveals two distinct lineages, one including Pyogenic, Bovis, Mutans and Salivarius groups, and the other including Mitis, Anginosus and Unknown groups. Phylogenetic dendrograms show that species within the same species group cluster together, and infer two main clades in accordance with population structure analysis. Distribution of streptococcal virulence factors has no obvious patterns among the species groups; however, the evolution of some common virulence factors is congruous with the evolution of species groups, according to phylogenetic inference. We suggest that the proposed streptococcal species groups are reasonable from the viewpoints of comparative genomics; evolution of the genus is congruent with the individual evolutionary trajectories of different species groups. PMID:24977706

The complete mitochondrial genome of Gossypium hirsutum and evolutionary analysis of higher plant mitochondrial genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Guozheng; Cao, Dandan; Li, Shuangshuang; Su, Aiguo; Geng, Jianing; Grover, Corrinne E; Hu, Songnian; Hua, Jinping

2013-01-01

Mitochondria are the main manufacturers of cellular ATP in eukaryotes. The plant mitochondrial genome contains large number of foreign DNA and repeated sequences undergone frequently intramolecular recombination. Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is one of the main natural fiber crops and also an important oil-producing plant in the world. Sequencing of the cotton mitochondrial (mt) genome could be helpful for the evolution research of plant mt genomes. We utilized 454 technology for sequencing and combined with Fosmid library of the Gossypium hirsutum mt genome screening and positive clones sequencing and conducted a series of evolutionary analysis on Cycas taitungensis and 24 angiosperms mt genomes. After data assembling and contigs joining, the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of G. hirsutum was obtained. The completed G.hirsutum mt genome is 621,884 bp in length, and contained 68 genes, including 35 protein genes, four rRNA genes and 29 tRNA genes. Five gene clusters are found conserved in all plant mt genomes; one and four clusters are specifically conserved in monocots and dicots, respectively. Homologous sequences are distributed along the plant mt genomes and species closely related share the most homologous sequences. For species that have both mt and chloroplast genome sequences available, we checked the location of cp-like migration and found several fragments closely linked with mitochondrial genes. The G. hirsutum mt genome possesses most of the common characters of higher plant mt genomes. The existence of syntenic gene clusters, as well as the conservation of some intergenic sequences and genic content among the plant mt genomes suggest that evolution of mt genomes is consistent with plant taxonomy but independent among different species.

Genome-wide association study of multiplex schizophrenia pedigrees

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Levinson, Douglas F; Shi, Jianxin; Wang, Kai

2012-01-01

The authors used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of multiply affected families to investigate the association of schizophrenia to common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and rare copy number variants (CNVs).......The authors used a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of multiply affected families to investigate the association of schizophrenia to common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and rare copy number variants (CNVs)....

Genome-wide expression analysis offers new insights into the origin and evolution of Physcomitrella patens stress response

KAUST Repository

Khraiwesh, Basel

2015-11-30

Changes in the environment, such as those caused by climate change, can exert stress on plant growth, diversity and ultimately global food security. Thus, focused efforts to fully understand plant response to stress are urgently needed in order to develop strategies to cope with the effects of climate change. Because Physcomitrella patens holds a key evolutionary position bridging the gap between green algae and higher plants, and because it exhibits a well-developed stress tolerance, it is an excellent model for such exploration. Here, we have used Physcomitrella patens to study genome-wide responses to abiotic stress through transcriptomic analysis by a high-throughput sequencing platform. We report a comprehensive analysis of transcriptome dynamics, defining profiles of elicited gene regulation responses to abiotic stress-associated hormone Abscisic Acid (ABA), cold, drought, and salt treatments. We identified more than 20,000 genes expressed under each aforementioned stress treatments, of which 9,668 display differential expression in response to stress. The comparison of Physcomitrella patens stress regulated genes with unicellular algae, vascular and flowering plants revealed genomic delineation concomitant with the evolutionary movement to land, including a general gene family complexity and loss of genes associated with different functional groups.

Tools for Accurate and Efficient Analysis of Complex Evolutionary Mechanisms in Microbial Genomes. Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakhleh, Luay

2014-03-12

I proposed to develop computationally efficient tools for accurate detection and reconstruction of microbes' complex evolutionary mechanisms, thus enabling rapid and accurate annotation, analysis and understanding of their genomes. To achieve this goal, I proposed to address three aspects. (1) Mathematical modeling. A major challenge facing the accurate detection of HGT is that of distinguishing between these two events on the one hand and other events that have similar "effects." I proposed to develop a novel mathematical approach for distinguishing among these events. Further, I proposed to develop a set of novel optimization criteria for the evolutionary analysis of microbial genomes in the presence of these complex evolutionary events. (2) Algorithm design. In this aspect of the project, I proposed to develop an array of e cient and accurate algorithms for analyzing microbial genomes based on the formulated optimization criteria. Further, I proposed to test the viability of the criteria and the accuracy of the algorithms in an experimental setting using both synthetic as well as biological data. (3) Software development. I proposed the nal outcome to be a suite of software tools which implements the mathematical models as well as the algorithms developed.

Evolutionary maintenance of filovirus-like genes in bat genomes

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Taylor Derek J

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Little is known of the biological significance and evolutionary maintenance of integrated non-retroviral RNA virus genes in eukaryotic host genomes. Here, we isolated novel filovirus-like genes from bat genomes and tested for evolutionary maintenance. We also estimated the age of filovirus VP35-like gene integrations and tested the phylogenetic hypotheses that there is a eutherian mammal clade and a marsupial/ebolavirus/Marburgvirus dichotomy for filoviruses. Results We detected homologous copies of VP35-like and NP-like gene integrations in both Old World and New World species of Myotis (bats. We also detected previously unknown VP35-like genes in rodents that are positionally homologous. Comprehensive phylogenetic estimates for filovirus NP-like and VP35-like loci support two main clades with a marsupial and a rodent grouping within the ebolavirus/Lloviu virus/Marburgvirus clade. The concordance of VP35-like, NP-like and mitochondrial gene trees with the expected species tree supports the notion that the copies we examined are orthologs that predate the global spread and radiation of the genus Myotis. Parametric simulations were consistent with selective maintenance for the open reading frame (ORF of VP35-like genes in Myotis. The ORF of the filovirus-like VP35 gene has been maintained in bat genomes for an estimated 13. 4 MY. ORFs were disrupted for the NP-like genes in Myotis. Likelihood ratio tests revealed that a model that accommodates positive selection is a significantly better fit to the data than a model that does not allow for positive selection for VP35-like sequences. Moreover, site-by-site analysis of selection using two methods indicated at least 25 sites in the VP35-like alignment are under positive selection in Myotis. Conclusions Our results indicate that filovirus-like elements have significance beyond genomic imprints of prior infection. That is, there appears to be, or have been, functionally maintained

Genome-wide identification and analysis of the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) gene superfamily in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.).

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaoqin; Guo, Rongrong; Li, Jun; Singer, Stacy D; Zhang, Yucheng; Yin, Xiangjing; Zheng, Yi; Fan, Chonghui; Wang, Xiping

2013-10-01

Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) represent a protein superfamily encoding NAD(P)(+)-dependent enzymes that oxidize a wide range of endogenous and exogenous aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes. In plants, they are involved in many biological processes and play a role in the response to environmental stress. In this study, a total of 39 ALDH genes from ten families were identified in the apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) genome. Synteny analysis of the apple ALDH (MdALDH) genes indicated that segmental and tandem duplications, as well as whole genome duplications, have likely contributed to the expansion and evolution of these gene families in apple. Moreover, synteny analysis between apple and Arabidopsis demonstrated that several MdALDH genes were found in the corresponding syntenic blocks of Arabidopsis, suggesting that these genes appeared before the divergence of lineages that led to apple and Arabidopsis. In addition, phylogenetic analysis, as well as comparisons of exon-intron and protein structures, provided further insight into both their evolutionary relationships and their putative functions. Tissue-specific expression analysis of the MdALDH genes demonstrated diverse spatiotemporal expression patterns, while their expression profiles under abiotic stress and various hormone treatments indicated that many MdALDH genes were responsive to high salinity and drought, as well as different plant hormones. This genome-wide identification, as well as characterization of evolutionary relationships and expression profiles, of the apple MdALDH genes will not only be useful for the further analysis of ALDH genes and their roles in stress response, but may also aid in the future improvement of apple stress tolerance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Adiponectin Concentrations: A Genome-wide Association Study

OpenAIRE

Jee, Sun Ha; Sull, Jae Woong; Lee, Jong-Eun; Shin, Chol; Park, Jongkeun; Kimm, Heejin; Cho, Eun-Young; Shin, Eun-Soon; Yun, Ji Eun; Park, Ji Wan; Kim, Sang Yeun; Lee, Sun Ju; Jee, Eun Jung; Baik, Inkyung; Kao, Linda

2010-01-01

Adiponectin is associated with obesity and insulin resistance. To date, there has been no genome-wide association study (GWAS) of adiponectin levels in Asians. Here we present a GWAS of a cohort of Korean volunteers. A total of 4,001 subjects were genotyped by using a genome-wide marker panel in a two-stage design (979 subjects initially and 3,022 in a second stage). Another 2,304 subjects were used for follow-up replication studies with selected markers. In the discovery phase, the top SNP a...

MIPS plant genome information resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Spannagl, Manuel; Haberer, Georg; Ernst, Rebecca; Schoof, Heiko; Mayer, Klaus F X

2007-01-01

The Munich Institute for Protein Sequences (MIPS) has been involved in maintaining plant genome databases since the Arabidopsis thaliana genome project. Genome databases and analysis resources have focused on individual genomes and aim to provide flexible and maintainable data sets for model plant genomes as a backbone against which experimental data, for example from high-throughput functional genomics, can be organized and evaluated. In addition, model genomes also form a scaffold for comparative genomics, and much can be learned from genome-wide evolutionary studies.

Chitinase family GH18: evolutionary insights from the genomic history of a diverse protein family

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Aronson Nathan N

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Chitinases (EC.3.2.1.14 hydrolyze the β-1,4-linkages in chitin, an abundant N-acetyl-β-D-glucosamine polysaccharide that is a structural component of protective biological matrices such as insect exoskeletons and fungal cell walls. The glycoside hydrolase 18 (GH18 family of chitinases is an ancient gene family widely expressed in archea, prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Mammals are not known to synthesize chitin or metabolize it as a nutrient, yet the human genome encodes eight GH18 family members. Some GH18 proteins lack an essential catalytic glutamic acid and are likely to act as lectins rather than as enzymes. This study used comparative genomic analysis to address the evolutionary history of the GH18 multiprotein family, from early eukaryotes to mammals, in an effort to understand the forces that shaped the human genome content of chitinase related proteins. Results Gene duplication and loss according to a birth-and-death model of evolution is a feature of the evolutionary history of the GH18 family. The current human family likely originated from ancient genes present at the time of the bilaterian expansion (approx. 550 mya. The family expanded in the chitinous protostomes C. elegans and D. melanogaster, declined in early deuterostomes as chitin synthesis disappeared, and expanded again in late deuterostomes with a significant increase in gene number after the avian/mammalian split. Conclusion This comprehensive genomic study of animal GH18 proteins reveals three major phylogenetic groups in the family: chitobiases, chitinases/chitolectins, and stabilin-1 interacting chitolectins. Only the chitinase/chitolectin group is associated with expansion in late deuterostomes. Finding that the human GH18 gene family is closely linked to the human major histocompatibility complex paralogon on chromosome 1, together with the recent association of GH18 chitinase activity with Th2 cell inflammation, suggests that its late expansion

The mitochondrial genome of the ascalaphid owlfly Libelloides macaronius and comparative evolutionary mitochondriomics of neuropterid insects

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background The insect order Neuroptera encompasses more than 5,700 described species. To date, only three neuropteran mitochondrial genomes have been fully and one partly sequenced. Current knowledge on neuropteran mitochondrial genomes is limited, and new data are strongly required. In the present work, the mitochondrial genome of the ascalaphid owlfly Libelloides macaronius is described and compared with the known neuropterid mitochondrial genomes: Megaloptera, Neuroptera and Raphidioptera. These analyses are further extended to other endopterygotan orders. Results The mitochondrial genome of L. macaronius is a circular molecule 15,890 bp long. It includes the entire set of 37 genes usually present in animal mitochondrial genomes. The gene order of this newly sequenced genome is unique among Neuroptera and differs from the ancestral type of insects in the translocation of trnC. The L. macaronius genome shows the lowest A+T content (74.50%) among known neuropterid genomes. Protein-coding genes possess the typical mitochondrial start codons, except for cox1, which has an unusual ACG. Comparisons among endopterygotan mitochondrial genomes showed that A+T content and AT/GC-skews exhibit a broad range of variation among 84 analyzed taxa. Comparative analyses showed that neuropterid mitochondrial protein-coding genes experienced complex evolutionary histories, involving features ranging from codon usage to rate of substitution, that make them potential markers for population genetics/phylogenetics studies at different taxonomic ranks. The 22 tRNAs show variable substitution patterns in Neuropterida, with higher sequence conservation in genes located on the α strand. Inferred secondary structures for neuropterid rrnS and rrnL genes largely agree with those known for other insects. For the first time, a model is provided for domain I of an insect rrnL. The control region in Neuropterida, as in other insects, is fast-evolving genomic region, characterized by AT

Identification of putative regulatory upstream ORFs in the yeast genome using heuristics and evolutionary conservation

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Bilsland Elizabeth

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The translational efficiency of an mRNA can be modulated by upstream open reading frames (uORFs present in certain genes. A uORF can attenuate translation of the main ORF by interfering with translational reinitiation at the main start codon. uORFs also occur by chance in the genome, in which case they do not have a regulatory role. Since the sequence determinants for functional uORFs are not understood, it is difficult to discriminate functional from spurious uORFs by sequence analysis. Results We have used comparative genomics to identify novel uORFs in yeast with a high likelihood of having a translational regulatory role. We examined uORFs, previously shown to play a role in regulation of translation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, for evolutionary conservation within seven Saccharomyces species. Inspection of the set of conserved uORFs yielded the following three characteristics useful for discrimination of functional from spurious uORFs: a length between 4 and 6 codons, a distance from the start of the main ORF between 50 and 150 nucleotides, and finally a lack of overlap with, and clear separation from, neighbouring uORFs. These derived rules are inherently associated with uORFs with properties similar to the GCN4 locus, and may not detect most uORFs of other types. uORFs with high scores based on these rules showed a much higher evolutionary conservation than randomly selected uORFs. In a genome-wide scan in S. cerevisiae, we found 34 conserved uORFs from 32 genes that we predict to be functional; subsequent analysis showed the majority of these to be located within transcripts. A total of 252 genes were found containing conserved uORFs with properties indicative of a functional role; all but 7 are novel. Functional content analysis of this set identified an overrepresentation of genes involved in transcriptional control and development. Conclusion Evolutionary conservation of uORFs in yeasts can be traced up to 100

ChloroMitoCU: Codon patterns across organelle genomes for functional genomics and evolutionary applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Sablok, Gaurav; Chen, Ting-Wen; Lee, Chi-Ching; Yang, Chi; Gan, Ruei-Chi; Wegrzyn, Jill L; Porta, Nicola L; Nayak, Kinshuk C; Huang, Po-Jung; Varotto, Claudio; Tang, Petrus

2017-06-01

Organelle genomes are widely thought to have arisen from reduction events involving cyanobacterial and archaeal genomes, in the case of chloroplasts, or α-proteobacterial genomes, in the case of mitochondria. Heterogeneity in base composition and codon preference has long been the subject of investigation of topics ranging from phylogenetic distortion to the design of overexpression cassettes for transgenic expression. From the overexpression point of view, it is critical to systematically analyze the codon usage patterns of the organelle genomes. In light of the importance of codon usage patterns in the development of hyper-expression organelle transgenics, we present ChloroMitoCU, the first-ever curated, web-based reference catalog of the codon usage patterns in organelle genomes. ChloroMitoCU contains the pre-compiled codon usage patterns of 328 chloroplast genomes (29,960 CDS) and 3,502 mitochondrial genomes (49,066 CDS), enabling genome-wide exploration and comparative analysis of codon usage patterns across species. ChloroMitoCU allows the phylogenetic comparison of codon usage patterns across organelle genomes, the prediction of codon usage patterns based on user-submitted transcripts or assembled organelle genes, and comparative analysis with the pre-compiled patterns across species of interest. ChloroMitoCU can increase our understanding of the biased patterns of codon usage in organelle genomes across multiple clades. ChloroMitoCU can be accessed at: http://chloromitocu.cgu.edu.tw/. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Kazusa DNA Research Institute.

Grand challenges in evolutionary and population genetics: The importance of integrating epigenetics, genomics, modeling, and experimentation

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel A. Cushman

2014-01-01

This is a time of explosive growth in the fields of evolutionary and population genetics, with whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics driving a transformative paradigm shift (Morozova and Marra, 2008). At the same time, advances in epigenetics are thoroughly transforming our understanding of evolutionary processes and their implications for populations, species and...

A Genome-wide Combinatorial Strategy Dissects Complex Genetic Architecture of Seed Coat Color in Chickpea.

Science.gov (United States)

Bajaj, Deepak; Das, Shouvik; Upadhyaya, Hari D; Ranjan, Rajeev; Badoni, Saurabh; Kumar, Vinod; Tripathi, Shailesh; Gowda, C L Laxmipathi; Sharma, Shivali; Singh, Sube; Tyagi, Akhilesh K; Parida, Swarup K

2015-01-01

The study identified 9045 high-quality SNPs employing both genome-wide GBS- and candidate gene-based SNP genotyping assays in 172, including 93 cultivated (desi and kabuli) and 79 wild chickpea accessions. The GWAS in a structured population of 93 sequenced accessions detected 15 major genomic loci exhibiting significant association with seed coat color. Five seed color-associated major genomic loci underlying robust QTLs mapped on a high-density intra-specific genetic linkage map were validated by QTL mapping. The integration of association and QTL mapping with gene haplotype-specific LD mapping and transcript profiling identified novel allelic variants (non-synonymous SNPs) and haplotypes in a MATE secondary transporter gene regulating light/yellow brown and beige seed coat color differentiation in chickpea. The down-regulation and decreased transcript expression of beige seed coat color-associated MATE gene haplotype was correlated with reduced proanthocyanidins accumulation in the mature seed coats of beige than light/yellow brown seed colored desi and kabuli accessions for their coloration/pigmentation. This seed color-regulating MATE gene revealed strong purifying selection pressure primarily in LB/YB seed colored desi and wild Cicer reticulatum accessions compared with the BE seed colored kabuli accessions. The functionally relevant molecular tags identified have potential to decipher the complex transcriptional regulatory gene function of seed coat coloration and for understanding the selective sweep-based seed color trait evolutionary pattern in cultivated and wild accessions during chickpea domestication. The genome-wide integrated approach employed will expedite marker-assisted genetic enhancement for developing cultivars with desirable seed coat color types in chickpea.

Evolutionary growth process of highly conserved sequences in vertebrate genomes.

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Ishibashi, Minaka; Noda, Akiko Ogura; Sakate, Ryuichi; Imanishi, Tadashi

2012-08-01

Genome sequence comparison between evolutionarily distant species revealed ultraconserved elements (UCEs) among mammals under strong purifying selection. Most of them were also conserved among vertebrates. Because they tend to be located in the flanking regions of developmental genes, they would have fundamental roles in creating vertebrate body plans. However, the evolutionary origin and selection mechanism of these UCEs remain unclear. Here we report that UCEs arose in primitive vertebrates, and gradually grew in vertebrate evolution. We searched for UCEs in two teleost fishes, Tetraodon nigroviridis and Oryzias latipes, and found 554 UCEs with 100% identity over 100 bps. Comparison of teleost and mammalian UCEs revealed 43 pairs of common, jawed-vertebrate UCEs (jUCE) with high sequence identities, ranging from 83.1% to 99.2%. Ten of them retain lower similarities to the Petromyzon marinus genome, and the substitution rates of four non-exonic jUCEs were reduced after the teleost-mammal divergence, suggesting that robust conservation had been acquired in the jawed vertebrate lineage. Our results indicate that prototypical UCEs originated before the divergence of jawed and jawless vertebrates and have been frozen as perfect conserved sequences in the jawed vertebrate lineage. In addition, our comparative sequence analyses of UCEs and neighboring regions resulted in a discovery of lineage-specific conserved sequences. They were added progressively to prototypical UCEs, suggesting step-wise acquisition of novel regulatory roles. Our results indicate that conserved non-coding elements (CNEs) consist of blocks with distinct evolutionary history, each having been frozen since different evolutionary era along the vertebrate lineage. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide mapping of DNA strand breaks.

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Frédéric Leduc

Full Text Available Determination of cellular DNA damage has so far been limited to global assessment of genome integrity whereas nucleotide-level mapping has been restricted to specific loci by the use of specific primers. Therefore, only limited DNA sequences can be studied and novel regions of genomic instability can hardly be discovered. Using a well-characterized yeast model, we describe a straightforward strategy to map genome-wide DNA strand breaks without compromising nucleotide-level resolution. This technique, termed "damaged DNA immunoprecipitation" (dDIP, uses immunoprecipitation and the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin end-labeling (TUNEL to capture DNA at break sites. When used in combination with microarray or next-generation sequencing technologies, dDIP will allow researchers to map genome-wide DNA strand breaks as well as other types of DNA damage and to establish a clear profiling of altered genes and/or intergenic sequences in various experimental conditions. This mapping technique could find several applications for instance in the study of aging, genotoxic drug screening, cancer, meiosis, radiation and oxidative DNA damage.

Predicting genome-wide redundancy using machine learning

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Shasha Dennis E

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Gene duplication can lead to genetic redundancy, which masks the function of mutated genes in genetic analyses. Methods to increase sensitivity in identifying genetic redundancy can improve the efficiency of reverse genetics and lend insights into the evolutionary outcomes of gene duplication. Machine learning techniques are well suited to classifying gene family members into redundant and non-redundant gene pairs in model species where sufficient genetic and genomic data is available, such as Arabidopsis thaliana, the test case used here. Results Machine learning techniques that combine multiple attributes led to a dramatic improvement in predicting genetic redundancy over single trait classifiers alone, such as BLAST E-values or expression correlation. In withholding analysis, one of the methods used here, Support Vector Machines, was two-fold more precise than single attribute classifiers, reaching a level where the majority of redundant calls were correctly labeled. Using this higher confidence in identifying redundancy, machine learning predicts that about half of all genes in Arabidopsis showed the signature of predicted redundancy with at least one but typically less than three other family members. Interestingly, a large proportion of predicted redundant gene pairs were relatively old duplications (e.g., Ks > 1, suggesting that redundancy is stable over long evolutionary periods. Conclusions Machine learning predicts that most genes will have a functionally redundant paralog but will exhibit redundancy with relatively few genes within a family. The predictions and gene pair attributes for Arabidopsis provide a new resource for research in genetics and genome evolution. These techniques can now be applied to other organisms.

Genome-Wide Identification, Evolutionary Analysis and Expression Profiles of LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES DOMAIN Gene Family in Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula.

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Tianquan Yang

Full Text Available The LATERAL ORGAN BOUNDARIES DOMAIN (LBD gene family has been well-studied in Arabidopsis and play crucial roles in the diverse growth and development processes including establishment and maintenance of boundary of developmental lateral organs. In this study we identified and characterized 38 LBD genes in Lotus japonicus (LjLBD and 57 LBD genes in Medicago truncatula (MtLBD, both of which are model legume plants that have some specific development features absent in Arabidopsis. The phylogenetic relationships, their locations in the genome, genes structure and conserved motifs were examined. The results revealed that all LjLBD and MtLBD genes could be distinctly divided into two classes: Class I and II. The evolutionary analysis showed that Type I functional divergence with some significantly site-specific shifts may be the main force for the divergence between Class I and Class II. In addition, the expression patterns of LjLBD genes uncovered the diverse functions in plant development. Interestingly, we found that two LjLBD proteins that were highly expressed during compound leaf and pulvinus development, can interact via yeast two-hybrid assays. Taken together, our findings provide an evolutionary and genetic foundation in further understanding the molecular basis of LBD gene family in general, specifically in L. japonicus and M. truncatula.

Genome-wide screening and identification of antigens for rickettsial vaccine development

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The capacity to identify immunogens for vaccine development by genome-wide screening has been markedly enhanced by the availability of complete microbial genome sequences coupled to rapid proteomic and bioinformatic analysis. Critical to this genome-wide screening is in vivo testing in the context o...

Quality control and conduct of genome-wide association meta-analyses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkler, Thomas W; Day, Felix R; Croteau-Chonka, Damien C

2014-01-01

Rigorous organization and quality control (QC) are necessary to facilitate successful genome-wide association meta-analyses (GWAMAs) of statistics aggregated across multiple genome-wide association studies. This protocol provides guidelines for (i) organizational aspects of GWAMAs, and for (ii) QC...

Genome-wide association study of pathological gambling.

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, M; Leménager, T; Streit, F; Fauth-Bühler, M; Frank, J; Juraeva, D; Witt, S H; Degenhardt, F; Hofmann, A; Heilmann-Heimbach, S; Kiefer, F; Brors, B; Grabe, H-J; John, U; Bischof, A; Bischof, G; Völker, U; Homuth, G; Beutel, M; Lind, P A; Medland, S E; Slutske, W S; Martin, N G; Völzke, H; Nöthen, M M; Meyer, C; Rumpf, H-J; Wurst, F M; Rietschel, M; Mann, K F

2016-08-01

Pathological gambling is a behavioural addiction with negative economic, social, and psychological consequences. Identification of contributing genes and pathways may improve understanding of aetiology and facilitate therapy and prevention. Here, we report the first genome-wide association study of pathological gambling. Our aims were to identify pathways involved in pathological gambling, and examine whether there is a genetic overlap between pathological gambling and alcohol dependence. Four hundred and forty-five individuals with a diagnosis of pathological gambling according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were recruited in Germany, and 986 controls were drawn from a German general population sample. A genome-wide association study of pathological gambling comprising single marker, gene-based, and pathway analyses, was performed. Polygenic risk scores were generated using data from a German genome-wide association study of alcohol dependence. No genome-wide significant association with pathological gambling was found for single markers or genes. Pathways for Huntington's disease (P-value=6.63×10(-3)); 5'-adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase signalling (P-value=9.57×10(-3)); and apoptosis (P-value=1.75×10(-2)) were significant. Polygenic risk score analysis of the alcohol dependence dataset yielded a one-sided nominal significant P-value in subjects with pathological gambling, irrespective of comorbid alcohol dependence status. The present results accord with previous quantitative formal genetic studies which showed genetic overlap between non-substance- and substance-related addictions. Furthermore, pathway analysis suggests shared pathology between Huntington's disease and pathological gambling. This finding is consistent with previous imaging studies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

[Evolutionary medicine: an introduction. Evolutionary biology, a missing element in medical teaching].

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Swynghedauw, Bernard

2009-05-01

The aim of this brief review article is to help to reconcile medicine with evolutionary biology, a subject that should be taught in medical school. Evolutionary medicine takes the view that contemporary ills are related to an incompatibility between the environment in which humans currently live and their genomes, which have been shaped by diferent environmental conditions during biological evolution. Human activity has recently induced acute environmental modifications that have profoundly changed the medical landscape. Evolutionary biology is an irreversible, ongoing and discontinuous process characterized by periods of stasis followed by accelerations. Evolutionary biology is determined by genetic mutations, which are selected either by Darwinian selective pressure or randomly by genetic drift. Most medical events result from a genome/environment conflict. Some may be purely genetic, as in monogenic diseases, and others purely environmental, such as traffic accidents. Nevertheless, in most common diseases the clinical landscape is determined by the conflict between these two factors, the genetic elements of which are gradually being unraveled Three examples are examined in depth:--The medical consequences of the greenhouse effect. The absence of excess mortality during recent heat waves suggests that the main determinant of mortality in the 2003 heatwave was heatstroke and old age. The projected long-term effects of global warming call for research on thermolysis, a forgotten branch of physiology.--The hygiene hypothesis postulates that the exponential rise in autoimmune and allergic diseases is linked to lesser exposure to infectious agents, possibly involving counter-regulatory factors such as IL-10.--The recent rise in the incidence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in rich countries can be considered to result from a conflict between a calorie-rich environment and gene variants that control appetite. These variants are currently being identified by genome-wide

Evolutionary insights into scleractinian corals using comparative genomic hybridizations.

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Aranda, Manuel; DeSalvo, Michael K; Bayer, Till; Medina, Monica; Voolstra, Christian R

2012-09-21

Coral reefs belong to the most ecologically and economically important ecosystems on our planet. Yet, they are under steady decline worldwide due to rising sea surface temperatures, disease, and pollution. Understanding the molecular impact of these stressors on different coral species is imperative in order to predict how coral populations will respond to this continued disturbance. The use of molecular tools such as microarrays has provided deep insight into the molecular stress response of corals. Here, we have performed comparative genomic hybridizations (CGH) with different coral species to an Acropora palmata microarray platform containing 13,546 cDNA clones in order to identify potentially rapidly evolving genes and to determine the suitability of existing microarray platforms for use in gene expression studies (via heterologous hybridization). Our results showed that the current microarray platform for A. palmata is able to provide biological relevant information for a wide variety of coral species covering both the complex clade as well the robust clade. Analysis of the fraction of highly diverged genes showed a significantly higher amount of genes without annotation corroborating previous findings that point towards a higher rate of divergence for taxonomically restricted genes. Among the genes with annotation, we found many mitochondrial genes to be highly diverged in M. faveolata when compared to A. palmata, while the majority of nuclear encoded genes maintained an average divergence rate. The use of present microarray platforms for transcriptional analyses in different coral species will greatly enhance the understanding of the molecular basis of stress and health and highlight evolutionary differences between scleractinian coral species. On a genomic basis, we show that cDNA arrays can be used to identify patterns of divergence. Mitochondrion-encoded genes seem to have diverged faster than nuclear encoded genes in robust corals. Accordingly, this

Genome-wide identification and structure-function studies of proteases and protease inhibitors in Cicer arietinum (chickpea).

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Ranu; Suresh, C G

2015-01-01

Proteases are a family of enzymes present in almost all living organisms. In plants they are involved in many biological processes requiring stress response in situations such as water deficiency, pathogen attack, maintaining protein content of the cell, programmed cell death, senescence, reproduction and many more. Similarly, protease inhibitors (PIs) are involved in various important functions like suppression of invasion by pathogenic nematodes, inhibition of spores-germination and mycelium growth of Alternaria alternata and response to wounding and fungal attack. As much as we know, no genome-wide study of proteases together with proteinaceous PIs is reported in any of the sequenced genomes till now. Phylogenetic studies and domain analysis of proteases were carried out to understand the molecular evolution as well as gene and protein features. Structural analysis was carried out to explore the binding mode and affinity of PIs for cognate proteases and prolyl oligopeptidase protease with inhibitor ligand. In the study reported here, a significant number of proteases and PIs were identified in chickpea genome. The gene expression profiles of proteases and PIs in five different plant tissues revealed a differential expression pattern in more than one plant tissue. Molecular dynamics studies revealed the formation of stable complex owing to increased number of protein-ligand and inter and intramolecular protein-protein hydrogen bonds. The genome-wide identification, characterization, evolutionary understanding, gene expression, and structural analysis of proteases and PIs provide a framework for future analysis when defining their roles in stress response and developing a more stress tolerant variety of chickpea. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide association study of clinical dimensions of schizophrenia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fanous, Ayman H; Zhou, Baiyu; Aggen, Steven H

2012-01-01

Multiple sources of evidence suggest that genetic factors influence variation in clinical features of schizophrenia. The authors present the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of dimensional symptom scores among individuals with schizophrenia.......Multiple sources of evidence suggest that genetic factors influence variation in clinical features of schizophrenia. The authors present the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of dimensional symptom scores among individuals with schizophrenia....

GWIS: Genome-Wide Inferred Statistics for Functions of Multiple Phenotypes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nieuwboer, H.A.; Pool, R.; Dolan, C.V.; Boomsma, D.I.; Nivard, M.G.

2016-01-01

Here we present a method of genome-wide inferred study (GWIS) that provides an approximation of genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics for a variable that is a function of phenotypes for which GWAS summary statistics, phenotypic means, and covariances are available. A GWIS can be

Comparative mitochondrial genome analysis reveals the evolutionary rearrangement mechanism in Brassica.

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Yang, J; Liu, G; Zhao, N; Chen, S; Liu, D; Ma, W; Hu, Z; Zhang, M

2016-05-01

The genus Brassica has many species that are important for oil, vegetable and other food products. Three mitochondrial genome types (mitotype) originated from its common ancestor. In this paper, a B. nigra mitochondrial main circle genome with 232,407 bp was generated through de novo assembly. Synteny analysis showed that the mitochondrial genomes of B. rapa and B. oleracea had a better syntenic relationship than B. nigra. Principal components analysis and development of a phylogenetic tree indicated maternal ancestors of three allotetraploid species in Us triangle of Brassica. Diversified mitotypes were found in allotetraploid B. napus, in which napus-type B. napus was derived from B. oleracea, while polima-type B. napus was inherited from B. rapa. In addition, the mitochondrial genome of napus-type B. napus was closer to botrytis-type than capitata-type B. oleracea. The sub-stoichiometric shifting of several mitochondrial genes suggested that mitochondrial genome rearrangement underwent evolutionary selection during domestication and/or plant breeding. Our findings clarify the role of diploid species in the maternal origin of allotetraploid species in Brassica and suggest the possibility of breeding selection of the mitochondrial genome. © 2015 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Comparative Genomic Analyses Provide New Insights into the Evolutionary Dynamics of Heterochromatin in Drosophila.

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Caizzi, Ruggiero; Moschetti, Roberta; Piacentini, Lucia; Fanti, Laura; Marsano, Renè Massimiliano; Dimitri, Patrizio

2016-08-01

The term heterochromatin has been long considered synonymous with gene silencing, but it is now clear that the presence of transcribed genes embedded in pericentromeric heterochromatin is a conserved feature in the evolution of eukaryotic genomes. Several studies have addressed the epigenetic changes that enable the expression of genes in pericentric heterochromatin, yet little is known about the evolutionary processes through which this has occurred. By combining genome annotation analysis and high-resolution cytology, we have identified and mapped 53 orthologs of D. melanogaster heterochromatic genes in the genomes of two evolutionarily distant species, D. pseudoobscura and D. virilis. Our results show that the orthologs of the D. melanogaster heterochromatic genes are clustered at three main genomic regions in D. virilis and D. pseudoobscura. In D. virilis, the clusters lie in the middle of euchromatin, while those in D. pseudoobscura are located in the proximal portion of the chromosome arms. Some orthologs map to the corresponding Muller C element in D. pseudoobscura and D. virilis, while others localize on the Muller B element, suggesting that chromosomal rearrangements that have been instrumental in the fusion of two separate elements involved the progenitors of genes currently located in D. melanogaster heterochromatin. These results demonstrate an evolutionary repositioning of gene clusters from ancestral locations in euchromatin to the pericentromeric heterochromatin of descendent D. melanogaster chromosomes. Remarkably, in both D. virilis and D. pseudoobscura the gene clusters show a conserved association with the HP1a protein, one of the most highly evolutionarily conserved epigenetic marks. In light of these results, we suggest a new scenario whereby ancestral HP1-like proteins (and possibly other epigenetic marks) may have contributed to the evolutionary repositioning of gene clusters into heterochromatin.

Genome-Wide Detection and Analysis of Multifunctional Genes

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Pritykin, Yuri; Ghersi, Dario; Singh, Mona

2015-01-01

Many genes can play a role in multiple biological processes or molecular functions. Identifying multifunctional genes at the genome-wide level and studying their properties can shed light upon the complexity of molecular events that underpin cellular functioning, thereby leading to a better understanding of the functional landscape of the cell. However, to date, genome-wide analysis of multifunctional genes (and the proteins they encode) has been limited. Here we introduce a computational approach that uses known functional annotations to extract genes playing a role in at least two distinct biological processes. We leverage functional genomics data sets for three organisms—H. sapiens, D. melanogaster, and S. cerevisiae—and show that, as compared to other annotated genes, genes involved in multiple biological processes possess distinct physicochemical properties, are more broadly expressed, tend to be more central in protein interaction networks, tend to be more evolutionarily conserved, and are more likely to be essential. We also find that multifunctional genes are significantly more likely to be involved in human disorders. These same features also hold when multifunctionality is defined with respect to molecular functions instead of biological processes. Our analysis uncovers key features about multifunctional genes, and is a step towards a better genome-wide understanding of gene multifunctionality. PMID:26436655

Natural Selection and Recombination Rate Variation Shape Nucleotide Polymorphism Across the Genomes of Three Related Populus Species.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing; Street, Nathaniel R; Scofield, Douglas G; Ingvarsson, Pär K

2016-03-01

A central aim of evolutionary genomics is to identify the relative roles that various evolutionary forces have played in generating and shaping genetic variation within and among species. Here we use whole-genome resequencing data to characterize and compare genome-wide patterns of nucleotide polymorphism, site frequency spectrum, and population-scaled recombination rates in three species of Populus: Populus tremula, P. tremuloides, and P. trichocarpa. We find that P. tremuloides has the highest level of genome-wide variation, skewed allele frequencies, and population-scaled recombination rates, whereas P. trichocarpa harbors the lowest. Our findings highlight multiple lines of evidence suggesting that natural selection, due to both purifying and positive selection, has widely shaped patterns of nucleotide polymorphism at linked neutral sites in all three species. Differences in effective population sizes and rates of recombination largely explain the disparate magnitudes and signatures of linked selection that we observe among species. The present work provides the first phylogenetic comparative study on a genome-wide scale in forest trees. This information will also improve our ability to understand how various evolutionary forces have interacted to influence genome evolution among related species. Copyright © 2016 by the Genetics Society of America.

Comparative genomics explains the evolutionary success of reef-forming corals

KAUST Repository

Bhattacharya, Debashish

2016-05-24

Transcriptome and genome data from twenty stony coral species and a selection of reference bilaterians were studied to elucidate coral evolutionary history. We identified genes that encode the proteins responsible for the precipitation and aggregation of the aragonite skeleton on which the organisms live, and revealed a network of environmental sensors that coordinate responses of the host animals to temperature, light, and pH. Furthermore, we describe a variety of stress-related pathways, including apoptotic pathways that allow the host animals to detoxify reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that are generated by their intracellular photosynthetic symbionts, and determine the fate of corals under environmental stress. Some of these genes arose through horizontal gene transfer and comprise at least 0.2% of the animal gene inventory. Our analysis elucidates the evolutionary strategies that have allowed symbiotic corals to adapt and thrive for hundreds of millions of years.

Comparative genomics explains the evolutionary success of reef-forming corals

KAUST Repository

Bhattacharya, Debashish; Agrawal, Shobhit; Aranda, Manuel; Baumgarten, Sebastian; Belcaid, Mahdi; Drake, Jeana L; Erwin, Douglas; Foret, Sylvian; Gates, Ruth D; Gruber, David F; Kamel, Bishoy; Lesser, Michael P; Levy, Oren; Liew, Yi Jin; MacManes, Matthew; Mass, Tali; Medina, Monica; Mehr, Shaadi; Meyer, Eli; Price, Dana C; Putnam, Hollie M; Qiu, Huan; Shinzato, Chuya; Shoguchi, Eiichi; Stokes, Alexander J; Tambutté , Sylvie; Tchernov, Dan; Voolstra, Christian R.; Wagner, Nicole; Walker, Charles W; Weber, Andreas PM; Weis, Virginia; Zelzion, Ehud; Zoccola, Didier; Falkowski, Paul G

2016-01-01

Transcriptome and genome data from twenty stony coral species and a selection of reference bilaterians were studied to elucidate coral evolutionary history. We identified genes that encode the proteins responsible for the precipitation and aggregation of the aragonite skeleton on which the organisms live, and revealed a network of environmental sensors that coordinate responses of the host animals to temperature, light, and pH. Furthermore, we describe a variety of stress-related pathways, including apoptotic pathways that allow the host animals to detoxify reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that are generated by their intracellular photosynthetic symbionts, and determine the fate of corals under environmental stress. Some of these genes arose through horizontal gene transfer and comprise at least 0.2% of the animal gene inventory. Our analysis elucidates the evolutionary strategies that have allowed symbiotic corals to adapt and thrive for hundreds of millions of years.

Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) and Genome-Wide Environment Interaction Study (GWEIS) of Depressive Symptoms in African American and Hispanic/Latina Women

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, Erin C.; Wiste, Anna; Radmanesh, Farid; Almli, Lynn M.; Gogarten, Stephanie M.; Sofer, Tamar; Faul, Jessica D.; Kardia, Sharon L.R.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Weir, David R.; Zhao, Wei; Soare, Thomas W.; Mirza, Saira S.; Hek, Karin; Tiemeier, Henning W.; Goveas, Joseph S.; Sarto, Gloria E.; Snively, Beverly M.; Cornelis, Marilyn; Koenen, Karestan C.; Kraft, Peter; Purcell, Shaun; Ressler, Kerry J.; Rosand, Jonathan; Wassertheil-Smoller, Sylvia; Smoller, Jordan W.

2016-01-01

Background Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been unable to identify variants linked to depression. We hypothesized that examining depressive symptoms and considering gene-environment interaction (G×E) might improve efficiency for gene discovery. We therefore conducted a GWAS and genome-wide environment interaction study (GWEIS) of depressive symptoms. Methods Using data from the SHARe cohort of the Women’s Health Initiative, comprising African Americans (n=7179) and Hispanics/Latinas (n=3138), we examined genetic main effects and G×E with stressful life events and social support. We also conducted a heritability analysis using genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA). Replication was attempted in four independent cohorts. Results No SNPs achieved genome-wide significance for main effects in either discovery sample. The top signals in African Americans were rs73531535 (located 20kb from GPR139, p=5.75×10−8) and rs75407252 (intronic to CACNA2D3, p=6.99×10−7). In Hispanics/Latinas, the top signals were rs2532087 (located 27kb from CD38, p=2.44×10−7) and rs4542757 (intronic to DCC, p=7.31×10−7). In the GWEIS with stressful life events, one interaction signal was genome-wide significant in African Americans (rs4652467; p=4.10×10−10; located 14kb from CEP350). This interaction was not observed in a smaller replication cohort. Although heritability estimates for depressive symptoms and stressful life events were each less than 10%, they were strongly genetically correlated (rG=0.95), suggesting that common variation underlying depressive symptoms and stressful life event exposure, though modest on their own, were highly overlapping in this sample. Conclusions Our results underscore the need for larger samples, more GWEIS, and greater investigation into genetic and environmental determinants of depressive symptoms in minorities. PMID:27038408

Evolutionary dynamics of protein domain architecture in plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Xue-Cheng

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein domains are the structural, functional and evolutionary units of the protein. Protein domain architectures are the linear arrangements of domain(s in individual proteins. Although the evolutionary history of protein domain architecture has been extensively studied in microorganisms, the evolutionary dynamics of domain architecture in the plant kingdom remains largely undefined. To address this question, we analyzed the lineage-based protein domain architecture content in 14 completed green plant genomes. Results Our analyses show that all 14 plant genomes maintain similar distributions of species-specific, single-domain, and multi-domain architectures. Approximately 65% of plant domain architectures are universally present in all plant lineages, while the remaining architectures are lineage-specific. Clear examples are seen of both the loss and gain of specific protein architectures in higher plants. There has been a dynamic, lineage-wise expansion of domain architectures during plant evolution. The data suggest that this expansion can be largely explained by changes in nuclear ploidy resulting from rounds of whole genome duplications. Indeed, there has been a decrease in the number of unique domain architectures when the genomes were normalized into a presumed ancestral genome that has not undergone whole genome duplications. Conclusions Our data show the conservation of universal domain architectures in all available plant genomes, indicating the presence of an evolutionarily conserved, core set of protein components. However, the occurrence of lineage-specific domain architectures indicates that domain architecture diversity has been maintained beyond these core components in plant genomes. Although several features of genome-wide domain architecture content are conserved in plants, the data clearly demonstrate lineage-wise, progressive changes and expansions of individual protein domain architectures, reinforcing

Comparative genomics sheds light on niche differentiation and the evolutionary history of comammox Nitrospira

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Palomo, Alejandro; Pedersen, Anders Gorm; Fowler, Jane

2018-01-01

genomes encode genes that might allow efficient growth at low oxygen concentrations. Regarding the evolutionary history of comammox Nitrospira, our analyses indicate that several genes belonging to the ammonia oxidation pathway could have been laterally transferred from β-AOB to comammox Nitrospira. We...

Genome wide analysis of stress responsive WRKY transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Shaiq Sultan

2016-04-01

Full Text Available WRKY transcription factors are a class of DNA-binding proteins that bind with a specific sequence C/TTGACT/C known as W-Box found in promoters of genes which are regulated by these WRKYs. From previous studies, 43 different stress responsive WRKY transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana, identified and then categorized in three groups viz., abiotic, biotic and both of these stresses. A comprehensive genome wide analysis including chromosomal localization, gene structure analysis, multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetic analysis and promoter analysis of these WRKY genes was carried out in this study to determine the functional homology in Arabidopsis. This analysis led to the classification of these WRKY family members into 3 major groups and subgroups and showed evolutionary relationship among these groups on the base of their functional WRKY domain, chromosomal localization and intron/exon structure. The proposed groups of these stress responsive WRKY genes and annotation based on their position on chromosomes can also be explored to determine their functional homology in other plant species in relation to different stresses. The result of the present study provides indispensable genomic information for the stress responsive WRKY transcription factors in Arabidopsis and will pave the way to explain the precise role of various AtWRKYs in plant growth and development under stressed conditions.

ERC analysis: web-based inference of gene function via evolutionary rate covariation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, Nicholas W; Clark, Nathan L

2015-12-01

The recent explosion of comparative genomics data presents an unprecedented opportunity to construct gene networks via the evolutionary rate covariation (ERC) signature. ERC is used to identify genes that experienced similar evolutionary histories, and thereby draws functional associations between them. The ERC Analysis website allows researchers to exploit genome-wide datasets to infer novel genes in any biological function and to explore deep evolutionary connections between distinct pathways and complexes. The website provides five analytical methods, graphical output, statistical support and access to an increasing number of taxonomic groups. Analyses and data at http://csb.pitt.edu/erc_analysis/ nclark@pitt.edu. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

A Genome-Wide Breast Cancer Scan in African Americans

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-01

SNPs from the African American breast cancer scan to COGs , a European collaborative study which is has designed a SNP array with that will be genotyped...Award Number: W81XWH-08-1-0383 TITLE: A Genome-wide Breast Cancer Scan in African Americans PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Christopher A...SUBTITLE A Genome-wide Breast Cancer Scan in African Americans 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER W81XWH-08-1-0383 5c. PROGRAM

Role of genomic typing in taxonomy, evolutionary genetics, and microbial epidemiology.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.F. van Belkum (Alex); M. Struelens; A. de Visser (Arjan); H.A. Verbrugh (Henri); M. Tibayrench

2001-01-01

textabstractCurrently, genetic typing of microorganisms is widely used in several major fields of microbiological research. Taxonomy, research aimed at elucidation of evolutionary dynamics or phylogenetic relationships, population genetics of microorganisms, and

Genomic signatures of evolutionary transitions from solitary to group living

Science.gov (United States)

Kapheim, Karen M.; Pan, Hailin; Li, Cai; Salzberg, Steven L.; Puiu, Daniela; Magoc, Tanja; Robertson, Hugh M.; Hudson, Matthew E.; Venkat, Aarti; Fischman, Brielle J.; Hernandez, Alvaro; Yandell, Mark; Ence, Daniel; Holt, Carson; Yocum, George D.; Kemp, William P.; Bosch, Jordi; Waterhouse, Robert M.; Zdobnov, Evgeny M.; Stolle, Eckart; Kraus, F. Bernhard; Helbing, Sophie; Moritz, Robin F. A.; Glastad, Karl M.; Hunt, Brendan G.; Goodisman, Michael A. D.; Hauser, Frank; Grimmelikhuijzen, Cornelis J. P.; Pinheiro, Daniel Guariz; Nunes, Francis Morais Franco; Soares, Michelle Prioli Miranda; Tanaka, Érica Donato; Simões, Zilá Luz Paulino; Hartfelder, Klaus; Evans, Jay D.; Barribeau, Seth M.; Johnson, Reed M.; Massey, Jonathan H.; Southey, Bruce R.; Hasselmann, Martin; Hamacher, Daniel; Biewer, Matthias; Kent, Clement F.; Zayed, Amro; Blatti, Charles; Sinha, Saurabh; Johnston, J. Spencer; Hanrahan, Shawn J.; Kocher, Sarah D.; Wang, Jun; Robinson, Gene E.; Zhang, Guojie

2017-01-01

The evolution of eusociality is one of the major transitions in evolution, but the underlying genomic changes are unknown. We compared the genomes of 10 bee species that vary in social complexity, representing multiple independent transitions in social evolution, and report three major findings. First, many important genes show evidence of neutral evolution as a consequence of relaxed selection with increasing social complexity. Second, there is no single road map to eusociality; independent evolutionary transitions in sociality have independent genetic underpinnings. Third, though clearly independent in detail, these transitions do have similar general features, including an increase in constrained protein evolution accompanied by increases in the potential for gene regulation and decreases in diversity and abundance of transposable elements. Eusociality may arise through different mechanisms each time, but would likely always involve an increase in the complexity of gene networks. PMID:25977371

Molecular characterization, genomic distribution and evolutionary dynamics of Short INterspersed Elements in the termite genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Luchetti, Andrea; Mantovani, Barbara

2011-02-01

Short INterspersed Elements (SINEs) in invertebrates, and especially in animal inbred genomes such that of termites, are poorly known; in this paper we characterize three new SINE families (Talub, Taluc and Talud) through the analyses of 341 sequences, either isolated from the Reticulitermes lucifugus genome or drawn from EST Genbank collection. We further add new data to the only isopteran element known so far, Talua. These SINEs are tRNA-derived elements, with an average length ranging from 258 to 372 bp. The tails are made up by poly(A) or microsatellite motifs. Their copy number varies from 7.9 × 10(3) to 10(5) copies, well within the range observed for other metazoan genomes. Species distribution, age and target site duplication analysis indicate Talud as the oldest, possibly inactive SINE originated before the onset of Isoptera (~150 Myr ago). Taluc underwent to substantial sequence changes throughout the evolution of termites and data suggest it was silenced and then re-activated in the R. lucifugus lineage. Moreover, Taluc shares a conserved sequence block with other unrelated SINEs, as observed for some vertebrate and cephalopod elements. The study of genomic environment showed that insertions are mainly surrounded by microsatellites and other SINEs, indicating a biased accumulation within non-coding regions. The evolutionary dynamics of Talu~ elements is explained through selective mechanisms acting in an inbred genome; in this respect, the study of termites' SINEs activity may provide an interesting framework to address the (co)evolution of mobile elements and the host genome.

Evolutionary Genomics of Peach and Almond Domestication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dianne Velasco

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The domesticated almond [Prunus dulcis (L. Batsch] and peach [P. persica (Mill. D. A. Webb] originated on opposite sides of Asia and were independently domesticated ∼5000 yr ago. While interfertile, they possess alternate mating systems and differ in a number of morphological and physiological traits. Here, we evaluated patterns of genome-wide diversity in both almond and peach to better understand the impacts of mating system, adaptation, and domestication on the evolution of these taxa. Almond has around seven times the genetic diversity of peach, and high genome-wide FST values support their status as separate species. We estimated a divergence time of ∼8 MYA (million years ago, coinciding with an active period of uplift in the northeast Tibetan Plateau and subsequent Asian climate change. We see no evidence of a bottleneck during domestication of either species, but identify a number of regions showing signatures of selection during domestication and a significant overlap in candidate regions between peach and almond. While we expected gene expression in fruit to overlap with candidate selected regions, instead we find enrichment for loci highly differentiated between the species, consistent with recent fossil evidence suggesting fruit divergence long preceded domestication. Taken together, this study tells us how closely related tree species evolve and are domesticated, the impact of these events on their genomes, and the utility of genomic information for long-lived species. Further exploration of this data will contribute to the genetic knowledge of these species and provide information regarding targets of selection for breeding application, and further the understanding of evolution in these species.

Evolutionary Genomics of Peach and Almond Domestication.

Science.gov (United States)

Velasco, Dianne; Hough, Josh; Aradhya, Mallikarjuna; Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey

2016-12-07

The domesticated almond [Prunus dulcis (L.) Batsch] and peach [P. persica (Mill.) D. A. Webb] originated on opposite sides of Asia and were independently domesticated ∼5000 yr ago. While interfertile, they possess alternate mating systems and differ in a number of morphological and physiological traits. Here, we evaluated patterns of genome-wide diversity in both almond and peach to better understand the impacts of mating system, adaptation, and domestication on the evolution of these taxa. Almond has around seven times the genetic diversity of peach, and high genome-wide [Formula: see text] values support their status as separate species. We estimated a divergence time of ∼8 MYA (million years ago), coinciding with an active period of uplift in the northeast Tibetan Plateau and subsequent Asian climate change. We see no evidence of a bottleneck during domestication of either species, but identify a number of regions showing signatures of selection during domestication and a significant overlap in candidate regions between peach and almond. While we expected gene expression in fruit to overlap with candidate selected regions, instead we find enrichment for loci highly differentiated between the species, consistent with recent fossil evidence suggesting fruit divergence long preceded domestication. Taken together, this study tells us how closely related tree species evolve and are domesticated, the impact of these events on their genomes, and the utility of genomic information for long-lived species. Further exploration of this data will contribute to the genetic knowledge of these species and provide information regarding targets of selection for breeding application, and further the understanding of evolution in these species. Copyright © 2016 Velasco et al.

Evolutionary Genomics of Peach and Almond Domestication

Science.gov (United States)

Velasco, Dianne; Hough, Josh; Aradhya, Mallikarjuna; Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey

2016-01-01

The domesticated almond [Prunus dulcis (L.) Batsch] and peach [P. persica (Mill.) D. A. Webb] originated on opposite sides of Asia and were independently domesticated ∼5000 yr ago. While interfertile, they possess alternate mating systems and differ in a number of morphological and physiological traits. Here, we evaluated patterns of genome-wide diversity in both almond and peach to better understand the impacts of mating system, adaptation, and domestication on the evolution of these taxa. Almond has around seven times the genetic diversity of peach, and high genome-wide FST values support their status as separate species. We estimated a divergence time of ∼8 MYA (million years ago), coinciding with an active period of uplift in the northeast Tibetan Plateau and subsequent Asian climate change. We see no evidence of a bottleneck during domestication of either species, but identify a number of regions showing signatures of selection during domestication and a significant overlap in candidate regions between peach and almond. While we expected gene expression in fruit to overlap with candidate selected regions, instead we find enrichment for loci highly differentiated between the species, consistent with recent fossil evidence suggesting fruit divergence long preceded domestication. Taken together, this study tells us how closely related tree species evolve and are domesticated, the impact of these events on their genomes, and the utility of genomic information for long-lived species. Further exploration of this data will contribute to the genetic knowledge of these species and provide information regarding targets of selection for breeding application, and further the understanding of evolution in these species. PMID:27707802

A Comprehensive Classification and Evolutionary Analysis of Plant Homeobox Genes

OpenAIRE

Mukherjee, Krishanu; Brocchieri, Luciano; B?rglin, Thomas R.

2009-01-01

The full complement of homeobox transcription factor sequences, including genes and pseudogenes, was determined from the analysis of 10 complete genomes from flowering plants, moss, Selaginella, unicellular green algae, and red algae. Our exhaustive genome-wide searches resulted in the discovery in each class of a greater number of homeobox genes than previously reported. All homeobox genes can be unambiguously classified by sequence evolutionary analysis into 14 distinct classes also charact...

Genome-wide association studies and resting heart rate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oskari Kilpeläinen, Tuomas

2016-01-01

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have revolutionized the search for genetic variants regulating resting heart rate. In the last 10 years, GWASs have led to the identification of at least 21 novel heart rate loci. These discoveries have provided valuable insights into the mechanisms...... and pathways that regulate heart rate and link heart rate to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. GWASs capture majority of genetic variation in a population sample by utilizing high-throughput genotyping chips measuring genotypes for up to several millions of SNPs across the genome in thousands...... of individuals. This allows the identification of the strongest heart rate associated signals at genome-wide level. While GWASs provide robust statistical evidence of the association of a given genetic locus with heart rate, they are only the starting point for detailed follow-up studies to locate the causal...

Urban Evolutionary Ecology and the Potential Benefits of Implementing Genomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Schell, Christopher J

2018-02-14

Urban habitats are quickly becoming exceptional models to address adaptation under rapid environmental change, given the expansive temporal and spatial scales with which anthropogenic landscape conversion occurs. Urban ecologists in the last 10-15 years have done an extraordinary job of highlighting phenotypic patterns that correspond with urban living, as well as delineating urban population structure using traditional genetic markers. The underpinning genetic mechanisms that govern those phenotypic patterns, however, are less well established. Moreover, the power of traditional molecular studies is constrained by the number of markers being evaluated, which limits the potential to assess fine-scale population structure potentially common in urban areas. With the recent proliferation of low-cost, high-throughput sequencing methods, we can begin to address an emerging question in urban ecology: are species adapted to local optima within cities or are they expressing latent phenotypic plasticity? Here, I provide a comprehensive review of previous urban ecological studies, with special focus on the molecular ecology and phenotypic adjustments documented in urban terrestrial and amphibious fauna. I subsequently pinpoint areas in the literature that could benefit from a genomic investigation and briefly discuss the suitability of specific techniques in addressing eco-evolutionary questions within urban ecology. Though many challenges exist with implementing genomics into urban ecology, such studies provide an exceptional opportunity to advance our understanding of eco-evolutionary processes in metropolitan areas. © The American Genetic Association 2018. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Evolutionary genomics and adaptive evolution of the Hedgehog gene family (Shh, Ihh and Dhh in vertebrates.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joana Pereira

Full Text Available The Hedgehog (Hh gene family codes for a class of secreted proteins composed of two active domains that act as signalling molecules during embryo development, namely for the development of the nervous and skeletal systems and the formation of the testis cord. While only one Hh gene is found typically in invertebrate genomes, most vertebrates species have three (Sonic hedgehog--Shh; Indian hedgehog--Ihh; and Desert hedgehog--Dhh, each with different expression patterns and functions, which likely helped promote the increasing complexity of vertebrates and their successful diversification. In this study, we used comparative genomic and adaptive evolutionary analyses to characterize the evolution of the Hh genes in vertebrates following the two major whole genome duplication (WGD events. To overcome the lack of Hh-coding sequences on avian publicly available databases, we used an extensive dataset of 45 avian and three non-avian reptilian genomes to show that birds have all three Hh paralogs. We find suggestions that following the WGD events, vertebrate Hh paralogous genes evolved independently within similar linkage groups and under different evolutionary rates, especially within the catalytic domain. The structural regions around the ion-binding site were identified to be under positive selection in the signaling domain. These findings contrast with those observed in invertebrates, where different lineages that experienced gene duplication retained similar selective constraints in the Hh orthologs. Our results provide new insights on the evolutionary history of the Hh gene family, the functional roles of these paralogs in vertebrate species, and on the location of mutational hotspots.

Evolutionary genomics and adaptive evolution of the Hedgehog gene family (Shh, Ihh and Dhh) in vertebrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Pereira, Joana; Johnson, Warren E; O'Brien, Stephen J; Jarvis, Erich D; Zhang, Guojie; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Vasconcelos, Vitor; Antunes, Agostinho

2014-01-01

The Hedgehog (Hh) gene family codes for a class of secreted proteins composed of two active domains that act as signalling molecules during embryo development, namely for the development of the nervous and skeletal systems and the formation of the testis cord. While only one Hh gene is found typically in invertebrate genomes, most vertebrates species have three (Sonic hedgehog--Shh; Indian hedgehog--Ihh; and Desert hedgehog--Dhh), each with different expression patterns and functions, which likely helped promote the increasing complexity of vertebrates and their successful diversification. In this study, we used comparative genomic and adaptive evolutionary analyses to characterize the evolution of the Hh genes in vertebrates following the two major whole genome duplication (WGD) events. To overcome the lack of Hh-coding sequences on avian publicly available databases, we used an extensive dataset of 45 avian and three non-avian reptilian genomes to show that birds have all three Hh paralogs. We find suggestions that following the WGD events, vertebrate Hh paralogous genes evolved independently within similar linkage groups and under different evolutionary rates, especially within the catalytic domain. The structural regions around the ion-binding site were identified to be under positive selection in the signaling domain. These findings contrast with those observed in invertebrates, where different lineages that experienced gene duplication retained similar selective constraints in the Hh orthologs. Our results provide new insights on the evolutionary history of the Hh gene family, the functional roles of these paralogs in vertebrate species, and on the location of mutational hotspots.

Pervasive, Genome-Wide Transcription in the Organelle Genomes of Diverse Plastid-Bearing Protists

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matheus Sanitá Lima

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Organelle genomes are among the most sequenced kinds of chromosome. This is largely because they are small and widely used in molecular studies, but also because next-generation sequencing technologies made sequencing easier, faster, and cheaper. However, studies of organelle RNA have not kept pace with those of DNA, despite huge amounts of freely available eukaryotic RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq data. Little is known about organelle transcription in nonmodel species, and most of the available eukaryotic RNA-seq data have not been mined for organelle transcripts. Here, we use publicly available RNA-seq experiments to investigate organelle transcription in 30 diverse plastid-bearing protists with varying organelle genomic architectures. Mapping RNA-seq data to organelle genomes revealed pervasive, genome-wide transcription, regardless of the taxonomic grouping, gene organization, or noncoding content. For every species analyzed, transcripts covered ≥85% of the mitochondrial and/or plastid genomes (all of which were ≤105 kb, indicating that most of the organelle DNA—coding and noncoding—is transcriptionally active. These results follow earlier studies of model species showing that organellar transcription is coupled and ubiquitous across the genome, requiring significant downstream processing of polycistronic transcripts. Our findings suggest that noncoding organelle DNA can be transcriptionally active, raising questions about the underlying function of these transcripts and underscoring the utility of publicly available RNA-seq data for recovering complete genome sequences. If pervasive transcription is also found in bigger organelle genomes (>105 kb and across a broader range of eukaryotes, this could indicate that noncoding organelle RNAs are regulating fundamental processes within eukaryotic cells.

Adiponectin Concentrations: A Genome-wide Association Study

Science.gov (United States)

Jee, Sun Ha; Sull, Jae Woong; Lee, Jong-Eun; Shin, Chol; Park, Jongkeun; Kimm, Heejin; Cho, Eun-Young; Shin, Eun-Soon; Yun, Ji Eun; Park, Ji Wan; Kim, Sang Yeun; Lee, Sun Ju; Jee, Eun Jung; Baik, Inkyung; Kao, Linda; Yoon, Sungjoo Kim; Jang, Yangsoo; Beaty, Terri H.

2010-01-01

Adiponectin is associated with obesity and insulin resistance. To date, there has been no genome-wide association study (GWAS) of adiponectin levels in Asians. Here we present a GWAS of a cohort of Korean volunteers. A total of 4,001 subjects were genotyped by using a genome-wide marker panel in a two-stage design (979 subjects initially and 3,022 in a second stage). Another 2,304 subjects were used for follow-up replication studies with selected markers. In the discovery phase, the top SNP associated with mean log adiponectin was rs3865188 in CDH13 on chromosome 16 (p = 1.69 × 10−15 in the initial sample, p = 6.58 × 10−39 in the second genome-wide sample, and p = 2.12 × 10−32 in the replication sample). The meta-analysis p value for rs3865188 in all 6,305 individuals was 2.82 × 10−83. The association of rs3865188 with high-molecular-weight adiponectin (p = 7.36 × 10−58) was even stronger in the third sample. A reporter assay that evaluated the effects of a CDH13 promoter SNP in complete linkage disequilibrium with rs3865188 revealed that the major allele increased expression 2.2-fold. This study clearly shows that genetic variants in CDH13 influence adiponectin levels in Korean adults. PMID:20887962

Evolutionary paths of streptococcal and staphylococcal superantigens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Okumura Kayo

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS harbors several superantigens (SAgs in the prophage region of its genome, although speG and smez are not located in this region. The diversity of SAgs is thought to arise during horizontal transfer, but their evolutionary pathways have not yet been determined. We recently completed sequencing the entire genome of S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (SDSE, the closest relative of GAS. Although speG is the only SAg gene of SDSE, speG was present in only 50% of clinical SDSE strains and smez in none. In this study, we analyzed the evolutionary paths of streptococcal and staphylococcal SAgs. Results We compared the sequences of the 12–60 kb speG regions of nine SDSE strains, five speG+ and four speG–. We found that the synteny of this region was highly conserved, whether or not the speG gene was present. Synteny analyses based on genome-wide comparisons of GAS and SDSE indicated that speG is the direct descendant of a common ancestor of streptococcal SAgs, whereas smez was deleted from SDSE after SDSE and GAS split from a common ancestor. Cumulative nucleotide skew analysis of SDSE genomes suggested that speG was located outside segments of steeper slopes than the stable region in the genome, whereas the region flanking smez was unstable, as expected from the results of GAS. We also detected a previously undescribed staphylococcal SAg gene, selW, and a staphylococcal SAg -like gene, ssl, in the core genomes of all Staphylococcus aureus strains sequenced. Amino acid substitution analyses, based on dN/dS window analysis of the products encoded by speG, selW and ssl suggested that all three genes have been subjected to strong positive selection. Evolutionary analysis based on the Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method showed that each clade included at least one direct descendant. Conclusions Our findings reveal a plausible model for the comprehensive evolutionary pathway of streptococcal and

Genome-wide association study identifies five new schizophrenia loci.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Ripke, Stephan

2011-10-01

We examined the role of common genetic variation in schizophrenia in a genome-wide association study of substantial size: a stage 1 discovery sample of 21,856 individuals of European ancestry and a stage 2 replication sample of 29,839 independent subjects. The combined stage 1 and 2 analysis yielded genome-wide significant associations with schizophrenia for seven loci, five of which are new (1p21.3, 2q32.3, 8p23.2, 8q21.3 and 10q24.32-q24.33) and two of which have been previously implicated (6p21.32-p22.1 and 18q21.2). The strongest new finding (P = 1.6 × 10(-11)) was with rs1625579 within an intron of a putative primary transcript for MIR137 (microRNA 137), a known regulator of neuronal development. Four other schizophrenia loci achieving genome-wide significance contain predicted targets of MIR137, suggesting MIR137-mediated dysregulation as a previously unknown etiologic mechanism in schizophrenia. In a joint analysis with a bipolar disorder sample (16,374 affected individuals and 14,044 controls), three loci reached genome-wide significance: CACNA1C (rs4765905, P = 7.0 × 10(-9)), ANK3 (rs10994359, P = 2.5 × 10(-8)) and the ITIH3-ITIH4 region (rs2239547, P = 7.8 × 10(-9)).

FGWAS: Functional genome wide association analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Chao; Thompson, Paul; Wang, Yalin; Yu, Yang; Zhang, Jingwen; Kong, Dehan; Colen, Rivka R; Knickmeyer, Rebecca C; Zhu, Hongtu

2017-10-01

Functional phenotypes (e.g., subcortical surface representation), which commonly arise in imaging genetic studies, have been used to detect putative genes for complexly inherited neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. However, existing statistical methods largely ignore the functional features (e.g., functional smoothness and correlation). The aim of this paper is to develop a functional genome-wide association analysis (FGWAS) framework to efficiently carry out whole-genome analyses of functional phenotypes. FGWAS consists of three components: a multivariate varying coefficient model, a global sure independence screening procedure, and a test procedure. Compared with the standard multivariate regression model, the multivariate varying coefficient model explicitly models the functional features of functional phenotypes through the integration of smooth coefficient functions and functional principal component analysis. Statistically, compared with existing methods for genome-wide association studies (GWAS), FGWAS can substantially boost the detection power for discovering important genetic variants influencing brain structure and function. Simulation studies show that FGWAS outperforms existing GWAS methods for searching sparse signals in an extremely large search space, while controlling for the family-wise error rate. We have successfully applied FGWAS to large-scale analysis of data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative for 708 subjects, 30,000 vertices on the left and right hippocampal surfaces, and 501,584 SNPs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary Quantitative Genomics of Populus trichocarpa.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilga Porth

Full Text Available Forest trees generally show high levels of local adaptation and efforts focusing on understanding adaptation to climate will be crucial for species survival and management. Here, we address fundamental questions regarding the molecular basis of adaptation in undomesticated forest tree populations to past climatic environments by employing an integrative quantitative genetics and landscape genomics approach. Using this comprehensive approach, we studied the molecular basis of climate adaptation in 433 Populus trichocarpa (black cottonwood genotypes originating across western North America. Variation in 74 field-assessed traits (growth, ecophysiology, phenology, leaf stomata, wood, and disease resistance was investigated for signatures of selection (comparing QST-FST using clustering of individuals by climate of origin (temperature and precipitation. 29,354 SNPs were investigated employing three different outlier detection methods and marker-inferred relatedness was estimated to obtain the narrow-sense estimate of population differentiation in wild populations. In addition, we compared our results with previously assessed selection of candidate SNPs using the 25 topographical units (drainages across the P. trichocarpa sampling range as population groupings. Narrow-sense QST for 53% of distinct field traits was significantly divergent from expectations of neutrality (indicating adaptive trait variation; 2,855 SNPs showed signals of diversifying selection and of these, 118 SNPs (within 81 genes were associated with adaptive traits (based on significant QST. Many SNPs were putatively pleiotropic for functionally uncorrelated adaptive traits, such as autumn phenology, height, and disease resistance. Evolutionary quantitative genomics in P. trichocarpa provides an enhanced understanding regarding the molecular basis of climate-driven selection in forest trees and we highlight that important loci underlying adaptive trait variation also show

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association from genomic prediction models

Science.gov (United States)

A limitation of many genome-wide association studies (GWA) in animal breeding is that there are many loci with small effect sizes; thus, larger sample sizes (N) are required to guarantee suitable power of detection. To increase sample size, results from different GWA can be combined in a meta-analys...

Revisiting the classification of curtoviruses based on genome-wide pairwise identity

KAUST Repository

Varsani, Arvind; Martin, Darren Patrick; Navas-Castillo, Jesú s; Moriones, Enrique; Herná ndez-Zepeda, Cecilia; Idris, Ali; Murilo Zerbini, F.; Brown, Judith K.

2014-01-01

Members of the genus Curtovirus (family Geminiviridae) are important pathogens of many wild and cultivated plant species. Until recently, relatively few full curtovirus genomes have been characterised. However, with the 19 full genome sequences now available in public databases, we revisit the proposed curtovirus species and strain classification criteria. Using pairwise identities coupled with phylogenetic evidence, revised species and strain demarcation guidelines have been instituted. Specifically, we have established 77% genome-wide pairwise identity as a species demarcation threshold and 94% genome-wide pairwise identity as a strain demarcation threshold. Hence, whereas curtovirus sequences with >77% genome-wide pairwise identity would be classified as belonging to the same species, those sharing >94% identity would be classified as belonging to the same strain. We provide step-by-step guidelines to facilitate the classification of newly discovered curtovirus full genome sequences and a set of defined criteria for naming new species and strains. The revision yields three curtovirus species: Beet curly top virus (BCTV), Spinach severe surly top virus (SpSCTV) and Horseradish curly top virus (HrCTV). © 2014 Springer-Verlag Wien.

Revisiting the classification of curtoviruses based on genome-wide pairwise identity

KAUST Repository

Varsani, Arvind

2014-01-25

Members of the genus Curtovirus (family Geminiviridae) are important pathogens of many wild and cultivated plant species. Until recently, relatively few full curtovirus genomes have been characterised. However, with the 19 full genome sequences now available in public databases, we revisit the proposed curtovirus species and strain classification criteria. Using pairwise identities coupled with phylogenetic evidence, revised species and strain demarcation guidelines have been instituted. Specifically, we have established 77% genome-wide pairwise identity as a species demarcation threshold and 94% genome-wide pairwise identity as a strain demarcation threshold. Hence, whereas curtovirus sequences with >77% genome-wide pairwise identity would be classified as belonging to the same species, those sharing >94% identity would be classified as belonging to the same strain. We provide step-by-step guidelines to facilitate the classification of newly discovered curtovirus full genome sequences and a set of defined criteria for naming new species and strains. The revision yields three curtovirus species: Beet curly top virus (BCTV), Spinach severe surly top virus (SpSCTV) and Horseradish curly top virus (HrCTV). © 2014 Springer-Verlag Wien.

The role of duplications in the evolution of genomes highlights the need for evolutionary-based approaches in comparative genomics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Levasseur Anthony

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Understanding the evolutionary plasticity of the genome requires a global, comparative approach in which genetic events are considered both in a phylogenetic framework and with regard to population genetics and environmental variables. In the mechanisms that generate adaptive and non-adaptive changes in genomes, segmental duplications (duplication of individual genes or genomic regions and polyploidization (whole genome duplications are well-known driving forces. The probability of fixation and maintenance of duplicates depends on many variables, including population sizes and selection regimes experienced by the corresponding genes: a combination of stochastic and adaptive mechanisms has shaped all genomes. A survey of experimental work shows that the distinction made between fixation and maintenance of duplicates still needs to be conceptualized and mathematically modeled. Here we review the mechanisms that increase or decrease the probability of fixation or maintenance of duplicated genes, and examine the outcome of these events on the adaptation of the organisms. Reviewers This article was reviewed by Dr. Etienne Joly, Dr. Lutz Walter and Dr. W. Ford Doolittle.

Pervasive, Genome-Wide Transcription in the Organelle Genomes of Diverse Plastid-Bearing Protists.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanitá Lima, Matheus; Smith, David Roy

2017-11-06

Organelle genomes are among the most sequenced kinds of chromosome. This is largely because they are small and widely used in molecular studies, but also because next-generation sequencing technologies made sequencing easier, faster, and cheaper. However, studies of organelle RNA have not kept pace with those of DNA, despite huge amounts of freely available eukaryotic RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data. Little is known about organelle transcription in nonmodel species, and most of the available eukaryotic RNA-seq data have not been mined for organelle transcripts. Here, we use publicly available RNA-seq experiments to investigate organelle transcription in 30 diverse plastid-bearing protists with varying organelle genomic architectures. Mapping RNA-seq data to organelle genomes revealed pervasive, genome-wide transcription, regardless of the taxonomic grouping, gene organization, or noncoding content. For every species analyzed, transcripts covered ≥85% of the mitochondrial and/or plastid genomes (all of which were ≤105 kb), indicating that most of the organelle DNA-coding and noncoding-is transcriptionally active. These results follow earlier studies of model species showing that organellar transcription is coupled and ubiquitous across the genome, requiring significant downstream processing of polycistronic transcripts. Our findings suggest that noncoding organelle DNA can be transcriptionally active, raising questions about the underlying function of these transcripts and underscoring the utility of publicly available RNA-seq data for recovering complete genome sequences. If pervasive transcription is also found in bigger organelle genomes (>105 kb) and across a broader range of eukaryotes, this could indicate that noncoding organelle RNAs are regulating fundamental processes within eukaryotic cells. Copyright © 2017 Sanitá Lima and Smith.

a potential source of spurious associations in genome-wide ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

2010-04-01

Apr 1, 2010 ... Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) examine the entire human genome with the goal of identifying genetic variants. (usually single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)) that are associated with phenotypic traits such as disease status and drug response. The discordance of significantly associated ...

Genome-wide analysis of LTR-retrotransposons in oil palm.

Science.gov (United States)

Beulé, Thierry; Agbessi, Mawussé Dt; Dussert, Stephane; Jaligot, Estelle; Guyot, Romain

2015-10-15

. Moreover, the knowledge gained from this study constitutes a valuable resource for both the improvement of genome annotation and the investigation of the evolutionary history of palms.

Role of genomic typing in taxonomy, evolutionary genetics, and microbial epidemiology.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belkum, van A.; Struelens, M.; Visser, de J.A.G.M.; Verburgh, H.; Tibayrenc., M.

2001-01-01

Currently, genetic typing of microorganisms is widely used in several major fields of microbiological research. Taxonomy, research aimed at elucidation of evolutionary dynamics or phylogenetic relationships, population genetics of microorganisms, and microbial epidemiology all rely on genetic typing

Genome-wide association study of smoking initiation and current smoking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vink, Jacqueline M; Smit, August B; de Geus, Eco J C

2009-01-01

For the identification of genes associated with smoking initiation and current smoking, genome-wide association analyses were carried out in 3497 subjects. Significant genes that replicated in three independent samples (n = 405, 5810, and 1648) were visualized into a biologically meaningful network......) and cell-adhesion molecules (e.g., CDH23). We conclude that a network-based genome-wide association approach can identify genes influencing smoking behavior....

The evolutionary history of bears is characterized by gene flow across species

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Vikas; Lammers, Fritjof; Bidon, Tobias; Pfenninger, Markus; Kolter, Lydia; Nilsson, Maria A.; Janke, Axel

2017-01-01

Bears are iconic mammals with a complex evolutionary history. Natural bear hybrids and studies of few nuclear genes indicate that gene flow among bears may be more common than expected and not limited to polar and brown bears. Here we present a genome analysis of the bear family with representatives of all living species. Phylogenomic analyses of 869 mega base pairs divided into 18,621 genome fragments yielded a well-resolved coalescent species tree despite signals for extensive gene flow across species. However, genome analyses using different statistical methods show that gene flow is not limited to closely related species pairs. Strong ancestral gene flow between the Asiatic black bear and the ancestor to polar, brown and American black bear explains uncertainties in reconstructing the bear phylogeny. Gene flow across the bear clade may be mediated by intermediate species such as the geographically wide-spread brown bears leading to large amounts of phylogenetic conflict. Genome-scale analyses lead to a more complete understanding of complex evolutionary processes. Evidence for extensive inter-specific gene flow, found also in other animal species, necessitates shifting the attention from speciation processes achieving genome-wide reproductive isolation to the selective processes that maintain species divergence in the face of gene flow. PMID:28422140

The evolutionary history of bears is characterized by gene flow across species.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Vikas; Lammers, Fritjof; Bidon, Tobias; Pfenninger, Markus; Kolter, Lydia; Nilsson, Maria A; Janke, Axel

2017-04-19

Bears are iconic mammals with a complex evolutionary history. Natural bear hybrids and studies of few nuclear genes indicate that gene flow among bears may be more common than expected and not limited to polar and brown bears. Here we present a genome analysis of the bear family with representatives of all living species. Phylogenomic analyses of 869 mega base pairs divided into 18,621 genome fragments yielded a well-resolved coalescent species tree despite signals for extensive gene flow across species. However, genome analyses using different statistical methods show that gene flow is not limited to closely related species pairs. Strong ancestral gene flow between the Asiatic black bear and the ancestor to polar, brown and American black bear explains uncertainties in reconstructing the bear phylogeny. Gene flow across the bear clade may be mediated by intermediate species such as the geographically wide-spread brown bears leading to large amounts of phylogenetic conflict. Genome-scale analyses lead to a more complete understanding of complex evolutionary processes. Evidence for extensive inter-specific gene flow, found also in other animal species, necessitates shifting the attention from speciation processes achieving genome-wide reproductive isolation to the selective processes that maintain species divergence in the face of gene flow.

Adaptive divergence despite strong genetic drift: genomic analysis of the evolutionary mechanisms causing genetic differentiation in the island fox (Urocyon littoralis)

Science.gov (United States)

FUNK, W. CHRIS; LOVICH, ROBERT E.; HOHENLOHE, PAUL A.; HOFMAN, COURTNEY A.; MORRISON, SCOTT A.; SILLETT, T. SCOTT; GHALAMBOR, CAMERON K.; MALDONADO, JESUS E.; RICK, TORBEN C.; DAY, MITCH D.; POLATO, NICHOLAS R.; FITZPATRICK, SARAH W.; COONAN, TIMOTHY J.; CROOKS, KEVIN R.; DILLON, ADAM; GARCELON, DAVID K.; KING, JULIE L.; BOSER, CHRISTINA L.; GOULD, NICHOLAS; ANDELT, WILLIAM F.

2016-01-01

The evolutionary mechanisms generating the tremendous biodiversity of islands have long fascinated evolutionary biologists. Genetic drift and divergent selection are predicted to be strong on islands and both could drive population divergence and speciation. Alternatively, strong genetic drift may preclude adaptation. We conducted a genomic analysis to test the roles of genetic drift and divergent selection in causing genetic differentiation among populations of the island fox (Urocyon littoralis). This species consists of 6 subspecies, each of which occupies a different California Channel Island. Analysis of 5293 SNP loci generated using Restriction-site Associated DNA (RAD) sequencing found support for genetic drift as the dominant evolutionary mechanism driving population divergence among island fox populations. In particular, populations had exceptionally low genetic variation, small Ne (range = 2.1–89.7; median = 19.4), and significant genetic signatures of bottlenecks. Moreover, islands with the lowest genetic variation (and, by inference, the strongest historical genetic drift) were most genetically differentiated from mainland gray foxes, and vice versa, indicating genetic drift drives genome-wide divergence. Nonetheless, outlier tests identified 3.6–6.6% of loci as high FST outliers, suggesting that despite strong genetic drift, divergent selection contributes to population divergence. Patterns of similarity among populations based on high FST outliers mirrored patterns based on morphology, providing additional evidence that outliers reflect adaptive divergence. Extremely low genetic variation and small Ne in some island fox populations, particularly on San Nicolas Island, suggest that they may be vulnerable to fixation of deleterious alleles, decreased fitness, and reduced adaptive potential. PMID:26992010

Adaptive divergence despite strong genetic drift: genomic analysis of the evolutionary mechanisms causing genetic differentiation in the island fox (Urocyon littoralis).

Science.gov (United States)

Funk, W Chris; Lovich, Robert E; Hohenlohe, Paul A; Hofman, Courtney A; Morrison, Scott A; Sillett, T Scott; Ghalambor, Cameron K; Maldonado, Jesus E; Rick, Torben C; Day, Mitch D; Polato, Nicholas R; Fitzpatrick, Sarah W; Coonan, Timothy J; Crooks, Kevin R; Dillon, Adam; Garcelon, David K; King, Julie L; Boser, Christina L; Gould, Nicholas; Andelt, William F

2016-05-01

The evolutionary mechanisms generating the tremendous biodiversity of islands have long fascinated evolutionary biologists. Genetic drift and divergent selection are predicted to be strong on islands and both could drive population divergence and speciation. Alternatively, strong genetic drift may preclude adaptation. We conducted a genomic analysis to test the roles of genetic drift and divergent selection in causing genetic differentiation among populations of the island fox (Urocyon littoralis). This species consists of six subspecies, each of which occupies a different California Channel Island. Analysis of 5293 SNP loci generated using Restriction-site Associated DNA (RAD) sequencing found support for genetic drift as the dominant evolutionary mechanism driving population divergence among island fox populations. In particular, populations had exceptionally low genetic variation, small Ne (range = 2.1-89.7; median = 19.4), and significant genetic signatures of bottlenecks. Moreover, islands with the lowest genetic variation (and, by inference, the strongest historical genetic drift) were most genetically differentiated from mainland grey foxes, and vice versa, indicating genetic drift drives genome-wide divergence. Nonetheless, outlier tests identified 3.6-6.6% of loci as high FST outliers, suggesting that despite strong genetic drift, divergent selection contributes to population divergence. Patterns of similarity among populations based on high FST outliers mirrored patterns based on morphology, providing additional evidence that outliers reflect adaptive divergence. Extremely low genetic variation and small Ne in some island fox populations, particularly on San Nicolas Island, suggest that they may be vulnerable to fixation of deleterious alleles, decreased fitness and reduced adaptive potential. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A genome-wide association study of aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Stefan; Atzmon, Gil; Demerath, Ellen W; Garcia, Melissa E; Kaplan, Robert C; Kumari, Meena; Lunetta, Kathryn L; Milaneschi, Yuri; Tanaka, Toshiko; Tranah, Gregory J; Völker, Uwe; Yu, Lei; Arnold, Alice; Benjamin, Emelia J; Biffar, Reiner; Buchman, Aron S; Boerwinkle, Eric; Couper, David; De Jager, Philip L; Evans, Denis A; Harris, Tamara B; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Hofman, Albert; Karasik, David; Kiel, Douglas P; Kocher, Thomas; Kuningas, Maris; Launer, Lenore J; Lohman, Kurt K; Lutsey, Pamela L; Mackenbach, Johan; Marciante, Kristin; Psaty, Bruce M; Reiman, Eric M; Rotter, Jerome I; Seshadri, Sudha; Shardell, Michelle D; Smith, Albert V; van Duijn, Cornelia; Walston, Jeremy; Zillikens, M Carola; Bandinelli, Stefania; Baumeister, Sebastian E; Bennett, David A; Ferrucci, Luigi; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Kivimaki, Mika; Liu, Yongmei; Murabito, Joanne M; Newman, Anne B; Tiemeier, Henning; Franceschini, Nora

2011-11-01

Human longevity and healthy aging show moderate heritability (20%-50%). We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies from 9 studies from the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Consortium for 2 outcomes: (1) all-cause mortality, and (2) survival free of major disease or death. No single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was a genome-wide significant predictor of either outcome (p < 5 × 10(-8)). We found 14 independent SNPs that predicted risk of death, and 8 SNPs that predicted event-free survival (p < 10(-5)). These SNPs are in or near genes that are highly expressed in the brain (HECW2, HIP1, BIN2, GRIA1), genes involved in neural development and function (KCNQ4, LMO4, GRIA1, NETO1) and autophagy (ATG4C), and genes that are associated with risk of various diseases including cancer and Alzheimer's disease. In addition to considerable overlap between the traits, pathway and network analysis corroborated these findings. These findings indicate that variation in genes involved in neurological processes may be an important factor in regulating aging free of major disease and achieving longevity. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gigwa-Genotype investigator for genome-wide analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Sempéré, Guilhem; Philippe, Florian; Dereeper, Alexis; Ruiz, Manuel; Sarah, Gautier; Larmande, Pierre

2016-06-06

Exploring the structure of genomes and analyzing their evolution is essential to understanding the ecological adaptation of organisms. However, with the large amounts of data being produced by next-generation sequencing, computational challenges arise in terms of storage, search, sharing, analysis and visualization. This is particularly true with regards to studies of genomic variation, which are currently lacking scalable and user-friendly data exploration solutions. Here we present Gigwa, a web-based tool that provides an easy and intuitive way to explore large amounts of genotyping data by filtering it not only on the basis of variant features, including functional annotations, but also on genotype patterns. The data storage relies on MongoDB, which offers good scalability properties. Gigwa can handle multiple databases and may be deployed in either single- or multi-user mode. In addition, it provides a wide range of popular export formats. The Gigwa application is suitable for managing large amounts of genomic variation data. Its user-friendly web interface makes such processing widely accessible. It can either be simply deployed on a workstation or be used to provide a shared data portal for a given community of researchers.

Genomes of coral dinoflagellate symbionts highlight evolutionary adaptations conducive to a symbiotic lifestyle

KAUST Repository

Aranda, Manuel

2016-12-22

Despite half a century of research, the biology of dinoflagellates remains enigmatic: they defy many functional and genetic traits attributed to typical eukaryotic cells. Genomic approaches to study dinoflagellates are often stymied due to their large, multi-gigabase genomes. Members of the genus Symbiodinium are photosynthetic endosymbionts of stony corals that provide the foundation of coral reef ecosystems. Their smaller genome sizes provide an opportunity to interrogate evolution and functionality of dinoflagellate genomes and endosymbiosis. We sequenced the genome of the ancestral Symbiodinium microadriaticum and compared it to the genomes of the more derived Symbiodinium minutum and Symbiodinium kawagutii and eukaryote model systems as well as transcriptomes from other dinoflagellates. Comparative analyses of genome and transcriptome protein sets show that all dinoflagellates, not only Symbiodinium, possess significantly more transmembrane transporters involved in the exchange of amino acids, lipids, and glycerol than other eukaryotes. Importantly, we find that only Symbiodinium harbor an extensive transporter repertoire associated with the provisioning of carbon and nitrogen. Analyses of these transporters show species-specific expansions, which provides a genomic basis to explain differential compatibilities to an array of hosts and environments, and highlights the putative importance of gene duplications as an evolutionary mechanism in dinoflagellates and Symbiodinium.

Genomes of coral dinoflagellate symbionts highlight evolutionary adaptations conducive to a symbiotic lifestyle

KAUST Repository

Aranda, Manuel; Li, Yangyang; Liew, Yi Jin; Baumgarten, Sebastian; Simakov, O.; Wilson, M. C.; Piel, J.; Ashoor, Haitham; Bougouffa, Salim; Bajic, Vladimir B.; Ryu, Tae Woo; Ravasi, Timothy; Bayer, Till; Micklem, G.; Kim, H.; Bhak, J.; LaJeunesse, T. C.; Voolstra, Christian R.

2016-01-01

Despite half a century of research, the biology of dinoflagellates remains enigmatic: they defy many functional and genetic traits attributed to typical eukaryotic cells. Genomic approaches to study dinoflagellates are often stymied due to their large, multi-gigabase genomes. Members of the genus Symbiodinium are photosynthetic endosymbionts of stony corals that provide the foundation of coral reef ecosystems. Their smaller genome sizes provide an opportunity to interrogate evolution and functionality of dinoflagellate genomes and endosymbiosis. We sequenced the genome of the ancestral Symbiodinium microadriaticum and compared it to the genomes of the more derived Symbiodinium minutum and Symbiodinium kawagutii and eukaryote model systems as well as transcriptomes from other dinoflagellates. Comparative analyses of genome and transcriptome protein sets show that all dinoflagellates, not only Symbiodinium, possess significantly more transmembrane transporters involved in the exchange of amino acids, lipids, and glycerol than other eukaryotes. Importantly, we find that only Symbiodinium harbor an extensive transporter repertoire associated with the provisioning of carbon and nitrogen. Analyses of these transporters show species-specific expansions, which provides a genomic basis to explain differential compatibilities to an array of hosts and environments, and highlights the putative importance of gene duplications as an evolutionary mechanism in dinoflagellates and Symbiodinium.

The Physcomitrella genome reveals evolutionary insights into the conquest of land by plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rensing, Stefan A.; Lang, Daniel; Zimmer, Andreas D.; Terry, Astrid; Salamov, Asaf; Shapiro, Harris; Nishiyama, Tomaoki; Perroud, Pierre-Francois; Lindquist, Erika A.; Kamisugi, Yasuko; Tanahashi, Takako; Sakakibara, Keiko; Fujita, Tomomichi; Oishi, Kazuko; Shin, Tadasu; Kuroki, Yoko; Toyoda, Atsushi; Suzuki, Yutaka; Hashimoto, Shin-ichi; Yamaguchi, Kazuo; Sugano, Sumio; Kohara, Yuji; Fujiyama, Asao; Anterola, Aldwin; Aoki, Setsuyuki; Ashton, Neil; Barbazuk, W. Brad; Barker, Elizabeth; Bennetzen, Jeffrey L.; Blankenship, Robert; Cho, Sung Hyun; Dutcher, Susan K.; Estelle, Mark; Fawcett, Jeffrey A.; Gundlach, Heidrum; Hanada, Kousuke; Melkozernov, Alexander; Murata, Takashi; Nelson, David R.; Pils, Birgit; Prigge, Michael; Reiss, Bernd; Renner, Tanya; Rombauts, Stephane; Rushton, Paul J.; Sanderfoot, Anton; Schween, Gabriele; Shiu, Shin-Han; Stueber, Kurt; Theodoulou, Frederica L.; Tu, Hank; Van de Peer, Yves; Verrier, Paul J.; Waters, Elizabeth; Wood, Andrew; Yang, Lixing; Cove, David; Cuming, Andrew C.; Hasebe, Mitsayasu; Lucas, Susan; Mishler, Brent D.; Reski, Ralf; Grigoriev, Igor V.; Quatrano, Rakph S.; Boore, Jeffrey L.

2007-09-18

We report the draft genome sequence of the model moss Physcomitrella patens and compare its features with those of flowering plants, from which it is separated by more than 400 million years, and unicellular aquatic algae. This comparison reveals genomic changes concomitant with the evolutionary movement to land, including a general increase in gene family complexity; loss of genes associated with aquatic environments (e.g., flagellar arms); acquisition of genes for tolerating terrestrial stresses (e.g., variation in temperature and water availability); and the development of the auxin and abscisic acid signaling pathways for coordinating multicellular growth and dehydration response. The Physcomitrella genome provides a resource for phylogenetic inferences about gene function and for experimental analysis of plant processes through this plant's unique facility for reverse genetics.

Evolutionary Dynamics of Small RNAs in 27 Escherichia coli and Shigella Genomes

Science.gov (United States)

Skippington, Elizabeth; Ragan, Mark A.

2012-01-01

Small RNAs (sRNAs) are widespread in bacteria and play critical roles in regulating physiological processes. They are best characterized in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655, where 83 sRNAs constitute nearly 2% of the gene complement. Most sRNAs act by base pairing with a target mRNA, modulating its translation and/or stability; many of these RNAs share only limited complementarity to their mRNA target, and require the chaperone Hfq to facilitate base pairing. Little is known about the evolutionary dynamics of bacterial sRNAs. Here, we apply phylogenetic and network analyses to investigate the evolutionary processes and principles that govern sRNA gene distribution in 27 E. coli and Shigella genomes. We identify core (encoded in all 27 genomes) and variable sRNAs; more than two-thirds of the E. coli K-12 MG1655 sRNAs are core, whereas the others show patterns of presence and absence that are principally due to genetic loss, not duplication or lateral genetic transfer. We present evidence that variable sRNAs are less tightly integrated into cellular genetic regulatory networks than are the core sRNAs, and that Hfq facilitates posttranscriptional cross talk between the E. coli–Shigella core and variable genomes. Finally, we present evidence that more than 80% of genes targeted by Hfq-associated core sRNAs have been transferred within the E. coli–Shigella clade, and that most of these genes have been transferred intact. These results suggest that Hfq and sRNAs help integrate laterally acquired genes into established regulatory networks. PMID:22223756

Draft genome of the medaka fish: a comprehensive resource for medaka developmental genetics and vertebrate evolutionary biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Takeda, Hiroyuki

2008-06-01

The medaka Oryzias latipes is a small egg-laying freshwater teleost, and has become an excellent model system for developmental genetics and evolutionary biology. The medaka genome is relatively small in size, approximately 800 Mb, and the genome sequencing project was recently completed by Japanese research groups, providing a high-quality draft genome sequence of the inbred Hd-rR strain of medaka. In this review, I present an overview of the medaka genome project including genome resources, followed by specific findings obtained with the medaka draft genome. In particular, I focus on the analysis that was done by taking advantage of the medaka system, such as the sex chromosome differentiation and the regional history of medaka species using single nucleotide polymorphisms as genomic markers.

Genome-wide association study of Tourette's syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scharf, J. M.; Yu, D.; Mathews, C. A.; Neale, B. M.; Stewart, S. E.; Fagerness, J. A.; Evans, P.; Gamazon, E.; Edlund, C. K.; Service, S. K.; Tikhomirov, A.; Osiecki, L.; Illmann, C.; Pluzhnikov, A.; Konkashbaev, A.; Davis, L. K.; Han, B.; Crane, J.; Moorjani, P.; Crenshaw, A. T.; Parkin, M. A.; Reus, V. I.; Lowe, T. L.; Rangel-Lugo, M.; Chouinard, S.; Dion, Y.; Girard, S.; Cath, D. C.; Smit, J. H.; King, R. A.; Fernandez, T. V.; Leckman, J. F.; Kidd, K. K.; Kidd, J. R.; Pakstis, A. J.; State, M. W.; Herrera, L. D.; Romero, R.; Fournier, E.; Sandor, P.; Barr, C. L.; Phan, N.; Gross-Tsur, V.; Benarroch, F.; Pollak, Y.; Budman, C. L.; Bruun, R. D.; Erenberg, G.; Naarden, A. L.; Hoekstra, P. J.

2013-01-01

Tourette's syndrome (TS) is a developmental disorder that has one of the highest familial recurrence rates among neuropsychiatric diseases with complex inheritance. However, the identification of definitive TS susceptibility genes remains elusive. Here, we report the first genome-wide association

Evolutionary insights into scleractinian corals using comparative genomic hybridizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aranda Manuel

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Coral reefs belong to the most ecologically and economically important ecosystems on our planet. Yet, they are under steady decline worldwide due to rising sea surface temperatures, disease, and pollution. Understanding the molecular impact of these stressors on different coral species is imperative in order to predict how coral populations will respond to this continued disturbance. The use of molecular tools such as microarrays has provided deep insight into the molecular stress response of corals. Here, we have performed comparative genomic hybridizations (CGH with different coral species to an Acropora palmata microarray platform containing 13,546 cDNA clones in order to identify potentially rapidly evolving genes and to determine the suitability of existing microarray platforms for use in gene expression studies (via heterologous hybridization. Results Our results showed that the current microarray platform for A. palmata is able to provide biological relevant information for a wide variety of coral species covering both the complex clade as well the robust clade. Analysis of the fraction of highly diverged genes showed a significantly higher amount of genes without annotation corroborating previous findings that point towards a higher rate of divergence for taxonomically restricted genes. Among the genes with annotation, we found many mitochondrial genes to be highly diverged in M. faveolata when compared to A. palmata, while the majority of nuclear encoded genes maintained an average divergence rate. Conclusions The use of present microarray platforms for transcriptional analyses in different coral species will greatly enhance the understanding of the molecular basis of stress and health and highlight evolutionary differences between scleractinian coral species. On a genomic basis, we show that cDNA arrays can be used to identify patterns of divergence. Mitochondrion-encoded genes seem to have diverged faster than

Genome-wide variation in recombination rate in Eucalyptus.

Science.gov (United States)

Gion, Jean-Marc; Hudson, Corey J; Lesur, Isabelle; Vaillancourt, René E; Potts, Brad M; Freeman, Jules S

2016-08-09

Meiotic recombination is a fundamental evolutionary process. It not only generates diversity, but influences the efficacy of natural selection and genome evolution. There can be significant heterogeneity in recombination rates within and between species, however this variation is not well understood outside of a few model taxa, particularly in forest trees. Eucalypts are forest trees of global economic importance, and dominate many Australian ecosystems. We studied recombination rate in Eucalyptus globulus using genetic linkage maps constructed in 10 unrelated individuals, and markers anchored to the Eucalyptus reference genome. This experimental design provided the replication to study whether recombination rate varied between individuals and chromosomes, and allowed us to study the genomic attributes and population genetic parameters correlated with this variation. Recombination rate varied significantly between individuals (range = 2.71 to 3.51 centimorgans/megabase [cM/Mb]), but was not significantly influenced by sex or cross type (F1 vs. F2). Significant differences in recombination rate between chromosomes were also evident (range = 1.98 to 3.81 cM/Mb), beyond those which were due to variation in chromosome size. Variation in chromosomal recombination rate was significantly correlated with gene density (r = 0.94), GC content (r = 0.90), and the number of tandem duplicated genes (r = -0.72) per chromosome. Notably, chromosome level recombination rate was also negatively correlated with the average genetic diversity across six species from an independent set of samples (r = -0.75). The correlations with genomic attributes are consistent with findings in other taxa, however, the direction of the correlation between diversity and recombination rate is opposite to that commonly observed. We argue this is likely to reflect the interaction of selection and specific genome architecture of Eucalyptus. Interestingly, the differences amongst

The genome sequence of the North-European cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) unravels evolutionary adaptation mechanisms in plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Wóycicki, Rafał; Witkowicz, Justyna; Gawroński, Piotr; Dąbrowska, Joanna; Lomsadze, Alexandre; Pawełkowicz, Magdalena; Siedlecka, Ewa; Yagi, Kohei; Pląder, Wojciech; Seroczyńska, Anna; Śmiech, Mieczysław; Gutman, Wojciech; Niemirowicz-Szczytt, Katarzyna; Bartoszewski, Grzegorz; Tagashira, Norikazu; Hoshi, Yoshikazu; Borodovsky, Mark; Karpiński, Stanisław; Malepszy, Stefan; Przybecki, Zbigniew

2011-01-01

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), a widely cultivated crop, has originated from Eastern Himalayas and secondary domestication regions includes highly divergent climate conditions e.g. temperate and subtropical. We wanted to uncover adaptive genome differences between the cucumber cultivars and what sort of evolutionary molecular mechanisms regulate genetic adaptation of plants to different ecosystems and organism biodiversity. Here we present the draft genome sequence of the Cucumis sativus genome of the North-European Borszczagowski cultivar (line B10) and comparative genomics studies with the known genomes of: C. sativus (Chinese cultivar--Chinese Long (line 9930)), Arabidopsis thaliana, Populus trichocarpa and Oryza sativa. Cucumber genomes show extensive chromosomal rearrangements, distinct differences in quantity of the particular genes (e.g. involved in photosynthesis, respiration, sugar metabolism, chlorophyll degradation, regulation of gene expression, photooxidative stress tolerance, higher non-optimal temperatures tolerance and ammonium ion assimilation) as well as in distributions of abscisic acid-, dehydration- and ethylene-responsive cis-regulatory elements (CREs) in promoters of orthologous group of genes, which lead to the specific adaptation features. Abscisic acid treatment of non-acclimated Arabidopsis and C. sativus seedlings induced moderate freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis but not in C. sativus. This experiment together with analysis of abscisic acid-specific CRE distributions give a clue why C. sativus is much more susceptible to moderate freezing stresses than A. thaliana. Comparative analysis of all the five genomes showed that, each species and/or cultivars has a specific profile of CRE content in promoters of orthologous genes. Our results constitute the substantial and original resource for the basic and applied research on environmental adaptations of plants, which could facilitate creation of new crops with improved growth and yield in

Genome-wide linkage analysis for human longevity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beekman, Marian; Blanché, Hélène; Perola, Markus

2013-01-01

Clear evidence exists for heritability of human longevity, and much interest is focused on identifying genes associated with longer lives. To identify such longevity alleles, we performed the largest genome-wide linkage scan thus far reported. Linkage analyses included 2118 nonagenarian Caucasian...

Genome-wide analysis of the WRKY transcription factors in aegilops tauschii.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Jianhui; Zhang, Daijing; Shao, Yun; Liu, Pei; Jiang, Lina; Li, Chunxi

2014-01-01

The WRKY transcription factors (TFs) play important roles in responding to abiotic and biotic stress in plants. However, due to its unfinished genome sequencing, relatively few WRKY TFs with full-length coding sequences (CDSs) have been identified in wheat. Instead, the Aegilops tauschii genome, which is the D-genome progenitor of the hexaploid wheat genome, provides important resources for the discovery of new genes. In this study, we performed a bioinformatics analysis to identify WRKY TFs with full-length CDSs from the A. tauschii genome. A detailed evolutionary analysis for all these TFs was conducted, and quantitative real-time PCR was carried out to investigate the expression patterns of the abiotic stress-related WRKY TFs under different abiotic stress conditions in A. tauschii seedlings. A total of 93 WRKY TFs were identified from A. tauschii, and 79 of them were found to be newly discovered genes compared with wheat. Gene phylogeny, gene structure and chromosome location of the 93 WRKY TFs were fully analyzed. These studies provide a global view of the WRKY TFs from A. tauschii and a firm foundation for further investigations in both A. tauschii and wheat. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Genome-wide comparative analysis reveals similar types of NBS genes in hybrid Citrus sinensis genome and original Citrus clementine genome and provides new insights into non-TIR NBS genes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunsheng Wang

Full Text Available In this study, we identified and compared nucleotide-binding site (NBS domain-containing genes from three Citrus genomes (C. clementina, C. sinensis from USA and C. sinensis from China. Phylogenetic analysis of all Citrus NBS genes across these three genomes revealed that there are three approximately evenly numbered groups: one group contains the Toll-Interleukin receptor (TIR domain and two different Non-TIR groups in which most of proteins contain the Coiled Coil (CC domain. Motif analysis confirmed that the two groups of CC-containing NBS genes are from different evolutionary origins. We partitioned NBS genes into clades using NBS domain sequence distances and found most clades include NBS genes from all three Citrus genomes. This suggests that three Citrus genomes have similar numbers and types of NBS genes. We also mapped the re-sequenced reads of three pomelo and three mandarin genomes onto the C. sinensis genome. We found that most NBS genes of the hybrid C. sinensis genome have corresponding homologous genes in both pomelo and mandarin genomes. The homologous NBS genes in pomelo and mandarin suggest that the parental species of C. sinensis may contain similar types of NBS genes. This explains why the hybrid C. sinensis and original C. clementina have similar types of NBS genes in this study. Furthermore, we found that sequence variation amongst Citrus NBS genes were shaped by multiple independent and shared accelerated mutation accumulation events among different groups of NBS genes and in different Citrus genomes. Our comparative analyses yield valuable insight into the structure, organization and evolution of NBS genes in Citrus genomes. Furthermore, our comprehensive analysis showed that the non-TIR NBS genes can be divided into two groups that come from different evolutionary origins. This provides new insights into non-TIR genes, which have not received much attention.

Evolutionary rates of mitochondrial genomes correspond to diversification rates and to contemporary species richness in birds and reptiles

Science.gov (United States)

Eo, Soo Hyung; DeWoody, J. Andrew

2010-01-01

Rates of biological diversification should ultimately correspond to rates of genome evolution. Recent studies have compared diversification rates with phylogenetic branch lengths, but incomplete phylogenies hamper such analyses for many taxa. Herein, we use pairwise comparisons of confamilial sauropsid (bird and reptile) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genome sequences to estimate substitution rates. These molecular evolutionary rates are considered in light of the age and species richness of each taxonomic family, using a random-walk speciation–extinction process to estimate rates of diversification. We find the molecular clock ticks at disparate rates in different families and at different genes. For example, evolutionary rates are relatively fast in snakes and lizards, intermediate in crocodilians and slow in turtles and birds. There was also rate variation across genes, where non-synonymous substitution rates were fastest at ATP8 and slowest at CO3. Family-by-gene interactions were significant, indicating that local clocks vary substantially among sauropsids. Most importantly, we find evidence that mitochondrial genome evolutionary rates are positively correlated with speciation rates and with contemporary species richness. Nuclear sequences are poorly represented among reptiles, but the correlation between rates of molecular evolution and species diversification also extends to 18 avian nuclear genes we tested. Thus, the nuclear data buttress our mtDNA findings. PMID:20610427

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of adiposity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oskari Kilpeläinen, Tuomas; Ingelsson, Erik

2016-01-01

Adiposity is strongly heritable and one of the leading risk factors for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature death. In the past 8 years, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have greatly increased our understanding of the genes and biological pathways that regulate...

Meta-analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies for Extraversion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van den Berg, Stéphanie M; de Moor, Marleen H M; Verweij, K. J. H.

2016-01-01

small sample sizes of those studies. Here, we report on a large meta-analysis of GWA studies for extraversion in 63,030 subjects in 29 cohorts. Extraversion item data from multiple personality inventories were harmonized across inventories and cohorts. No genome-wide significant associations were found...... at the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) level but there was one significant hit at the gene level for a long non-coding RNA site (LOC101928162). Genome-wide complex trait analysis in two large cohorts showed that the additive variance explained by common SNPs was not significantly different from zero...

The Glyphosate-Based Herbicide Roundup Does not Elevate Genome-Wide Mutagenesis of Escherichia coli.

Science.gov (United States)

Tincher, Clayton; Long, Hongan; Behringer, Megan; Walker, Noah; Lynch, Michael

2017-10-05

Mutations induced by pollutants may promote pathogen evolution, for example by accelerating mutations conferring antibiotic resistance. Generally, evaluating the genome-wide mutagenic effects of long-term sublethal pollutant exposure at single-nucleotide resolution is extremely difficult. To overcome this technical barrier, we use the mutation accumulation/whole-genome sequencing (MA/WGS) method as a mutagenicity test, to quantitatively evaluate genome-wide mutagenesis of Escherichia coli after long-term exposure to a wide gradient of the glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) Roundup Concentrate Plus. The genome-wide mutation rate decreases as GBH concentration increases, suggesting that even long-term GBH exposure does not compromise the genome stability of bacteria. Copyright © 2017 Tincher et al.

Universal pacemaker of genome evolution.

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Snir, Sagi; Wolf, Yuri I; Koonin, Eugene V

2012-01-01

A fundamental observation of comparative genomics is that the distribution of evolution rates across the complete sets of orthologous genes in pairs of related genomes remains virtually unchanged throughout the evolution of life, from bacteria to mammals. The most straightforward explanation for the conservation of this distribution appears to be that the relative evolution rates of all genes remain nearly constant, or in other words, that evolutionary rates of different genes are strongly correlated within each evolving genome. This correlation could be explained by a model that we denoted Universal PaceMaker (UPM) of genome evolution. The UPM model posits that the rate of evolution changes synchronously across genome-wide sets of genes in all evolving lineages. Alternatively, however, the correlation between the evolutionary rates of genes could be a simple consequence of molecular clock (MC). We sought to differentiate between the MC and UPM models by fitting thousands of phylogenetic trees for bacterial and archaeal genes to supertrees that reflect the dominant trend of vertical descent in the evolution of archaea and bacteria and that were constrained according to the two models. The goodness of fit for the UPM model was better than the fit for the MC model, with overwhelming statistical significance, although similarly to the MC, the UPM is strongly overdispersed. Thus, the results of this analysis reveal a universal, genome-wide pacemaker of evolution that could have been in operation throughout the history of life.

Meta genome-wide network from functional linkages of genes in human gut microbial ecosystems.

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Ji, Yan; Shi, Yixiang; Wang, Chuan; Dai, Jianliang; Li, Yixue

2013-03-01

The human gut microbial ecosystem (HGME) exerts an important influence on the human health. In recent researches, meta-genomics provided deep insights into the HGME in terms of gene contents, metabolic processes and genome constitutions of meta-genome. Here we present a novel methodology to investigate the HGME on the basis of a set of functionally coupled genes regardless of their genome origins when considering the co-evolution properties of genes. By analyzing these coupled genes, we showed some basic properties of HGME significantly associated with each other, and further constructed a protein interaction map of human gut meta-genome to discover some functional modules that may relate with essential metabolic processes. Compared with other studies, our method provides a new idea to extract basic function elements from meta-genome systems and investigate complex microbial environment by associating its biological traits with co-evolutionary fingerprints encoded in it.

Shifts in the evolutionary rate and intensity of purifying selection between two Brassica genomes revealed by analyses of orthologous transposons and relics of a whole genome triplication.

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Zhao, Meixia; Du, Jianchang; Lin, Feng; Tong, Chaobo; Yu, Jingyin; Huang, Shunmou; Wang, Xiaowu; Liu, Shengyi; Ma, Jianxin

2013-10-01

Recent sequencing of the Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea genomes revealed extremely contrasting genomic features such as the abundance and distribution of transposable elements between the two genomes. However, whether and how these structural differentiations may have influenced the evolutionary rates of the two genomes since their split from a common ancestor are unknown. Here, we investigated and compared the rates of nucleotide substitution between two long terminal repeats (LTRs) of individual orthologous LTR-retrotransposons, the rates of synonymous and non-synonymous substitution among triplicated genes retained in both genomes from a shared whole genome triplication event, and the rates of genetic recombination estimated/deduced by the comparison of physical and genetic distances along chromosomes and ratios of solo LTRs to intact elements. Overall, LTR sequences and genic sequences showed more rapid nucleotide substitution in B. rapa than in B. oleracea. Synonymous substitution of triplicated genes retained from a shared whole genome triplication was detected at higher rates in B. rapa than in B. oleracea. Interestingly, non-synonymous substitution was observed at lower rates in the former than in the latter, indicating shifted densities of purifying selection between the two genomes. In addition to evolutionary asymmetry, orthologous genes differentially regulated and/or disrupted by transposable elements between the two genomes were also characterized. Our analyses suggest that local genomic and epigenomic features, such as recombination rates and chromatin dynamics reshaped by independent proliferation of transposable elements and elimination between the two genomes, are perhaps partially the causes and partially the outcomes of the observed inter-specific asymmetric evolution. © 2013 Purdue University The Plant Journal © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Additions, losses, and rearrangements on the evolutionary route from a reconstructed ancestor to the modern Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome.

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Jonathan L Gordon

2009-05-01

Full Text Available Comparative genomics can be used to infer the history of genomic rearrangements that occurred during the evolution of a species. We used the principle of parsimony, applied to aligned synteny blocks from 11 yeast species, to infer the gene content and gene order that existed in the genome of an extinct ancestral yeast about 100 Mya, immediately before it underwent whole-genome duplication (WGD. The reconstructed ancestral genome contains 4,703 ordered loci on eight chromosomes. The reconstruction is complete except for the subtelomeric regions. We then inferred the series of rearrangement steps that led from this ancestor to the current Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome; relative to the ancestral genome we observe 73 inversions, 66 reciprocal translocations, and five translocations involving telomeres. Some fragile chromosomal sites were reused as evolutionary breakpoints multiple times. We identified 124 genes that have been gained by S. cerevisiae in the time since the WGD, including one that is derived from a hAT family transposon, and 88 ancestral loci at which S. cerevisiae did not retain either of the gene copies that were formed by WGD. Sites of gene gain and evolutionary breakpoints both tend to be associated with tRNA genes and, to a lesser extent, with origins of replication. Many of the gained genes in S. cerevisiae have functions associated with ethanol production, growth in hypoxic environments, or the uptake of alternative nutrient sources.

NSD1 mutations generate a genome-wide DNA methylation signature.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Choufani, S

2015-12-22

Sotos syndrome (SS) represents an important human model system for the study of epigenetic regulation; it is an overgrowth\\/intellectual disability syndrome caused by mutations in a histone methyltransferase, NSD1. As layered epigenetic modifications are often interdependent, we propose that pathogenic NSD1 mutations have a genome-wide impact on the most stable epigenetic mark, DNA methylation (DNAm). By interrogating DNAm in SS patients, we identify a genome-wide, highly significant NSD1(+\\/-)-specific signature that differentiates pathogenic NSD1 mutations from controls, benign NSD1 variants and the clinically overlapping Weaver syndrome. Validation studies of independent cohorts of SS and controls assigned 100% of these samples correctly. This highly specific and sensitive NSD1(+\\/-) signature encompasses genes that function in cellular morphogenesis and neuronal differentiation, reflecting cardinal features of the SS phenotype. The identification of SS-specific genome-wide DNAm alterations will facilitate both the elucidation of the molecular pathophysiology of SS and the development of improved diagnostic testing.

Assumption-free estimation of heritability from genome-wide identity-by-descent sharing between full siblings.

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2006-03-01

Full Text Available The study of continuously varying, quantitative traits is important in evolutionary biology, agriculture, and medicine. Variation in such traits is attributable to many, possibly interacting, genes whose expression may be sensitive to the environment, which makes their dissection into underlying causative factors difficult. An important population parameter for quantitative traits is heritability, the proportion of total variance that is due to genetic factors. Response to artificial and natural selection and the degree of resemblance between relatives are all a function of this parameter. Following the classic paper by R. A. Fisher in 1918, the estimation of additive and dominance genetic variance and heritability in populations is based upon the expected proportion of genes shared between different types of relatives, and explicit, often controversial and untestable models of genetic and non-genetic causes of family resemblance. With genome-wide coverage of genetic markers it is now possible to estimate such parameters solely within families using the actual degree of identity-by-descent sharing between relatives. Using genome scans on 4,401 quasi-independent sib pairs of which 3,375 pairs had phenotypes, we estimated the heritability of height from empirical genome-wide identity-by-descent sharing, which varied from 0.374 to 0.617 (mean 0.498, standard deviation 0.036. The variance in identity-by-descent sharing per chromosome and per genome was consistent with theory. The maximum likelihood estimate of the heritability for height was 0.80 with no evidence for non-genetic causes of sib resemblance, consistent with results from independent twin and family studies but using an entirely separate source of information. Our application shows that it is feasible to estimate genetic variance solely from within-family segregation and provides an independent validation of previously untestable assumptions. Given sufficient data, our new paradigm will

Genome-Wide Association Study and Linkage Analysis of the Healthy Aging Index

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Minster, Ryan L; Sanders, Jason L; Singh, Jatinder

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: The Healthy Aging Index (HAI) is a tool for measuring the extent of health and disease across multiple systems. METHODS: We conducted a genome-wide association study and a genome-wide linkage analysis to map quantitative trait loci associated with the HAI and a modified HAI weighted...

Genome-wide divergence, haplotype distribution and population demographic histories for Gossypium hirsutum and Gossypium barbadense as revealed by genome-anchored SNPs

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Use of 10,129 singleton SNPs of known genomic location in tetraploid cotton provided unique opportunities to characterize genome-wide diversity among 440 Gossypium hirsutum and 219 G. barbadense cultivars and landrace accessions of widespread origin. Using the SNPs distributed genome-wide, we exami...

Meta-analysis of 32 genome-wide linkage studies of schizophrenia

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, MYM; Levinson, DF; Faraone, SV; Suarez, BK; DeLisi, LE; Arinami, T; Riley, B; Paunio, T; Pulver, AE; Irmansyah; Holmans, PA; Escamilla, M; Wildenauer, DB; Williams, NM; Laurent, C; Mowry, BJ; Brzustowicz, LM; Maziade, M; Sklar, P; Garver, DL; Abecasis, GR; Lerer, B; Fallin, MD; Gurling, HMD; Gejman, PV; Lindholm, E; Moises, HW; Byerley, W; Wijsman, EM; Forabosco, P; Tsuang, MT; Hwu, H-G; Okazaki, Y; Kendler, KS; Wormley, B; Fanous, A; Walsh, D; O’Neill, FA; Peltonen, L; Nestadt, G; Lasseter, VK; Liang, KY; Papadimitriou, GM; Dikeos, DG; Schwab, SG; Owen, MJ; O’Donovan, MC; Norton, N; Hare, E; Raventos, H; Nicolini, H; Albus, M; Maier, W; Nimgaonkar, VL; Terenius, L; Mallet, J; Jay, M; Godard, S; Nertney, D; Alexander, M; Crowe, RR; Silverman, JM; Bassett, AS; Roy, M-A; Mérette, C; Pato, CN; Pato, MT; Roos, J Louw; Kohn, Y; Amann-Zalcenstein, D; Kalsi, G; McQuillin, A; Curtis, D; Brynjolfson, J; Sigmundsson, T; Petursson, H; Sanders, AR; Duan, J; Jazin, E; Myles-Worsley, M; Karayiorgou, M; Lewis, CM

2009-01-01

A genome scan meta-analysis (GSMA) was carried out on 32 independent genome-wide linkage scan analyses that included 3255 pedigrees with 7413 genotyped cases affected with schizophrenia (SCZ) or related disorders. The primary GSMA divided the autosomes into 120 bins, rank-ordered the bins within each study according to the most positive linkage result in each bin, summed these ranks (weighted for study size) for each bin across studies and determined the empirical probability of a given summed rank (PSR) by simulation. Suggestive evidence for linkage was observed in two single bins, on chromosomes 5q (142-168 Mb) and 2q (103-134 Mb). Genome-wide evidence for linkage was detected on chromosome 2q (119-152 Mb) when bin boundaries were shifted to the middle of the previous bins. The primary analysis met empirical criteria for ‘aggregate’ genome-wide significance, indicating that some or all of 10 bins are likely to contain loci linked to SCZ, including regions of chromosomes 1, 2q, 3q, 4q, 5q, 8p and 10q. In a secondary analysis of 22 studies of European-ancestry samples, suggestive evidence for linkage was observed on chromosome 8p (16-33 Mb). Although the newer genome-wide association methodology has greater power to detect weak associations to single common DNA sequence variants, linkage analysis can detect diverse genetic effects that segregate in families, including multiple rare variants within one locus or several weakly associated loci in the same region. Therefore, the regions supported by this meta-analysis deserve close attention in future studies. PMID:19349958

Genomic Changes Associated with the Evolutionary Transitions of Nostoc to a Plant Symbiont

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Liaimer, Anton; Pederson, Eric; Kim, Sea-Yong; Shapiro, Nicole; Woyke, Tanja; Altermark, Bjørn; Pawlowski, Katharina; Weyman, Philip D; Dupont, Christopher L

2018-01-01

Abstract Cyanobacteria belonging to the genus Nostoc comprise free-living strains and also facultative plant symbionts. Symbiotic strains can enter into symbiosis with taxonomically diverse range of host plants. Little is known about genomic changes associated with evolutionary transition of Nostoc from free-living to plant symbiont. Here, we compared the genomes derived from 11 symbiotic Nostoc strains isolated from different host plants and infer phylogenetic relationships between strains. Phylogenetic reconstructions of 89 Nostocales showed that symbiotic Nostoc strains with a broad host range, entering epiphytic and intracellular or extracellular endophytic interactions, form a monophyletic clade indicating a common evolutionary history. A polyphyletic origin was found for Nostoc strains which enter only extracellular symbioses, and inference of transfer events implied that this trait was likely acquired several times in the evolution of the Nostocales. Symbiotic Nostoc strains showed enriched functions in transport and metabolism of organic sulfur, chemotaxis and motility, as well as the uptake of phosphate, branched-chain amino acids, and ammonium. The genomes of the intracellular clade differ from that of other Nostoc strains, with a gain/enrichment of genes encoding proteins to generate l-methionine from sulfite and pathways for the degradation of the plant metabolites vanillin and vanillate, and of the macromolecule xylan present in plant cell walls. These compounds could function as C-sources for members of the intracellular clade. Molecular clock analysis indicated that the intracellular clade emerged ca. 600 Ma, suggesting that intracellular Nostoc symbioses predate the origin of land plants and the emergence of their extant hosts. PMID:29554291

Genomic resources for gene discovery, functional genome annotation, and evolutionary studies of maize and its close relatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chao; Shi, Xue; Liu, Lin; Li, Haiyan; Ammiraju, Jetty S S; Kudrna, David A; Xiong, Wentao; Wang, Hao; Dai, Zhaozhao; Zheng, Yonglian; Lai, Jinsheng; Jin, Weiwei; Messing, Joachim; Bennetzen, Jeffrey L; Wing, Rod A; Luo, Meizhong

2013-11-01

Maize is one of the most important food crops and a key model for genetics and developmental biology. A genetically anchored and high-quality draft genome sequence of maize inbred B73 has been obtained to serve as a reference sequence. To facilitate evolutionary studies in maize and its close relatives, much like the Oryza Map Alignment Project (OMAP) (www.OMAP.org) bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) resource did for the rice community, we constructed BAC libraries for maize inbred lines Zheng58, Chang7-2, and Mo17 and maize wild relatives Zea mays ssp. parviglumis and Tripsacum dactyloides. Furthermore, to extend functional genomic studies to maize and sorghum, we also constructed binary BAC (BIBAC) libraries for the maize inbred B73 and the sorghum landrace Nengsi-1. The BAC/BIBAC vectors facilitate transfer of large intact DNA inserts from BAC clones to the BIBAC vector and functional complementation of large DNA fragments. These seven Zea Map Alignment Project (ZMAP) BAC/BIBAC libraries have average insert sizes ranging from 92 to 148 kb, organellar DNA from 0.17 to 2.3%, empty vector rates between 0.35 and 5.56%, and genome equivalents of 4.7- to 8.4-fold. The usefulness of the Parviglumis and Tripsacum BAC libraries was demonstrated by mapping clones to the reference genome. Novel genes and alleles present in these ZMAP libraries can now be used for functional complementation studies and positional or homology-based cloning of genes for translational genomics.

Genome-wide association study of Tourette Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Scharf, Jeremiah M.; Yu, Dongmei; Mathews, Carol A.; Neale, Benjamin M.; Stewart, S. Evelyn; Fagerness, Jesen A; Evans, Patrick; Gamazon, Eric; Edlund, Christopher K.; Service, Susan; Tikhomirov, Anna; Osiecki, Lisa; Illmann, Cornelia; Pluzhnikov, Anna; Konkashbaev, Anuar; Davis, Lea K; Han, Buhm; Crane, Jacquelyn; Moorjani, Priya; Crenshaw, Andrew T.; Parkin, Melissa A.; Reus, Victor I.; Lowe, Thomas L.; Rangel-Lugo, Martha; Chouinard, Sylvain; Dion, Yves; Girard, Simon; Cath, Danielle C; Smit, Jan H; King, Robert A.; Fernandez, Thomas; Leckman, James F.; Kidd, Kenneth K.; Kidd, Judith R.; Pakstis, Andrew J.; State, Matthew; Herrera, Luis Diego; Romero, Roxana; Fournier, Eduardo; Sandor, Paul; Barr, Cathy L; Phan, Nam; Gross-Tsur, Varda; Benarroch, Fortu; Pollak, Yehuda; Budman, Cathy L.; Bruun, Ruth D.; Erenberg, Gerald; Naarden, Allan L; Lee, Paul C; Weiss, Nicholas; Kremeyer, Barbara; Berrío, Gabriel Bedoya; Campbell, Desmond; Silgado, Julio C. Cardona; Ochoa, William Cornejo; Restrepo, Sandra C. Mesa; Muller, Heike; Duarte, Ana V. Valencia; Lyon, Gholson J; Leppert, Mark; Morgan, Jubel; Weiss, Robert; Grados, Marco A.; Anderson, Kelley; Davarya, Sarah; Singer, Harvey; Walkup, John; Jankovic, Joseph; Tischfield, Jay A.; Heiman, Gary A.; Gilbert, Donald L.; Hoekstra, Pieter J.; Robertson, Mary M.; Kurlan, Roger; Liu, Chunyu; Gibbs, J. Raphael; Singleton, Andrew; Hardy, John; Strengman, Eric; Ophoff, Roel; Wagner, Michael; Moessner, Rainald; Mirel, Daniel B.; Posthuma, Danielle; Sabatti, Chiara; Eskin, Eleazar; Conti, David V.; Knowles, James A.; Ruiz-Linares, Andres; Rouleau, Guy A.; Purcell, Shaun; Heutink, Peter; Oostra, Ben A.; McMahon, William; Freimer, Nelson; Cox, Nancy J.; Pauls, David L.

2012-01-01

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a developmental disorder that has one of the highest familial recurrence rates among neuropsychiatric diseases with complex inheritance. However, the identification of definitive TS susceptibility genes remains elusive. Here, we report the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of TS in 1285 cases and 4964 ancestry-matched controls of European ancestry, including two European-derived population isolates, Ashkenazi Jews from North America and Israel, and French Canadians from Quebec, Canada. In a primary meta-analysis of GWAS data from these European ancestry samples, no markers achieved a genome-wide threshold of significance (p<5 × 10−8); the top signal was found in rs7868992 on chromosome 9q32 within COL27A1 (p=1.85 × 10−6). A secondary analysis including an additional 211 cases and 285 controls from two closely-related Latin-American population isolates from the Central Valley of Costa Rica and Antioquia, Colombia also identified rs7868992 as the top signal (p=3.6 × 10−7 for the combined sample of 1496 cases and 5249 controls following imputation with 1000 Genomes data). This study lays the groundwork for the eventual identification of common TS susceptibility variants in larger cohorts and helps to provide a more complete understanding of the full genetic architecture of this disorder. PMID:22889924

Genome-wide identification of the regulatory targets of a transcription factor using biochemical characterization and computational genomic analysis

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Jolly Emmitt R

2005-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A major challenge in computational genomics is the development of methodologies that allow accurate genome-wide prediction of the regulatory targets of a transcription factor. We present a method for target identification that combines experimental characterization of binding requirements with computational genomic analysis. Results Our method identified potential target genes of the transcription factor Ndt80, a key transcriptional regulator involved in yeast sporulation, using the combined information of binding affinity, positional distribution, and conservation of the binding sites across multiple species. We have also developed a mathematical approach to compute the false positive rate and the total number of targets in the genome based on the multiple selection criteria. Conclusion We have shown that combining biochemical characterization and computational genomic analysis leads to accurate identification of the genome-wide targets of a transcription factor. The method can be extended to other transcription factors and can complement other genomic approaches to transcriptional regulation.

A Genome-Wide Methylation Study of Severe Vitamin D Deficiency in African American Adolescents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhu, Haidong; Wang, Xiaoling; Shi, Huidong; Su, Shaoyong; Harshfield, Gregory A.; Gutin, Bernard; Snieder, Harold; Dong, Yanbin

Objectives To test the hypothesis that changes in DNA methylation are involved in vitamin D deficiency-related immune cell regulation using an unbiased genome-wide approach combined with a genomic and epigenomic integrative approach. Study design We performed a genome-wide methylation scan using the

Genome-wide association study of the four-constitution medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Chang Shik; Park, Hi Joon; Chung, Joo-Ho; Lee, Hye-Jung; Lee, Byung-Cheol

2009-12-01

Four-constitution medicine (FCM), also known as Sasang constitutional medicine, and the heritage of the long history of individualized acupuncture medicine tradition, is one of the holistic and traditional systems of constitution to appraise and categorize individual differences into four major types. This study first reports a genome-wide association study on FCM, to explore the genetic basis of FCM and facilitate the integration of FCM with conventional individual differences research. Healthy individuals of the Korean population were classified into the four constitutional types (FCTs). A total of 353,202 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were typed using whole genome amplified samples, and six-way comparison of FCM types provided lists of significantly differential SNPs. In one-to-one FCT comparisons, 15,944 SNPs were significantly differential, and 5 SNPs were commonly significant in all of the three comparisons. In one-to-two FCT comparisons, 22,616 SNPs were significantly differential, and 20 SNPs were commonly significant in all of the three comparison groups. This study presents the association between genome-wide SNP profiles and the categorization of the FCM, and it could further provide a starting point of genome-based identification and research of the constitutions of FCM.

Data analysis in the post-genome-wide association study era

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiao-Ling Wang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Since the first report of a genome-wide association study (GWAS on human age-related macular degeneration, GWAS has successfully been used to discover genetic variants for a variety of complex human diseases and/or traits, and thousands of associated loci have been identified. However, the underlying mechanisms for these loci remain largely unknown. To make these GWAS findings more useful, it is necessary to perform in-depth data mining. The data analysis in the post-GWAS era will include the following aspects: fine-mapping of susceptibility regions to identify susceptibility genes for elucidating the biological mechanism of action; joint analysis of susceptibility genes in different diseases; integration of GWAS, transcriptome, and epigenetic data to analyze expression and methylation quantitative trait loci at the whole-genome level, and find single-nucleotide polymorphisms that influence gene expression and DNA methylation; genome-wide association analysis of disease-related DNA copy number variations. Applying these strategies and methods will serve to strengthen GWAS data to enhance the utility and significance of GWAS in improving understanding of the genetics of complex diseases or traits and translate these findings for clinical applications. Keywords: Genome-wide association study, Data mining, Integrative data analysis, Polymorphism, Copy number variation

CpGislandEVO: A Database and Genome Browser for Comparative Evolutionary Genomics of CpG Islands

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Guillermo Barturen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Hypomethylated, CpG-rich DNA segments (CpG islands, CGIs are epigenome markers involved in key biological processes. Aberrant methylation is implicated in the appearance of several disorders as cancer, immunodeficiency, or centromere instability. Furthermore, methylation differences at promoter regions between human and chimpanzee strongly associate with genes involved in neurological/psychological disorders and cancers. Therefore, the evolutionary comparative analyses of CGIs can provide insights on the functional role of these epigenome markers in both health and disease. Given the lack of specific tools, we developed CpGislandEVO. Briefly, we first compile a database of statistically significant CGIs for the best assembled mammalian genome sequences available to date. Second, by means of a coupled browser front-end, we focus on the CGIs overlapping orthologous genes extracted from OrthoDB, thus ensuring the comparison between CGIs located on truly homologous genome segments. This allows comparing the main compositional features between homologous CGIs. Finally, to facilitate nucleotide comparisons, we lifted genome coordinates between assemblies from different species, which enables the analysis of sequence divergence by direct count of nucleotide substitutions and indels occurring between homologous CGIs. The resulting CpGislandEVO database, linking together CGIs and single-cytosine DNA methylation data from several mammalian species, is freely available at our website.

Role of Genomic Typing in Taxonomy, Evolutionary Genetics, and Microbial Epidemiology

Science.gov (United States)

van Belkum, Alex; Struelens, Marc; de Visser, Arjan; Verbrugh, Henri; Tibayrenc, Michel

2001-01-01

Currently, genetic typing of microorganisms is widely used in several major fields of microbiological research. Taxonomy, research aimed at elucidation of evolutionary dynamics or phylogenetic relationships, population genetics of microorganisms, and microbial epidemiology all rely on genetic typing data for discrimination between genotypes. Apart from being an essential component of these fundamental sciences, microbial typing clearly affects several areas of applied microbiogical research. The epidemiological investigation of outbreaks of infectious diseases and the measurement of genetic diversity in relation to relevant biological properties such as pathogenicity, drug resistance, and biodegradation capacities are obvious examples. The diversity among nucleic acid molecules provides the basic information for all fields described above. However, researchers in various disciplines tend to use different vocabularies, a wide variety of different experimental methods to monitor genetic variation, and sometimes widely differing modes of data processing and interpretation. The aim of the present review is to summarize the technological and fundamental concepts used in microbial taxonomy, evolutionary genetics, and epidemiology. Information on the nomenclature used in the different fields of research is provided, descriptions of the diverse genetic typing procedures are presented, and examples of both conceptual and technological research developments for Escherichia coli are included. Recommendations for unification of the different fields through standardization of laboratory techniques are made. PMID:11432813

Chapter 10: Mining genome-wide genetic markers.

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Xiang Zhang

Full Text Available Genome-wide association study (GWAS aims to discover genetic factors underlying phenotypic traits. The large number of genetic factors poses both computational and statistical challenges. Various computational approaches have been developed for large scale GWAS. In this chapter, we will discuss several widely used computational approaches in GWAS. The following topics will be covered: (1 An introduction to the background of GWAS. (2 The existing computational approaches that are widely used in GWAS. This will cover single-locus, epistasis detection, and machine learning methods that have been recently developed in biology, statistic, and computer science communities. This part will be the main focus of this chapter. (3 The limitations of current approaches and future directions.

Genome-wide analysis and expression profiling of the GRF gene family in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Jin-Qi; Jian, Hong-Ju; Yang, Bo; Lu, Kun; Zhang, Ao-Xiang; Liu, Pu; Li, Jia-Na

2017-07-15

Growth regulating-factors (GRFs) are plant-specific transcription factors that help regulate plant growth and development. Genome-wide identification and evolutionary analyses of GRF gene families have been performed in Arabidopsis thaliana, Zea mays, Oryza sativa, and Brassica rapa, but a comprehensive analysis of the GRF gene family in oilseed rape (Brassica napus) has not yet been reported. In the current study, we identified 35 members of the BnGRF family in B. napus. We analyzed the chromosomal distribution, phylogenetic relationships (Bayesian Inference and Neighbor Joining method), gene structures, and motifs of the BnGRF family members, as well as the cis-acting regulatory elements in their promoters. We also analyzed the expression patterns of 15 randomly selected BnGRF genes in various tissues and in plant varieties with different harvest indices and gibberellic acid (GA) responses. The expression levels of BnGRFs under GA treatment suggested the presence of possible negative feedback regulation. The evolutionary patterns and expression profiles of BnGRFs uncovered in this study increase our understanding of the important roles played by these genes in oilseed rape. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The non-random clustering of non-synonymous substitutions and its relationship to evolutionary rate

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Stone Eric A

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Protein sequences are subject to a mosaic of constraint. Changes to functional domains and buried residues, for example, are more apt to disrupt protein structure and function than are changes to residues participating in loops or exposed to solvent. Regions of constraint on the tertiary structure of a protein often result in loose segmentation of its primary structure into stretches of slowly- and rapidly-evolving amino acids. This clustering can be exploited, and existing methods have done so by relying on local sequence conservation as a signature of selection to help identify functionally important regions within proteins. We invert this paradigm by leveraging the regional nature of protein structure and function to both illuminate and make use of genome-wide patterns of local sequence conservation. Results Our hypothesis is that the regional nature of structural and functional constraints will assert a positive autocorrelation on the evolutionary rates of neighboring sites, which, in a pairwise comparison of orthologous proteins, will manifest itself as the clustering of non-synonymous changes across the amino acid sequence. We introduce a dispersion ratio statistic to test this and related hypotheses. Using genome-wide interspecific comparisons of orthologous protein pairs, we reveal a strong log-linear relationship between the degree of clustering and the intensity of constraint. We further demonstrate how this relationship varies with the evolutionary distance between the species being compared. We provide some evidence that proteins with a history of positive selection deviate from genome-wide trends. Conclusions We find a significant association between the evolutionary rate of a protein and the degree to which non-synonymous changes cluster along its primary sequence. We show that clustering is a non-redundant predictor of evolutionary rate, and we speculate that conflicting signals of clustering and constraint may

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Evolutionary and biomedical insights from the rhesus macaque genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbs, Richard A; Rogers, Jeffrey; Katze, Michael G; Bumgarner, Roger; Weinstock, George M; Mardis, Elaine R; Remington, Karin A; Strausberg, Robert L; Venter, J Craig; Wilson, Richard K; Batzer, Mark A; Bustamante, Carlos D; Eichler, Evan E; Hahn, Matthew W; Hardison, Ross C; Makova, Kateryna D; Miller, Webb; Milosavljevic, Aleksandar; Palermo, Robert E; Siepel, Adam; Sikela, James M; Attaway, Tony; Bell, Stephanie; Bernard, Kelly E; Buhay, Christian J; Chandrabose, Mimi N; Dao, Marvin; Davis, Clay; Delehaunty, Kimberly D; Ding, Yan; Dinh, Huyen H; Dugan-Rocha, Shannon; Fulton, Lucinda A; Gabisi, Ramatu Ayiesha; Garner, Toni T; Godfrey, Jennifer; Hawes, Alicia C; Hernandez, Judith; Hines, Sandra; Holder, Michael; Hume, Jennifer; Jhangiani, Shalini N; Joshi, Vandita; Khan, Ziad Mohid; Kirkness, Ewen F; Cree, Andrew; Fowler, R Gerald; Lee, Sandra; Lewis, Lora R; Li, Zhangwan; Liu, Yih-Shin; Moore, Stephanie M; Muzny, Donna; Nazareth, Lynne V; Ngo, Dinh Ngoc; Okwuonu, Geoffrey O; Pai, Grace; Parker, David; Paul, Heidie A; Pfannkoch, Cynthia; Pohl, Craig S; Rogers, Yu-Hui; Ruiz, San Juana; Sabo, Aniko; Santibanez, Jireh; Schneider, Brian W; Smith, Scott M; Sodergren, Erica; Svatek, Amanda F; Utterback, Teresa R; Vattathil, Selina; Warren, Wesley; White, Courtney Sherell; Chinwalla, Asif T; Feng, Yucheng; Halpern, Aaron L; Hillier, Ladeana W; Huang, Xiaoqiu; Minx, Pat; Nelson, Joanne O; Pepin, Kymberlie H; Qin, Xiang; Sutton, Granger G; Venter, Eli; Walenz, Brian P; Wallis, John W; Worley, Kim C; Yang, Shiaw-Pyng; Jones, Steven M; Marra, Marco A; Rocchi, Mariano; Schein, Jacqueline E; Baertsch, Robert; Clarke, Laura; Csürös, Miklós; Glasscock, Jarret; Harris, R Alan; Havlak, Paul; Jackson, Andrew R; Jiang, Huaiyang; Liu, Yue; Messina, David N; Shen, Yufeng; Song, Henry Xing-Zhi; Wylie, Todd; Zhang, Lan; Birney, Ewan; Han, Kyudong; Konkel, Miriam K; Lee, Jungnam; Smit, Arian F A; Ullmer, Brygg; Wang, Hui; Xing, Jinchuan; Burhans, Richard; Cheng, Ze; Karro, John E; Ma, Jian; Raney, Brian; She, Xinwei; Cox, Michael J; Demuth, Jeffery P; Dumas, Laura J; Han, Sang-Gook; Hopkins, Janet; Karimpour-Fard, Anis; Kim, Young H; Pollack, Jonathan R; Vinar, Tomas; Addo-Quaye, Charles; Degenhardt, Jeremiah; Denby, Alexandra; Hubisz, Melissa J; Indap, Amit; Kosiol, Carolin; Lahn, Bruce T; Lawson, Heather A; Marklein, Alison; Nielsen, Rasmus; Vallender, Eric J; Clark, Andrew G; Ferguson, Betsy; Hernandez, Ryan D; Hirani, Kashif; Kehrer-Sawatzki, Hildegard; Kolb, Jessica; Patil, Shobha; Pu, Ling-Ling; Ren, Yanru; Smith, David Glenn; Wheeler, David A; Schenck, Ian; Ball, Edward V; Chen, Rui; Cooper, David N; Giardine, Belinda; Hsu, Fan; Kent, W James; Lesk, Arthur; Nelson, David L; O'brien, William E; Prüfer, Kay; Stenson, Peter D; Wallace, James C; Ke, Hui; Liu, Xiao-Ming; Wang, Peng; Xiang, Andy Peng; Yang, Fan; Barber, Galt P; Haussler, David; Karolchik, Donna; Kern, Andy D; Kuhn, Robert M; Smith, Kayla E; Zwieg, Ann S

2007-04-13

The rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) is an abundant primate species that diverged from the ancestors of Homo sapiens about 25 million years ago. Because they are genetically and physiologically similar to humans, rhesus monkeys are the most widely used nonhuman primate in basic and applied biomedical research. We determined the genome sequence of an Indian-origin Macaca mulatta female and compared the data with chimpanzees and humans to reveal the structure of ancestral primate genomes and to identify evidence for positive selection and lineage-specific expansions and contractions of gene families. A comparison of sequences from individual animals was used to investigate their underlying genetic diversity. The complete description of the macaque genome blueprint enhances the utility of this animal model for biomedical research and improves our understanding of the basic biology of the species.

Genome-wide association analyses of expression phenotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Gary K; Zheng, Tian; Witte, John S; Goode, Ellen L; Gao, Lei; Hu, Pingzhao; Suh, Young Ju; Suktitipat, Bhoom; Szymczak, Silke; Woo, Jung Hoon; Zhang, Wei

2007-01-01

A number of issues arise when analyzing the large amount of data from high-throughput genotype and expression microarray experiments, including design and interpretation of genome-wide association studies of expression phenotypes. These issues were considered by contributions submitted to Group 1 of the Genetic Analysis Workshop 15 (GAW15), which focused on the association of quantitative expression data. These contributions evaluated diverse hypotheses, including those relevant to cancer and obesity research, and used various analytic techniques, many of which were derived from information theory. Several observations from these reports stand out. First, one needs to consider the genetic model of the trait of interest and carefully select which single nucleotide polymorphisms and individuals are included early in the design stage of a study. Second, by targeting specific pathways when analyzing genome-wide data, one can generate more interpretable results than agnostic approaches. Finally, for datasets with small sample sizes but a large number of features like the Genetic Analysis Workshop 15 dataset, machine learning approaches may be more practical than traditional parametric approaches. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Genome-wide analysis of tandem repeats in plants and green algae

Science.gov (United States)

Zhixin Zhao; Cheng Guo; Sreeskandarajan Sutharzan; Pei Li; Craig Echt; Jie Zhang; Chun Liang

2014-01-01

Tandem repeats (TRs) extensively exist in the genomes of prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Based on the sequenced genomes and gene annotations of 31 plant and algal species in Phytozome version 8.0 (http://www.phytozome.net/), we examined TRs in a genome-wide scale, characterized their distributions and motif features, and explored their putative biological functions. Among...

Investigation of common, low-frequency and rare genome-wide variation in anorexia nervosa

Science.gov (United States)

Huckins, L M; Hatzikotoulas, K; Southam, L; Thornton, L M; Steinberg, J; Aguilera-McKay, F; Treasure, J; Schmidt, U; Gunasinghe, C; Romero, A; Curtis, C; Rhodes, D; Moens, J; Kalsi, G; Dempster, D; Leung, R; Keohane, A; Burghardt, R; Ehrlich, S; Hebebrand, J; Hinney, A; Ludolph, A; Walton, E; Deloukas, P; Hofman, A; Palotie, A; Palta, P; van Rooij, F J A; Stirrups, K; Adan, R; Boni, C; Cone, R; Dedoussis, G; van Furth, E; Gonidakis, F; Gorwood, P; Hudson, J; Kaprio, J; Kas, M; Keski-Rahonen, A; Kiezebrink, K; Knudsen, G-P; Slof-Op 't Landt, M C T; Maj, M; Monteleone, A M; Monteleone, P; Raevuori, A H; Reichborn-Kjennerud, T; Tozzi, F; Tsitsika, A; van Elburg, A; Adan, R A H; Alfredsson, L; Ando, T; Andreassen, O A; Aschauer, H; Baker, J H; Barrett, J C; Bencko, V; Bergen, A W; Berrettini, W H; Birgegard, A; Boni, C; Boraska Perica, V; Brandt, H; Breen, G; Bulik, C M; Carlberg, L; Cassina, M; Cichon, S; Clementi, M; Cohen-Woods, S; Coleman, J; Cone, R D; Courtet, P; Crawford, S; Crow, S; Crowley, J; Danner, U N; Davis, O S P; de Zwaan, M; Dedoussis, G; Degortes, D; DeSocio, J E; Dick, D M; Dikeos, D; Dina, C; Ding, B; Dmitrzak-Weglarz, M; Docampo, E; Duncan, L; Egberts, K; Ehrlich, S; Escaramís, G; Esko, T; Espeseth, T; Estivill, X; Favaro, A; Fernández-Aranda, F; Fichter, M M; Finan, C; Fischer, K; Floyd, J A B; Foretova, L; Forzan, M; Franklin, C S; Gallinger, S; Gambaro, G; Gaspar, H A; Giegling, I; Gonidakis, F; Gorwood, P; Gratacos, M; Guillaume, S; Guo, Y; Hakonarson, H; Halmi, K A; Hatzikotoulas, K; Hauser, J; Hebebrand, J; Helder, S; Herms, S; Herpertz-Dahlmann, B; Herzog, W; Hilliard, C E; Hinney, A; Hübel, C; Huckins, L M; Hudson, J I; Huemer, J; Inoko, H; Janout, V; Jiménez-Murcia, S; Johnson, C; Julià, A; Juréus, A; Kalsi, G; Kaminska, D; Kaplan, A S; Kaprio, J; Karhunen, L; Karwautz, A; Kas, M J H; Kaye, W; Kennedy, J L; Keski-Rahkonen, A; Kiezebrink, K; Klareskog, L; Klump, K L; Knudsen, G P S; Koeleman, B P C; Koubek, D; La Via, M C; Landén, M; Le Hellard, S; Levitan, R D; Li, D; Lichtenstein, P; Lilenfeld, L; Lissowska, J; Lundervold, A; Magistretti, P; Maj, M; Mannik, K; Marsal, S; Martin, N; Mattingsdal, M; McDevitt, S; McGuffin, P; Merl, E; Metspalu, A; Meulenbelt, I; Micali, N; Mitchell, J; Mitchell, K; Monteleone, P; Monteleone, A M; Mortensen, P; Munn-Chernoff, M A; Navratilova, M; Nilsson, I; Norring, C; Ntalla, I; Ophoff, R A; O'Toole, J K; Palotie, A; Pante, J; Papezova, H; Pinto, D; Rabionet, R; Raevuori, A; Rajewski, A; Ramoz, N; Rayner, N W; Reichborn-Kjennerud, T; Ripatti, S; Roberts, M; Rotondo, A; Rujescu, D; Rybakowski, F; Santonastaso, P; Scherag, A; Scherer, S W; Schmidt, U; Schork, N J; Schosser, A; Slachtova, L; Sladek, R; Slagboom, P E; Slof-Op 't Landt, M C T; Slopien, A; Soranzo, N; Southam, L; Steen, V M; Strengman, E; Strober, M; Sullivan, P F; Szatkiewicz, J P; Szeszenia-Dabrowska, N; Tachmazidou, I; Tenconi, E; Thornton, L M; Tortorella, A; Tozzi, F; Treasure, J; Tsitsika, A; Tziouvas, K; van Elburg, A A; van Furth, E F; Wagner, G; Walton, E; Watson, H; Wichmann, H-E; Widen, E; Woodside, D B; Yanovski, J; Yao, S; Yilmaz, Z; Zeggini, E; Zerwas, S; Zipfel, S; Collier, D A; Sullivan, P F; Breen, G; Bulik, C M; Zeggini, E

2018-01-01

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder presenting with dangerously low body weight, and a deep and persistent fear of gaining weight. To date, only one genome-wide significant locus associated with AN has been identified. We performed an exome-chip based genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in 2158 cases from nine populations of European origin and 15 485 ancestrally matched controls. Unlike previous studies, this GWAS also probed association in low-frequency and rare variants. Sixteen independent variants were taken forward for in silico and de novo replication (11 common and 5 rare). No findings reached genome-wide significance. Two notable common variants were identified: rs10791286, an intronic variant in OPCML (P=9.89 × 10−6), and rs7700147, an intergenic variant (P=2.93 × 10−5). No low-frequency variant associations were identified at genome-wide significance, although the study was well-powered to detect low-frequency variants with large effect sizes, suggesting that there may be no AN loci in this genomic search space with large effect sizes. PMID:29155802

Assessing the evolutionary impact of amino acid mutations in the human genome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boyko, Adam R; Williamson, Scott H; Indap, Amit R

2008-01-01

Quantifying the distribution of fitness effects among newly arising mutations in the human genome is key to resolving important debates in medical and evolutionary genetics. Here, we present a method for inferring this distribution using Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) data from a population...... of demographic and selective effects to patterning amino acid variation in the human genome. We find evidence of an ancient population expansion in the sample with African ancestry and a relatively recent bottleneck in the sample with European ancestry. After accounting for these demographic effects, we find...... with non-stationary demographic history (such as that of modern humans). Application of our method to 47,576 coding SNPs found by direct resequencing of 11,404 protein coding-genes in 35 individuals (20 European Americans and 15 African Americans) allows us to assess the relative contribution...

Reconstructing the complex evolutionary history of mobile plasmids in red algal genomes

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, JunMo; Kim, Kyeong Mi; Yang, Eun Chan; Miller, Kathy Ann; Boo, Sung Min; Bhattacharya, Debashish; Yoon, Hwan Su

2016-01-01

The integration of foreign DNA into algal and plant plastid genomes is a rare event, with only a few known examples of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Plasmids, which are well-studied drivers of HGT in prokaryotes, have been reported previously in red algae (Rhodophyta). However, the distribution of these mobile DNA elements and their sites of integration into the plastid (ptDNA), mitochondrial (mtDNA), and nuclear genomes of Rhodophyta remain unknown. Here we reconstructed the complex evolutionary history of plasmid-derived DNAs in red algae. Comparative analysis of 21 rhodophyte ptDNAs, including new genome data for 5 species, turned up 22 plasmid-derived open reading frames (ORFs) that showed syntenic and copy number variation among species, but were conserved within different individuals in three lineages. Several plasmid-derived homologs were found not only in ptDNA but also in mtDNA and in the nuclear genome of green plants, stramenopiles, and rhizarians. Phylogenetic and plasmid-derived ORF analyses showed that the majority of plasmid DNAs originated within red algae, whereas others were derived from cyanobacteria, other bacteria, and viruses. Our results elucidate the evolution of plasmid DNAs in red algae and suggest that they spread as parasitic genetic elements. This hypothesis is consistent with their sporadic distribution within Rhodophyta. PMID:27030297

Deciphering the Cryptic Genome: Genome-wide Analyses of the Rice Pathogen Fusarium fujikuroi Reveal Complex Regulation of Secondary Metabolism and Novel Metabolites

Science.gov (United States)

Studt, Lena; Niehaus, Eva-Maria; Espino, Jose J.; Huß, Kathleen; Michielse, Caroline B.; Albermann, Sabine; Wagner, Dominik; Bergner, Sonja V.; Connolly, Lanelle R.; Fischer, Andreas; Reuter, Gunter; Kleigrewe, Karin; Bald, Till; Wingfield, Brenda D.; Ophir, Ron; Freeman, Stanley; Hippler, Michael; Smith, Kristina M.; Brown, Daren W.; Proctor, Robert H.; Münsterkötter, Martin; Freitag, Michael; Humpf, Hans-Ulrich; Güldener, Ulrich; Tudzynski, Bettina

2013-01-01

The fungus Fusarium fujikuroi causes “bakanae” disease of rice due to its ability to produce gibberellins (GAs), but it is also known for producing harmful mycotoxins. However, the genetic capacity for the whole arsenal of natural compounds and their role in the fungus' interaction with rice remained unknown. Here, we present a high-quality genome sequence of F. fujikuroi that was assembled into 12 scaffolds corresponding to the 12 chromosomes described for the fungus. We used the genome sequence along with ChIP-seq, transcriptome, proteome, and HPLC-FTMS-based metabolome analyses to identify the potential secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters and to examine their regulation in response to nitrogen availability and plant signals. The results indicate that expression of most but not all gene clusters correlate with proteome and ChIP-seq data. Comparison of the F. fujikuroi genome to those of six other fusaria revealed that only a small number of gene clusters are conserved among these species, thus providing new insights into the divergence of secondary metabolism in the genus Fusarium. Noteworthy, GA biosynthetic genes are present in some related species, but GA biosynthesis is limited to F. fujikuroi, suggesting that this provides a selective advantage during infection of the preferred host plant rice. Among the genome sequences analyzed, one cluster that includes a polyketide synthase gene (PKS19) and another that includes a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase gene (NRPS31) are unique to F. fujikuroi. The metabolites derived from these clusters were identified by HPLC-FTMS-based analyses of engineered F. fujikuroi strains overexpressing cluster genes. In planta expression studies suggest a specific role for the PKS19-derived product during rice infection. Thus, our results indicate that combined comparative genomics and genome-wide experimental analyses identified novel genes and secondary metabolites that contribute to the evolutionary success of F

Reconstruction of Oomycete Genome Evolution Identifies Differences in Evolutionary Trajectories Leading to Present-Day Large Gene Families

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Seidl, M.F.; Ackerveken, van den G.; Govers, F.; Snel, B.

2012-01-01

The taxonomic class of oomycetes contains numerous pathogens of plants and animals but is related to nonpathogenic diatoms and brown algae. Oomycetes have flexible genomes comprising large gene families that play roles in pathogenicity. The evolutionary processes that shaped the gene content have

The Paramecium germline genome provides a niche for intragenic parasitic DNA: evolutionary dynamics of internal eliminated sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnaiz, Olivier; Mathy, Nathalie; Baudry, Céline; Malinsky, Sophie; Aury, Jean-Marc; Denby Wilkes, Cyril; Garnier, Olivier; Labadie, Karine; Lauderdale, Benjamin E; Le Mouël, Anne; Marmignon, Antoine; Nowacki, Mariusz; Poulain, Julie; Prajer, Malgorzata; Wincker, Patrick; Meyer, Eric; Duharcourt, Sandra; Duret, Laurent; Bétermier, Mireille; Sperling, Linda

2012-01-01

Insertions of parasitic DNA within coding sequences are usually deleterious and are generally counter-selected during evolution. Thanks to nuclear dimorphism, ciliates provide unique models to study the fate of such insertions. Their germline genome undergoes extensive rearrangements during development of a new somatic macronucleus from the germline micronucleus following sexual events. In Paramecium, these rearrangements include precise excision of unique-copy Internal Eliminated Sequences (IES) from the somatic DNA, requiring the activity of a domesticated piggyBac transposase, PiggyMac. We have sequenced Paramecium tetraurelia germline DNA, establishing a genome-wide catalogue of -45,000 IESs, in order to gain insight into their evolutionary origin and excision mechanism. We obtained direct evidence that PiggyMac is required for excision of all IESs. Homology with known P. tetraurelia Tc1/mariner transposons, described here, indicates that at least a fraction of IESs derive from these elements. Most IES insertions occurred before a recent whole-genome duplication that preceded diversification of the P. aurelia species complex, but IES invasion of the Paramecium genome appears to be an ongoing process. Once inserted, IESs decay rapidly by accumulation of deletions and point substitutions. Over 90% of the IESs are shorter than 150 bp and present a remarkable size distribution with a -10 bp periodicity, corresponding to the helical repeat of double-stranded DNA and suggesting DNA loop formation during assembly of a transpososome-like excision complex. IESs are equally frequent within and between coding sequences; however, excision is not 100% efficient and there is selective pressure against IES insertions, in particular within highly expressed genes. We discuss the possibility that ancient domestication of a piggyBac transposase favored subsequent propagation of transposons throughout the germline by allowing insertions in coding sequences, a fraction of the

The Paramecium germline genome provides a niche for intragenic parasitic DNA: evolutionary dynamics of internal eliminated sequences.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olivier Arnaiz

Full Text Available Insertions of parasitic DNA within coding sequences are usually deleterious and are generally counter-selected during evolution. Thanks to nuclear dimorphism, ciliates provide unique models to study the fate of such insertions. Their germline genome undergoes extensive rearrangements during development of a new somatic macronucleus from the germline micronucleus following sexual events. In Paramecium, these rearrangements include precise excision of unique-copy Internal Eliminated Sequences (IES from the somatic DNA, requiring the activity of a domesticated piggyBac transposase, PiggyMac. We have sequenced Paramecium tetraurelia germline DNA, establishing a genome-wide catalogue of -45,000 IESs, in order to gain insight into their evolutionary origin and excision mechanism. We obtained direct evidence that PiggyMac is required for excision of all IESs. Homology with known P. tetraurelia Tc1/mariner transposons, described here, indicates that at least a fraction of IESs derive from these elements. Most IES insertions occurred before a recent whole-genome duplication that preceded diversification of the P. aurelia species complex, but IES invasion of the Paramecium genome appears to be an ongoing process. Once inserted, IESs decay rapidly by accumulation of deletions and point substitutions. Over 90% of the IESs are shorter than 150 bp and present a remarkable size distribution with a -10 bp periodicity, corresponding to the helical repeat of double-stranded DNA and suggesting DNA loop formation during assembly of a transpososome-like excision complex. IESs are equally frequent within and between coding sequences; however, excision is not 100% efficient and there is selective pressure against IES insertions, in particular within highly expressed genes. We discuss the possibility that ancient domestication of a piggyBac transposase favored subsequent propagation of transposons throughout the germline by allowing insertions in coding sequences, a

Evolutionary molecular medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Nesse, Randolph M; Ganten, Detlev; Gregory, T Ryan; Omenn, Gilbert S

2012-05-01

Evolution has long provided a foundation for population genetics, but some major advances in evolutionary biology from the twentieth century that provide foundations for evolutionary medicine are only now being applied in molecular medicine. They include the need for both proximate and evolutionary explanations, kin selection, evolutionary models for cooperation, competition between alleles, co-evolution, and new strategies for tracing phylogenies and identifying signals of selection. Recent advances in genomics are transforming evolutionary biology in ways that create even more opportunities for progress at its interfaces with genetics, medicine, and public health. This article reviews 15 evolutionary principles and their applications in molecular medicine in hopes that readers will use them and related principles to speed the development of evolutionary molecular medicine.

Transcriptomics and molecular evolutionary rate analysis of the bladderwort (Utricularia, a carnivorous plant with a minimal genome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herrera-Estrella Alfredo

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The carnivorous plant Utricularia gibba (bladderwort is remarkable in having a minute genome, which at ca. 80 megabases is approximately half that of Arabidopsis. Bladderworts show an incredible diversity of forms surrounding a defined theme: tiny, bladder-like suction traps on terrestrial, epiphytic, or aquatic plants with a diversity of unusual vegetative forms. Utricularia plants, which are rootless, are also anomalous in physiological features (respiration and carbon distribution, and highly enhanced molecular evolutionary rates in chloroplast, mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal sequences. Despite great interest in the genus, no genomic resources exist for Utricularia, and the substitution rate increase has received limited study. Results Here we describe the sequencing and analysis of the Utricularia gibba transcriptome. Three different organs were surveyed, the traps, the vegetative shoot bodies, and the inflorescence stems. We also examined the bladderwort transcriptome under diverse stress conditions. We detail aspects of functional classification, tissue similarity, nitrogen and phosphorus metabolism, respiration, DNA repair, and detoxification of reactive oxygen species (ROS. Long contigs of plastid and mitochondrial genomes, as well as sequences for 100 individual nuclear genes, were compared with those of other plants to better establish information on molecular evolutionary rates. Conclusion The Utricularia transcriptome provides a detailed genomic window into processes occurring in a carnivorous plant. It contains a deep representation of the complex metabolic pathways that characterize a putative minimal plant genome, permitting its use as a source of genomic information to explore the structural, functional, and evolutionary diversity of the genus. Vegetative shoots and traps are the most similar organs by functional classification of their transcriptome, the traps expressing hydrolytic enzymes for prey

Evolutionary Meta-Analysis of Association Studies Reveals Ancient Constraints Affecting Disease Marker Discovery

Science.gov (United States)

Dudley, Joel T.; Chen, Rong; Sanderford, Maxwell; Butte, Atul J.; Kumar, Sudhir

2012-01-01

Genome-wide disease association studies contrast genetic variation between disease cohorts and healthy populations to discover single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and other genetic markers revealing underlying genetic architectures of human diseases. Despite scores of efforts over the past decade, many reproducible genetic variants that explain substantial proportions of the heritable risk of common human diseases remain undiscovered. We have conducted a multispecies genomic analysis of 5,831 putative human risk variants for more than 230 disease phenotypes reported in 2,021 studies. We find that the current approaches show a propensity for discovering disease-associated SNPs (dSNPs) at conserved genomic positions because the effect size (odds ratio) and allelic P value of genetic association of an SNP relates strongly to the evolutionary conservation of their genomic position. We propose a new measure for ranking SNPs that integrates evolutionary conservation scores and the P value (E-rank). Using published data from a large case-control study, we demonstrate that E-rank method prioritizes SNPs with a greater likelihood of bona fide and reproducible genetic disease associations, many of which may explain greater proportions of genetic variance. Therefore, long-term evolutionary histories of genomic positions offer key practical utility in reassessing data from existing disease association studies, and in the design and analysis of future studies aimed at revealing the genetic basis of common human diseases. PMID:22389448

Citalopram and escitalopram plasma drug and metabolite concentrations: genome-wide associations.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Yuan; Schaid, Daniel J; Desta, Zeruesenay; Kubo, Michiaki; Batzler, Anthony J; Snyder, Karen; Mushiroda, Taisei; Kamatani, Naoyuki; Ogburn, Evan; Hall-Flavin, Daniel; Flockhart, David; Nakamura, Yusuke; Mrazek, David A; Weinshilboum, Richard M

2014-08-01

Citalopram (CT) and escitalopram (S-CT) are among the most widely prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors used to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). We applied a genome-wide association study to identify genetic factors that contribute to variation in plasma concentrations of CT or S-CT and their metabolites in MDD patients treated with CT or S-CT. Our genome-wide association study was performed using samples from 435 MDD patients. Linear mixed models were used to account for within-subject correlations of longitudinal measures of plasma drug/metabolite concentrations (4 and 8 weeks after the initiation of drug therapy), and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were modelled as additive allelic effects. Genome-wide significant associations were observed for S-CT concentration with SNPs in or near the CYP2C19 gene on chromosome 10 (rs1074145, P = 4.1 × 10(-9) ) and with S-didesmethylcitalopram concentration for SNPs near the CYP2D6 locus on chromosome 22 (rs1065852, P = 2.0 × 10(-16) ), supporting the important role of these cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes in biotransformation of citalopram. After adjustment for the effect of CYP2C19 functional alleles, the analyses also identified novel loci that will require future replication and functional validation. In vitro and in vivo studies have suggested that the biotransformation of CT to monodesmethylcitalopram and didesmethylcitalopram is mediated by CYP isozymes. The results of our genome-wide association study performed in MDD patients treated with CT or S-CT have confirmed those observations but also identified novel genomic loci that might play a role in variation in plasma levels of CT or its metabolites during the treatment of MDD patients with these selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. © 2014 The British Pharmacological Society.

Genome-Wide Identification, Phylogenetic and Expression Analyses of the Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme Gene Family in Maize

Science.gov (United States)

Jue, Dengwei; Sang, Xuelian; Lu, Shengqiao; Dong, Chen; Zhao, Qiufang; Chen, Hongliang; Jia, Liqiang

2015-01-01

Background Ubiquitination is a post-translation modification where ubiquitin is attached to a substrate. Ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s) play a major role in the ubiquitin transfer pathway, as well as a variety of functions in plant biological processes. To date, no genome-wide characterization of this gene family has been conducted in maize (Zea mays). Methodology/Principal Findings In the present study, a total of 75 putative ZmUBC genes have been identified and located in the maize genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that ZmUBC proteins could be divided into 15 subfamilies, which include 13 ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (ZmE2s) and two independent ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme variant (UEV) groups. The predicted ZmUBC genes were distributed across 10 chromosomes at different densities. In addition, analysis of exon-intron junctions and sequence motifs in each candidate gene has revealed high levels of conservation within and between phylogenetic groups. Tissue expression analysis indicated that most ZmUBC genes were expressed in at least one of the tissues, indicating that these are involved in various physiological and developmental processes in maize. Moreover, expression profile analyses of ZmUBC genes under different stress treatments (4°C, 20% PEG6000, and 200 mM NaCl) and various expression patterns indicated that these may play crucial roles in the response of plants to stress. Conclusions Genome-wide identification, chromosome organization, gene structure, evolutionary and expression analyses of ZmUBC genes have facilitated in the characterization of this gene family, as well as determined its potential involvement in growth, development, and stress responses. This study provides valuable information for better understanding the classification and putative functions of the UBC-encoding genes of maize. PMID:26606743

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.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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.

StereoGene: rapid estimation of genome-wide correlation of continuous or interval feature data.

Science.gov (United States)

Stavrovskaya, Elena D; Niranjan, Tejasvi; Fertig, Elana J; Wheelan, Sarah J; Favorov, Alexander V; Mironov, Andrey A

2017-10-15

Genomics features with similar genome-wide distributions are generally hypothesized to be functionally related, for example, colocalization of histones and transcription start sites indicate chromatin regulation of transcription factor activity. Therefore, statistical algorithms to perform spatial, genome-wide correlation among genomic features are required. Here, we propose a method, StereoGene, that rapidly estimates genome-wide correlation among pairs of genomic features. These features may represent high-throughput data mapped to reference genome or sets of genomic annotations in that reference genome. StereoGene enables correlation of continuous data directly, avoiding the data binarization and subsequent data loss. Correlations are computed among neighboring genomic positions using kernel correlation. Representing the correlation as a function of the genome position, StereoGene outputs the local correlation track as part of the analysis. StereoGene also accounts for confounders such as input DNA by partial correlation. We apply our method to numerous comparisons of ChIP-Seq datasets from the Human Epigenome Atlas and FANTOM CAGE to demonstrate its wide applicability. We observe the changes in the correlation between epigenomic features across developmental trajectories of several tissue types consistent with known biology and find a novel spatial correlation of CAGE clusters with donor splice sites and with poly(A) sites. These analyses provide examples for the broad applicability of StereoGene for regulatory genomics. The StereoGene C ++ source code, program documentation, Galaxy integration scripts and examples are available from the project homepage http://stereogene.bioinf.fbb.msu.ru/. favorov@sensi.org. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Social evolution. Genomic signatures of evolutionary transitions from solitary to group living.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapheim, Karen M; Pan, Hailin; Li, Cai; Salzberg, Steven L; Puiu, Daniela; Magoc, Tanja; Robertson, Hugh M; Hudson, Matthew E; Venkat, Aarti; Fischman, Brielle J; Hernandez, Alvaro; Yandell, Mark; Ence, Daniel; Holt, Carson; Yocum, George D; Kemp, William P; Bosch, Jordi; Waterhouse, Robert M; Zdobnov, Evgeny M; Stolle, Eckart; Kraus, F Bernhard; Helbing, Sophie; Moritz, Robin F A; Glastad, Karl M; Hunt, Brendan G; Goodisman, Michael A D; Hauser, Frank; Grimmelikhuijzen, Cornelis J P; Pinheiro, Daniel Guariz; Nunes, Francis Morais Franco; Soares, Michelle Prioli Miranda; Tanaka, Érica Donato; Simões, Zilá Luz Paulino; Hartfelder, Klaus; Evans, Jay D; Barribeau, Seth M; Johnson, Reed M; Massey, Jonathan H; Southey, Bruce R; Hasselmann, Martin; Hamacher, Daniel; Biewer, Matthias; Kent, Clement F; Zayed, Amro; Blatti, Charles; Sinha, Saurabh; Johnston, J Spencer; Hanrahan, Shawn J; Kocher, Sarah D; Wang, Jun; Robinson, Gene E; Zhang, Guojie

2015-06-05

The evolution of eusociality is one of the major transitions in evolution, but the underlying genomic changes are unknown. We compared the genomes of 10 bee species that vary in social complexity, representing multiple independent transitions in social evolution, and report three major findings. First, many important genes show evidence of neutral evolution as a consequence of relaxed selection with increasing social complexity. Second, there is no single road map to eusociality; independent evolutionary transitions in sociality have independent genetic underpinnings. Third, though clearly independent in detail, these transitions do have similar general features, including an increase in constrained protein evolution accompanied by increases in the potential for gene regulation and decreases in diversity and abundance of transposable elements. Eusociality may arise through different mechanisms each time, but would likely always involve an increase in the complexity of gene networks. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Role of Genomic Typing in Taxonomy, Evolutionary Genetics, and Microbial Epidemiology

OpenAIRE

van Belkum, Alex; Struelens, Marc; de Visser, Arjan; Verbrugh, Henri; Tibayrenc, Michel

2001-01-01

Currently, genetic typing of microorganisms is widely used in several major fields of microbiological research. Taxonomy, research aimed at elucidation of evolutionary dynamics or phylogenetic relationships, population genetics of microorganisms, and microbial epidemiology all rely on genetic typing data for discrimination between genotypes. Apart from being an essential component of these fundamental sciences, microbial typing clearly affects several areas of applied microbiogical research. ...

Role of genomic typing in taxonomy, evolutionary genetics, and microbial epidemiology.

OpenAIRE

Belkum, Alex; Struelens, M.; Visser, Arjan; Verbrugh, Henri; Tibayrench, M.

2001-01-01

textabstractCurrently, genetic typing of microorganisms is widely used in several major fields of microbiological research. Taxonomy, research aimed at elucidation of evolutionary dynamics or phylogenetic relationships, population genetics of microorganisms, and microbial epidemiology all rely on genetic typing data for discrimination between genotypes. Apart from being an essential component of these fundamental sciences, microbial typing clearly affects several areas of applied microbiologi...

Genome-wide search for gene-gene interactions in colorectal cancer.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuo Jiao

Full Text Available Genome-wide association studies (GWAS have successfully identified a number of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs associated with colorectal cancer (CRC risk. However, these susceptibility loci known today explain only a small fraction of the genetic risk. Gene-gene interaction (GxG is considered to be one source of the missing heritability. To address this, we performed a genome-wide search for pair-wise GxG associated with CRC risk using 8,380 cases and 10,558 controls in the discovery phase and 2,527 cases and 2,658 controls in the replication phase. We developed a simple, but powerful method for testing interaction, which we term the Average Risk Due to Interaction (ARDI. With this method, we conducted a genome-wide search to identify SNPs showing evidence for GxG with previously identified CRC susceptibility loci from 14 independent regions. We also conducted a genome-wide search for GxG using the marginal association screening and examining interaction among SNPs that pass the screening threshold (p<10(-4. For the known locus rs10795668 (10p14, we found an interacting SNP rs367615 (5q21 with replication p = 0.01 and combined p = 4.19×10(-8. Among the top marginal SNPs after LD pruning (n = 163, we identified an interaction between rs1571218 (20p12.3 and rs10879357 (12q21.1 (nominal combined p = 2.51×10(-6; Bonferroni adjusted p = 0.03. Our study represents the first comprehensive search for GxG in CRC, and our results may provide new insight into the genetic etiology of CRC.

Genetic relationship between five psychiatric disorders estimated from genome-wide SNPs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lee, S.H.; Ripke, S.; Neale, B.; Faraone, S.V.; Purcell, S.M.; Perlis, R.H.; Mowry, B. J.; Thapar, A.; Goddard, M.E.; Witte, J.S.; Absher, D.; Agartz, I.; Akil, H.; Amin, F.; Andreassen, O.A.; Anjorin, A.; Anney, R.; Anttila, V.; Arking, D.E.; Asherson, P.; Azevedo, M.H.; Backlund, L.; Badner, J.A.; Bailey, A.J.; Banaschewski, T.; Barchas, J.D.; Barnes, M.R.; Barrett, T.B.; Bass, N.; Battaglia, A.; Bauer, M.; Bayés, M.; Bellivier, F.; Bergen, S.E.; Berrettini, W.; Betancur, C.; Bettecken, T.; Biederman, J; Binder, E.B.; Black, D.W.; Blackwood, D.H.; Bloss, C.S.; Boehnke, M.; Boomsma, D.I.; Breen, G.; Breuer, R.; Bruggeman, R.; Cormican, P.; Buccola, N.G.; Buitelaar, J.K.; Bunney, W.E.; Buxbaum, J.D.; Byerley, W. F.; Byrne, E.M.; Caesar, S.; Cahn, W.; Cantor, R.M.; Casas, M.; Chakravarti, A.; Chambert, K.; Choudhury, K.; Cichon, S.; Cloninger, C. R.; Collier, D.A.; Cook, E.H.; Coon, H.; Corman, B.; Corvin, A.; Coryell, W.H.; Craig, D.W.; Craig, I.W.; Crosbie, J.; Cuccaro, M.L.; Curtis, D.; Czamara, D.; Datta, S.; Dawson, G.; Day, R.; de Geus, E.J.C.; Degenhardt, F.; Djurovic, S.; Donohoe, G.; Doyle, A.E.; Duan, J.; Dudbridge, F.; Duketis, E.; Ebstein, R.P.; Edenberg, H.J.; Elia, J.; Ennis, S.; Etain, B.; Fanous, A.; Farmer, A.E.; Ferrier, I.N.; Flickinger, M.; Fombonne, E.; Foroud, T.; Frank, J.; Franke, B.; Fraser, C.; Freedman, R.; Freimer, N.B.; Freitag, C.; Friedl, M.; Frisén, L.; Gallagher, L.; Gejman, P.V.; Georgieva, L.; Gershon, E.S.; Geschwind, D.H.; Giegling, I.; Gill, M.; Gordon, S.D.; Gordon-Smith, K.; Green, E.K.; Greenwood, T.A.; Grice, D.E.; Gross, M.; Grozeva, D.; Guan, W.; Gurling, H.; de Haan, L.; Haines, J.L.; Hakonarson, H.; Hallmayer, J.; Hamilton, S.P.; Hamshere, M.L.; Hansen, T.F.; Hartmann, A.M.; Hautzinger, M.; Heath, A.C.; Henders, A.K.; Herms, S.; Hickie, I.B.; Hipolito, M.; Hoefels, S.; Holmans, P.A.; Holsboer, F.; Hoogendijk, W.J.G.; Hottenga, J.J.; Hultman, C. M.; Hus, V.; Ingason, A.; Ising, M.; Jamain, S.; Jones, E.G.; Jones, I.; Jones, L.; Tzeng, J.Y.; Kähler, A.K.; Kahn, R.S.; Kandaswamy, R.; Keller, M.C.; Kennedy, J.L.; Kenny, E.; Kent, L.; Kim, Y.; Kirov, G. K.; Klauck, S.M.; Klei, L.; Knowles, J.A.; Kohli, M.A.; Koller, D.L.; Konte, B.; Korszun, A.; Krabbendam, L.; Krasucki, R.; Kuntsi, J.; Kwan, P.; Landén, M.; Langstrom, N.; Lathrop, M.; Lawrence, J.; Lawson, W.B.; Leboyer, M.; Ledbetter, D.H.; Lee, P.H.; Lencz, T.; Lesch, K.P.; Levinson, D.F.; Lewis, C.M.; Li, J.; Lichtenstein, P.; Lieberman, J. A.; Lin, D.Y.; Linszen, D.H.; Liu, C.; Lohoff, F.W.; Loo, S.K.; Lord, C.; Lowe, J.K.; Lucae, S.; MacIntyre, D.J.; Madden, P.A.F.; Maestrini, E.; Magnusson, P.K.E.; Mahon, P.B.; Maier, W.; Malhotra, A.K.; Mane, S.M.; Martin, C.L.; Martin, N.G.; Mattheisen, M.; Matthews, K.; Mattingsdal, M.; McCarroll, S.A.; McGhee, K.A.; McGough, J.J.; McGrath, P.J.; McGuffin, P.; McInnis, M.G.; McIntosh, A.; McKinney, R.; McLean, A.W.; McMahon, F.J.; McMahon, W.M.; McQuillin, A.; Medeiros, H.; Medland, S.E.; Meier, S.; Melle, I.; Meng, F.; Meyer, J.; Middeldorp, C.M.; Middleton, L.; Milanova, V.; Miranda, A.; Monaco, A.P.; Montgomery, G.W.; Moran, J.L.; Moreno-De Luca, D.; Morken, G.; Morris, D.W.; Morrow, E.M.; Moskvina, V.; Muglia, P.; Mühleisen, T.W.; Muir, W.J.; Müller-Myhsok, B.; Murtha, M.; Myers, R.M.; Myin-Germeys, I.; Neale, M.C.; Nelson, S.F.; Nievergelt, C.M.; Nikolov, I.; Nimgaonkar, V.L.; Nolen, W.A.; Nöthen, M.M.; Nurnberger, J.I.; Nwulia, E.A.; Nyholt, DR; O'Dushlaine, C.; Oades, R.D.; Olincy, A.; Oliveira, G.; Olsen, L.; Ophoff, R.A.; Osby, U.; Owen, M.J.; Palotie, A.; Parr, J.R.; Paterson, A.D.; Pato, C.N.; Pato, M.T.; Penninx, B.W.J.H.; Pergadia, M.L.; Pericak-Vance, M.A.; Pickard, B.S.; Pimm, J.; Piven, J.; Posthuma, D.; Potash, J.B.; Poustka, F.; Propping, P.; Puri, V.; Quested, D.; Quinn, E.M.; Ramos-Quiroga, J.A.; Rasmussen, H.B.; Raychaudhuri, S.; Rehnström, K.; Reif, A.; Ribasés, M.; Rice, J.P.; Rietschel, M.; Roeder, K.; Roeyers, H.; Rossin, L.; Rothenberger, A.; Rouleau, G.; Ruderfer, D.; Rujescu, D.; Sanders, A.R.; Sanders, S.J.; Santangelo, S.; Sergeant, J.A.; Schachar, R.; Schalling, M.; Schatzberg, A.F.; Scheftner, W.A.; Schellenberg, G.D.; Scherer, S.W.; Schork, N.J.; Schulze, T.G.; Schumacher, J.; Schwarz, M.; Scolnick, E.; Scott, L.J.; Shi, J.; Shilling, P.D.; Shyn, S.I.; Silverman, J.M.; Slager, S.L.; Smalley, S.L.; Smit, J.H.; Smith, E.N.; Sonuga-Barke, E.J.; St Clair, D.; State, M.; Steffens, M; Steinhausen, H.C.; Strauss, J.; Strohmaier, J.; Stroup, T.S.; Sutcliffe, J.; Szatmari, P.; Szelinger, S.; Thirumalai, S.; Thompson, R.C.; Todorov, A.A.; Tozzi, F.; Treutlein, J.; Uhr, M.; van den Oord, E.J.C.G.; Grootheest, G.; van Os, J.; Vicente, A.; Vieland, V.; Vincent, J.B.; Visscher, P.M.; Walsh, C.A.; Wassink, T.H.; Watson, S.J.; Weissman, M.M.; Werge, T.; Wienker, T.F.; Wijsman, E.M.; Willemsen, G.; Williams, N.; Willsey, A.J.; Witt, S.H.; Xu, W.; Young, A.H.; Yu, T.W.; Zammit, S.; Zandi, P.P.; Zhang, P.; Zitman, F.G.; Zöllner, S.; Devlin, B.; Kelsoe, J.; Sklar, P.; Daly, M.J.; O'Donovan, M.C.; Craddock, N.; Sullivan, P.F.; Smoller, J.W.; Kendler, K.S.; Wray, N.R.

2013-01-01

Most psychiatric disorders are moderately to highly heritable. The degree to which genetic variation is unique to individual disorders or shared across disorders is unclear. To examine shared genetic etiology, we use genome-wide genotype data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) for cases

Detecting DNA double-stranded breaks in mammalian genomes by linear amplification-mediated high-throughput genome-wide translocation sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jiazhi; Meyers, Robin M; Dong, Junchao; Panchakshari, Rohit A; Alt, Frederick W; Frock, Richard L

2016-05-01

Unbiased, high-throughput assays for detecting and quantifying DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) across the genome in mammalian cells will facilitate basic studies of the mechanisms that generate and repair endogenous DSBs. They will also enable more applied studies, such as those to evaluate the on- and off-target activities of engineered nucleases. Here we describe a linear amplification-mediated high-throughput genome-wide sequencing (LAM-HTGTS) method for the detection of genome-wide 'prey' DSBs via their translocation in cultured mammalian cells to a fixed 'bait' DSB. Bait-prey junctions are cloned directly from isolated genomic DNA using LAM-PCR and unidirectionally ligated to bridge adapters; subsequent PCR steps amplify the single-stranded DNA junction library in preparation for Illumina Miseq paired-end sequencing. A custom bioinformatics pipeline identifies prey sequences that contribute to junctions and maps them across the genome. LAM-HTGTS differs from related approaches because it detects a wide range of broken end structures with nucleotide-level resolution. Familiarity with nucleic acid methods and next-generation sequencing analysis is necessary for library generation and data interpretation. LAM-HTGTS assays are sensitive, reproducible, relatively inexpensive, scalable and straightforward to implement with a turnaround time of <1 week.

Genome-Wide Biases in the Rate and Molecular Spectrum of Spontaneous Mutations in Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio fischeri

Science.gov (United States)

2016-10-15

Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 5Department...of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine , Pittsburgh, PA *Corresponding author: E-mail: vaughn.cooper...small chromosome somehow confers an evolutionary advantage in varied environments, perhaps by being enriched for conditionally useful traits (Schoolnik

Cryptic Genetic Variation in Evolutionary Developmental Genetics

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Annalise B. Paaby

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Evolutionary developmental genetics has traditionally been conducted by two groups: Molecular evolutionists who emphasize divergence between species or higher taxa, and quantitative geneticists who study variation within species. Neither approach really comes to grips with the complexities of evolutionary transitions, particularly in light of the realization from genome-wide association studies that most complex traits fit an infinitesimal architecture, being influenced by thousands of loci. This paper discusses robustness, plasticity and lability, phenomena that we argue potentiate major evolutionary changes and provide a bridge between the conceptual treatments of macro- and micro-evolution. We offer cryptic genetic variation and conditional neutrality as mechanisms by which standing genetic variation can lead to developmental system drift and, sheltered within canalized processes, may facilitate developmental transitions and the evolution of novelty. Synthesis of the two dominant perspectives will require recognition that adaptation, divergence, drift and stability all depend on similar underlying quantitative genetic processes—processes that cannot be fully observed in continuously varying visible traits.

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.

Genome-wide approaches towards identification of susceptibility genes in complex diseases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Franke, L.H.

2008-01-01

Throughout the human genome millions of places exist where humans differ gentically. The aim of this PhD thesis was to systematically assess this genetic variation and its biological consequences in a genome-wide way, through the utilization of DNA oligonucleotide arrays that assess hundres of

Genome-wide Association Analysis of Kernel Weight in Hard Winter Wheat

Science.gov (United States)

Wheat kernel weight is an important and heritable component of wheat grain yield and a key predictor of flour extraction. Genome-wide association analysis was conducted to identify genomic regions associated with kernel weight and kernel weight environmental response in 8 trials of 299 hard winter ...

Comparison of HapMap and 1000 Genomes Reference Panels in a Large-Scale Genome-Wide Association Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

de Vries, Paul S; Sabater-Lleal, Maria; Chasman, Daniel I

2017-01-01

An increasing number of genome-wide association (GWA) studies are now using the higher resolution 1000 Genomes Project reference panel (1000G) for imputation, with the expectation that 1000G imputation will lead to the discovery of additional associated loci when compared to HapMap imputation. In...

The evolutionary rates of HCV estimated with subtype 1a and 1b sequences over the ORF length and in different genomic regions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manqiong Yuan

Full Text Available Considerable progress has been made in the HCV evolutionary analysis, since the software BEAST was released. However, prior information, especially the prior evolutionary rate, which plays a critical role in BEAST analysis, is always difficult to ascertain due to various uncertainties. Providing a proper prior HCV evolutionary rate is thus of great importance.176 full-length sequences of HCV subtype 1a and 144 of 1b were assembled by taking into consideration the balance of the sampling dates and the even dispersion in phylogenetic trees. According to the HCV genomic organization and biological functions, each dataset was partitioned into nine genomic regions and two routinely amplified regions. A uniform prior rate was applied to the BEAST analysis for each region and also the entire ORF. All the obtained posterior rates for 1a are of a magnitude of 10(-3 substitutions/site/year and in a bell-shaped distribution. Significantly lower rates were estimated for 1b and some of the rate distribution curves resulted in a one-sided truncation, particularly under the exponential model. This indicates that some of the rates for subtype 1b are less accurate, so they were adjusted by including more sequences to improve the temporal structure.Among the various HCV subtypes and genomic regions, the evolutionary patterns are dissimilar. Therefore, an applied estimation of the HCV epidemic history requires the proper selection of the rate priors, which should match the actual dataset so that they can fit for the subtype, the genomic region and even the length. By referencing the findings here, future evolutionary analysis of the HCV subtype 1a and 1b datasets may become more accurate and hence prove useful for tracing their patterns.

Complete chloroplast genome sequence of a tree fern Alsophila spinulosa: insights into evolutionary changes in fern chloroplast genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Lei; Yi, Xuan; Yang, Yong-Xia; Su, Ying-Juan; Wang, Ting

2009-06-11

Ferns have generally been neglected in studies of chloroplast genomics. Before this study, only one polypod and two basal ferns had their complete chloroplast (cp) genome reported. Tree ferns represent an ancient fern lineage that first occurred in the Late Triassic. In recent phylogenetic analyses, tree ferns were shown to be the sister group of polypods, the most diverse group of living ferns. Availability of cp genome sequence from a tree fern will facilitate interpretation of the evolutionary changes of fern cp genomes. Here we have sequenced the complete cp genome of a scaly tree fern Alsophila spinulosa (Cyatheaceae). The Alsophila cp genome is 156,661 base pairs (bp) in size, and has a typical quadripartite structure with the large (LSC, 86,308 bp) and small single copy (SSC, 21,623 bp) regions separated by two copies of an inverted repeat (IRs, 24,365 bp each). This genome contains 117 different genes encoding 85 proteins, 4 rRNAs and 28 tRNAs. Pseudogenes of ycf66 and trnT-UGU are also detected in this genome. A unique trnR-UCG gene (derived from trnR-CCG) is found between rbcL and accD. The Alsophila cp genome shares some unusual characteristics with the previously sequenced cp genome of the polypod fern Adiantum capillus-veneris, including the absence of 5 tRNA genes that exist in most other cp genomes. The genome shows a high degree of synteny with that of Adiantum, but differs considerably from two basal ferns (Angiopteris evecta and Psilotum nudum). At one endpoint of an ancient inversion we detected a highly repeated 565-bp-region that is absent from the Adiantum cp genome. An additional minor inversion of the trnD-GUC, which is possibly shared by all ferns, was identified by comparison between the fern and other land plant cp genomes. By comparing four fern cp genome sequences it was confirmed that two major rearrangements distinguish higher leptosporangiate ferns from basal fern lineages. The Alsophila cp genome is very similar to that of the

Complete chloroplast genome sequence of a tree fern Alsophila spinulosa: insights into evolutionary changes in fern chloroplast genomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Yong-Xia

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Ferns have generally been neglected in studies of chloroplast genomics. Before this study, only one polypod and two basal ferns had their complete chloroplast (cp genome reported. Tree ferns represent an ancient fern lineage that first occurred in the Late Triassic. In recent phylogenetic analyses, tree ferns were shown to be the sister group of polypods, the most diverse group of living ferns. Availability of cp genome sequence from a tree fern will facilitate interpretation of the evolutionary changes of fern cp genomes. Here we have sequenced the complete cp genome of a scaly tree fern Alsophila spinulosa (Cyatheaceae. Results The Alsophila cp genome is 156,661 base pairs (bp in size, and has a typical quadripartite structure with the large (LSC, 86,308 bp and small single copy (SSC, 21,623 bp regions separated by two copies of an inverted repeat (IRs, 24,365 bp each. This genome contains 117 different genes encoding 85 proteins, 4 rRNAs and 28 tRNAs. Pseudogenes of ycf66 and trnT-UGU are also detected in this genome. A unique trnR-UCG gene (derived from trnR-CCG is found between rbcL and accD. The Alsophila cp genome shares some unusual characteristics with the previously sequenced cp genome of the polypod fern Adiantum capillus-veneris, including the absence of 5 tRNA genes that exist in most other cp genomes. The genome shows a high degree of synteny with that of Adiantum, but differs considerably from two basal ferns (Angiopteris evecta and Psilotum nudum. At one endpoint of an ancient inversion we detected a highly repeated 565-bp-region that is absent from the Adiantum cp genome. An additional minor inversion of the trnD-GUC, which is possibly shared by all ferns, was identified by comparison between the fern and other land plant cp genomes. Conclusion By comparing four fern cp genome sequences it was confirmed that two major rearrangements distinguish higher leptosporangiate ferns from basal fern lineages. The

Genome-wide analysis of disease progression in age-related macular degeneration.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Qi; Ding, Ying; Liu, Yi; Sun, Tao; Fritsche, Lars G; Clemons, Traci; Ratnapriya, Rinki; Klein, Michael L; Cook, Richard J; Liu, Yu; Fan, Ruzong; Wei, Lai; Abecasis, Gonçalo R; Swaroop, Anand; Chew, Emily Y; Weeks, Daniel E; Chen, Wei

2018-03-01

Family- and population-based genetic studies have successfully identified multiple disease-susceptibility loci for Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the first batch and most successful examples of genome-wide association study. However, most genetic studies to date have focused on case-control studies of late AMD (choroidal neovascularization or geographic atrophy). The genetic influences on disease progression are largely unexplored. We assembled unique resources to perform a genome-wide bivariate time-to-event analysis to test for association of time-to-late-AMD with ∼9 million variants on 2721 Caucasians from a large multi-center randomized clinical trial, the Age-Related Eye Disease Study. To our knowledge, this is the first genome-wide association study of disease progression (bivariate survival outcome) in AMD genetic studies, thus providing novel insights to AMD genetics. We used a robust Cox proportional hazards model to appropriately account for between-eye correlation when analyzing the progression time in the two eyes of each participant. We identified four previously reported susceptibility loci showing genome-wide significant association with AMD progression: ARMS2-HTRA1 (P = 8.1 × 10-43), CFH (P = 3.5 × 10-37), C2-CFB-SKIV2L (P = 8.1 × 10-10) and C3 (P = 1.2 × 10-9). Furthermore, we detected association of rs58978565 near TNR (P = 2.3 × 10-8), rs28368872 near ATF7IP2 (P = 2.9 × 10-8) and rs142450006 near MMP9 (P = 0.0006) with progression to choroidal neovascularization but not geographic atrophy. Secondary analysis limited to 34 reported risk variants revealed that LIPC and CTRB2-CTRB1 were also associated with AMD progression (P < 0.0015). Our genome-wide analysis thus expands the genetics in both development and progression of AMD and should assist in early identification of high risk individuals.

Genome-Wide Classification and Evolutionary and Expression Analyses of Citrus MYB Transcription Factor Families in Sweet Orange

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Xiao-Jin; Li, Si-Bei; Liu, Sheng-Rui; Hu, Chun-Gen; Zhang, Jin-Zhi

2014-01-01

MYB family genes are widely distributed in plants and comprise one of the largest transcription factors involved in various developmental processes and defense responses of plants. To date, few MYB genes and little expression profiling have been reported for citrus. Here, we describe and classify 177 members of the sweet orange MYB gene (CsMYB) family in terms of their genomic gene structures and similarity to their putative Arabidopsis orthologs. According to these analyses, these CsMYBs were categorized into four groups (4R-MYB, 3R-MYB, 2R-MYB and 1R-MYB). Gene structure analysis revealed that 1R-MYB genes possess relatively more introns as compared with 2R-MYB genes. Investigation of their chromosomal localizations revealed that these CsMYBs are distributed across nine chromosomes. Sweet orange includes a relatively small number of MYB genes compared with the 198 members in Arabidopsis, presumably due to a paralog reduction related to repetitive sequence insertion into promoter and non-coding transcribed region of the genes. Comparative studies of CsMYBs and Arabidopsis showed that CsMYBs had fewer gene duplication events. Expression analysis revealed that the MYB gene family has a wide expression profile in sweet orange development and plays important roles in development and stress responses. In addition, 337 new putative microsatellites with flanking sequences sufficient for primer design were also identified from the 177 CsMYBs. These results provide a useful reference for the selection of candidate MYB genes for cloning and further functional analysis forcitrus. PMID:25375352

Whole genome sequence analysis of Mycobacterium suricattae

KAUST Repository

Dippenaar, Anzaan; Parsons, Sven David Charles; Sampson, Samantha Leigh; Van Der Merwe, Ruben Gerhard; Drewe, Julian Ashley; Abdallah, Abdallah; Siame, Kabengele Keith; Gey Van Pittius, Nicolaas Claudius; Van Helden, Paul David; Pain, Arnab; Warren, Robin Mark

2015-01-01

Tuberculosis occurs in various mammalian hosts and is caused by a range of different lineages of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). A recently described member, Mycobacterium suricattae, causes tuberculosis in meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in Southern Africa and preliminary genetic analysis showed this organism to be closely related to an MTBC pathogen of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), the dassie bacillus. Here we make use of whole genome sequencing to describe the evolution of the genome of M. suricattae, including known and novel regions of difference, SNPs and IS6110 insertion sites. We used genome-wide phylogenetic analysis to show that M. suricattae clusters with the chimpanzee bacillus, previously isolated from a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) in West Africa. We propose an evolutionary scenario for the Mycobacterium africanum lineage 6 complex, showing the evolutionary relationship of M. africanum and chimpanzee bacillus, and the closely related members M. suricattae, dassie bacillus and Mycobacterium mungi.

Whole genome sequence analysis of Mycobacterium suricattae

KAUST Repository

Dippenaar, Anzaan

2015-10-21

Tuberculosis occurs in various mammalian hosts and is caused by a range of different lineages of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). A recently described member, Mycobacterium suricattae, causes tuberculosis in meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in Southern Africa and preliminary genetic analysis showed this organism to be closely related to an MTBC pathogen of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), the dassie bacillus. Here we make use of whole genome sequencing to describe the evolution of the genome of M. suricattae, including known and novel regions of difference, SNPs and IS6110 insertion sites. We used genome-wide phylogenetic analysis to show that M. suricattae clusters with the chimpanzee bacillus, previously isolated from a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) in West Africa. We propose an evolutionary scenario for the Mycobacterium africanum lineage 6 complex, showing the evolutionary relationship of M. africanum and chimpanzee bacillus, and the closely related members M. suricattae, dassie bacillus and Mycobacterium mungi.

Genome-Wide Association Study of Short-Acting beta(2)-Agonists A Novel Genome-Wide Significant Locus on Chromosome 2 near ASB3

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Israel, Elliot; Lasky-Su, Jessica; Markezich, Amy; Damask, Amy; Szefler, Stanley J.; Schuemann, Brooke; Klanderman, Barbara; Sylvia, Jody; Kazani, Shamsah; Wu, Rongling; Martinez, Fernando; Boushey, Homer A.; Chinchilli, Vernon M.; Mauger, Dave; Weiss, Scott T.; Tantisira, Kelan G.; de Zeeuw, Dick; Navis, Gerjan J.

2015-01-01

Rationale: [beta(2)-Agonists are the most common form of treatment of asthma, but there is significant variability in response to these medications. A significant proportion of this responsiveness may be heritable. Objectives: To investigate whether a genome-wide association study (GWAS) could

A human genome-wide library of local phylogeny predictions for whole-genome inference problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schwartz Russell

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Many common inference problems in computational genetics depend on inferring aspects of the evolutionary history of a data set given a set of observed modern sequences. Detailed predictions of the full phylogenies are therefore of value in improving our ability to make further inferences about population history and sources of genetic variation. Making phylogenetic predictions on the scale needed for whole-genome analysis is, however, extremely computationally demanding. Results In order to facilitate phylogeny-based predictions on a genomic scale, we develop a library of maximum parsimony phylogenies within local regions spanning all autosomal human chromosomes based on Haplotype Map variation data. We demonstrate the utility of this library for population genetic inferences by examining a tree statistic we call 'imperfection,' which measures the reuse of variant sites within a phylogeny. This statistic is significantly predictive of recombination rate, shows additional regional and population-specific conservation, and allows us to identify outlier genes likely to have experienced unusual amounts of variation in recent human history. Conclusion Recent theoretical advances in algorithms for phylogenetic tree reconstruction have made it possible to perform large-scale inferences of local maximum parsimony phylogenies from single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP data. As results from the imperfection statistic demonstrate, phylogeny predictions encode substantial information useful for detecting genomic features and population history. This data set should serve as a platform for many kinds of inferences one may wish to make about human population history and genetic variation.

Defining functional DNA elements in the human genome

Science.gov (United States)

Kellis, Manolis; Wold, Barbara; Snyder, Michael P.; Bernstein, Bradley E.; Kundaje, Anshul; Marinov, Georgi K.; Ward, Lucas D.; Birney, Ewan; Crawford, Gregory E.; Dekker, Job; Dunham, Ian; Elnitski, Laura L.; Farnham, Peggy J.; Feingold, Elise A.; Gerstein, Mark; Giddings, Morgan C.; Gilbert, David M.; Gingeras, Thomas R.; Green, Eric D.; Guigo, Roderic; Hubbard, Tim; Kent, Jim; Lieb, Jason D.; Myers, Richard M.; Pazin, Michael J.; Ren, Bing; Stamatoyannopoulos, John A.; Weng, Zhiping; White, Kevin P.; Hardison, Ross C.

2014-01-01

With the completion of the human genome sequence, attention turned to identifying and annotating its functional DNA elements. As a complement to genetic and comparative genomics approaches, the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements Project was launched to contribute maps of RNA transcripts, transcriptional regulator binding sites, and chromatin states in many cell types. The resulting genome-wide data reveal sites of biochemical activity with high positional resolution and cell type specificity that facilitate studies of gene regulation and interpretation of noncoding variants associated with human disease. However, the biochemically active regions cover a much larger fraction of the genome than do evolutionarily conserved regions, raising the question of whether nonconserved but biochemically active regions are truly functional. Here, we review the strengths and limitations of biochemical, evolutionary, and genetic approaches for defining functional DNA segments, potential sources for the observed differences in estimated genomic coverage, and the biological implications of these discrepancies. We also analyze the relationship between signal intensity, genomic coverage, and evolutionary conservation. Our results reinforce the principle that each approach provides complementary information and that we need to use combinations of all three to elucidate genome function in human biology and disease. PMID:24753594

Comprehensive evaluation of genome-wide 5-hydroxymethylcytosine profiling approaches in human DNA.

Science.gov (United States)

Skvortsova, Ksenia; Zotenko, Elena; Luu, Phuc-Loi; Gould, Cathryn M; Nair, Shalima S; Clark, Susan J; Stirzaker, Clare

2017-01-01

The discovery that 5-methylcytosine (5mC) can be oxidized to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) by the ten-eleven translocation (TET) proteins has prompted wide interest in the potential role of 5hmC in reshaping the mammalian DNA methylation landscape. The gold-standard bisulphite conversion technologies to study DNA methylation do not distinguish between 5mC and 5hmC. However, new approaches to mapping 5hmC genome-wide have advanced rapidly, although it is unclear how the different methods compare in accurately calling 5hmC. In this study, we provide a comparative analysis on brain DNA using three 5hmC genome-wide approaches, namely whole-genome bisulphite/oxidative bisulphite sequencing (WG Bis/OxBis-seq), Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip arrays coupled with oxidative bisulphite (HM450K Bis/OxBis) and antibody-based immunoprecipitation and sequencing of hydroxymethylated DNA (hMeDIP-seq). We also perform loci-specific TET-assisted bisulphite sequencing (TAB-seq) for validation of candidate regions. We show that whole-genome single-base resolution approaches are advantaged in providing precise 5hmC values but require high sequencing depth to accurately measure 5hmC, as this modification is commonly in low abundance in mammalian cells. HM450K arrays coupled with oxidative bisulphite provide a cost-effective representation of 5hmC distribution, at CpG sites with 5hmC levels >~10%. However, 5hmC analysis is restricted to the genomic location of the probes, which is an important consideration as 5hmC modification is commonly enriched at enhancer elements. Finally, we show that the widely used hMeDIP-seq method provides an efficient genome-wide profile of 5hmC and shows high correlation with WG Bis/OxBis-seq 5hmC distribution in brain DNA. However, in cell line DNA with low levels of 5hmC, hMeDIP-seq-enriched regions are not detected by WG Bis/OxBis or HM450K, either suggesting misinterpretation of 5hmC calls by hMeDIP or lack of sensitivity of the latter methods. We

Genome-wide association study of classical Hodgkin lymphoma identifies key regulators of disease susceptibility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sud, A. (Amit); Thomsen, H. (Hauke); Law, P.J. (Philip J.); A. Försti (Asta); Filho, M.I.D.S. (Miguel Inacio Da Silva); Holroyd, A. (Amy); P. Broderick (Peter); Orlando, G. (Giulia); Lenive, O. (Oleg); Wright, L. (Lauren); R. Cooke (Rosie); D.F. Easton (Douglas); P.D.P. Pharoah (Paul); A.M. Dunning (Alison); J. Peto (Julian); F. Canzian (Federico); Eeles, R. (Rosalind); Z. Kote-Jarai; K.R. Muir (K.); Pashayan, N. (Nora); B.E. Henderson (Brian); C.A. Haiman (Christopher); S. Benlloch (Sara); F.R. Schumacher (Fredrick R); Olama, A.A.A. (Ali Amin Al); S.I. Berndt (Sonja); G. Conti (Giario); F. Wiklund (Fredrik); S.J. Chanock (Stephen); Stevens, V.L. (Victoria L.); C.M. Tangen (Catherine M.); Batra, J. (Jyotsna); Clements, J. (Judith); H. Grönberg (Henrik); Schleutker, J. (Johanna); D. Albanes (Demetrius); Weinstein, S. (Stephanie); K. Wolk (Kerstin); West, C. (Catharine); Mucci, L. (Lorelei); Cancel-Tassin, G. (Géraldine); Koutros, S. (Stella); Sorensen, K.D. (Karina Dalsgaard); L. Maehle; D. Neal (David); S.P.L. Travis (Simon); Hamilton, R.J. (Robert J.); S.A. Ingles (Sue); B.S. Rosenstein (Barry S.); Lu, Y.-J. (Yong-Jie); Giles, G.G. (Graham G.); A. Kibel (Adam); Vega, A. (Ana); M. Kogevinas (Manolis); Penney, K.L. (Kathryn L.); Park, J.Y. (Jong Y.); Stanford, J.L. (Janet L.); C. Cybulski (Cezary); B.G. Nordestgaard (Børge); Brenner, H. (Hermann); Maier, C. (Christiane); Kim, J. (Jeri); E.M. John (Esther); P.J. Teixeira; Neuhausen, S.L. (Susan L.); De Ruyck, K. (Kim); Razack, A. (Azad); Newcomb, L.F. (Lisa F.); Lessel, D. (Davor); Kaneva, R. (Radka); N. Usmani (Nawaid); F. Claessens; Townsend, P.A. (Paul A.); Dominguez, M.G. (Manuela Gago); Roobol, M.J. (Monique J.); F. Menegaux (Florence); P. Hoffmann (Per); M.M. Nöthen (Markus); K.-H. JöCkel (Karl-Heinz); Strandmann, E.P.V. (Elke Pogge Von); Lightfoot, T. (Tracy); Kane, E. (Eleanor); Roman, E. (Eve); Lake, A. (Annette); Montgomery, D. (Dorothy); Jarrett, R.F. (Ruth F.); A.J. Swerdlow (Anthony ); A. Engert (Andreas); N. Orr (Nick); K. Hemminki (Kari); Houlston, R.S. (Richard S.)

2017-01-01

textabstractSeveral susceptibility loci for classical Hodgkin lymphoma have been reported. However, much of the heritable risk is unknown. Here, we perform a meta-analysis of two existing genome-wide association studies, a new genome-wide association study, and replication totalling 5,314 cases and

Genome-wide identification of breed-informative single-nucleotide ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This is because the SNPs on BovineSNP50 and GGP-80K assays were ascertained as being common in European taurine breeds. Lower MAF and SNP informativeness observed in this study limits the application of these assays in breed assignment, and could have other implications for genome-wide studies in South ...

Selfish genetic elements, genetic conflict, and evolutionary innovation.

Science.gov (United States)

Werren, John H

2011-06-28

Genomes are vulnerable to selfish genetic elements (SGEs), which enhance their own transmission relative to the rest of an individual's genome but are neutral or harmful to the individual as a whole. As a result, genetic conflict occurs between SGEs and other genetic elements in the genome. There is growing evidence that SGEs, and the resulting genetic conflict, are an important motor for evolutionary change and innovation. In this review, the kinds of SGEs and their evolutionary consequences are described, including how these elements shape basic biological features, such as genome structure and gene regulation, evolution of new genes, origin of new species, and mechanisms of sex determination and development. The dynamics of SGEs are also considered, including possible "evolutionary functions" of SGEs.

Genome-wide association study of classical Hodgkin lymphoma identifies key regulators of disease susceptibility

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sud, Amit; Thomsen, Hauke; Law, Philip J.

2017-01-01

Several susceptibility loci for classical Hodgkin lymphoma have been reported. However, much of the heritable risk is unknown. Here, we perform a meta-analysis of two existing genome-wide association studies, a new genome-wide association study, and replication totalling 5,314 cases and 16,749 co...

Genome-wide population-based association study of extremely overweight young adults--the GOYA study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paternoster, Lavinia; Evans, David M; Nohr, Ellen Aagaard

2011-01-01

Thirty-two common variants associated with body mass index (BMI) have been identified in genome-wide association studies, explaining ∼1.45% of BMI variation in general population cohorts. We performed a genome-wide association study in a sample of young adults enriched for extremely overweight...

HIV Genome-Wide Protein Associations: a Review of 30 Years of Research

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

SUMMARY The HIV genome encodes a small number of viral proteins (i.e., 16), invariably establishing cooperative associations among HIV proteins and between HIV and host proteins, to invade host cells and hijack their internal machineries. As a known example, the HIV envelope glycoprotein GP120 is closely associated with GP41 for viral entry. From a genome-wide perspective, a hypothesis can be worked out to determine whether 16 HIV proteins could develop 120 possible pairwise associations either by physical interactions or by functional associations mediated via HIV or host molecules. Here, we present the first systematic review of experimental evidence on HIV genome-wide protein associations using a large body of publications accumulated over the past 3 decades. Of 120 possible pairwise associations between 16 HIV proteins, at least 34 physical interactions and 17 functional associations have been identified. To achieve efficient viral replication and infection, HIV protein associations play essential roles (e.g., cleavage, inhibition, and activation) during the HIV life cycle. In either a dispensable or an indispensable manner, each HIV protein collaborates with another viral protein to accomplish specific activities that precisely take place at the proper stages of the HIV life cycle. In addition, HIV genome-wide protein associations have an impact on anti-HIV inhibitors due to the extensive cross talk between drug-inhibited proteins and other HIV proteins. Overall, this study presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of HIV genome-wide protein associations, highlighting meticulous collaborations between all viral proteins during the HIV life cycle. PMID:27357278

Assessing Predictive Properties of Genome-Wide Selection in Soybeans

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alencar Xavier

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Many economically important traits in plant breeding have low heritability or are difficult to measure. For these traits, genomic selection has attractive features and may boost genetic gains. Our goal was to evaluate alternative scenarios to implement genomic selection for yield components in soybean (Glycine max L. merr. We used a nested association panel with cross validation to evaluate the impacts of training population size, genotyping density, and prediction model on the accuracy of genomic prediction. Our results indicate that training population size was the factor most relevant to improvement in genome-wide prediction, with greatest improvement observed in training sets up to 2000 individuals. We discuss assumptions that influence the choice of the prediction model. Although alternative models had minor impacts on prediction accuracy, the most robust prediction model was the combination of reproducing kernel Hilbert space regression and BayesB. Higher genotyping density marginally improved accuracy. Our study finds that breeding programs seeking efficient genomic selection in soybeans would best allocate resources by investing in a representative training set.

Assessing Predictive Properties of Genome-Wide Selection in Soybeans.

Science.gov (United States)

Xavier, Alencar; Muir, William M; Rainey, Katy Martin

2016-08-09

Many economically important traits in plant breeding have low heritability or are difficult to measure. For these traits, genomic selection has attractive features and may boost genetic gains. Our goal was to evaluate alternative scenarios to implement genomic selection for yield components in soybean (Glycine max L. merr). We used a nested association panel with cross validation to evaluate the impacts of training population size, genotyping density, and prediction model on the accuracy of genomic prediction. Our results indicate that training population size was the factor most relevant to improvement in genome-wide prediction, with greatest improvement observed in training sets up to 2000 individuals. We discuss assumptions that influence the choice of the prediction model. Although alternative models had minor impacts on prediction accuracy, the most robust prediction model was the combination of reproducing kernel Hilbert space regression and BayesB. Higher genotyping density marginally improved accuracy. Our study finds that breeding programs seeking efficient genomic selection in soybeans would best allocate resources by investing in a representative training set. Copyright © 2016 Xavie et al.

Visualization of genome signatures of eukaryote genomes by batch-learning self-organizing map with a special emphasis on Drosophila genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Abe, Takashi; Hamano, Yuta; Ikemura, Toshimichi

2014-01-01

A strategy of evolutionary studies that can compare vast numbers of genome sequences is becoming increasingly important with the remarkable progress of high-throughput DNA sequencing methods. We previously established a sequence alignment-free clustering method "BLSOM" for di-, tri-, and tetranucleotide compositions in genome sequences, which can characterize sequence characteristics (genome signatures) of a wide range of species. In the present study, we generated BLSOMs for tetra- and pentanucleotide compositions in approximately one million sequence fragments derived from 101 eukaryotes, for which almost complete genome sequences were available. BLSOM recognized phylotype-specific characteristics (e.g., key combinations of oligonucleotide frequencies) in the genome sequences, permitting phylotype-specific clustering of the sequences without any information regarding the species. In our detailed examination of 12 Drosophila species, the correlation between their phylogenetic classification and the classification on the BLSOMs was observed to visualize oligonucleotides diagnostic for species-specific clustering.

Genome-wide association study of prostate cancer-specific survival

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Szulkin, Robert; Karlsson, Robert; Whitington, Thomas

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Unnecessary intervention and overtreatment of indolent disease are common challenges in clinical management of prostate cancer. Improved tools to distinguish lethal from indolent disease are critical. METHODS: We performed a genome-wide survival analysis of cause-specific death in 24,...

Genome-Wide Association Study of Antiphospholipid Antibodies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Ilyas Kamboh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background. The persistent presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APA may lead to the development of primary or secondary antiphospholipid syndrome. Although the genetic basis of APA has been suggested, the identity of the underlying genes is largely unknown. In this study, we have performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS in an effort to identify susceptibility loci/genes for three main APA: anticardiolipin antibodies (ACL, lupus anticoagulant (LAC, and anti-β2 glycoprotein I antibodies (anti-β2GPI. Methods. DNA samples were genotyped using the Affymetrix 6.0 array containing 906,600 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs. Association of SNPs with the antibody status (positive/negative was tested using logistic regression under the additive model. Results. We have identified a number of suggestive novel loci with Pgenome-wide significance, many of the suggestive loci are potential candidates for the production of APA. We have replicated the previously reported associations of HLA genes and APOH with APA but these were not the top loci. Conclusions. We have identified a number of suggestive novel loci for APA that will stimulate follow-up studies in independent and larger samples to replicate our findings.

Genome-wide patterns of copy number variation in the diversified chicken genomes using next-generation sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Guoqiang; Qu, Lujiang; Liu, Jianfeng; Yan, Yiyuan; Xu, Guiyun; Yang, Ning

2014-11-07

Copy number variation (CNV) is important and widespread in the genome, and is a major cause of disease and phenotypic diversity. Herein, we performed a genome-wide CNV analysis in 12 diversified chicken genomes based on whole genome sequencing. A total of 8,840 CNV regions (CNVRs) covering 98.2 Mb and representing 9.4% of the chicken genome were identified, ranging in size from 1.1 to 268.8 kb with an average of 11.1 kb. Sequencing-based predictions were confirmed at a high validation rate by two independent approaches, including array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) and quantitative PCR (qPCR). The Pearson's correlation coefficients between sequencing and aCGH results ranged from 0.435 to 0.755, and qPCR experiments revealed a positive validation rate of 91.71% and a false negative rate of 22.43%. In total, 2,214 (25.0%) predicted CNVRs span 2,216 (36.4%) RefSeq genes associated with specific biological functions. Besides two previously reported copy number variable genes EDN3 and PRLR, we also found some promising genes with potential in phenotypic variation. Two genes, FZD6 and LIMS1, related to disease susceptibility/resistance are covered by CNVRs. The highly duplicated SOCS2 may lead to higher bone mineral density. Entire or partial duplication of some genes like POPDC3 may have great economic importance in poultry breeding. Our results based on extensive genetic diversity provide a more refined chicken CNV map and genome-wide gene copy number estimates, and warrant future CNV association studies for important traits in chickens.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

DNA Breaks and End Resection Measured Genome-wide by End Sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Canela, Andres; Sridharan, Sriram; Sciascia, Nicholas; Tubbs, Anthony; Meltzer, Paul; Sleckman, Barry P; Nussenzweig, André

2016-09-01

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) arise during physiological transcription, DNA replication, and antigen receptor diversification. Mistargeting or misprocessing of DSBs can result in pathological structural variation and mutation. Here we describe a sensitive method (END-seq) to monitor DNA end resection and DSBs genome-wide at base-pair resolution in vivo. We utilized END-seq to determine the frequency and spectrum of restriction-enzyme-, zinc-finger-nuclease-, and RAG-induced DSBs. Beyond sequence preference, chromatin features dictate the repertoire of these genome-modifying enzymes. END-seq can detect at least one DSB per cell among 10,000 cells not harboring DSBs, and we estimate that up to one out of 60 cells contains off-target RAG cleavage. In addition to site-specific cleavage, we detect DSBs distributed over extended regions during immunoglobulin class-switch recombination. Thus, END-seq provides a snapshot of DNA ends genome-wide, which can be utilized for understanding genome-editing specificities and the influence of chromatin on DSB pathway choice. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Genome-wide prediction of cis-regulatory regions using supervised deep learning methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yifeng; Shi, Wenqiang; Wasserman, Wyeth W

2018-05-31

In the human genome, 98% of DNA sequences are non-protein-coding regions that were previously disregarded as junk DNA. In fact, non-coding regions host a variety of cis-regulatory regions which precisely control the expression of genes. Thus, Identifying active cis-regulatory regions in the human genome is critical for understanding gene regulation and assessing the impact of genetic variation on phenotype. The developments of high-throughput sequencing and machine learning technologies make it possible to predict cis-regulatory regions genome wide. Based on rich data resources such as the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) and the Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome (FANTOM) projects, we introduce DECRES based on supervised deep learning approaches for the identification of enhancer and promoter regions in the human genome. Due to their ability to discover patterns in large and complex data, the introduction of deep learning methods enables a significant advance in our knowledge of the genomic locations of cis-regulatory regions. Using models for well-characterized cell lines, we identify key experimental features that contribute to the predictive performance. Applying DECRES, we delineate locations of 300,000 candidate enhancers genome wide (6.8% of the genome, of which 40,000 are supported by bidirectional transcription data), and 26,000 candidate promoters (0.6% of the genome). The predicted annotations of cis-regulatory regions will provide broad utility for genome interpretation from functional genomics to clinical applications. The DECRES model demonstrates potentials of deep learning technologies when combined with high-throughput sequencing data, and inspires the development of other advanced neural network models for further improvement of genome annotations.

Calculation of evolutionary correlation between individual genes and full-length genome: a method useful for choosing phylogenetic markers for molecular epidemiology.

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Shuai Wang

Full Text Available Individual genes or regions are still commonly used to estimate the phylogenetic relationships among viral isolates. The genomic regions that can faithfully provide assessments consistent with those predicted with full-length genome sequences would be preferable to serve as good candidates of the phylogenetic markers for molecular epidemiological studies of many viruses. Here we employed a statistical method to evaluate the evolutionary relationships between individual viral genes and full-length genomes without tree construction as a way to determine which gene can match the genome well in phylogenetic analyses. This method was performed by calculation of linear correlations between the genetic distance matrices of aligned individual gene sequences and aligned genome sequences. We applied this method to the phylogenetic analyses of porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2, measles virus (MV, hepatitis E virus (HEV and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV. Phylogenetic trees were constructed for comparisons and the possible factors affecting the method accuracy were also discussed in the calculations. The results revealed that this method could produce results consistent with those of previous studies about the proper consensus sequences that could be successfully used as phylogenetic markers. And our results also suggested that these evolutionary correlations could provide useful information for identifying genes that could be used effectively to infer the genetic relationships.

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

Science.gov (United States)

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.

Genome-wide survey and developmental expression mapping of zebrafish SET domain-containing genes.

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Xiao-Jian Sun

Full Text Available SET domain-containing proteins represent an evolutionarily conserved family of epigenetic regulators, which are responsible for most histone lysine methylation. Since some of these genes have been revealed to be essential for embryonic development, we propose that the zebrafish, a vertebrate model organism possessing many advantages for developmental studies, can be utilized to study the biological functions of these genes and the related epigenetic mechanisms during early development. To this end, we have performed a genome-wide survey of zebrafish SET domain genes. 58 genes total have been identified. Although gene duplication events give rise to several lineage-specific paralogs, clear reciprocal orthologous relationship reveals high conservation between zebrafish and human SET domain genes. These data were further subject to an evolutionary analysis ranging from yeast to human, leading to the identification of putative clusters of orthologous groups (COGs of this gene family. By means of whole-mount mRNA in situ hybridization strategy, we have also carried out a developmental expression mapping of these genes. A group of maternal SET domain genes, which are implicated in the programming of histone modification states in early development, have been identified and predicted to be responsible for all known sites of SET domain-mediated histone methylation. Furthermore, some genes show specific expression patterns in certain tissues at certain stages, suggesting the involvement of epigenetic mechanisms in the development of these systems. These results provide a global view of zebrafish SET domain histone methyltransferases in evolutionary and developmental dimensions and pave the way for using zebrafish to systematically study the roles of these genes during development.

Long- and short-term selective forces on malaria parasite genomes

KAUST Repository

Nygaard, Sanne

2010-09-09

Plasmodium parasites, the causal agents of malaria, result in more than 1 million deaths annually. Plasmodium are unicellular eukaryotes with small ~23 Mb genomes encoding ~5200 protein-coding genes. The protein-coding genes comprise about half of these genomes. Although evolutionary processes have a significant impact on malaria control, the selective pressures within Plasmodium genomes are poorly understood, particularly in the non-protein-coding portion of the genome. We use evolutionary methods to describe selective processes in both the coding and non-coding regions of these genomes. Based on genome alignments of seven Plasmodium species, we show that protein-coding, intergenic and intronic regions are all subject to purifying selection and we identify 670 conserved non-genic elements. We then use genome-wide polymorphism data from P. falciparum to describe short-term selective processes in this species and identify some candidate genes for balancing (diversifying) selection. Our analyses suggest that there are many functional elements in the non-genic regions of these genomes and that adaptive evolution has occurred more frequently in the protein-coding regions of the genome. © 2010 Nygaard et al.

Genome-wide association studies on HIV susceptibility, pathogenesis and pharmacogenomics

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van Manen Daniëlle

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Susceptibility to HIV-1 and the clinical course after infection show a substantial heterogeneity between individuals. Part of this variability can be attributed to host genetic variation. Initial candidate gene studies have revealed interesting host factors that influence HIV infection, replication and pathogenesis. Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS were utilized for unbiased searches at a genome-wide level to discover novel genetic factors and pathways involved in HIV-1 infection. This review gives an overview of findings from the GWAS performed on HIV infection, within different cohorts, with variable patient and phenotype selection. Furthermore, novel techniques and strategies in research that might contribute to the complete understanding of virus-host interactions and its role on the pathogenesis of HIV infection are discussed.

Evolutionary patterns of RNA-based duplication in non-mammalian chordates.

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Ming Chen

Full Text Available The role of RNA-based duplication, or retroposition, in the evolution of new gene functions in mammals, plants, and Drosophila has been widely reported. However, little is known about RNA-based duplication in non-mammalian chordates. In this study, we screened ten non-mammalian chordate genomes for retrocopies and investigated their evolutionary patterns. We identified numerous retrocopies in these species. Examination of the age distribution of these retrocopies revealed no burst of young retrocopies in ancient chordate species. Upon comparing these non-mammalian chordate species to the mammalian species, we observed that a larger fraction of the non-mammalian retrocopies was under strong evolutionary constraints than mammalian retrocopies are, as evidenced by signals of purifying selection and expression profiles. For the Western clawed frog, Medaka, and Sea squirt, many retrogenes have evolved gonad and brain expression patterns, similar to what was observed in human. Testing of retrogene movement in the Medaka genome, where the nascent sex chrosomes have been well assembled, did not reveal any significant gene movement. Taken together, our analyses demonstrate that RNA-based duplication generates many functional genes and can make a significant contribution to the evolution of non-mammalian genomes.

Genome-wide identification of significant aberrations in cancer genome.

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Yuan, Xiguo; Yu, Guoqiang; Hou, Xuchu; Shih, Ie-Ming; Clarke, Robert; Zhang, Junying; Hoffman, Eric P; Wang, Roger R; Zhang, Zhen; Wang, Yue

2012-07-27

Somatic Copy Number Alterations (CNAs) in human genomes are present in almost all human cancers. Systematic efforts to characterize such structural variants must effectively distinguish significant consensus events from random background aberrations. Here we introduce Significant Aberration in Cancer (SAIC), a new method for characterizing and assessing the statistical significance of recurrent CNA units. Three main features of SAIC include: (1) exploiting the intrinsic correlation among consecutive probes to assign a score to each CNA unit instead of single probes; (2) performing permutations on CNA units that preserve correlations inherent in the copy number data; and (3) iteratively detecting Significant Copy Number Aberrations (SCAs) and estimating an unbiased null distribution by applying an SCA-exclusive permutation scheme. We test and compare the performance of SAIC against four peer methods (GISTIC, STAC, KC-SMART, CMDS) on a large number of simulation datasets. Experimental results show that SAIC outperforms peer methods in terms of larger area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve and increased detection power. We then apply SAIC to analyze structural genomic aberrations acquired in four real cancer genome-wide copy number data sets (ovarian cancer, metastatic prostate cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, glioblastoma). When compared with previously reported results, SAIC successfully identifies most SCAs known to be of biological significance and associated with oncogenes (e.g., KRAS, CCNE1, and MYC) or tumor suppressor genes (e.g., CDKN2A/B). Furthermore, SAIC identifies a number of novel SCAs in these copy number data that encompass tumor related genes and may warrant further studies. Supported by a well-grounded theoretical framework, SAIC has been developed and used to identify SCAs in various cancer copy number data sets, providing useful information to study the landscape of cancer genomes. Open-source and platform-independent SAIC software is

Genome-wide analysis of the human Alu Yb-lineage

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Carter Anthony B

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract The Alu Yb-lineage is a 'young' primarily human-specific group of short interspersed element (SINE subfamilies that have integrated throughout the human genome. In this study, we have computationally screened the draft sequence of the human genome for Alu Yb-lineage subfamily members present on autosomal chromosomes. A total of 1,733 Yb Alu subfamily members have integrated into human autosomes. The average ages of Yb-lineage subfamilies, Yb7, Yb8 and Yb9, are estimated as 4.81, 2.39 and 2.32 million years, respectively. In order to determine the contribution of the Alu Yb-lineage to human genomic diversity, 1,202 loci were analysed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR-based assays, which amplify the genomic regions containing individual Yb-lineage subfamily members. Approximately 20 per cent of the Yb-lineage Alu elements are polymorphic for insertion presence/absence in the human genome. Fewer than 0.5 per cent of the Yb loci also demonstrate insertions at orthologous positions in non-human primate genomes. Genomic sequencing of these unusual loci demonstrates that each of the orthologous loci from non-human primate genomes contains older Y, Sg and Sx Alu family members that have been altered, through various mechanisms, into Yb8 sequences. These data suggest that Alu Yb-lineage subfamily members are largely restricted to the human genome. The high copy number, level of insertion polymorphism and estimated age indicate that members of the Alu Yb elements will be useful in a wide range of genetic analyses.

Controversy and debate on clinical genomics sequencing-paper 2: clinical genome-wide sequencing: don't throw out the baby with the bathwater!

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Adam, Shelin; Friedman, Jan M

2017-12-01

Genome-wide (exome or whole genome) sequencing with appropriate genetic counseling should be considered for any patient with a suspected Mendelian disease that has not been identified by conventional testing. Clinical genome-wide sequencing provides a powerful and effective means of identifying specific genetic causes of serious disease and improving clinical care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Does the evolutionary conservation of microsatellite loci imply function?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shriver, M.D.; Deka, R.; Ferrell, R.E. [Univ. of Pittsburgh, PA (United States)] [and others

1994-09-01

Microsatellites are highly polymorphic tandem arrays of short (1-6 bp) sequence motifs which have been found widely distributed in the genomes of all eukaryotes. We have analyzed allele frequency data on 16 microsatellite loci typed in the great apes (human, chimp, orangutan, and gorilla). The majority of these loci (13) were isolated from human genomic libraries; three were cloned from chimpanzee genomic DNA. Most of these loci are not only present in all apes species, but are polymorphic with comparable levels of heterozygosity and have alleles which overlap in size. The extent of divergence of allele frequencies among these four species were studies using the stepwise-weighted genetic distance (Dsw), which was previously shown to conform to linearity with evolutionary time since divergence for loci where mutations exist in a stepwise fashion. The phylogenetic tree of the great apes constructed from this distance matrix was consistent with the expected topology, with a high bootstrap confidence (82%) for the human/chimp clade. However, the allele frequency distributions of these species are 10 times more similar to each other than expected when they were calibrated with a conservative estimate of the time since separation of humans and the apes. These results are in agreement with sequence-based surveys of microsatellites which have demonstrated that they are highly (90%) conserved over short periods of evolutionary time (< 10 million years) and moderately (30%) conserved over long periods of evolutionary time (> 60-80 million years). This evolutionary conservation has prompted some authors to speculate that there are functional constraints on microsatellite loci. In contrast, the presence of directional bias of mutations with constraints and/or selection against aberrant sized alleles can explain these results.

Evolutionary changes of multiple visual pigment genes in the complete genome of Pacific bluefin tuna

OpenAIRE

Nakamura, Yoji; Mori, Kazuki; Saitoh, Kenji; Oshima, Kenshiro; Mekuchi, Miyuki; Sugaya, Takuma; Shigenobu, Yuya; Ojima, Nobuhiko; Muta, Shigeru; Fujiwara, Atushi; Yasuike, Motoshige; Oohara, Ichiro; Hirakawa, Hideki; Chowdhury, Vishwajit Sur; Kobayashi, Takanori

2013-01-01

Tunas are migratory fishes in offshore habitats and top predators with unique features. Despite their ecological importance and high market values, the open-ocean lifestyle of tuna, in which effective sensing systems such as color vision are required for capture of prey, has been poorly understood. To elucidate the genetic and evolutionary basis of optic adaptation of tuna, we determined the genome sequence of the Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis), using next-generation sequencing tec...

Evolutionary restoration of fertility in an interspecies hybrid yeast, by whole-genome duplication after a failed mating-type switch.

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Raúl A Ortiz-Merino

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Many interspecies hybrids have been discovered in yeasts, but most of these hybrids are asexual and can replicate only mitotically. Whole-genome duplication has been proposed as a mechanism by which interspecies hybrids can regain fertility, restoring their ability to perform meiosis and sporulate. Here, we show that this process occurred naturally during the evolution of Zygosaccharomyces parabailii, an interspecies hybrid that was formed by mating between 2 parents that differed by 7% in genome sequence and by many interchromosomal rearrangements. Surprisingly, Z. parabailii has a full sexual cycle and is genetically haploid. It goes through mating-type switching and autodiploidization, followed by immediate sporulation. We identified the key evolutionary event that enabled Z. parabailii to regain fertility, which was breakage of 1 of the 2 homeologous copies of the mating-type (MAT locus in the hybrid, resulting in a chromosomal rearrangement and irreparable damage to 1 MAT locus. This rearrangement was caused by HO endonuclease, which normally functions in mating-type switching. With 1 copy of MAT inactivated, the interspecies hybrid now behaves as a haploid. Our results provide the first demonstration that MAT locus damage is a naturally occurring evolutionary mechanism for whole-genome duplication and restoration of fertility to interspecies hybrids. The events that occurred in Z. parabailii strongly resemble those postulated to have caused ancient whole-genome duplication in an ancestor of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Efficient genome-wide genotyping strategies and data integration in crop plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Torkamaneh, Davoud; Boyle, Brian; Belzile, François

2018-03-01

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has revolutionized plant and animal research by providing powerful genotyping methods. This review describes and discusses the advantages, challenges and, most importantly, solutions to facilitate data processing, the handling of missing data, and cross-platform data integration. Next-generation sequencing technologies provide powerful and flexible genotyping methods to plant breeders and researchers. These methods offer a wide range of applications from genome-wide analysis to routine screening with a high level of accuracy and reproducibility. Furthermore, they provide a straightforward workflow to identify, validate, and screen genetic variants in a short time with a low cost. NGS-based genotyping methods include whole-genome re-sequencing, SNP arrays, and reduced representation sequencing, which are widely applied in crops. The main challenges facing breeders and geneticists today is how to choose an appropriate genotyping method and how to integrate genotyping data sets obtained from various sources. Here, we review and discuss the advantages and challenges of several NGS methods for genome-wide genetic marker development and genotyping in crop plants. We also discuss how imputation methods can be used to both fill in missing data in genotypic data sets and to integrate data sets obtained using different genotyping tools. It is our hope that this synthetic view of genotyping methods will help geneticists and breeders to integrate these NGS-based methods in crop plant breeding and research.

Pooled genome wide association detects association upstream of FCRL3 with Graves' disease.

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Khong, Jwu Jin; Burdon, Kathryn P; Lu, Yi; Laurie, Kate; Leonardos, Lefta; Baird, Paul N; Sahebjada, Srujana; Walsh, John P; Gajdatsy, Adam; Ebeling, Peter R; Hamblin, Peter Shane; Wong, Rosemary; Forehan, Simon P; Fourlanos, Spiros; Roberts, Anthony P; Doogue, Matthew; Selva, Dinesh; Montgomery, Grant W; Macgregor, Stuart; Craig, Jamie E

2016-11-18

Graves' disease is an autoimmune thyroid disease of complex inheritance. Multiple genetic susceptibility loci are thought to be involved in Graves' disease and it is therefore likely that these can be identified by genome wide association studies. This study aimed to determine if a genome wide association study, using a pooling methodology, could detect genomic loci associated with Graves' disease. Nineteen of the top ranking single nucleotide polymorphisms including HLA-DQA1 and C6orf10, were clustered within the Major Histo-compatibility Complex region on chromosome 6p21, with rs1613056 reaching genome wide significance (p = 5 × 10 -8 ). Technical validation of top ranking non-Major Histo-compatablity complex single nucleotide polymorphisms with individual genotyping in the discovery cohort revealed four single nucleotide polymorphisms with p ≤ 10 -4 . Rs17676303 on chromosome 1q23.1, located upstream of FCRL3, showed evidence of association with Graves' disease across the discovery, replication and combined cohorts. A second single nucleotide polymorphism rs9644119 downstream of DPYSL2 showed some evidence of association supported by finding in the replication cohort that warrants further study. Pooled genome wide association study identified a genetic variant upstream of FCRL3 as a susceptibility locus for Graves' disease in addition to those identified in the Major Histo-compatibility Complex. A second locus downstream of DPYSL2 is potentially a novel genetic variant in Graves' disease that requires further confirmation.

Improved Genome Assembly and Annotation for the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia).

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, Carson; Campbell, Michael; Keays, David A; Edelman, Nathaniel; Kapusta, Aurélie; Maclary, Emily; T Domyan, Eric; Suh, Alexander; Warren, Wesley C; Yandell, Mark; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Shapiro, Michael D

2018-05-04

The domestic rock pigeon ( Columba livia ) is among the most widely distributed and phenotypically diverse avian species. C. livia is broadly studied in ecology, genetics, physiology, behavior, and evolutionary biology, and has recently emerged as a model for understanding the molecular basis of anatomical diversity, the magnetic sense, and other key aspects of avian biology. Here we report an update to the C. livia genome reference assembly and gene annotation dataset. Greatly increased scaffold lengths in the updated reference assembly, along with an updated annotation set, provide improved tools for evolutionary and functional genetic studies of the pigeon, and for comparative avian genomics in general. Copyright © 2018 Holt et al.

Whole-genome sequencing of a laboratory-evolved yeast strain

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Dunham Maitreya J

2010-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Experimental evolution of microbial populations provides a unique opportunity to study evolutionary adaptation in response to controlled selective pressures. However, until recently it has been difficult to identify the precise genetic changes underlying adaptation at a genome-wide scale. New DNA sequencing technologies now allow the genome of parental and evolved strains of microorganisms to be rapidly determined. Results We sequenced >93.5% of the genome of a laboratory-evolved strain of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its ancestor at >28× depth. Both single nucleotide polymorphisms and copy number amplifications were found, with specific gains over array-based methodologies previously used to analyze these genomes. Applying a segmentation algorithm to quantify structural changes, we determined the approximate genomic boundaries of a 5× gene amplification. These boundaries guided the recovery of breakpoint sequences, which provide insights into the nature of a complex genomic rearrangement. Conclusions This study suggests that whole-genome sequencing can provide a rapid approach to uncover the genetic basis of evolutionary adaptations, with further applications in the study of laboratory selections and mutagenesis screens. In addition, we show how single-end, short read sequencing data can provide detailed information about structural rearrangements, and generate predictions about the genomic features and processes that underlie genome plasticity.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for personality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.H.M. de Moor; P.T. Costa Jr; A. Terracciano; R.F. Krueger; E.J.C. de Geus (Eco); T. Toshiko; B.W.J.H. Penninx (Brenda); T. Esko; P.A.F. Madden (Pamela); J. Derringer; N. Amin (Najaf); G.A.H.M. Willemsen (Gonneke); J.J. Hottenga (Jouke Jan); M.A. Distel (Marijn); M. Uda (Manuela); S. Sanna (Serena); P. Spinhoven; C.A. Hartman; P.F. Sullivan (Patrick); A. Realo; J. Allik; A.C. Heath; M.L. Pergadia; P. Lin; R. Grucza; T. Nutile; M. Ciullo; D. Rujescu (Dan); I. Giegling (Ina); B. Konte; E. Widen (Elisabeth); D.L. Cousminer (Diana); J.G. Eriksson; A. Palotie; L. Peltonen; M. Luciano (Michelle); A. Tenesa (Albert); G. Davies; L.M. Lopez; N.K. Hansell (Narelle); S.E. Medland (Sarah Elizabeth); L. Ferrucci; D. Schlessinger; G.W. Montgomery; M.J. Wright (Margaret); Y.S. Aulchenko (Yurii); A.C.J.W. Janssens (Cécile); B.A. Oostra (Ben); A. Metspalu (Andres); I.J. Deary; K. Räikkönen (Katri); L.J. Bierut (Laura); N.G. Martin; C.M. van Duijn (Cornelia); D.I. Boomsma (Dorret); G.R. Abecasis (Gonçalo); A. Agrawal (Arpana)

2012-01-01

textabstractPersonality can be thought of as a set of characteristics that influence people's thoughts, feelings and behavior across a variety of settings. Variation in personality is predictive of many outcomes in life, including mental health. Here we report on a meta-analysis of genome-wide

A genome-wide investigation of SNPs and CNVs in schizophrenia.

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Anna C Need

2009-02-01

Full Text Available We report a genome-wide assessment of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs and copy number variants (CNVs in schizophrenia. We investigated SNPs using 871 patients and 863 controls, following up the top hits in four independent cohorts comprising 1,460 patients and 12,995 controls, all of European origin. We found no genome-wide significant associations, nor could we provide support for any previously reported candidate gene or genome-wide associations. We went on to examine CNVs using a subset of 1,013 cases and 1,084 controls of European ancestry, and a further set of 60 cases and 64 controls of African ancestry. We found that eight cases and zero controls carried deletions greater than 2 Mb, of which two, at 8p22 and 16p13.11-p12.4, are newly reported here. A further evaluation of 1,378 controls identified no deletions greater than 2 Mb, suggesting a high prior probability of disease involvement when such deletions are observed in cases. We also provide further evidence for some smaller, previously reported, schizophrenia-associated CNVs, such as those in NRXN1 and APBA2. We could not provide strong support for the hypothesis that schizophrenia patients have a significantly greater "load" of large (>100 kb, rare CNVs, nor could we find common CNVs that associate with schizophrenia. Finally, we did not provide support for the suggestion that schizophrenia-associated CNVs may preferentially disrupt genes in neurodevelopmental pathways. Collectively, these analyses provide the first integrated study of SNPs and CNVs in schizophrenia and support the emerging view that rare deleterious variants may be more important in schizophrenia predisposition than common polymorphisms. While our analyses do not suggest that implicated CNVs impinge on particular key pathways, we do support the contribution of specific genomic regions in schizophrenia, presumably due to recurrent mutation. On balance, these data suggest that very few schizophrenia patients

Genome-wide association studies of obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Fall, Tove; Ingelsson, Erik

2014-01-25

Until just a few years ago, the genetic determinants of obesity and metabolic syndrome were largely unknown, with the exception of a few forms of monogenic extreme obesity. Since genome-wide association studies (GWAS) became available, large advances have been made. The first single nucleotide polymorphism robustly associated with increased body mass index (BMI) was in 2007 mapped to a gene with for the time unknown function. This gene, now known as fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) has been repeatedly replicated in several ethnicities and is affecting obesity by regulating appetite. Since the first report from a GWAS of obesity, an increasing number of markers have been shown to be associated with BMI, other measures of obesity or fat distribution and metabolic syndrome. This systematic review of obesity GWAS will summarize genome-wide significant findings for obesity and metabolic syndrome and briefly give a few suggestions of what is to be expected in the next few years. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genome-Wide Characterization and Expression Profiling of the AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF) Gene Family in Eucalyptus grandis

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Hong; Soler, Marçal; Mila, Isabelle; San Clemente, Hélène; Savelli, Bruno; Dunand, Christophe; Paiva, Jorge A. P.; Myburg, Alexander A.; Bouzayen, Mondher; Grima-Pettenati, Jacqueline; Cassan-Wang, Hua

2014-01-01

Auxin is a central hormone involved in a wide range of developmental processes including the specification of vascular stem cells. Auxin Response Factors (ARF) are important actors of the auxin signalling pathway, regulating the transcription of auxin-responsive genes through direct binding to their promoters. The recent availability of the Eucalyptus grandis genome sequence allowed us to examine the characteristics and evolutionary history of this gene family in a woody plant of high economic importance. With 17 members, the E. grandis ARF gene family is slightly contracted, as compared to those of most angiosperms studied hitherto, lacking traces of duplication events. In silico analysis of alternative transcripts and gene truncation suggested that these two mechanisms were preeminent in shaping the functional diversity of the ARF family in Eucalyptus. Comparative phylogenetic analyses with genomes of other taxonomic lineages revealed the presence of a new ARF clade found preferentially in woody and/or perennial plants. High-throughput expression profiling among different organs and tissues and in response to environmental cues highlighted genes expressed in vascular cambium and/or developing xylem, responding dynamically to various environmental stimuli. Finally, this study allowed identification of three ARF candidates potentially involved in the auxin-regulated transcriptional program underlying wood formation. PMID:25269088

Genome-wide characterization and expression profiling of the AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF gene family in Eucalyptus grandis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hong Yu

Full Text Available Auxin is a central hormone involved in a wide range of developmental processes including the specification of vascular stem cells. Auxin Response Factors (ARF are important actors of the auxin signalling pathway, regulating the transcription of auxin-responsive genes through direct binding to their promoters. The recent availability of the Eucalyptus grandis genome sequence allowed us to examine the characteristics and evolutionary history of this gene family in a woody plant of high economic importance. With 17 members, the E. grandis ARF gene family is slightly contracted, as compared to those of most angiosperms studied hitherto, lacking traces of duplication events. In silico analysis of alternative transcripts and gene truncation suggested that these two mechanisms were preeminent in shaping the functional diversity of the ARF family in Eucalyptus. Comparative phylogenetic analyses with genomes of other taxonomic lineages revealed the presence of a new ARF clade found preferentially in woody and/or perennial plants. High-throughput expression profiling among different organs and tissues and in response to environmental cues highlighted genes expressed in vascular cambium and/or developing xylem, responding dynamically to various environmental stimuli. Finally, this study allowed identification of three ARF candidates potentially involved in the auxin-regulated transcriptional program underlying wood formation.

Microbial genome-wide association studies: lessons from human GWAS.

Science.gov (United States)

Power, Robert A; Parkhill, Julian; de Oliveira, Tulio

2017-01-01

The reduced costs of sequencing have led to whole-genome sequences for a large number of microorganisms, enabling the application of microbial genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Given the successes of human GWAS in understanding disease aetiology and identifying potential drug targets, microbial GWAS are likely to further advance our understanding of infectious diseases. These advances include insights into pressing global health problems, such as antibiotic resistance and disease transmission. In this Review, we outline the methodologies of GWAS, the current state of the field of microbial GWAS, and how lessons from human GWAS can direct the future of the field.

Genome-wide and paternal diversity reveal a recent origin of human populations in North Africa.

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Karima Fadhlaoui-Zid

Full Text Available The geostrategic location of North Africa as a crossroad between three continents and as a stepping-stone outside Africa has evoked anthropological and genetic interest in this region. Numerous studies have described the genetic landscape of the human population in North Africa employing paternal, maternal, and biparental molecular markers. However, information from these markers which have different inheritance patterns has been mostly assessed independently, resulting in an incomplete description of the region. In this study, we analyze uniparental and genome-wide markers examining similarities or contrasts in the results and consequently provide a comprehensive description of the evolutionary history of North Africa populations. Our results show that both males and females in North Africa underwent a similar admixture history with slight differences in the proportions of admixture components. Consequently, genome-wide diversity show similar patterns with admixture tests suggesting North Africans are a mixture of ancestral populations related to current Africans and Eurasians with more affinity towards the out-of-Africa populations than to sub-Saharan Africans. We estimate from the paternal lineages that most North Africans emerged ∼15,000 years ago during the last glacial warming and that population splits started after the desiccation of the Sahara. Although most North Africans share a common admixture history, the Tunisian Berbers show long periods of genetic isolation and appear to have diverged from surrounding populations without subsequent mixture. On the other hand, continuous gene flow from the Middle East made Egyptians genetically closer to Eurasians than to other North Africans. We show that genetic diversity of today's North Africans mostly captures patterns from migrations post Last Glacial Maximum and therefore may be insufficient to inform on the initial population of the region during the Middle Paleolithic period.

Genome-wide and paternal diversity reveal a recent origin of human populations in North Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Fadhlaoui-Zid, Karima; Haber, Marc; Martínez-Cruz, Begoña; Zalloua, Pierre; Benammar Elgaaied, Amel; Comas, David

2013-01-01

The geostrategic location of North Africa as a crossroad between three continents and as a stepping-stone outside Africa has evoked anthropological and genetic interest in this region. Numerous studies have described the genetic landscape of the human population in North Africa employing paternal, maternal, and biparental molecular markers. However, information from these markers which have different inheritance patterns has been mostly assessed independently, resulting in an incomplete description of the region. In this study, we analyze uniparental and genome-wide markers examining similarities or contrasts in the results and consequently provide a comprehensive description of the evolutionary history of North Africa populations. Our results show that both males and females in North Africa underwent a similar admixture history with slight differences in the proportions of admixture components. Consequently, genome-wide diversity show similar patterns with admixture tests suggesting North Africans are a mixture of ancestral populations related to current Africans and Eurasians with more affinity towards the out-of-Africa populations than to sub-Saharan Africans. We estimate from the paternal lineages that most North Africans emerged ∼15,000 years ago during the last glacial warming and that population splits started after the desiccation of the Sahara. Although most North Africans share a common admixture history, the Tunisian Berbers show long periods of genetic isolation and appear to have diverged from surrounding populations without subsequent mixture. On the other hand, continuous gene flow from the Middle East made Egyptians genetically closer to Eurasians than to other North Africans. We show that genetic diversity of today's North Africans mostly captures patterns from migrations post Last Glacial Maximum and therefore may be insufficient to inform on the initial population of the region during the Middle Paleolithic period.

A genome-wide association study of cognitive function in Chinese adult twins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, Chunsheng; Zhang, Dongfeng; Wu, Yili

2017-01-01

Multiple loci or genes have been identified using genome-wide association studies mainly in western countries but with inconsistent results. No similar studies have been conducted in the world's largest and rapidly aging Chinese population. The paper aimed to identify the specific genetic variants....... Gene-based analysis was performed on VEGAS2. The statistically significant genes were then subject to gene set enrichment analysis to further identify the specific biological pathways associated with cognitive function. No SNPs reached genome-wide significance although there were 13 SNPs of suggestive...

An Expanded Genome-Wide Association Study of Type 2 Diabetes in Europeans

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scott, Robert A; Scott, Laura J; Mägi, Reedik; Marullo, Letizia; Gaulton, Kyle J; Kaakinen, Marika; Pervjakova, Natalia; Pers, Tune H; Johnson, Andrew D; Eicher, John D; Jackson, Anne U; Ferreira, Teresa; Lee, Yeji; Ma, Clement; Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Qi, Lu; Van Zuydam, Natalie R; Mahajan, Anubha; Chen, Han; Almgren, Peter; Voight, Ben F; Grallert, Harald; Müller-Nurasyid, Martina; Ried, Janina S; Rayner, William N; Robertson, Neil; Karssen, Lennart C; van Leeuwen, Elisabeth M; Willems, Sara M; Fuchsberger, Christian; Kwan, Phoenix; Teslovich, Tanya M; Chanda, Pritam; Li, Man; Lu, Yingchang; Dina, Christian; Thuillier, Dorothee; Yengo, Loic; Jiang, Longda; Sparso, Thomas; Kestler, Hans A; Chheda, Himanshu; Eisele, Lewin; Gustafsson, Stefan; Frånberg, Mattias; Strawbridge, Rona J; Benediktsson, Rafn; Hreidarsson, Astradur B; Kong, Augustine; Sigurðsson, Gunnar; Kerrison, Nicola D; Luan, Jian'an; Liang, Liming; Meitinger, Thomas; Roden, Michael; Thorand, Barbara; Esko, Tõnu; Mihailov, Evelin; Fox, Caroline; Liu, Ching-Ti; Rybin, Denis; Isomaa, Bo; Lyssenko, Valeriya; Tuomi, Tiinamaija; Couper, David J; Pankow, James S; Grarup, Niels; Have, Christian T; Jørgensen, Marit E; Jørgensen, Torben; Linneberg, Allan; Cornelis, Marilyn C; van Dam, Rob M; Hunter, David J; Kraft, Peter; Sun, Qi; Edkins, Sarah; Owen, Katharine R; Perry, John Rb; Wood, Andrew R; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Tajes-Fernandes, Juan; Abecasis, Goncalo R; Bonnycastle, Lori L; Chines, Peter S; Stringham, Heather M; Koistinen, Heikki A; Kinnunen, Leena; Sennblad, Bengt; Mühleisen, Thomas W; Nöthen, Markus M; Pechlivanis, Sonali; Baldassarre, Damiano; Gertow, Karl; Humphries, Steve E; Tremoli, Elena; Klopp, Norman; Meyer, Julia; Steinbach, Gerald; Wennauer, Roman; Eriksson, Johan G; Mӓnnistö, Satu; Peltonen, Leena; Tikkanen, Emmi; Charpentier, Guillaume; Eury, Elodie; Lobbens, Stéphane; Gigante, Bruna; Leander, Karin; McLeod, Olga; Bottinger, Erwin P; Gottesman, Omri; Ruderfer, Douglas; Blüher, Matthias; Kovacs, Peter; Tonjes, Anke; Maruthur, Nisa M; Scapoli, Chiara; Erbel, Raimund; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Moebus, Susanne; de Faire, Ulf; Hamsten, Anders; Stumvoll, Michael; Deloukas, Panagiotis; Donnelly, Peter J; Frayling, Timothy M; Hattersley, Andrew T; Ripatti, Samuli; Salomaa, Veikko; Pedersen, Nancy L; Boehm, Bernhard O; Bergman, Richard N; Collins, Francis S; Mohlke, Karen L; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; Hansen, Torben; Pedersen, Oluf; Barroso, Inês; Lannfelt, Lars; Ingelsson, Erik; Lind, Lars; Lindgren, Cecilia M; Cauchi, Stephane; Froguel, Philippe; Loos, Ruth Jf; Balkau, Beverley; Boeing, Heiner; Franks, Paul W; Gurrea, Aurelio Barricarte; Palli, Domenico; van der Schouw, Yvonne T; Altshuler, David; Groop, Leif C; Langenberg, Claudia; Wareham, Nicholas J; Sijbrands, Eric; van Duijn, Cornelia M; Florez, Jose C; Meigs, James B; Boerwinkle, Eric; Gieger, Christian; Strauch, Konstantin; Metspalu, Andres; Morris, Andrew D; Palmer, Colin Na; Hu, Frank B; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Stefansson, Kari; Dupuis, Josée; Morris, Andrew P; Boehnke, Michael; McCarthy, Mark I; Prokopenko, Inga

2017-01-01

To characterise type 2 diabetes (T2D) associated variation across the allele frequency spectrum, we conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association data from 26,676 T2D cases and 132,532 controls of European ancestry after imputation using the 1000 Genomes multi-ethnic reference panel.

The wolf reference genome sequence (Canis lupus lupus) and its implications for Canis spp. population genomics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Samaniego Castruita, Jose Alfredo; Sinding, Mikkel Holger Strander

2017-01-01

Background An increasing number of studies are addressing the evolutionary genomics of dog domestication, principally through resequencing dog, wolf and related canid genomes. There is, however, only one de novo assembled canid genome currently available against which to map such data - that of a......Background An increasing number of studies are addressing the evolutionary genomics of dog domestication, principally through resequencing dog, wolf and related canid genomes. There is, however, only one de novo assembled canid genome currently available against which to map such data...... that regardless of the reference genome choice, most evolutionary genomic analyses yield qualitatively similar results, including those exploring the structure between the wolves and dogs using admixture and principal component analysis. However, we do observe differences in the genomic coverage of re-mapped...

A review of genome-wide approaches to study the genetic basis for spermatogenic defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Aston, Kenneth I; Conrad, Donald F

2013-01-01

Rapidly advancing tools for genetic analysis on a genome-wide scale have been instrumental in identifying the genetic bases for many complex diseases. About half of male infertility cases are of unknown etiology in spite of tremendous efforts to characterize the genetic basis for the disorder. Advancing our understanding of the genetic basis for male infertility will require the application of established and emerging genomic tools. This chapter introduces many of the tools available for genetic studies on a genome-wide scale along with principles of study design and data analysis.

Genome-Wide Divergence in the West-African Malaria Vector Anopheles melas

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Kevin C. Deitz

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Anopheles melas is a member of the recently diverged An. gambiae species complex, a model for speciation studies, and is a locally important malaria vector along the West-African coast where it breeds in brackish water. A recent population genetic study of An. melas revealed species-level genetic differentiation between three population clusters. An. melas West extends from The Gambia to the village of Tiko, Cameroon. The other mainland cluster, An. melas South, extends from the southern Cameroonian village of Ipono to Angola. Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea An. melas populations are genetically isolated from mainland populations. To examine how genetic differentiation between these An. melas forms is distributed across their genomes, we conducted a genome-wide analysis of genetic differentiation and selection using whole genome sequencing data of pooled individuals (Pool-seq from a representative population of each cluster. The An. melas forms exhibit high levels of genetic differentiation throughout their genomes, including the presence of numerous fixed differences between clusters. Although the level of divergence between the clusters is on a par with that of other species within the An. gambiae complex, patterns of genome-wide divergence and diversity do not provide evidence for the presence of pre- and/or postmating isolating mechanisms in the form of speciation islands. These results are consistent with an allopatric divergence process with little or no introgression.

Evolutionary and Comparative Genomics to Drive Rational Drug Design, with Particular Focus on Neuropeptide Seven-Transmembrane Receptors.

Science.gov (United States)

Furlong, Michael; Seong, Jae Young

2017-01-01

Seven transmembrane receptors (7TMRs), also known as G protein-coupled receptors, are popular targets of drug development, particularly 7TMR systems that are activated by peptide ligands. Although many pharmaceutical drugs have been discovered via conventional bulk analysis techniques the increasing availability of structural and evolutionary data are facilitating change to rational, targeted drug design. This article discusses the appeal of neuropeptide-7TMR systems as drug targets and provides an overview of concepts in the evolution of vertebrate genomes and gene families. Subsequently, methods that use evolutionary concepts and comparative analysis techniques to aid in gene discovery, gene function identification, and novel drug design are provided along with case study examples.

Genome-wide association study of antisocial personality disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Rautiainen, M-R; Paunio, T; Repo-Tiihonen, E; Virkkunen, M; Ollila, H M; Sulkava, S; Jolanki, O; Palotie, A; Tiihonen, J

2016-09-06

The pathophysiology of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) remains unclear. Although the most consistent biological finding is reduced grey matter volume in the frontal cortex, about 50% of the total liability to developing ASPD has been attributed to genetic factors. The contributing genes remain largely unknown. Therefore, we sought to study the genetic background of ASPD. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and a replication analysis of Finnish criminal offenders fulfilling DSM-IV criteria for ASPD (N=370, N=5850 for controls, GWAS; N=173, N=3766 for controls and replication sample). The GWAS resulted in suggestive associations of two clusters of single-nucleotide polymorphisms at 6p21.2 and at 6p21.32 at the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region. Imputation of HLA alleles revealed an independent association with DRB1*01:01 (odds ratio (OR)=2.19 (1.53-3.14), P=1.9 × 10(-5)). Two polymorphisms at 6p21.2 LINC00951-LRFN2 gene region were replicated in a separate data set, and rs4714329 reached genome-wide significance (OR=1.59 (1.37-1.85), P=1.6 × 10(-9)) in the meta-analysis. The risk allele also associated with antisocial features in the general population conditioned for severe problems in childhood family (β=0.68, P=0.012). Functional analysis in brain tissue in open access GTEx and Braineac databases revealed eQTL associations of rs4714329 with LINC00951 and LRFN2 in cerebellum. In humans, LINC00951 and LRFN2 are both expressed in the brain, especially in the frontal cortex, which is intriguing considering the role of the frontal cortex in behavior and the neuroanatomical findings of reduced gray matter volume in ASPD. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing genome-wide significant and replicable findings on genetic variants associated with any personality disorder.

Genome-wide association study of antisocial personality disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Rautiainen, M-R; Paunio, T; Repo-Tiihonen, E; Virkkunen, M; Ollila, H M; Sulkava, S; Jolanki, O; Palotie, A; Tiihonen, J

2016-01-01

The pathophysiology of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) remains unclear. Although the most consistent biological finding is reduced grey matter volume in the frontal cortex, about 50% of the total liability to developing ASPD has been attributed to genetic factors. The contributing genes remain largely unknown. Therefore, we sought to study the genetic background of ASPD. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and a replication analysis of Finnish criminal offenders fulfilling DSM-IV criteria for ASPD (N=370, N=5850 for controls, GWAS; N=173, N=3766 for controls and replication sample). The GWAS resulted in suggestive associations of two clusters of single-nucleotide polymorphisms at 6p21.2 and at 6p21.32 at the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region. Imputation of HLA alleles revealed an independent association with DRB1*01:01 (odds ratio (OR)=2.19 (1.53–3.14), P=1.9 × 10-5). Two polymorphisms at 6p21.2 LINC00951–LRFN2 gene region were replicated in a separate data set, and rs4714329 reached genome-wide significance (OR=1.59 (1.37–1.85), P=1.6 × 10−9) in the meta-analysis. The risk allele also associated with antisocial features in the general population conditioned for severe problems in childhood family (β=0.68, P=0.012). Functional analysis in brain tissue in open access GTEx and Braineac databases revealed eQTL associations of rs4714329 with LINC00951 and LRFN2 in cerebellum. In humans, LINC00951 and LRFN2 are both expressed in the brain, especially in the frontal cortex, which is intriguing considering the role of the frontal cortex in behavior and the neuroanatomical findings of reduced gray matter volume in ASPD. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing genome-wide significant and replicable findings on genetic variants associated with any personality disorder. PMID:27598967

Genome-wide association study identifies five new schizophrenia loci

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ripke, S.; Sanders, A. R.; Kendler, K. S.; Levinson, D. F.; Sklar, P.; Holmans, P. A.; Lin, D. Y.; Duan, J.; Ophoff, R. A.; Andreassen, O. A.; Scolnick, E.; Cichon, S.; St Clair, D.; Corvin, A.; Gurling, H.; Werge, T.; Rujescu, D.; Blackwood, D. H.; Pato, C. N.; Malhotra, A. K.; Purcell, S.; Dudbridge, F.; Neale, B. M.; Rossin, L.; Visscher, P. M.; Posthuma, D.; Ruderfer, D. M.; Fanous, A.; Stefansson, H.; Steinberg, S.; Mowry, B. J.; Golimbet, V.; de Hert, M.; Jonsson, E. G.; Bitter, I.; Pietilainen, O. P.; Collier, D. A.; Tosato, S.; Agartz, I.; Albus, M.; Alexander, M.; Amdur, R. L.; Amin, F.; Bass, N.; Bergen, S. E.; Black, D. W.; Borglum, A. D.; Brown, M. A.; Bruggeman, R.; Buccola, N. G.; Byerley, W. F.; Cahn, W.; Cantor, R. M.; Carr, V. J.; Catts, S. V.; Choudhury, K.; Cloninger, C. R.; Cormican, P.; Craddock, N.; Danoy, P. A.; Datta, S.; de Haan, L.; Demontis, D.; Dikeos, D.; Djurovic, S.; Donnely, P.; Donohoe, G.; Duong, L.; Dwyer, S.; Fink-Jensen, A.; Freedman, R.; Freimer, N. B.; Friedl, M.; Georgieva, L.; Giegling, I.; Gill, M.; Glenthoj, B.; Godard, S.; Hamshere, M.; Hansen, M.; Hartmann, A. M.; Henskens, F. A.; Hougaard, D. M.; Hultman, C. M.; Ingason, A.; Jablensky, A. V.; Jakobsen, K. D.; Jay, M.; Jurgens, G.; Kahn, R. S.; Keller, M. C.; Kenis, G.; Kenny, E.; Kim, Y.; Kirov, G. K.; Konnerth, H.; Konte, B.; Krabbendam, L.; Krasucki, R.; Lasseter, V. K.; Laurent, C.; Lawrence, J.; Lencz, T.; Lerer, F. B.; Liang, K. Y.; Lichtenstein, P.; Lieberman, J. A.; Linszen, D. H.; Lonnqvist, J.; Loughland, C. M.; Maclean, A. W.; Maher, B. S.; Maier, W.; Mallet, J.; Malloy, P.; Mattheisen, M.; Mattingsdal, M.; McGhee, K. A.; McGrath, J. J.; McIntosh, A.; McLean, D. E.; McQuillin, A.; Melle, I.; Michie, P. T.; Milanova, V.; Morris, D. W.; Mors, O.; Mortensen, P. B.; Moskvina, V.; Muglia, P.; Myin-Germeys, I.; Nertney, D. A.; Nestadt, G.; Nielsen, J.; Nikolov, I.; Nordentoft, M.; Norton, N.; Nothen, M. M.; O'Dushlaine, C. T.; Olincy, A.; Olsen, L.; O'Neill, F. A.; Orntoft, T. F.; Owen, M. J.; Pantelis, C.; Papadimitriou, G.; Pato, M. T.; Peltonen, L.; Petursson, H.; Pickard, B.; Pimm, J.; Pulver, A. E.; Puri, V.; Quested, D.; Quinn, E. M.; Rasmussen, H. B.; Rethelyi, J. M.; Ribble, R.; Rietschel, M.; Riley, B. P.; Ruggeri, M.; Schall, U.; Schulze, T. G.; Schwab, S. G.; Scott, R. J.; Shi, J.; Sigurdsson, E.; Silvermann, J. M.; Spencer, C. C.; Stefansson, K.; Strange, A.; Strengman, E.; Stroup, T. S.; Suvisaari, J.; Terenius, L.; Thirumalai, S.; Thygesen, J. H.; Timm, S.; Toncheva, D.; van den Oord, E.; van Os, J.; van Winkel, R.; Veldink, J.; Walsh, D.; Wang, A. G.; Wiersma, D.; Wildenauer, D. B.; Williams, H. J.; Williams, N. M.; Wormley, B.; Zammit, S.; Sullivan, P. F.; O'Donovan, M. C.; Daly, M. J.; Gejman, P. V.

2011-01-01

We examined the role of common genetic variation in schizophrenia in a genome-wide association study of substantial size: a stage 1 discovery sample of 21,856 individuals of European ancestry and a stage 2 replication sample of 29,839 independent subjects. The combined stage 1 and 2 analysis yielded

The genome sequence of the emerging common midwife toad virus identifies an evolutionary intermediate within ranaviruses.

Science.gov (United States)

Mavian, Carla; López-Bueno, Alberto; Balseiro, Ana; Casais, Rosa; Alcamí, Antonio; Alejo, Alí

2012-04-01

Worldwide amphibian population declines have been ascribed to global warming, increasing pollution levels, and other factors directly related to human activities. These factors may additionally be favoring the emergence of novel pathogens. In this report, we have determined the complete genome sequence of the emerging common midwife toad ranavirus (CMTV), which has caused fatal disease in several amphibian species across Europe. Phylogenetic and gene content analyses of the first complete genomic sequence from a ranavirus isolated in Europe show that CMTV is an amphibian-like ranavirus (ALRV). However, the CMTV genome structure is novel and represents an intermediate evolutionary stage between the two previously described ALRV groups. We find that CMTV clusters with several other ranaviruses isolated from different hosts and locations which might also be included in this novel ranavirus group. This work sheds light on the phylogenetic relationships within this complex group of emerging, disease-causing viruses.

A Pooled Genome-Wide Association Study of Asperger Syndrome.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Varun Warrier

Full Text Available Asperger Syndrome (AS is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, alongside the presence of unusually repetitive, restricted interests and stereotyped behaviour. Individuals with AS have no delay in cognitive and language development. It is a subset of Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC, which are highly heritable and has a population prevalence of approximately 1%. Few studies have investigated the genetic basis of AS. To address this gap in the literature, we performed a genome-wide pooled DNA association study to identify candidate loci in 612 individuals (294 cases and 318 controls of Caucasian ancestry, using the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Mapping version 6.0 array. We identified 11 SNPs that had a p-value below 1x10-5. These SNPs were independently genotyped in the same sample. Three of the SNPs (rs1268055, rs7785891 and rs2782448 were nominally significant, though none remained significant after Bonferroni correction. Two of our top three SNPs (rs7785891 and rs2782448 lie in loci previously implicated in ASC. However, investigation of the three SNPs in the ASC genome-wide association dataset from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium indicated that these three SNPs were not significantly associated with ASC. The effect sizes of the variants were modest, indicating that our study was not sufficiently powered to identify causal variants with precision.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of the bHLH gene family in tomato.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Hua; Fan, Hua-Jie; Ling, Hong-Qing

2015-01-22

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins are a large superfamily of transcription factors, and play a central role in a wide range of metabolic, physiological, and developmental processes in higher organisms. Tomato is an important vegetable crop, and its genome sequence has been published recently. However, the bHLH gene family of tomato has not been systematically identified and characterized yet. In this study, we identified 159 bHLH protein-encoding genes (SlbHLH) in tomato genome and analyzed their structures. Although bHLH domains were conserved among the bHLH proteins between tomato and Arabidopsis, the intron sequences and distribution of tomato bHLH genes were extremely different compared with Arabidopsis. The gene duplication analysis showed that 58.5% and 6.3% of SlbHLH genes belonged to low-stringency and high-stringency duplication, respectively, indicating that the SlbHLH genes are mainly generated via short low-stringency region duplication in tomato. Subsequently, we classified the SlbHLH genes into 21 subfamilies by phylogenetic tree analysis, and predicted their possible functions by comparison with their homologous genes of Arabidopsis. Moreover, the expression profile analysis of SlbHLH genes from 10 different tissues showed that 21 SlbHLH genes exhibited tissue-specific expression. Further, we identified that 11 SlbHLH genes were associated with fruit development and ripening (eight of them associated with young fruit development and three with fruit ripening). The evolutionary analysis revealed that 92% SlbHLH genes might be evolved from ancestor(s) originated from early land plant, and 8% from algae. In this work, we systematically identified SlbHLHs by analyzing the tomato genome sequence using a set of bioinformatics approaches, and characterized their chromosomal distribution, gene structures, duplication, phylogenetic relationship and expression profiles, as well predicted their possible biological functions via comparative analysis

Perspectives provided by leopard and other cat genomes: how diet determined the evolutionary history of carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Soonok; Cho, Yun Sung; Bhak, Jong; O’Brian, Stephen J.; Yeo, Joo-Hong

2017-01-01

Recent advances in genome sequencing technologies have enabled humans to generate and investigate the genomes of wild species. This includes the big cat family, such as tigers, lions, and leopards. Adding the first high quality leopard genome, we have performed an in-depth comparative analysis to identify the genomic signatures in the evolution of felid to become the top predators on land. Our study focused on how the carnivore genomes, as compared to the omnivore or herbivore genomes, shared evolutionary adaptations in genes associated with nutrient metabolism, muscle strength, agility, and other traits responsible for hunting and meat digestion. We found genetic evidence that genomes represent what animals eat through modifying genes. Highly conserved genetically relevant regions were discovered in genomes at the family level. Also, the Felidae family genomes exhibited low levels of genetic diversity associated with decreased population sizes, presumably because of their strict diet, suggesting their vulnerability and critical conservation status. Our findings can be used for human health enhancement, since we share the same genes as cats with some variation. This is an example how wildlife genomes can be a critical resource for human evolution, providing key genetic marker information for disease treatment. PMID:28042784

EVOLUTIONARY FOUNDATIONS FOR MOLECULAR MEDICINE

Science.gov (United States)

Nesse, Randolph M.; Ganten, Detlev; Gregory, T. Ryan; Omenn, Gilbert S.

2015-01-01

Evolution has long provided a foundation for population genetics, but many major advances in evolutionary biology from the 20th century are only now being applied in molecular medicine. They include the distinction between proximate and evolutionary explanations, kin selection, evolutionary models for cooperation, and new strategies for tracing phylogenies and identifying signals of selection. Recent advances in genomics are further transforming evolutionary biology and creating yet more opportunities for progress at the interface of evolution with genetics, medicine, and public health. This article reviews 15 evolutionary principles and their applications in molecular medicine in hopes that readers will use them and others to speed the development of evolutionary molecular medicine. PMID:22544168

Tracing the evolutionary origin of vertebrate skeletal tissues: insights from cephalochordate amphioxus.

Science.gov (United States)

Yong, Luok Wen; Yu, Jr-Kai

2016-08-01

Vertebrate mineralized skeletal tissues are widely considered as an evolutionary novelty. Despite the importance of these tissues to the adaptation and radiation of vertebrate animals, the evolutionary origin of vertebrate skeletal tissues remains largely unclear. Cephalochordates (Amphioxus) occupy a key phylogenetic position and can serve as a valuable model for studying the evolution of vertebrate skeletal tissues. Here we summarize recent advances in amphioxus developmental biology and comparative genomics that can help to elucidate the evolutionary origins of the vertebrate skeletal tissues and their underlying developmental gene regulatory networks (GRN). By making comparisons to the developmental studies in vertebrate models and recent discoveries in paleontology and genomics, it becomes evident that the collagen matrix-based connective tissues secreted by the somite-derived cells in amphioxus likely represent the rudimentary skeletal tissues in chordates. We propose that upon the foundation of this collagenous precursor, novel tissue mineralization genes that arose from gene duplications were incorporated into an ancestral mesodermal GRN that makes connective and supporting tissues, leading to the emergence of highly-mineralized skeletal tissues in early vertebrates. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide identification of significant aberrations in cancer genome

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Yuan Xiguo

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Somatic Copy Number Alterations (CNAs in human genomes are present in almost all human cancers. Systematic efforts to characterize such structural variants must effectively distinguish significant consensus events from random background aberrations. Here we introduce Significant Aberration in Cancer (SAIC, a new method for characterizing and assessing the statistical significance of recurrent CNA units. Three main features of SAIC include: (1 exploiting the intrinsic correlation among consecutive probes to assign a score to each CNA unit instead of single probes; (2 performing permutations on CNA units that preserve correlations inherent in the copy number data; and (3 iteratively detecting Significant Copy Number Aberrations (SCAs and estimating an unbiased null distribution by applying an SCA-exclusive permutation scheme. Results We test and compare the performance of SAIC against four peer methods (GISTIC, STAC, KC-SMART, CMDS on a large number of simulation datasets. Experimental results show that SAIC outperforms peer methods in terms of larger area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve and increased detection power. We then apply SAIC to analyze structural genomic aberrations acquired in four real cancer genome-wide copy number data sets (ovarian cancer, metastatic prostate cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, glioblastoma. When compared with previously reported results, SAIC successfully identifies most SCAs known to be of biological significance and associated with oncogenes (e.g., KRAS, CCNE1, and MYC or tumor suppressor genes (e.g., CDKN2A/B. Furthermore, SAIC identifies a number of novel SCAs in these copy number data that encompass tumor related genes and may warrant further studies. Conclusions Supported by a well-grounded theoretical framework, SAIC has been developed and used to identify SCAs in various cancer copy number data sets, providing useful information to study the landscape of cancer genomes

Large meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies five loci for lean body mass

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zillikens, M Carola; Demissie, Serkalem; Hsu, Yi-Hsiang

2017-01-01

Lean body mass, consisting mostly of skeletal muscle, is important for healthy aging. We performed a genome-wide association study for whole body (20 cohorts of European ancestry with n = 38,292) and appendicular (arms and legs) lean body mass (n = 28,330) measured using dual energy X-ray absorpt...... a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for whole body lean body mass and find five novel genetic loci to be significantly associated.......-ray absorptiometry or bioelectrical impedance analysis, adjusted for sex, age, height, and fat mass. Twenty-one single-nucleotide polymorphisms were significantly associated with lean body mass either genome wide (p 

A complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the wild two-humped camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus: an evolutionary history of camelidae

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Meng He

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The family Camelidae that evolved in North America during the Eocene survived with two distinct tribes, Camelini and Lamini. To investigate the evolutionary relationship between them and to further understand the evolutionary history of this family, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the wild two-humped camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus, the only wild survivor of the Old World camel. Results The mitochondrial genome sequence (16,680 bp from C. bactrianus ferus contains 13 protein-coding, two rRNA, and 22 tRNA genes as well as a typical control region; this basic structure is shared by all metazoan mitochondrial genomes. Its protein-coding region exhibits codon usage common to all mammals and possesses the three cryptic stop codons shared by all vertebrates. C. bactrianus ferus together with the rest of mammalian species do not share a triplet nucleotide insertion (GCC that encodes a proline residue found only in the nd1 gene of the New World camelid Lama pacos. This lineage-specific insertion in the L. pacos mtDNA occurred after the split between the Old and New World camelids suggests that it may have functional implication since a proline insertion in a protein backbone usually alters protein conformation significantly, and nd1 gene has not been seen as polymorphic as the rest of ND family genes among camelids. Our phylogenetic study based on complete mitochondrial genomes excluding the control region suggested that the divergence of the two tribes may occur in the early Miocene; it is much earlier than what was deduced from the fossil record (11 million years. An evolutionary history reconstructed for the family Camelidae based on cytb sequences suggested that the split of bactrian camel and dromedary may have occurred in North America before the tribe Camelini migrated from North America to Asia. Conclusion Molecular clock analysis of complete mitochondrial genomes from C. bactrianus ferus and L

GST-PRIME: an algorithm for genome-wide primer design.

Science.gov (United States)

Leister, Dario; Varotto, Claudio

2007-01-01

The profiling of mRNA expression based on DNA arrays has become a powerful tool to study genome-wide transcription of genes in a number of organisms. GST-PRIME is a software package created to facilitate large-scale primer design for the amplification of probes to be immobilized on arrays for transcriptome analyses, even though it can be also applied in low-throughput approaches. GST-PRIME allows highly efficient, direct amplification of gene-sequence tags (GSTs) from genomic DNA (gDNA), starting from annotated genome or transcript sequences. GST-PRIME provides a customer-friendly platform for automatic primer design, and despite the relative simplicity of the algorithm, experimental tests in the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana confirmed the reliability of the software. This chapter describes the algorithm used for primer design, its input and output files, and the installation of the standalone package and its use.

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.

Cooperation and conflict in cancer: An evolutionary perspective

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Jonathan Featherston

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Evolutionary approaches to carcinogenesis have gained prominence in the literature and enhanced our understanding of cancer. However, an appreciation of neoplasia in the context of evolutionary transitions, particularly the transition from independent genes to a fullyintegrated genome, is largely absent. In the gene–genome evolutionary transition, mobile genetic elements (MGEs can be studied as the extant exemplars of selfish autonomous lowerlevel units that cooperated to form a higher-level, functionally integrated genome. Here,we discuss levels of selection in cancer cells. In particular, we examine the tension between gene and genome units of selection by examining the expression profiles of MGE domains in an array of human cancers. Overall, across diverse cancers, there is an aberrant expression of several families of mobile elements, including the most common MGE in the human genome, retrotransposon LINE 1. These results indicate an alternative life-history strategy for MGEs in the cancers studied. Whether the aberrant expression is the cause or effect oftumourigenesis is unknown, although some evidence suggests that dysregulation of MGEs can play a role in cancer origin and progression. These data are interpreted in combination with phylostratigraphic reports correlating the origin of cancer genes with multicellularity and other potential increases in complexity in cancer cell populations. Cooperation and conflict between individuals at the gene, genome and cell level provide an evolutionary medicineperspective of cancer that enhances our understanding of disease pathogenesis and treatment.

Genome-wide transcriptome analysis of gametophyte development in Physcomitrella patens

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Xiao Lihong

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Regulation of gene expression plays a pivotal role in controlling the development of multicellular plants. To explore the molecular mechanism of plant developmental-stage transition and cell-fate determination, a genome-wide analysis was undertaken of sequential developmental time-points and individual tissue types in the model moss Physcomitrella patens because of the short life cycle and relative structural simplicity of this plant. Results Gene expression was analyzed by digital gene expression tag profiling of samples taken from P. patens protonema at 3, 14 and 24 days, and from leafy shoot tissues at 30 days, after protoplast isolation, and from 14-day-old caulonemal and chloronemal tissues. In total, 4333 genes were identified as differentially displayed. Among these genes, 4129 were developmental-stage specific and 423 were preferentially expressed in either chloronemal or caulonemal tissues. Most of the differentially displayed genes were assigned to functions in organic substance and energy metabolism or macromolecule biosynthetic and catabolic processes based on gene ontology descriptions. In addition, some regulatory genes identified as candidates might be involved in controlling the developmental-stage transition and cell differentiation, namely MYB-like, HB-8, AL3, zinc finger family proteins, bHLH superfamily, GATA superfamily, GATA and bZIP transcription factors, protein kinases, genes related to protein/amino acid methylation, and auxin, ethylene, and cytokinin signaling pathways. Conclusions These genes that show highly dynamic changes in expression during development in P. patens are potential targets for further functional characterization and evolutionary developmental biology studies.

Genome-wide alterations of the DNA replication program during tumor progression

Science.gov (United States)

Arneodo, A.; Goldar, A.; Argoul, F.; Hyrien, O.; Audit, B.

2016-08-01

Oncogenic stress is a major driving force in the early stages of cancer development. Recent experimental findings reveal that, in precancerous lesions and cancers, activated oncogenes may induce stalling and dissociation of DNA replication forks resulting in DNA damage. Replication timing is emerging as an important epigenetic feature that recapitulates several genomic, epigenetic and functional specificities of even closely related cell types. There is increasing evidence that chromosome rearrangements, the hallmark of many cancer genomes, are intimately associated with the DNA replication program and that epigenetic replication timing changes often precede chromosomic rearrangements. The recent development of a novel methodology to map replication fork polarity using deep sequencing of Okazaki fragments has provided new and complementary genome-wide replication profiling data. We review the results of a wavelet-based multi-scale analysis of genomic and epigenetic data including replication profiles along human chromosomes. These results provide new insight into the spatio-temporal replication program and its dynamics during differentiation. Here our goal is to bring to cancer research, the experimental protocols and computational methodologies for replication program profiling, and also the modeling of the spatio-temporal replication program. To illustrate our purpose, we report very preliminary results obtained for the chronic myelogeneous leukemia, the archetype model of cancer. Finally, we discuss promising perspectives on using genome-wide DNA replication profiling as a novel efficient tool for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and personalized treatment.

Genome-wide DNA methylation analyses in the brain reveal four differentially methylated regions between humans and non-human primates

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Wang Jinkai

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The highly improved cognitive function is the most significant change in human evolutionary history. Recently, several large-scale studies reported the evolutionary roles of DNA methylation; however, the role of DNA methylation on brain evolution is largely unknown. Results To test if DNA methylation has contributed to the evolution of human brain, with the use of MeDIP-Chip and SEQUENOM MassARRAY, we conducted a genome-wide analysis to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs in the brain between humans and rhesus macaques. We first identified a total of 150 candidate DMRs by the MeDIP-Chip method, among which 4 DMRs were confirmed by the MassARRAY analysis. All 4 DMRs are within or close to the CpG islands, and a MIR3 repeat element was identified in one DMR, but no repeat sequence was observed in the other 3 DMRs. For the 4 DMR genes, their proteins tend to be conserved and two genes have neural related functions. Bisulfite sequencing and phylogenetic comparison among human, chimpanzee, rhesus macaque and rat suggested several regions of lineage specific DNA methylation, including a human specific hypomethylated region in the promoter of K6IRS2 gene. Conclusions Our study provides a new angle of studying human brain evolution and understanding the evolutionary role of DNA methylation in the central nervous system. The results suggest that the patterns of DNA methylation in the brain are in general similar between humans and non-human primates, and only a few DMRs were identified.

Genome-wide analysis reveals the extent of EAV-HP integration in domestic chicken.

Science.gov (United States)

Wragg, David; Mason, Andrew S; Yu, Le; Kuo, Richard; Lawal, Raman A; Desta, Takele Taye; Mwacharo, Joram M; Cho, Chang-Yeon; Kemp, Steve; Burt, David W; Hanotte, Olivier

2015-10-14

EAV-HP is an ancient retrovirus pre-dating Gallus speciation, which continues to circulate in modern chicken populations, and led to the emergence of avian leukosis virus subgroup J causing significant economic losses to the poultry industry. We mapped EAV-HP integration sites in Ethiopian village chickens, a Silkie, Taiwan Country chicken, red junglefowl Gallus gallus and several inbred experimental lines using whole-genome sequence data. An average of 75.22 ± 9.52 integration sites per bird were identified, which collectively group into 279 intervals of which 5 % are common to 90 % of the genomes analysed and are suggestive of pre-domestication integration events. More than a third of intervals are specific to individual genomes, supporting active circulation of EAV-HP in modern chickens. Interval density is correlated with chromosome length (P < 2.31(-6)), and 27 % of intervals are located within 5 kb of a transcript. Functional annotation clustering of genes reveals enrichment for immune-related functions (P < 0.05). Our results illustrate a non-random distribution of EAV-HP in the genome, emphasising the importance it may have played in the adaptation of the species, and provide a platform from which to extend investigations on the co-evolutionary significance of endogenous retroviral genera with their hosts.

Genome-wide meta-analysis of cerebral white matter hyperintensities in patients with stroke

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Traylor, M.; Zhang, C.R.; Adib-Samii, P.; Devan, W.J.; Parsons, O.E.; Lanfranconi, S.; Gregory, S.; Cloonan, L.; Falcone, G.J.; Radmanesh, F.; Fitzpatrick, K.; Kanakis, A.; Barrick, T.R.; Moynihan, B.; Lewis, C.M.; Boncoraglio, G.B.; Lemmens, R.; Thijs, V.; Sudlow, C.; Wardlaw, J.; Rothwell, P.M.; Meschia, J.F.; Worrall, B.B.; Levi, C.; Bevan, S.; Furie, K.L.; Dichgans, M.; Rosand, J.; Markus, H.S.; Rost, N.; Klijn, C.J.M.; et al.,

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: For 3,670 stroke patients from the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Belgium, and Italy, we performed a genome-wide meta-analysis of white matter hyperintensity volumes (WMHV) on data imputed to the 1000 Genomes reference dataset to provide insights into disease mechanisms.

Genome-wide association study of serum selenium concentrations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gong, Jian; Hsu, Li; Harrison, Tabitha

2013-01-01

Selenium is an essential trace element and circulating selenium concentrations have been associated with a wide range of diseases. Candidate gene studies suggest that circulating selenium concentrations may be impacted by genetic variation; however, no study has comprehensively investigated...... this hypothesis. Therefore, we conducted a two-stage genome-wide association study to identify genetic variants associated with serum selenium concentrations in 1203 European descents from two cohorts: the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening and the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI). We...... tested association between 2,474,333 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and serum selenium concentrations using linear regression models. In the first stage (PLCO) 41 SNPs clustered in 15 regions had p

Genome-wide analysis identifies 12 loci influencing human reproductive behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Barban, Nicola; Jansen, Rick; de Vlaming, Ronald; Vaez, Ahmad; Mandemakers, Jornt J.; Tropf, Felix C.; Shen, Xia; Wilson, James F.; Chasman, Daniel I.; Nolte, Ilja M.; Tragante, Vinicius; van der Laan, Sander W.; Perry, John R. B.; Kong, Augustine; Ahluwalia, Tarunveer; Albrecht, Eva; Yerges-Armstrong, Laura; Atzmon, Gil; Auro, Kirsi; Ayers, Kristin; Bakshi, Andrew; Ben-Avraham, Danny; Berger, Klaus; Bergman, Aviv; Bertram, Lars; Bielak, Lawrence F.; Bjornsdottir, Gyda; Bonder, Marc Jan; Broer, Linda; Bui, Minh; Barbieri, Caterina; Cavadino, Alana; Chavarro, Jorge E; Turman, Constance; Concas, Maria Pina; Cordell, Heather J.; Davies, Gail; Eibich, Peter; Eriksson, Nicholas; Esko, Tõnu; Eriksson, Joel; Falahi, Fahimeh; Felix, Janine F.; Fontana, Mark Alan; Franke, Lude; Gandin, Ilaria; Gaskins, Audrey J.; Gieger, Christian; Gunderson, Erica P.; Guo, Xiuqing; Hayward, Caroline; He, Chunyan; Hofer, Edith; Huang, Hongyan; Joshi, Peter K.; Kanoni, Stavroula; Karlsson, Robert; Kiechl, Stefan; Kifley, Annette; Kluttig, Alexander; Kraft, Peter; Lagou, Vasiliki; Lecoeur, Cecile; Lahti, Jari; Li-Gao, Ruifang; Lind, Penelope A.; Liu, Tian; Makalic, Enes; Mamasoula, Crysovalanto; Matteson, Lindsay; Mbarek, Hamdi; McArdle, Patrick F.; McMahon, George; Meddens, S. Fleur W.; Mihailov, Evelin; Miller, Mike; Missmer, Stacey A.; Monnereau, Claire; van der Most, Peter J.; Myhre, Ronny; Nalls, Mike A.; Nutile, Teresa; Panagiota, Kalafati Ioanna; Porcu, Eleonora; Prokopenko, Inga; Rajan, Kumar B.; Rich-Edwards, Janet; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Robino, Antonietta; Rose, Lynda M.; Rueedi, Rico; Ryan, Kathy; Saba, Yasaman; Schmidt, Daniel; Smith, Jennifer A.; Stolk, Lisette; Streeten, Elizabeth; Tonjes, Anke; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Ulivi, Sheila; Wedenoja, Juho; Wellmann, Juergen; Willeit, Peter; Yao, Jie; Yengo, Loic; Zhao, Jing Hua; Zhao, Wei; Zhernakova, Daria V.; Amin, Najaf; Andrews, Howard; Balkau, Beverley; Barzilai, Nir; Bergmann, Sven; Biino, Ginevra; Bisgaard, Hans; Bønnelykke, Klaus; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Buring, Julie E.; Campbell, Harry; Cappellani, Stefania; Ciullo, Marina; Cox, Simon R.; Cucca, Francesco; Daniela, Toniolo; Davey-Smith, George; Deary, Ian J.; Dedoussis, George; Deloukas, Panos; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; de Geus, Eco JC.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Evans, Denis A.; Faul, Jessica D.; Felicita, Sala Cinzia; Froguel, Philippe; Gasparini, Paolo; Girotto, Giorgia; Grabe, Hans-Jörgen; Greiser, Karin Halina; Groenen, Patrick J.F.; de Haan, Hugoline G.; Haerting, Johannes; Harris, Tamara B.; Heath, Andrew C.; Heikkilä, Kauko; Hofman, Albert; Homuth, Georg; Holliday, Elizabeth G; Hopper, John; Hypponen, Elina; Jacobsson, Bo; Jaddoe, Vincent W. V.; Johannesson, Magnus; Jugessur, Astanand; Kähönen, Mika; Kajantie, Eero; Kardia, Sharon L.R.; Keavney, Bernard; Kolcic, Ivana; Koponen, Päivikki; Kovacs, Peter; Kronenberg, Florian; Kutalik, Zoltan; La Bianca, Martina; Lachance, Genevieve; Iacono, William; Lai, Sandra; Lehtimäki, Terho; Liewald, David C; Lindgren, Cecilia; Liu, Yongmei; Luben, Robert; Lucht, Michael; Luoto, Riitta; Magnus, Per; Magnusson, Patrik K.E.; Martin, Nicholas G.; McGue, Matt; McQuillan, Ruth; Medland, Sarah E.; Meisinger, Christa; Mellström, Dan; Metspalu, Andres; Michela, Traglia; Milani, Lili; Mitchell, Paul; Montgomery, Grant W.; Mook-Kanamori, Dennis; de Mutsert, Renée; Nohr, Ellen A; Ohlsson, Claes; Olsen, Jørn; Ong, Ken K.; Paternoster, Lavinia; Pattie, Alison; Penninx, Brenda WJH; Perola, Markus; Peyser, Patricia A.; Pirastu, Mario; Polasek, Ozren; Power, Chris; Kaprio, Jaakko; Raffel, Leslie J.; Räikkönen, Katri; Raitakari, Olli; Ridker, Paul M.; Ring, Susan M.; Roll, Kathryn; Rudan, Igor; Ruggiero, Daniela; Rujescu, Dan; Salomaa, Veikko; Schlessinger, David; Schmidt, Helena; Schmidt, Reinhold; Schupf, Nicole; Smit, Johannes; Sorice, Rossella; Spector, Tim D.; Starr, John M.; Stöckl, Doris; Strauch, Konstantin; Stumvoll, Michael; Swertz, Morris A.; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Thurik, A. Roy; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Tönjes, Anke; Tung, Joyce Y.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Vaccargiu, Simona; Viikari, Jorma; Vitart, Veronique; Völzke, Henry; Vollenweider, Peter; Vuckovic, Dragana; Waage, Johannes; Wagner, Gert G.; Wang, Jie Jin; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Weir, David R.; Willemsen, Gonneke; Willeit, Johann; Wright, Alan F.; Zondervan, Krina T.; Stefansson, Kari; Krueger, Robert F.; Lee, James J.; Benjamin, Daniel J.; Cesarini, David; Koellinger, Philipp D.; den Hoed, Marcel; Snieder, Harold; Mills, Melinda C.

2017-01-01

The genetic architecture of human reproductive behavior – age at first birth (AFB) and number of children ever born (NEB) – has a strong relationship with fitness, human development, infertility and risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, very few genetic loci have been identified and the underlying mechanisms of AFB and NEB are poorly understood. We report the largest genome-wide association study to date of both sexes including 251,151 individuals for AFB and 343,072 for NEB. We identified 12 independent loci that are significantly associated with AFB and/or NEB in a SNP-based genome-wide association study, and four additional loci in a gene-based effort. These loci harbor genes that are likely to play a role – either directly or by affecting non-local gene expression – in human reproduction and infertility, thereby increasing our understanding of these complex traits. PMID:27798627

Genetics of Obesity Traits: A Bivariate Genome-Wide Association Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wu, Yili; Duan, Haiping; Tian, Xiaocao

2018-01-01

Previous genome-wide association studies on anthropometric measurements have identified more than 100 related loci, but only a small portion of heritability in obesity was explained. Here we present a bivariate twin study to look for the genetic variants associated with body mass index and waist......-hip ratio, and to explore the obesity-related pathways in Northern Han Chinese. Cholesky decompositionmodel for 242monozygotic and 140 dizygotic twin pairs indicated a moderate genetic correlation (r = 0.53, 95%CI: 0.42–0.64) between body mass index and waist-hip ratio. Bivariate genome-wide association.......05. Expression quantitative trait loci analysis identified rs2242044 as a significant cis-eQTL in both the normal adipose-subcutaneous (P = 1.7 × 10−9) and adipose-visceral (P = 4.4 × 10−15) tissue. These findings may provide an important entry point to unravel genetic pleiotropy in obesity traits....

High-resolution genome-wide dissection of the two rules of speciation in Drosophila.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John P Masly

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Postzygotic reproductive isolation is characterized by two striking empirical patterns. The first is Haldane's rule--the preferential inviability or sterility of species hybrids of the heterogametic (XY sex. The second is the so-called large X effect--substitution of one species's X chromosome for another's has a disproportionately large effect on hybrid fitness compared to similar substitution of an autosome. Although the first rule has been well-established, the second rule remains controversial. Here, we dissect the genetic causes of these two rules using a genome-wide introgression analysis of Drosophila mauritiana chromosome segments in an otherwise D. sechellia genetic background. We find that recessive hybrid incompatibilities outnumber dominant ones and that hybrid male steriles outnumber all other types of incompatibility, consistent with the dominance and faster-male theories of Haldane's rule, respectively. We also find that, although X-linked and autosomal introgressions are of similar size, most X-linked introgressions cause hybrid male sterility (60% whereas few autosomal introgressions do (18%. Our results thus confirm the large X effect and identify its proximate cause: incompatibilities causing hybrid male sterility have a higher density on the X chromosome than on the autosomes. We evaluate several hypotheses for the evolutionary cause of this excess of X-linked hybrid male sterility.

High-resolution genome-wide dissection of the two rules of speciation in Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Masly, John P; Presgraves, Daven C

2007-09-01

Postzygotic reproductive isolation is characterized by two striking empirical patterns. The first is Haldane's rule--the preferential inviability or sterility of species hybrids of the heterogametic (XY) sex. The second is the so-called large X effect--substitution of one species's X chromosome for another's has a disproportionately large effect on hybrid fitness compared to similar substitution of an autosome. Although the first rule has been well-established, the second rule remains controversial. Here, we dissect the genetic causes of these two rules using a genome-wide introgression analysis of Drosophila mauritiana chromosome segments in an otherwise D. sechellia genetic background. We find that recessive hybrid incompatibilities outnumber dominant ones and that hybrid male steriles outnumber all other types of incompatibility, consistent with the dominance and faster-male theories of Haldane's rule, respectively. We also find that, although X-linked and autosomal introgressions are of similar size, most X-linked introgressions cause hybrid male sterility (60%) whereas few autosomal introgressions do (18%). Our results thus confirm the large X effect and identify its proximate cause: incompatibilities causing hybrid male sterility have a higher density on the X chromosome than on the autosomes. We evaluate several hypotheses for the evolutionary cause of this excess of X-linked hybrid male sterility.

Genomics of pear and other Rosaceae fruit trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Toshiya; Terakami, Shingo

2016-01-01

The family Rosaceae includes many economically important fruit trees, such as pear, apple, peach, cherry, quince, apricot, plum, raspberry, and loquat. Over the past few years, whole-genome sequences have been released for Chinese pear, European pear, apple, peach, Japanese apricot, and strawberry. These sequences help us to conduct functional and comparative genomics studies and to develop new cultivars with desirable traits by marker-assisted selection in breeding programs. These genomics resources also allow identification of evolutionary relationships in Rosaceae, development of genome-wide SNP and SSR markers, and construction of reference genetic linkage maps, which are available through the Genome Database for the Rosaceae website. Here, we review the recent advances in genomics studies and their practical applications for Rosaceae fruit trees, particularly pear, apple, peach, and cherry.

Evolutionary trajectories of snake genes and genomes revealed by comparative analyses of five-pacer viper

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Wei; Wang, Zong-ji; Li, Qi-ye; Lian, Jin-ming; Zhou, Yang; Lu, Bing-zheng; Jin, Li-jun; Qiu, Peng-xin; Zhang, Pei; Zhu, Wen-bo; Wen, Bo; Huang, Yi-jun; Lin, Zhi-long; Qiu, Bi-tao; Su, Xing-wen; Yang, Huan-ming; Zhang, Guo-jie; Yan, Guang-mei; Zhou, Qi

2016-01-01

Snakes have numerous features distinctive from other tetrapods and a rich history of genome evolution that is still obscure. Here, we report the high-quality genome of the five-pacer viper, Deinagkistrodon acutus, and comparative analyses with other representative snake and lizard genomes. We map the evolutionary trajectories of transposable elements (TEs), developmental genes and sex chromosomes onto the snake phylogeny. TEs exhibit dynamic lineage-specific expansion, and many viper TEs show brain-specific gene expression along with their nearby genes. We detect signatures of adaptive evolution in olfactory, venom and thermal-sensing genes and also functional degeneration of genes associated with vision and hearing. Lineage-specific relaxation of functional constraints on respective Hox and Tbx limb-patterning genes supports fossil evidence for a successive loss of forelimbs then hindlimbs during snake evolution. Finally, we infer that the ZW sex chromosome pair had undergone at least three recombination suppression events in the ancestor of advanced snakes. These results altogether forge a framework for our deep understanding into snakes' history of molecular evolution. PMID:27708285

Identification of neural outgrowth genes using genome-wide RNAi.

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Katharine J Sepp

2008-07-01

Full Text Available While genetic screens have identified many genes essential for neurite outgrowth, they have been limited in their ability to identify neural genes that also have earlier critical roles in the gastrula, or neural genes for which maternally contributed RNA compensates for gene mutations in the zygote. To address this, we developed methods to screen the Drosophila genome using RNA-interference (RNAi on primary neural cells and present the results of the first full-genome RNAi screen in neurons. We used live-cell imaging and quantitative image analysis to characterize the morphological phenotypes of fluorescently labelled primary neurons and glia in response to RNAi-mediated gene knockdown. From the full genome screen, we focused our analysis on 104 evolutionarily conserved genes that when downregulated by RNAi, have morphological defects such as reduced axon extension, excessive branching, loss of fasciculation, and blebbing. To assist in the phenotypic analysis of the large data sets, we generated image analysis algorithms that could assess the statistical significance of the mutant phenotypes. The algorithms were essential for the analysis of the thousands of images generated by the screening process and will become a valuable tool for future genome-wide screens in primary neurons. Our analysis revealed unexpected, essential roles in neurite outgrowth for genes representing a wide range of functional categories including signalling molecules, enzymes, channels, receptors, and cytoskeletal proteins. We also found that genes known to be involved in protein and vesicle trafficking showed similar RNAi phenotypes. We confirmed phenotypes of the protein trafficking genes Sec61alpha and Ran GTPase using Drosophila embryo and mouse embryonic cerebral cortical neurons, respectively. Collectively, our results showed that RNAi phenotypes in primary neural culture can parallel in vivo phenotypes, and the screening technique can be used to identify many new

Gramene database: Navigating plant comparative genomics resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parul Gupta

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Gramene (http://www.gramene.org is an online, open source, curated resource for plant comparative genomics and pathway analysis designed to support researchers working in plant genomics, breeding, evolutionary biology, system biology, and metabolic engineering. It exploits phylogenetic relationships to enrich the annotation of genomic data and provides tools to perform powerful comparative analyses across a wide spectrum of plant species. It consists of an integrated portal for querying, visualizing and analyzing data for 44 plant reference genomes, genetic variation data sets for 12 species, expression data for 16 species, curated rice pathways and orthology-based pathway projections for 66 plant species including various crops. Here we briefly describe the functions and uses of the Gramene database.

Genetically contextual effects of smoking on genome wide DNA methylation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dogan, Meeshanthini V; Beach, Steven R H; Philibert, Robert A

2017-09-01

Smoking is the leading cause of death in the United States. It exerts its effects by increasing susceptibility to a variety of complex disorders among those who smoke, and if pregnant, to their unborn children. In prior efforts to understand the epigenetic mechanisms through which this increased vulnerability is conveyed, a number of investigators have conducted genome wide methylation analyses. Unfortunately, secondary to methodological limitations, these studies were unable to examine methylation in gene regions with significant amounts of genetic variation. Using genome wide genetic and epigenetic data from the Framingham Heart Study, we re-examined the relationship of smoking status to genome wide methylation status. When only methylation status is considered, smoking was significantly associated with differential methylation in 310 genes that map to a variety of biological process and cellular differentiation pathways. However, when SNP effects on the magnitude of smoking associated methylation changes are also considered, cis and trans-interaction effects were noted at a total of 266 and 4353 genes with no marked enrichment for any biological pathways. Furthermore, the SNP variation participating in the significant interaction effects is enriched for loci previously associated with complex medical illnesses. The enlarged scope of the methylome shown to be affected by smoking may better explicate the mediational pathways linking smoking with a myriad of smoking related complex syndromes. Additionally, these results strongly suggest that combined epigenetic and genetic data analyses may be critical for a more complete understanding of the relationship between environmental variables, such as smoking, and pathophysiological outcomes. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Genome-wide association scan for variants associated with early-onset prostate cancer.

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Ethan M Lange

Full Text Available Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer related mortality for men in the United States. There is strong empirical and epidemiological evidence supporting a stronger role of genetics in early-onset prostate cancer. We performed a genome-wide association scan for early-onset prostate cancer. Novel aspects of this study include the focus on early-onset disease (defined as men with prostate cancer diagnosed before age 56 years and use of publically available control genotype data from previous genome-wide association studies. We found genome-wide significant (p<5×10(-8 evidence for variants at 8q24 and 11p15 and strong supportive evidence for a number of previously reported loci. We found little evidence for individual or systematic inflated association findings resulting from using public controls, demonstrating the utility of using public control data in large-scale genetic association studies of common variants. Taken together, these results demonstrate the importance of established common genetic variants for early-onset prostate cancer and the power of including early-onset prostate cancer cases in genetic association studies.

Are there laws of genome evolution?

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Eugene V Koonin

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Research in quantitative evolutionary genomics and systems biology led to the discovery of several universal regularities connecting genomic and molecular phenomic variables. These universals include the log-normal distribution of the evolutionary rates of orthologous genes; the power law-like distributions of paralogous family size and node degree in various biological networks; the negative correlation between a gene's sequence evolution rate and expression level; and differential scaling of functional classes of genes with genome size. The universals of genome evolution can be accounted for by simple mathematical models similar to those used in statistical physics, such as the birth-death-innovation model. These models do not explicitly incorporate selection; therefore, the observed universal regularities do not appear to be shaped by selection but rather are emergent properties of gene ensembles. Although a complete physical theory of evolutionary biology is inconceivable, the universals of genome evolution might qualify as "laws of evolutionary genomics" in the same sense "law" is understood in modern physics.

Genome-wide analysis of signatures of selection in populations of African honey bees (Apis mellifera) using new web-based tools.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuller, Zachary L; Niño, Elina L; Patch, Harland M; Bedoya-Reina, Oscar C; Baumgarten, Tracey; Muli, Elliud; Mumoki, Fiona; Ratan, Aakrosh; McGraw, John; Frazier, Maryann; Masiga, Daniel; Schuster, Stephen; Grozinger, Christina M; Miller, Webb

2015-07-10

With the development of inexpensive, high-throughput sequencing technologies, it has become feasible to examine questions related to population genetics and molecular evolution of non-model species in their ecological contexts on a genome-wide scale. Here, we employed a newly developed suite of integrated, web-based programs to examine population dynamics and signatures of selection across the genome using several well-established tests, including F ST, pN/pS, and McDonald-Kreitman. We applied these techniques to study populations of honey bees (Apis mellifera) in East Africa. In Kenya, there are several described A. mellifera subspecies, which are thought to be localized to distinct ecological regions. We performed whole genome sequencing of 11 worker honey bees from apiaries distributed throughout Kenya and identified 3.6 million putative single-nucleotide polymorphisms. The dense coverage allowed us to apply several computational procedures to study population structure and the evolutionary relationships among the populations, and to detect signs of adaptive evolution across the genome. While there is considerable gene flow among the sampled populations, there are clear distinctions between populations from the northern desert region and those from the temperate, savannah region. We identified several genes showing population genetic patterns consistent with positive selection within African bee populations, and between these populations and European A. mellifera or Asian Apis florea. These results lay the groundwork for future studies of adaptive ecological evolution in honey bees, and demonstrate the use of new, freely available web-based tools and workflows ( http://usegalaxy.org/r/kenyanbee ) that can be applied to any model system with genomic information.

Investigation of Maternal Genotype Effects in Autism by Genome-Wide Association

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Yuan, Han; Dougherty, Joseph D.

2014-01-01

Lay Abstract Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are pervasive developmental disorders which have both a genetic and environmental component. One source of the environmental component is the in utero (prenatal) environment. The maternal genome can potentially contribute to the risk of autism in children by altering this prenatal environment. In this study, the possibility of maternal genotype effects was explored by looking for common variants (single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs) in the maternal genome associated with increased risk of autism in children. We performed a case/control genome-wide association study (GWAS) using mothers of probands as cases and either fathers of probands or normal females as controls, using two collections of families with autism. We did not identify any SNP that reached significance and thus a common variant of large effect is unlikely. However, there was evidence for the possibility of a large number of alleles each carrying a small effect. This suggested that if there is a contribution to autism risk through common-variant maternal genetic effects, it may be the result of multiple loci of small effects. We did not investigate rare variants in this study. Scientific Abstract Like most psychiatric disorders, autism spectrum disorders have both a genetic and an environmental component. While previous studies have clearly demonstrated the contribution of in utero (prenatal) environment on autism risk, most of them focused on transient environmental factors. Based on a recent sibling study, we hypothesized that environmental factors could also come from the maternal genome, which would result in persistent effects across siblings. In this study, the possibility of maternal genotype effects was examined by looking for common variants (single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs) in the maternal genome associated with increased risk of autism in children. A case/control genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed using mothers of

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

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

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 selection signatures in Pinzgau cattle

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Radovan Kasarda

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to identify the evidence of recent selection based on estimation of the integrated Haplotype Score (iHS, population differentiation index (FST and characterize affected regions near QTL associated with traits under strong selection in Pinzgau cattle. In total 21 Austrian and 19 Slovak purebreed bulls genotyped with Illumina bovineHD and  bovineSNP50 BeadChip were used to identify genomic regions under selection. Only autosomal loci with call rate higher than 90%, minor allele frequency higher than 0.01 and Hardy-Weinberg equlibrium limit of 0.001 were included in the subsequent analyses of selection sweeps presence. The final dataset was consisted from 30538 SNPs with 81.86 kb average adjacent SNPs spacing. The iHS score were averaged into non-overlapping 500 kb segments across the genome. The FST values were also plotted against genome position based on sliding windows approach and averaged over 8 consecutive SNPs. Based on integrated Haplotype Score evaluation only 7 regions with iHS score higher than 1.7 was found. The average iHS score observed for each adjacent syntenic regions indicated slight effect of recent selection in analysed group of Pinzgau bulls. The level of genetic differentiation between Austrian and Slovak bulls estimated based on FST index was low. Only 24% of FST values calculated for each SNP was greather than 0.01. By using sliding windows approach was found that 5% of analysed windows had higher value than 0.01. Our results indicated use of similar selection scheme in breeding programs of Slovak and Austrian Pinzgau bulls. The evidence for genome-wide association between signatures of selection and regions affecting complex traits such as milk production was insignificant, because the loci in segments identified as affected by selection were very distant from each other. Identification of genomic regions that may be under pressure of selection for phenotypic traits to better understanding of the

Genome-wide expressions in autologous eutopic and ectopic endometrium of fertile women with endometriosis

OpenAIRE

Khan, Meraj A; Sengupta, Jayasree; Mittal, Suneeta; Ghosh, Debabrata

2012-01-01

Abstract Background In order to obtain a lead of the pathophysiology of endometriosis, genome-wide expressional analyses of eutopic and ectopic endometrium have earlier been reported, however, the effects of stages of severity and phases of menstrual cycle on expressional profiles have not been examined. The effect of genetic heterogeneity and fertility history on transcriptional activity was also not considered. In the present study, a genome-wide expression analysis of autologous, paired eu...

Genome-wide signatures of complex introgression and adaptive evolution in the big cats

Science.gov (United States)

Figueiró, Henrique V.; Li, Gang; Trindade, Fernanda J.; Assis, Juliana; Pais, Fabiano; Fernandes, Gabriel; Santos, Sarah H. D.; Hughes, Graham M.; Komissarov, Aleksey; Antunes, Agostinho; Trinca, Cristine S.; Rodrigues, Maíra R.; Linderoth, Tyler; Bi, Ke; Silveira, Leandro; Azevedo, Fernando C. C.; Kantek, Daniel; Ramalho, Emiliano; Brassaloti, Ricardo A.; Villela, Priscilla M. S.; Nunes, Adauto L. V.; Teixeira, Rodrigo H. F.; Morato, Ronaldo G.; Loska, Damian; Saragüeta, Patricia; Gabaldón, Toni; Teeling, Emma C.; O’Brien, Stephen J.; Nielsen, Rasmus; Coutinho, Luiz L.; Oliveira, Guilherme; Murphy, William J.; Eizirik, Eduardo

2017-01-01

The great cats of the genus Panthera comprise a recent radiation whose evolutionary history is poorly understood. Their rapid diversification poses challenges to resolving their phylogeny while offering opportunities to investigate the historical dynamics of adaptive divergence. We report the sequence, de novo assembly, and annotation of the jaguar (Panthera onca) genome, a novel genome sequence for the leopard (Panthera pardus), and comparative analyses encompassing all living Panthera species. Demographic reconstructions indicated that all of these species have experienced variable episodes of population decline during the Pleistocene, ultimately leading to small effective sizes in present-day genomes. We observed pervasive genealogical discordance across Panthera genomes, caused by both incomplete lineage sorting and complex patterns of historical interspecific hybridization. We identified multiple signatures of species-specific positive selection, affecting genes involved in craniofacial and limb development, protein metabolism, hypoxia, reproduction, pigmentation, and sensory perception. There was remarkable concordance in pathways enriched in genomic segments implicated in interspecies introgression and in positive selection, suggesting that these processes were connected. We tested this hypothesis by developing exome capture probes targeting ~19,000 Panthera genes and applying them to 30 wild-caught jaguars. We found at least two genes (DOCK3 and COL4A5, both related to optic nerve development) bearing significant signatures of interspecies introgression and within-species positive selection. These findings indicate that post-speciation admixture has contributed genetic material that facilitated the adaptive evolution of big cat lineages. PMID:28776029

Efficient genome-wide association in biobanks using topic modeling identifies multiple novel disease loci.

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McCoy, Thomas H; Castro, Victor M; Snapper, Leslie A; Hart, Kamber L; Perlis, Roy H

2017-08-31

Biobanks and national registries represent a powerful tool for genomic discovery, but rely on diagnostic codes that may be unreliable and fail to capture the relationship between related diagnoses. We developed an efficient means of conducting genome-wide association studies using combinations of diagnostic codes from electronic health records (EHR) for 10845 participants in a biobanking program at two large academic medical centers. Specifically, we applied latent Dirichilet allocation to fit 50 disease topics based on diagnostic codes, then conducted genome-wide common-variant association for each topic. In sensitivity analysis, these results were contrasted with those obtained from traditional single-diagnosis phenome-wide association analysis, as well as those in which only a subset of diagnostic codes are included per topic. In meta-analysis across three biobank cohorts, we identified 23 disease-associated loci with p<1e-15, including previously associated autoimmune disease loci. In all cases, observed significant associations were of greater magnitude than for single phenome-wide diagnostic codes, and incorporation of less strongly-loading diagnostic codes enhanced association. This strategy provides a more efficient means of phenome-wide association in biobanks with coded clinical data.

Signatures of co-evolutionary host-pathogen interactions in the genome of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae.

Science.gov (United States)

Flores-Ponce, Mitzi; Vallebueno-Estrada, Miguel; González-Orozco, Eduardo; Ramos-Aboites, Hilda E; García-Chávez, J Noé; Simões, Nelson; Montiel, Rafael

2017-04-26

The entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae has been used worldwide as a biocontrol agent for insect pests, making it an interesting model for understanding parasite-host interactions. Two models propose that these interactions are co-evolutionary processes in such a way that equilibrium is never reached. In one model, known as "arms race", new alleles in relevant genes are fixed in both host and pathogens by directional positive selection, producing recurrent and alternating selective sweeps. In the other model, known as"trench warfare", persistent dynamic fluctuations in allele frequencies are sustained by balancing selection. There are some examples of genes evolving according to both models, however, it is not clear to what extent these interactions might alter genome-level evolutionary patterns and intraspecific diversity. Here we investigate some of these aspects by studying genomic variation in S. carpocapsae and other pathogenic and free-living nematodes from phylogenetic clades IV and V. To look for signatures of an arms-race dynamic, we conducted massive scans to detect directional positive selection in interspecific data. In free-living nematodes, we detected a significantly higher proportion of genes with sites under positive selection than in parasitic nematodes. However, in these genes, we found more enriched Gene Ontology terms in parasites. To detect possible effects of dynamic polymorphisms interactions we looked for signatures of balancing selection in intraspecific genomic data. The observed distribution of Tajima's D values in S. carpocapsae was more skewed to positive values and significantly different from the observed distribution in the free-living Caenorhabditis briggsae. Also, the proportion of significant positive values of Tajima's D was elevated in genes that were differentially expressed after induction with insect tissues as compared to both non-differentially expressed genes and the global scan. Our study provides a first

The four cornerstones of Evolutionary Toxicology.

Science.gov (United States)

Bickham, John W

2011-05-01

Evolutionary Toxicology is the study of the effects of chemical pollutants on the genetics of natural populations. Research in Evolutionary Toxicology uses experimental designs familiar to the ecotoxicologist with matched reference and contaminated sites and the selection of sentinel species. It uses the methods of molecular genetics and population genetics, and is based on the theories and concepts of evolutionary biology and conservation genetics. Although it is a relatively young field, interest is rapidly growing among ecotoxicologists and more and more field studies and even controlled laboratory experiments are appearing in the literature. A number of population genetic impacts have been observed in organisms exposed to pollutants which I refer to here as the four cornerstones of Evolutionary Toxicology. These include (1) genome-wide changes in genetic diversity, (2) changes in allelic or genotypic frequencies caused by contaminant-induced selection acting at survivorship loci, (3) changes in dispersal patterns or gene flow which alter the genetic relationships among populations, and (4) changes in allelic or genotypic frequencies caused by increased mutation rates. It is concluded that population genetic impacts of pollution exposure are emergent effects that are not necessarily predictable from the mode of toxicity of the pollutant. Thus, to attribute an effect to a particular contaminant requires a careful experimental design which includes selection of appropriate reference sites, detailed chemistry analyses of environmental samples and tissues, and the use of appropriate biomarkers to establish exposure and effect. This paper describes the field of Evolutionary Toxicology and discusses relevant field studies and their findings. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011

On the analysis of genome-wide association studies in family-based designs: a universal, robust analysis approach and an application to four genome-wide association studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sungho Won

2009-11-01

Full Text Available For genome-wide association studies in family-based designs, we propose a new, universally applicable approach. The new test statistic exploits all available information about the association, while, by virtue of its design, it maintains the same robustness against population admixture as traditional family-based approaches that are based exclusively on the within-family information. The approach is suitable for the analysis of almost any trait type, e.g. binary, continuous, time-to-onset, multivariate, etc., and combinations of those. We use simulation studies to verify all theoretically derived properties of the approach, estimate its power, and compare it with other standard approaches. We illustrate the practical implications of the new analysis method by an application to a lung-function phenotype, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 in 4 genome-wide association studies.

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new susceptibility loci for migraine

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anttila, Verneri; Winsvold, Bendik S.; Gormley, Padhraig; Kurth, Tobias; Bettella, Francesco; McMahon, George; Kallela, Mikko; Malik, Rainer; de Vries, Boukje; Terwindt, Gisela; Medland, Sarah E.; Todt, Unda; McArdle, Wendy L.; Quaye, Lydia; Koiranen, Markku; Ikram, M. Arfan; Lehtimaki, Terho; Stam, Anine H.; Ligthart, Lannie; Wedenoja, Juho; Dunham, Ian; Neale, Benjamin M.; Palta, Priit; Hamalainen, Eija; Schuerks, Markus; Rose, Lynda M.; Buring, Julie E.; Ridker, Paul M.; Steinberg, Stacy; Stefansson, Hreinn; Jakobsson, Finnbogi; Lawlor, Debbie A.; Evans, David M.; Ring, Susan M.; Farkkila, Markus; Artto, Ville; Kaunisto, Mari A.; Freilinger, Tobias; Schoenen, Jean; Frants, Rune R.; Pelzer, Nadine; Weller, Claudia M.; Zielman, Ronald; Heath, Andrew C.; Madden, Pamela A. F.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Martin, Nicholas G.; Borck, Guntram; Goebel, Hartmut; Heinze, Axel

Migraine is the most common brain disorder, affecting approximately 14% of the adult population, but its molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. We report the results of a meta-analysis across 29 genome-wide association studies, including a total of 23,285 individuals with migraine (cases) and

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new susceptibility loci for migraine

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anttila, V.; Winsvold, B.S.; Gormley, P.; Kurth, T.; Bettella, F.; McMahon, G.; Kallela, M.; Malik, R.; de Vries, B.; Terwindt, G.; Medland, S.E.; Todt, U.; McArdle, W.L.; Quaye, L.; Koiranen, M.; Ikram, M.A.; Lehtimäki, T.; Stam, A.H.; Ligthart, R.S.L.; Wedenoja, J.; Dunham, I.; Neale, B. M.; Palta, P.; Hamalainen, E.; Schürks, M.; Rose, L.M.; Buring, J.E.; Ridker, P.M.; Steinberg, S.; Stefansson, H.; Jakobsson, F.; Lawlor, D.A.; Evans, D.M.; Ring, S.M.; Färkkilä, M.; Artto, V.; Kaunisto, M.A.; Freilinger, T.; Schoenen, J.; Frants, R.R.; Pelzer, N.; Weller, C.M.; Zielman, R.; Heath, A.C.; Madden, P.A.F.; Montgomery, G.W.; Martin, N.G.; Borck, G.; Göbel, H.; Heinze, A.; Heinze-Kuhn, K.; Williams, F.M.; Hartikainen, A.-L.; Pouta, A.; van den Ende, J..; Uitterlinden, A.G.; Hofman, A.; Amin, N.; Hottenga, J.J.; Vink, J.M.; Heikkilä, K.; Alexander, M.; Muller-Myhsok, B.; Schreiber, S; Meitinger, T.; Wichmann, H. E.; Aromaa, A.; Eriksson, J.G.; Traynor, B.J.; Trabzuni, D.; Rossin, E.; Lage, K.; Jacobs, S.B.; Gibbs, J.R.; Birney, E.; Kaprio, J.; Penninx, B.W.J.H.; Boomsma, D.I.; van Duijn, C.M.; Raitakari, O.; Jarvelin, M.-R.; Zwart, J.A.; Cherkas, L.; Strachan, D.P.; Kubisch, C.; Ferrari, M.D.; van den Maagdenberg, A.M.J.M.; Dichgans, M.; Wessman, M.; Smith, G.D.; Stefansson, K.; Daly, M.J.; Nyholt, DR; Chasman, D.I.; Palotie, A.

2013-01-01

Migraine is the most common brain disorder, affecting approximately 14% of the adult population, but its molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. We report the results of a meta-analysis across 29 genome-wide association studies, including a total of 23,285 individuals with migraine (cases) and

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies new susceptibility loci for migraine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Anttila, Verneri; Winsvold, Bendik S; Gormley, Padhraig

2013-01-01

Migraine is the most common brain disorder, affecting approximately 14% of the adult population, but its molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. We report the results of a meta-analysis across 29 genome-wide association studies, including a total of 23,285 individuals with migraine (cases) an...

Genome-wide identification, functional prediction, and evolutionary analysis of the R2R3-MYB superfamily in Brassica napus.

Science.gov (United States)

Hajiebrahimi, Ali; Owji, Hajar; Hemmati, Shiva

2017-10-01

R2R3-MYB transcription factors (TFs) have been shown to play important roles in plants, including in development and in various stress conditions. Phylogenetic analysis showed the presence of 249 R2R3-MYB TFs in Brassica napus, called BnaR2R3-MYB TFs, clustered into 38 clades. BnaR2R3-MYB TFs were distributed on 19 chromosomes of B. napus. Sixteen gene clusters were identified. BnaR2R3-MYB TFs were characterized by motif prediction, gene structure analysis, and gene ontology. Evolutionary analysis revealed that BnaR2R3-MYB TFs are mainly formed as a result of whole-genome duplication. Orthologs and paralogs of BnaR2R3-MYB TFs were identified in B. napus, B. rapa, B. oleracea, and Arabidopsis thaliana using synteny-based methods. Purifying selection was pervasive within R2R3-MYB TFs. K n /K s values lower than 0.3 indicated that BnaR2R3-MYB TFs are being functionally converged. The role of gene conversion in the formation of BnaR2R3-MYB TFs was significant. Cis-regulatory elements in the upstream regions of BnaR2R3-MYB genes, miRNA targeting BnaR2R3MYB TFs, and post translational modifications were identified. Digital expression data revealed that BnaR2R3-MYB genes were highly expressed in the roots and under high salinity treatment after 24 h. BnaMYB21, BnaMYB141, and BnaMYB148 have been suggested for improving salt-tolerant B. napus. BnaR2R3-MYB genes were mostly up regulated on the 14th day post inoculation with Leptosphaeria biglobosa and L. maculan. BnaMYB150 is a candidate for increased tolerance to Leptospheria in B. napus.

A TALE of shrimps: Genome-wide survey of homeobox genes in 120 species from diverse crustacean taxa.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Wai Hoong; Lai, Alvina G

2018-01-01

The homeodomain-containing proteins are an important group of transcription factors found in most eukaryotes including animals, plants and fungi. Homeobox genes are responsible for a wide range of critical developmental and physiological processes, ranging from embryonic development, innate immune homeostasis to whole-body regeneration. With continued fascination on this key class of proteins by developmental and evolutionary biologists, multiple efforts have thus far focused on the identification and characterization of homeobox orthologs from key model organisms in attempts to infer their evolutionary origin and how this underpins the evolution of complex body plans. Despite their importance, the genetic complement of homeobox genes has yet been described in one of the most valuable groups of animals representing economically important food crops. With crustacean aquaculture being a growing industry worldwide, it is clear that systematic and cross-species identification of crustacean homeobox orthologs is necessary in order to harness this genetic circuitry for the improvement of aquaculture sustainability. Using publicly available transcriptome data sets, we identified a total of 4183 putative homeobox genes from 120 crustacean species that include food crop species, such as lobsters, shrimps, crayfish and crabs. Additionally, we identified 717 homeobox orthologs from 6 other non-crustacean arthropods, which include the scorpion, deer tick, mosquitoes and centipede. This high confidence set of homeobox genes will now serve as a key resource to the broader community for future functional and comparative genomics studies.

Exceptionally high levels of recombination across the honey bee genome.

Science.gov (United States)

Beye, Martin; Gattermeier, Irene; Hasselmann, Martin; Gempe, Tanja; Schioett, Morten; Baines, John F; Schlipalius, David; Mougel, Florence; Emore, Christine; Rueppell, Olav; Sirviö, Anu; Guzmán-Novoa, Ernesto; Hunt, Greg; Solignac, Michel; Page, Robert E

2006-11-01

The first draft of the honey bee genome sequence and improved genetic maps are utilized to analyze a genome displaying 10 times higher levels of recombination (19 cM/Mb) than previously analyzed genomes of higher eukaryotes. The exceptionally high recombination rate is distributed genome-wide, but varies by two orders of magnitude. Analysis of chromosome, sequence, and gene parameters with respect to recombination showed that local recombination rate is associated with distance to the telomere, GC content, and the number of simple repeats as described for low-recombining genomes. Recombination rate does not decrease with chromosome size. On average 5.7 recombination events per chromosome pair per meiosis are found in the honey bee genome. This contrasts with a wide range of taxa that have a uniform recombination frequency of about 1.6 per chromosome pair. The excess of recombination activity does not support a mechanistic role of recombination in stabilizing pairs of homologous chromosome during chromosome pairing. Recombination rate is associated with gene size, suggesting that introns are larger in regions of low recombination and may improve the efficacy of selection in these regions. Very few transposons and no retrotransposons are present in the high-recombining genome. We propose evolutionary explanations for the exceptionally high genome-wide recombination rate.

Genome-wide significant locus for Research Diagnostic Criteria Schizoaffective Disorder Bipolar type.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Elaine K; Di Florio, Arianna; Forty, Liz; Gordon-Smith, Katherine; Grozeva, Detelina; Fraser, Christine; Richards, Alexander L; Moran, Jennifer L; Purcell, Shaun; Sklar, Pamela; Kirov, George; Owen, Michael J; O'Donovan, Michael C; Craddock, Nick; Jones, Lisa; Jones, Ian R

2017-12-01

Studies have suggested that Research Diagnostic Criteria for Schizoaffective Disorder Bipolar type (RDC-SABP) might identify a more genetically homogenous subgroup of bipolar disorder. Aiming to identify loci associated with RDC-SABP, we have performed a replication study using independent RDC-SABP cases (n = 144) and controls (n = 6,559), focusing on the 10 loci that reached a p-value bipolar disorder sample. Combining the WTCCC and replication datasets by meta-analysis (combined RDC-SABP, n = 423, controls, n = 9,494), we observed genome-wide significant association at one SNP, rs2352974, located within the intron of the gene TRAIP on chromosome 3p21.31 (p-value, 4.37 × 10 -8 ). This locus did not reach genome-wide significance in bipolar disorder or schizophrenia large Psychiatric Genomic Consortium datasets, suggesting that it may represent a relatively specific genetic risk for the bipolar subtype of schizoaffective disorder. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The wolf reference genome sequence (Canis lupus lupus) and its implications for Canis spp. population genomics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Samaniego Castruita, Jose Alfredo; Sinding, Mikkel Holger Strander

2017-01-01

Background An increasing number of studies are addressing the evolutionary genomics of dog domestication, principally through resequencing dog, wolf and related canid genomes. There is, however, only one de novo assembled canid genome currently available against which to map such data - that of a......Background An increasing number of studies are addressing the evolutionary genomics of dog domestication, principally through resequencing dog, wolf and related canid genomes. There is, however, only one de novo assembled canid genome currently available against which to map such data...

Evolution of microbes and viruses: A paradigm shift in evolutionary biology?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugene V. Koonin

2012-09-01

Full Text Available When Charles Darwin formulated the central principles of evolutionary biology in the Origin of Species in 1859 and the architects of the Modern Synthesis integrated these principles with population genetics almost a century later, the principal if not the sole objects of evolutionary biology were multicellular eukaryotes, primarily animals and plants. Before the advent of efficient gene sequencing, all attempts to extend evolutionary studies to bacteria have been futile. Sequencing of the rRNA genes in thousands of microbes allowed the construction of the three- domain ‘ribosomal Tree of Life’ that was widely thought to have resolved the evolutionary relationships between the cellular life forms. However, subsequent massive sequencing of numerous, complete microbial genomes revealed novel evolutionary phenomena, the most fundamental of these being: i pervasive horizontal gene transfer (HGT, in large part mediated by viruses and plasmids, that shapes the genomes of archaea and bacteria and call for a radical revision (if not abandonment of the Tree of Life concept, ii Lamarckian-type inheritance that appears to be critical for antivirus defense and other forms of adaptation in prokaryotes, and iii evolution of evolvability, i.e. dedicated mechanisms for evolution such as vehicles for HGT and stress-induced mutagenesis systems. In the non-cellular part of the microbial world, phylogenomics and metagenomics of viruses and related selfish genetic elements revealed enormous genetic and molecular diversity and extremely high abundance of viruses that come across as the dominant biological entities on earth. Furthermore, the perennial arms race between viruses and their hosts is one of the defining factors of evolution. Thus, microbial phylogenomics adds new dimensions to the fundamental picture of evolution even as the principle of descent with modification discovered by Darwin and the laws of population genetics remain at the core of evolutionary

Genome-wide identification, classification and expression profiling of nicotianamine synthase (NAS) gene family in maize

OpenAIRE

Zhou, Xiaojin; Li, Suzhen; Zhao, Qianqian; Liu, Xiaoqing; Zhang, Shaojun; Sun, Cheng; Fan, Yunliu; Zhang, Chunyi; Chen, Rumei

2013-01-01

Background Nicotianamine (NA), a ubiquitous molecule in plants, is an important metal ion chelator and the main precursor for phytosiderophores biosynthesis. Considerable progress has been achieved in cloning and characterizing the functions of nicotianamine synthase (NAS) in plants including barley, Arabidopsis and rice. Maize is not only an important cereal crop, but also a model plant for genetics and evolutionary study. The genome sequencing of maize was completed, and many gene families ...

Genome-wide analysis of multi- and extensively drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

KAUST Repository

Coll, Francesc; Phelan, Jody; Hill-Cawthorne, Grant A.; Nair, Mridul; Mallard, Kim; Ali, Shahjahan; Abdallah, Abdallah; Alghamdi, Saad; Alsomali, Mona; Ahmed, Abdallah O.; Portelli, Stephanie; Oppong, Yaa; Alves, Adriana; Bessa, Theolis Barbosa; Campino, Susana; Caws, Maxine; Chatterjee, Anirvan; Crampin, Amelia C.; Dheda, Keertan; Furnham, Nicholas; Glynn, Judith R.; Grandjean, Louis; Minh Ha, Dang; Hasan, Rumina; Hasan, Zahra; Hibberd, Martin L.; Joloba, Moses; Jones-Ló pez, Edward C.; Matsumoto, Tomoshige; Miranda, Anabela; Moore, David J.; Mocillo, Nora; Panaiotov, Stefan; Parkhill, Julian; Penha, Carlos; Perdigã o, Joã o; Portugal, Isabel; Rchiad, ‍ Zineb; Robledo, Jaime; Sheen, Patricia; Shesha, Nashwa Talaat; Sirgel, Frik A.; Sola, Christophe; Oliveira Sousa, Erivelton; Streicher, Elizabeth M.; Helden, Paul Van; Viveiros, Miguel; Warren, Robert M.; McNerney, Ruth; Pain, Arnab; Clark, Taane G.

2018-01-01

To characterize the genetic determinants of resistance to antituberculosis drugs, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 6,465 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from more than 30 countries. A GWAS approach within a mixed

Genomics for public health improvement: relevant international ethical and policy issues around genome-wide association studies and biobanks.

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, T

2013-01-01

Genome-wide association studies and biobanks are at the forefront of genomics research and possess unprecedented potential to improve public health. However, for public health genomics to ultimately fulfill its potential, technological and scientific advances alone are insufficient. Scientists, ethicists, policy makers, and regulators must work closely together with research participants and communities in order to craft an equitable and just ethical framework, and a sustainable environment for effective policies. Such a framework should be a 'hybrid' form which balances equity and solidarity with entrepreneurship and scientific advances. A good balance between research and policy on one hand, and privacy, protection and trust on the other is the key for public health improvement based on advances in genomics science. Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Genome-wide association study identifies new prostate cancer susceptibility loci

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schumacher, Fredrick R.; Berndt, Sonja I.; Siddiq, Afshan

2011-01-01

Prostate cancer (PrCa) is the most common non-skin cancer diagnosed among males in developed countries and the second leading cause of cancer mortality, yet little is known regarding its etiology and factors that influence clinical outcome. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of PrCa have iden...

Connecting the dots, genome-wide association studies in substance use

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nivard, M.G.; Verweij, K.J.H.; Minica, C.C.; Treur, J.L.; Vink, J.M.; Boomsma, D.I.

2016-01-01

The recent genome-wide association (GWA) meta-analysis of lifetime cannabis use by the International Cannabis Consortium marks a milestone in the study of the genetics of cannabis use. Similar milestones for the genetics of substance use were the GWA meta-analyses of four smoking related traits, of

A Gene Gravity Model for the Evolution of Cancer Genomes: A Study of 3,000 Cancer Genomes across 9 Cancer Types

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chen-Ching; Zhao, Junfei; Jia, Peilin; Li, Wen-Hsiung; Zhao, Zhongming

2015-01-01

Cancer development and progression result from somatic evolution by an accumulation of genomic alterations. The effects of those alterations on the fitness of somatic cells lead to evolutionary adaptations such as increased cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and altered anticancer drug responses. However, there are few general mathematical models to quantitatively examine how perturbations of a single gene shape subsequent evolution of the cancer genome. In this study, we proposed the gene gravity model to study the evolution of cancer genomes by incorporating the genome-wide transcription and somatic mutation profiles of ~3,000 tumors across 9 cancer types from The Cancer Genome Atlas into a broad gene network. We found that somatic mutations of a cancer driver gene may drive cancer genome evolution by inducing mutations in other genes. This functional consequence is often generated by the combined effect of genetic and epigenetic (e.g., chromatin regulation) alterations. By quantifying cancer genome evolution using the gene gravity model, we identified six putative cancer genes (AHNAK, COL11A1, DDX3X, FAT4, STAG2, and SYNE1). The tumor genomes harboring the nonsynonymous somatic mutations in these genes had a higher mutation density at the genome level compared to the wild-type groups. Furthermore, we provided statistical evidence that hypermutation of cancer driver genes on inactive X chromosomes is a general feature in female cancer genomes. In summary, this study sheds light on the functional consequences and evolutionary characteristics of somatic mutations during tumorigenesis by propelling adaptive cancer genome evolution, which would provide new perspectives for cancer research and therapeutics. PMID:26352260

Evolutionary Nephrology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chevalier, Robert L

2017-05-01

Progressive kidney disease follows nephron loss, hyperfiltration, and incomplete repair, a process described as "maladaptive." In the past 20 years, a new discipline has emerged that expands research horizons: evolutionary medicine. In contrast to physiologic (homeostatic) adaptation, evolutionary adaptation is the result of reproductive success that reflects natural selection. Evolutionary explanations for physiologically maladaptive responses can emerge from mismatch of the phenotype with environment or evolutionary tradeoffs. Evolutionary adaptation to a terrestrial environment resulted in a vulnerable energy-consuming renal tubule and a hypoxic, hyperosmolar microenvironment. Natural selection favors successful energy investment strategy: energy is allocated to maintenance of nephron integrity through reproductive years, but this declines with increasing senescence after ~40 years of age. Risk factors for chronic kidney disease include restricted fetal growth or preterm birth (life history tradeoff resulting in fewer nephrons), evolutionary selection for APOL1 mutations (that provide resistance to trypanosome infection, a tradeoff), and modern life experience (Western diet mismatch leading to diabetes and hypertension). Current advances in genomics, epigenetics, and developmental biology have revealed proximate causes of kidney disease, but attempts to slow kidney disease remain elusive. Evolutionary medicine provides a complementary approach by addressing ultimate causes of kidney disease. Marked variation in nephron number at birth, nephron heterogeneity, and changing susceptibility to kidney injury throughout life history are the result of evolutionary processes. Combined application of molecular genetics, evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), developmental programming and life history theory may yield new strategies for prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease.

Evolutionary Nephrology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert L. Chevalier

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Progressive kidney disease follows nephron loss, hyperfiltration, and incomplete repair, a process described as “maladaptive.” In the past 20 years, a new discipline has emerged that expands research horizons: evolutionary medicine. In contrast to physiologic (homeostatic adaptation, evolutionary adaptation is the result of reproductive success that reflects natural selection. Evolutionary explanations for physiologically maladaptive responses can emerge from mismatch of the phenotype with environment or from evolutionary tradeoffs. Evolutionary adaptation to a terrestrial environment resulted in a vulnerable energy-consuming renal tubule and a hypoxic, hyperosmolar microenvironment. Natural selection favors successful energy investment strategy: energy is allocated to maintenance of nephron integrity through reproductive years, but this declines with increasing senescence after ∼40 years of age. Risk factors for chronic kidney disease include restricted fetal growth or preterm birth (life history tradeoff resulting in fewer nephrons, evolutionary selection for APOL1 mutations (which provide resistance to trypanosome infection, a tradeoff, and modern life experience (Western diet mismatch leading to diabetes and hypertension. Current advances in genomics, epigenetics, and developmental biology have revealed proximate causes of kidney disease, but attempts to slow kidney disease remain elusive. Evolutionary medicine provides a complementary approach by addressing ultimate causes of kidney disease. Marked variation in nephron number at birth, nephron heterogeneity, and changing susceptibility to kidney injury throughout the life history are the result of evolutionary processes. Combined application of molecular genetics, evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo, developmental programming, and life history theory may yield new strategies for prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease.

Genome-Wide Identification, Evolutionary and Expression Analyses of the GALACTINOL SYNTHASE Gene Family in Rapeseed and Tobacco

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yonghai Fan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Galactinol synthase (GolS is a key enzyme in raffinose family oligosaccharide (RFO biosynthesis. The finding that GolS accumulates in plants exposed to abiotic stresses indicates RFOs function in environmental adaptation. However, the evolutionary relationships and biological functions of GolS family in rapeseed (Brassica napus and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum remain unclear. In this study, we identified 20 BnGolS and 9 NtGolS genes. Subcellular localization predictions showed that most of the proteins are localized to the cytoplasm. Phylogenetic analysis identified a lost event of an ancient GolS copy in the Solanaceae and an ancient duplication event leading to evolution of GolS4/7 in the Brassicaceae. The three-dimensional structures of two GolS proteins were conserved, with an important DxD motif for binding to UDP-galactose (uridine diphosphate-galactose and inositol. Expression profile analysis indicated that BnGolS and NtGolS genes were expressed in most tissues and highly expressed in one or two specific tissues. Hormone treatments strongly induced the expression of most BnGolS genes and homologous genes in the same subfamilies exhibited divergent-induced expression. Our study provides a comprehensive evolutionary analysis of GolS genes among the Brassicaceae and Solanaceae as well as an insight into the biological function of GolS genes in hormone response in plants.

Large differences in the genome organization of different plant Trypanosomatid parasites (Phytomonas spp.) reveal wide evolutionary divergences between taxa.

Science.gov (United States)

Marín, C; Dollet, M; Pagès, M; Bastien, P

2009-03-01

All currently known plant trypanosomes have been grouped in the genus Phytomonas spp., although they can differ greatly in terms of both their biological properties and effects upon the host. Those parasitizing the phloem sap are specifically associated with lethal syndromes in Latin America, such as, phloem necrosis of coffee, 'Hartrot' of coconut and 'Marchitez sorpresiva' of oil palm, that inflict considerable economic losses in endemic countries. The genomic organization of one group of Phytomonas (D) considered as representative of the genus has been published previously. The present work presents the genomic structure of two representative isolates from the pathogenic phloem-restricted group (H) of Phytomonas, analyzed by pulsed field gel electrophoresis followed by hybridization with chromosome-specific DNA markers. It came as a surprise to observe an extremely different genomic organization in this group as compared with that of group D. Most notably, the chromosome number is 7 in this group (with a genome size of 10 Mb) versus 21 in the group D (totalling 25 Mb). These data unravel an unsuspected genomic diversity within plant trypanosomatids, that may justify a further debate about their division into different genera.

EvoluCode: Evolutionary Barcodes as a Unifying Framework for Multilevel Evolutionary Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Linard, Benjamin; Nguyen, Ngoc Hoan; Prosdocimi, Francisco; Poch, Olivier; Thompson, Julie D

2012-01-01

Evolutionary systems biology aims to uncover the general trends and principles governing the evolution of biological networks. An essential part of this process is the reconstruction and analysis of the evolutionary histories of these complex, dynamic networks. Unfortunately, the methodologies for representing and exploiting such complex evolutionary histories in large scale studies are currently limited. Here, we propose a new formalism, called EvoluCode (Evolutionary barCode), which allows the integration of different evolutionary parameters (eg, sequence conservation, orthology, synteny …) in a unifying format and facilitates the multilevel analysis and visualization of complex evolutionary histories at the genome scale. The advantages of the approach are demonstrated by constructing barcodes representing the evolution of the complete human proteome. Two large-scale studies are then described: (i) the mapping and visualization of the barcodes on the human chromosomes and (ii) automatic clustering of the barcodes to highlight protein subsets sharing similar evolutionary histories and their functional analysis. The methodologies developed here open the way to the efficient application of other data mining and knowledge extraction techniques in evolutionary systems biology studies. A database containing all EvoluCode data is available at: http://lbgi.igbmc.fr/barcodes.

Genomic prediction in contrast to a genome-wide association study in explaining heritable variation of complex growth traits in breeding populations of Eucalyptus.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Bárbara S F; Neves, Leandro G; de Almeida Filho, Janeo E; Resende, Márcio F R; Muñoz, Patricio R; Dos Santos, Paulo E T; Filho, Estefano Paludzyszyn; Kirst, Matias; Grattapaglia, Dario

2017-07-11

The advent of high-throughput genotyping technologies coupled to genomic prediction methods established a new paradigm to integrate genomics and breeding. We carried out whole-genome prediction and contrasted it to a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for growth traits in breeding populations of Eucalyptus benthamii (n =505) and Eucalyptus pellita (n =732). Both species are of increasing commercial interest for the development of germplasm adapted to environmental stresses. Predictive ability reached 0.16 in E. benthamii and 0.44 in E. pellita for diameter growth. Predictive abilities using either Genomic BLUP or different Bayesian methods were similar, suggesting that growth adequately fits the infinitesimal model. Genomic prediction models using ~5000-10,000 SNPs provided predictive abilities equivalent to using all 13,787 and 19,506 SNPs genotyped in the E. benthamii and E. pellita populations, respectively. No difference was detected in predictive ability when different sets of SNPs were utilized, based on position (equidistantly genome-wide, inside genes, linkage disequilibrium pruned or on single chromosomes), as long as the total number of SNPs used was above ~5000. Predictive abilities obtained by removing relatedness between training and validation sets fell near zero for E. benthamii and were halved for E. pellita. These results corroborate the current view that relatedness is the main driver of genomic prediction, although some short-range historical linkage disequilibrium (LD) was likely captured for E. pellita. A GWAS identified only one significant association for volume growth in E. pellita, illustrating the fact that while genome-wide regression is able to account for large proportions of the heritability, very little or none of it is captured into significant associations using GWAS in breeding populations of the size evaluated in this study. This study provides further experimental data supporting positive prospects of using genome-wide data to

Genome-Wide Analysis Suggests the Relaxed Purifying Selection Affect the Evolution of WOX Genes in Pyrus bretschneideri, Prunus persica, Prunus mume, and Fragaria vesca

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Yunpeng Cao

2017-06-01

Full Text Available WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX family is one of the largest group of transcription factors (TFs specifically found in plant kingdom. WOX TFs play an important role in plant development processes and evolutionary novelties. Although the roles of WOXs in Arabidopsis and rice have been well-studied, however, little are known about the relationships among the main clades in the molecular evolution of these genes in Rosaceae. Here, we carried out a genome-wide analysis and identified 14, 10, 10, and 9 of WOX genes from four Rosaceae species (Fragaria vesca, Prunus persica, Prunus mume, and Pyrus bretschneideri, respectively. According to evolutionary analysis, as well as amino acid sequences of their homodomains, these genes were divided into three clades with nine subgroups. Furthermore, due to the conserved structural patterns among these WOX genes, it was proposed that there should exist some highly conserved regions of microsynteny in the four Rosaceae species. Moreover, most of WOX gene pairs were presented with the conserved orientation among syntenic genome regions. In addition, according to substitution models analysis using PMAL software, no significant positive selection was detected, but type I functional divergence was identified among certain amino acids in WOX protein. These results revealed that the relaxed purifying selection might be the main driving force during the evolution of WOX genes in the tested Rosaceae species. Our result will be useful for further precise research on evolution of the WOX genes in family Rosaceae.

A model species for agricultural pest genomics: the genome of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Schoville, Sean D; Chen, Yolanda H; Andersson, Martin N; Benoit, Joshua B; Bhandari, Anita; Bowsher, Julia H; Brevik, Kristian; Cappelle, Kaat; Chen, Mei-Ju M; Childers, Anna K; Childers, Christopher; Christiaens, Olivier; Clements, Justin; Didion, Elise M; Elpidina, Elena N; Engsontia, Patamarerk; Friedrich, Markus; García-Robles, Inmaculada; Gibbs, Richard A; Goswami, Chandan; Grapputo, Alessandro; Gruden, Kristina; Grynberg, Marcin; Henrissat, Bernard; Jennings, Emily C; Jones, Jeffery W; Kalsi, Megha; Khan, Sher A; Kumar, Abhishek; Li, Fei; Lombard, Vincent; Ma, Xingzhou; Martynov, Alexander; Miller, Nicholas J; Mitchell, Robert F; Munoz-Torres, Monica; Muszewska, Anna; Oppert, Brenda; Palli, Subba Reddy; Panfilio, Kristen A; Pauchet, Yannick; Perkin, Lindsey C; Petek, Marko; Poelchau, Monica F; Record, Éric; Rinehart, Joseph P; Robertson, Hugh M; Rosendale, Andrew J; Ruiz-Arroyo, Victor M; Smagghe, Guy; Szendrei, Zsofia; Thomas, Gregg W C; Torson, Alex S; Vargas Jentzsch, Iris M; Weirauch, Matthew T; Yates, Ashley D; Yocum, George D; Yoon, June-Sun; Richards, Stephen

2018-01-31

The Colorado potato beetle is one of the most challenging agricultural pests to manage. It has shown a spectacular ability to adapt to a variety of solanaceaeous plants and variable climates during its global invasion, and, notably, to rapidly evolve insecticide resistance. To examine evidence of rapid evolutionary change, and to understand the genetic basis of herbivory and insecticide resistance, we tested for structural and functional genomic changes relative to other arthropod species using genome sequencing, transcriptomics, and community annotation. Two factors that might facilitate rapid evolutionary change include transposable elements, which comprise at least 17% of the genome and are rapidly evolving compared to other Coleoptera, and high levels of nucleotide diversity in rapidly growing pest populations. Adaptations to plant feeding are evident in gene expansions and differential expression of digestive enzymes in gut tissues, as well as expansions of gustatory receptors for bitter tasting. Surprisingly, the suite of genes involved in insecticide resistance is similar to other beetles. Finally, duplications in the RNAi pathway might explain why Leptinotarsa decemlineata has high sensitivity to dsRNA. The L. decemlineata genome provides opportunities to investigate a broad range of phenotypes and to develop sustainable methods to control this widely successful pest.

Genome-wide mapping of autonomous promoter activity in human cells.

Science.gov (United States)

van Arensbergen, Joris; FitzPatrick, Vincent D; de Haas, Marcel; Pagie, Ludo; Sluimer, Jasper; Bussemaker, Harmen J; van Steensel, Bas

2017-02-01

Previous methods to systematically characterize sequence-intrinsic activity of promoters have been limited by relatively low throughput and the length of the sequences that could be tested. Here we present 'survey of regulatory elements' (SuRE), a method that assays more than 10 8 DNA fragments, each 0.2-2 kb in size, for their ability to drive transcription autonomously. In SuRE, a plasmid library of random genomic fragments upstream of a 20-bp barcode is constructed, and decoded by paired-end sequencing. This library is used to transfect cells, and barcodes in transcribed RNA are quantified by high-throughput sequencing. When applied to the human genome, we achieve 55-fold genome coverage, allowing us to map autonomous promoter activity genome-wide in K562 cells. By computational modeling we delineate subregions within promoters that are relevant for their activity. We show that antisense promoter transcription is generally dependent on the sense core promoter sequences, and that most enhancers and several families of repetitive elements act as autonomous transcription initiation sites.

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment

Science.gov (United States)

Okbay, Aysu; Beauchamp, Jonathan P.; Fontana, Mark A.; Lee, James J.; Pers, Tune H.; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Turley, Patrick; Chen, Guo-Bo; Emilsson, Valur; Meddens, S. Fleur W.; Oskarsson, Sven; Pickrell, Joseph K.; Thom, Kevin; Timshel, Pascal; de Vlaming, Ronald; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S.; Bacelis, Jonas; Baumbach, Clemens; Bjornsdottir, Gyda; Brandsma, Johannes H.; Concas, Maria Pina; Derringer, Jaime; Furlotte, Nicholas A.; Galesloot, Tessel E.; Girotto, Giorgia; Gupta, Richa; Hall, Leanne M.; Harris, Sarah E.; Hofer, Edith; Horikoshi, Momoko; Huffman, Jennifer E.; Kaasik, Kadri; Kalafati, Ioanna P.; Karlsson, Robert; Kong, Augustine; Lahti, Jari; van der Lee, Sven J.; de Leeuw, Christiaan; Lind, Penelope A.; Lindgren, Karl-Oskar; Liu, Tian; Mangino, Massimo; Marten, Jonathan; Mihailov, Evelin; Miller, Michael B.; van der Most, Peter J.; Oldmeadow, Christopher; Payton, Antony; Pervjakova, Natalia; Peyrot, Wouter J.; Qian, Yong; Raitakari, Olli; Rueedi, Rico; Salvi, Erika; Schmidt, Börge; Schraut, Katharina E.; Shi, Jianxin; Smith, Albert V.; Poot, Raymond A.; Pourcain, Beate; Teumer, Alexander; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Verweij, Niek; Vuckovic, Dragana; Wellmann, Juergen; Westra, Harm-Jan; Yang, Jingyun; Zhao, Wei; Zhu, Zhihong; Alizadeh, Behrooz Z.; Amin, Najaf; Bakshi, Andrew; Baumeister, Sebastian E.; Biino, Ginevra; Bønnelykke, Klaus; Boyle, Patricia A.; Campbell, Harry; Cappuccio, Francesco P.; Davies, Gail; De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel; Deloukas, Panos; Demuth, Ilja; Ding, Jun; Eibich, Peter; Eisele, Lewin; Eklund, Niina; Evans68, David M.; Faul, Jessica D.; Feitosa, Mary F.; Forstner, Andreas J.; Gandin, Ilaria; Gunnarsson, Bjarni; Halldórsson, Bjarni V.; Harris, Tamara B.; Heath, Andrew C.; Hocking, Lynne J.; Holliday, Elizabeth G.; Homuth, Georg; Horan, Michael A.; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; de Jager, Philip L.; Joshi, Peter K.; Jugessur, Astanand; Kaakinen, Marika A.; Kähönen, Mika; Kanoni, Stavroula; Keltigangas-Järvinen, Liisa; Kiemeney, Lambertus A.L.M.; Kolcic, Ivana; Koskinen, Seppo; Kraja, Aldi T.; Kroh, Martin; Kutalik, Zoltan; Latvala, Antti; Launer, Lenore J.; Lebreton, Maël P.; Levinson, Douglas F.; Lichtenstein, Paul; Lichtner, Peter; Liewald, David C.M.; Loukola, Anu; Madden, Pamela A.; Mägi, Reedik; Mäki-Opas, Tomi; Marioni, Riccardo E.; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Meddens, Gerardus A.; McMahon, George; Meisinger, Christa; Meitinger, Thomas; Milaneschi, Yusplitri; Milani, Lili; Montgomery, Grant W.; Myhre, Ronny; Nelson, Christopher P.; Nyholt, Dale R.; Ollier, William E.R.; Palotie, Aarno; Paternoster, Lavinia; Pedersen, Nancy L.; Petrovic, Katja E.; Porteous, David J.; Räikkönen, Katri; Ring, Susan M.; Robino, Antonietta; Rostapshova, Olga; Rudan, Igor; Rustichini, Aldo; Salomaa, Veikko; Sanders, Alan R.; Sarin, Antti-Pekka; Schmidt, Helena; Scott, Rodney J.; Smith, Blair H.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Staessen, Jan A.; Steinhagen-Thiessen, Elisabeth; Strauch, Konstantin; Terracciano, Antonio; Tobin, Martin D.; Ulivi, Sheila; Vaccargiu, Simona; Quaye, Lydia; van Rooij, Frank J.A.; Venturini, Cristina; Vinkhuyzen, Anna A.E.; Völker, Uwe; Völzke, Henry; Vonk, Judith M.; Vozzi, Diego; Waage, Johannes; Ware, Erin B.; Willemsen, Gonneke; Attia, John R.; Bennett, David A.; Berger, Klaus; Bertram, Lars; Bisgaard, Hans; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Borecki, Ingrid B.; Bultmann, Ute; Chabris, Christopher F.; Cucca, Francesco; Cusi, Daniele; Deary, Ian J.; Dedoussis, George V.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Franke, Barbara; Franke, Lude; Gasparini, Paolo; Gejman, Pablo V.; Gieger, Christian; Grabe, Hans-Jörgen; Gratten, Jacob; Groenen, Patrick J.F.; Gudnason, Vilmundur; van der Harst, Pim; Hayward, Caroline; Hinds, David A.; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Hyppönen, Elina; Iacono, William G.; Jacobsson, Bo; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Kaprio, Jaakko; Kardia, Sharon L.R.; Lehtimäki, Terho; Lehrer, Steven F.; Magnusson, Patrik K.E.; Martin, Nicholas G.; McGue, Matt; Metspalu, Andres; Pendleton, Neil; Penninx, Brenda W.J.H.; Perola, Markus; Pirastu, Nicola; Pirastu, Mario; Polasek, Ozren; Posthuma, Danielle; Power, Christine; Province, Michael A.; Samani, Nilesh J.; Schlessinger, David; Schmidt, Reinhold; Sørensen, Thorkild I.A.; Spector, Tim D.; Stefansson, Kari; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Thurik, A. Roy; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Tiemeier, Henning; Tung, Joyce Y.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Vitart, Veronique; Vollenweider, Peter; Weir, David R.; Wilson, James F.; Wright, Alan F.; Conley, Dalton C.; Krueger, Robert F.; Smith, George Davey; Hofman, Albert; Laibson, David I.; Medland, Sarah E.; Meyer, Michelle N.; Yang, Jian; Johannesson, Magnus; Visscher, Peter M.; Esko, Tõnu; Koellinger, Philipp D.; Cesarini, David; Benjamin, Daniel J.

2016-01-01

Summary Educational attainment (EA) is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are also estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals1. We report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for EA that extends our earlier discovery sample1,2 of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication in an independent sample of 111,349 individuals from the UK Biobank. We now identify 74 genome-wide significant loci associated with number of years of schooling completed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with educational attainment are disproportionately found in genomic regions regulating gene expression in the fetal brain. Candidate genes are preferentially expressed in neural tissue, especially during the prenatal period, and enriched for biological pathways involved in neural development. Our findings demonstrate that, even for a behavioral phenotype that is mostly environmentally determined, a well-powered GWAS identifies replicable associated genetic variants that suggest biologically relevant pathways. Because EA is measured in large numbers of individuals, it will continue to be useful as a proxy phenotype in efforts to characterize the genetic influences of related phenotypes, including cognition and neuropsychiatric disease. PMID:27225129

Evolution of man in the light of molecular genetics: a review. Part I. Our evolutionary history and genomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Portin, Petter

2007-07-01

The discovery in the mid 1970s of efficient methods of DNA sequencing and their subsequent development into more and more rapid procedures followed by sequencing the genomes of many species, including man in 2001, revolutionised the whole of biology. Remarkably, new light could be cast on the evolutionary relations of different species, and the tempo and mode of evolution within a given species, notably man, could quantitatively be illuminated including ongoing evolution possibly involving also the size of the brains. This review is a short summary of the results of the molecular genetic investigations of human evolution including the time and place of the formation of our species, our evolutionary relation to the closest living species relatives as well as extinct forms of the genus Homo. The nature and amount of genetic polymorphism in man is also considered with special emphasis on the causes of this variation, and the role of natural selection in human evolution. A consensus about the mosaic nature of our genome and the rather dynamic structure of our ancestral population is gradually emerging. The modern gene pool has most likely been contributed to several different ancestral demes either before or after the emergence of the anatomically modern human phenotype in the extent that even the nature of the evolutionary lineage leading to the anatomically modern man as a distinct biological species is disputable. Regulation of the function of genes, as well as the evolution of brains will be dealt with in the second part of this review.

Generation of meiomaps of genome-wide recombination and chromosome segregation in human oocytes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ottolini, Christian S; Capalbo, Antonio; Newnham, Louise

2016-01-01

We have developed a protocol for the generation of genome-wide maps (meiomaps) of recombination and chromosome segregation for the three products of human female meiosis: the first and second polar bodies (PB1 and PB2) and the corresponding oocyte. PB1 is biopsied and the oocyte is artificially......-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genome-wide by microarray. Informative maternal heterozygous SNPs are phased using a haploid PB2 or oocyte as a reference. A simple algorithm is then used to identify the maternal haplotypes for each chromosome, in all of the products of meiosis for each oocyte. This allows mapping...

Genetic link between family socioeconomic status and children's educational achievement estimated from genome-wide SNPs.

Science.gov (United States)

Krapohl, E; Plomin, R

2016-03-01

One of the best predictors of children's educational achievement is their family's socioeconomic status (SES), but the degree to which this association is genetically mediated remains unclear. For 3000 UK-representative unrelated children we found that genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms could explain a third of the variance of scores on an age-16 UK national examination of educational achievement and half of the correlation between their scores and family SES. Moreover, genome-wide polygenic scores based on a previously published genome-wide association meta-analysis of total number of years in education accounted for ~3.0% variance in educational achievement and ~2.5% in family SES. This study provides the first molecular evidence for substantial genetic influence on differences in children's educational achievement and its association with family SES.

Genome-wide microsatellite characterization and marker development in the sequenced Brassica crop species.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Jiaqin; Huang, Shunmou; Zhan, Jiepeng; Yu, Jingyin; Wang, Xinfa; Hua, Wei; Liu, Shengyi; Liu, Guihua; Wang, Hanzhong

2014-02-01

Although much research has been conducted, the pattern of microsatellite distribution has remained ambiguous, and the development/utilization of microsatellite markers has still been limited/inefficient in Brassica, due to the lack of genome sequences. In view of this, we conducted genome-wide microsatellite characterization and marker development in three recently sequenced Brassica crops: Brassica rapa, Brassica oleracea and Brassica napus. The analysed microsatellite characteristics of these Brassica species were highly similar or almost identical, which suggests that the pattern of microsatellite distribution is likely conservative in Brassica. The genomic distribution of microsatellites was highly non-uniform and positively or negatively correlated with genes or transposable elements, respectively. Of the total of 115 869, 185 662 and 356 522 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed with high frequencies (408.2, 343.8 and 356.2 per Mb or one every 2.45, 2.91 and 2.81 kb, respectively), most represented new SSR markers, the majority had determined physical positions, and a large number were genic or putative single-locus SSR markers. We also constructed a comprehensive database for the newly developed SSR markers, which was integrated with public Brassica SSR markers and annotated genome components. The genome-wide SSR markers developed in this study provide a useful tool to extend the annotated genome resources of sequenced Brassica species to genetic study/breeding in different Brassica species.

Conflicting Evolutionary Histories of the Mitochondrial and Nuclear Genomes in New World Myotis Bats.

Science.gov (United States)

Platt, Roy N; Faircloth, Brant C; Sullivan, Kevin A M; Kieran, Troy J; Glenn, Travis C; Vandewege, Michael W; Lee, Thomas E; Baker, Robert J; Stevens, Richard D; Ray, David A

2018-03-01

The rapid diversification of Myotis bats into more than 100 species is one of the most extensive mammalian radiations available for study. Efforts to understand relationships within Myotis have primarily utilized mitochondrial markers and trees inferred from nuclear markers lacked resolution. Our current understanding of relationships within Myotis is therefore biased towards a set of phylogenetic markers that may not reflect the history of the nuclear genome. To resolve this, we sequenced the full mitochondrial genomes of 37 representative Myotis, primarily from the New World, in conjunction with targeted sequencing of 3648 ultraconserved elements (UCEs). We inferred the phylogeny and explored the effects of concatenation and summary phylogenetic methods, as well as combinations of markers based on informativeness or levels of missing data, on our results. Of the 294 phylogenies generated from the nuclear UCE data, all are significantly different from phylogenies inferred using mitochondrial genomes. Even within the nuclear data, quartet frequencies indicate that around half of all UCE loci conflict with the estimated species tree. Several factors can drive such conflict, including incomplete lineage sorting, introgressive hybridization, or even phylogenetic error. Despite the degree of discordance between nuclear UCE loci and the mitochondrial genome and among UCE loci themselves, the most common nuclear topology is recovered in one quarter of all analyses with strong nodal support. Based on these results, we re-examine the evolutionary history of Myotis to better understand the phenomena driving their unique nuclear, mitochondrial, and biogeographic histories.

Genome-Wide Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Alcohol Consumption Across Youth and Early Adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Adkins, Daniel E; Clark, Shaunna L; Copeland, William E; Kennedy, Martin; Conway, Kevin; Angold, Adrian; Maes, Hermine; Liu, Youfang; Kumar, Gaurav; Erkanli, Alaattin; Patkar, Ashwin A; Silberg, Judy; Brown, Tyson H; Fergusson, David M; Horwood, L John; Eaves, Lindon; van den Oord, Edwin J C G; Sullivan, Patrick F; Costello, E J

2015-08-01

The public health burden of alcohol is unevenly distributed across the life course, with levels of use, abuse, and dependence increasing across adolescence and peaking in early adulthood. Here, we leverage this temporal patterning to search for common genetic variants predicting developmental trajectories of alcohol consumption. Comparable psychiatric evaluations measuring alcohol consumption were collected in three longitudinal community samples (N=2,126, obs=12,166). Consumption-repeated measurements spanning adolescence and early adulthood were analyzed using linear mixed models, estimating individual consumption trajectories, which were then tested for association with Illumina 660W-Quad genotype data (866,099 SNPs after imputation and QC). Association results were combined across samples using standard meta-analysis methods. Four meta-analysis associations satisfied our pre-determined genome-wide significance criterion (FDR<0.1) and six others met our 'suggestive' criterion (FDR<0.2). Genome-wide significant associations were highly biological plausible, including associations within GABA transporter 1, SLC6A1 (solute carrier family 6, member 1), and exonic hits in LOC100129340 (mitofusin-1-like). Pathway analyses elaborated single marker results, indicating significant enriched associations to intuitive biological mechanisms, including neurotransmission, xenobiotic pharmacodynamics, and nuclear hormone receptors (NHR). These findings underscore the value of combining longitudinal behavioral data and genome-wide genotype information in order to study developmental patterns and improve statistical power in genomic studies.

A genome-wide approach to children's aggressive behavior: The EAGLE consortium

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pappa, I.; St Pourcain, B.; Benke, K.S.; Cavadino, A.; Hakulinen, C.; Nivard, M.G.; Nolte, I.M.; Tiesler, C.M.T.; Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J.; Davies, G.E.; Evans, D.M.; Geoffroy, M.C.; Grallert, H.; Blokhuis, M.M.; Hudziak, J.J.; Kemp, J.P.; Keltikangas-Järvinen, L.; McMahon, G.; Mileva-Seitz, V.R.; Motazedi, E.; Power, C.; Raitakari, O.T.; Ring, S.M.; Rivadeneira, F.; Rodriguez, A.; Scheet, P.; Seppälä, I.; Snieder, H.; Standl, M.; Thiering, E.; Timpson, N.J.; Veenstra, R.; Velders, F.P.; Whitehouse, A.J.O.; Davey Smith, G.; Heinrich, J.; Hypponen, E.; Lehtimäki, T.; Middeldorp, C.M.; Oldehinkel, A.J.; Pennell, C.E.; Boomsma, D.I.; Tiemeier, H.

2016-01-01

Individual differences in aggressive behavior emerge in early childhood and predict persisting behavioral problems and disorders. Studies of antisocial and severe aggression in adulthood indicate substantial underlying biology. However, little attention has been given to genome-wide approaches of

Genome-wide deficiency screen for the genomic regions responsible for heat resistance in Drosophila melanogaster

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Teramura Kouhei

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Temperature adaptation is one of the most important determinants of distribution and population size of organisms in nature. Recently, quantitative trait loci (QTL mapping and gene expression profiling approaches have been used for detecting candidate genes for heat resistance. However, the resolution of QTL mapping is not high enough to examine the individual effects of various genes in each QTL. Heat stress-responsive genes, characterized by gene expression profiling studies, are not necessarily responsible for heat resistance. Some of these genes may be regulated in association with the heat stress response of other genes. Results To evaluate which heat-responsive genes are potential candidates for heat resistance with higher resolution than previous QTL mapping studies, we performed genome-wide deficiency screen for QTL for heat resistance. We screened 439 isogenic deficiency strains from the DrosDel project, covering 65.6% of the Drosophila melanogaster genome in order to map QTL for thermal resistance. As a result, we found 19 QTL for heat resistance, including 3 novel QTL outside the QTL found in previous studies. Conclusion The QTL found in this study encompassed 19 heat-responsive genes found in the previous gene expression profiling studies, suggesting that they were strong candidates for heat resistance. This result provides new insights into the genetic architecture of heat resistance. It also emphasizes the advantages of genome-wide deficiency screen using isogenic deficiency libraries.

Comparative Sex Chromosome Genomics in Snakes: Differentiation, Evolutionary Strata, and Lack of Global Dosage Compensation

Science.gov (United States)

Zektser, Yulia; Mahajan, Shivani; Bachtrog, Doris

2013-01-01

Snakes exhibit genetic sex determination, with female heterogametic sex chromosomes (ZZ males, ZW females). Extensive cytogenetic work has suggested that the level of sex chromosome heteromorphism varies among species, with Boidae having entirely homomorphic sex chromosomes, Viperidae having completely heteromorphic sex chromosomes, and Colubridae showing partial differentiation. Here, we take a genomic approach to compare sex chromosome differentiation in these three snake families. We identify homomorphic sex chromosomes in boas (Boidae), but completely heteromorphic sex chromosomes in both garter snakes (Colubridae) and pygmy rattlesnake (Viperidae). Detection of W-linked gametologs enables us to establish the presence of evolutionary strata on garter and pygmy rattlesnake sex chromosomes where recombination was abolished at different time points. Sequence analysis shows that all strata are shared between pygmy rattlesnake and garter snake, i.e., recombination was abolished between the sex chromosomes before the two lineages diverged. The sex-biased transmission of the Z and its hemizygosity in females can impact patterns of molecular evolution, and we show that rates of evolution for Z-linked genes are increased relative to their pseudoautosomal homologs, both at synonymous and amino acid sites (even after controlling for mutational biases). This demonstrates that mutation rates are male-biased in snakes (male-driven evolution), but also supports faster-Z evolution due to differential selective effects on the Z. Finally, we perform a transcriptome analysis in boa and pygmy rattlesnake to establish baseline levels of sex-biased expression in homomorphic sex chromosomes, and show that heteromorphic ZW chromosomes in rattlesnakes lack chromosome-wide dosage compensation. Our study provides the first full scale overview of the evolution of snake sex chromosomes at the genomic level, thus greatly expanding our knowledge of reptilian and vertebrate sex chromosomes

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies six novel loci associated with habitual coffee consumption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. Cornelis (Marilyn); E.M. Byrne; T. Esko (Tõnu); M.A. Nalls (Michael); A. Ganna (Andrea); N.P. Paynter (Nina); K.L. Monda (Keri); N. Amin (Najaf); K. Fischer (Krista); F. Renström (Frida); J.S. Ngwa; V. Huikari (Ville); A. Cavadino (Alana); I.M. Nolte (Ilja M.); A. Teumer (Alexander); K. Yu; P. Marques-Vidal; R. Rawal; A. Manichaikul (Ani); M.K. Wojczynski (Mary ); J.M. Vink; J.H. Zhao (Jing Hua); G. Burlutsky (George); J. Lahti (Jari); V. Mikkilä (Vera); R.N. Lemaitre (Rozenn ); J. Eriksson; S. Musani (Solomon); T. Tanaka; F. Geller (Frank); J. Luan; J. Hui; R. Mägi (Reedik); M. Dimitriou (Maria); M. Garcia (Melissa); W.-K. Ho; M.J. Wright (Margaret); L.M. Rose (Lynda M.); P.K.E. Magnusson (Patrik K. E.); N.L. Pedersen (Nancy L.); D.J. Couper (David); B.A. Oostra (Ben); A. Hofman (Albert); M.A. Ikram (Arfan); H.W. Tiemeier (Henning); A.G. Uitterlinden (André); F.J.A. van Rooij (Frank); I. Barroso; I. Johansson (Ingegerd); L. Xue (Luting); M. Kaakinen (Marika); L. Milani (Lili); C. Power (Christine); H. Snieder (Harold); R.P. Stolk; S.E. Baumeister (Sebastian); R. Biffar; F. Gu; F. Bastardot (Francois); Z. Kutalik; D.R. Jacobs (David); N.G. Forouhi (Nita G.); E. Mihailov (Evelin); L. Lind (Lars); C. Lindgren; K. Michaëlsson; A.P. Morris (Andrew); M.K. Jensen (Majken K.); K.T. Khaw; R.N. Luben (Robert); J.J. Wang; S. Männistö (Satu); M.-M. Perälä; M. Kähönen (Mika); T. Lehtimäki (Terho); J. Viikari (Jorma); D. Mozaffarian; K. Mukamal (Kenneth); B.M. Psaty (Bruce); A. Döring; A.C. Heath (Andrew C.); G.W. Montgomery (Grant W.); N. Dahmen (N.); T. Carithers; K.L. Tucker; L. Ferrucci (Luigi); H.A. Boyd; M. Melbye (Mads); J.L. Treur; D. Mellström (Dan); J.J. Hottenga (Jouke Jan); I. Prokopenko (Inga); A. Tönjes (Anke); P. Deloukas (Panagiotis); S. Kanoni (Stavroula); M. Lorentzon (Mattias); D.K. Houston; Y. Liu; J. Danesh (John); A. Rasheed; M.A. Mason; A.B. Zonderman; L. Franke (Lude); B.S. Kristal; J. Karjalainen (Juha); D.R. Reed; H.-J. Westra; M.K. Evans; D. Saleheen; T.B. Harris (Tamara); G.V. Dedoussis (George V.); G.C. Curhan (Gary); M. Stumvoll (Michael); J. Beilby (John); L.R. Pasquale; B. Feenstra; S. Bandinelli; J.M. Ordovas; A.T. Chan; U. Peters (Ulrike); C. Ohlsson (Claes); C. Gieger (Christian); N.G. Martin (Nicholas); M. Waldenberger (Melanie); D.S. Siscovick (David); O. Raitakari (Olli); J.G. Eriksson (Johan G.); P. Mitchell (Paul); D. Hunter (David); P. Kraft (Peter); E.B. Rimm (Eric B.); D.I. Boomsma (Dorret); I.B. Borecki (Ingrid); R.J.F. Loos (Ruth); N.J. Wareham (Nick); P.K. Vollenweider (Peter K.); N. Caporaso; H.J. Grabe (Hans Jörgen); M.L. Neuhouser (Marian L.); B.H.R. Wolffenbuttel (Bruce H. R.); F.B. Hu (Frank); E. Hypponen (Elina); M.-R. Jarvelin (Marjo-Riitta); L.A. Cupples (Adrienne); P.W. Franks; P.M. Ridker (Paul); C.M. van Duijn (Cornelia); G. Heiss (Gerardo); A. Metspalu (Andres); K.E. North (Kari); E. Ingelsson (Erik); J.A. Nettleton; R.M. van Dam (Rob); D.I. Chasman (Daniel)

2015-01-01

textabstractCoffee, a major dietary source of caffeine, is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has received considerable attention regarding health risks and benefits. We conducted a genome-wide (GW) meta-analysis of predominately regular-type coffee consumption (cups per day)

Evolutionary genomics revealed interkingdom distribution of Tcn1-like chromodomain-containing Gypsy LTR retrotransposons among fungi and plants

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Blinov Alexander

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Chromodomain-containing Gypsy LTR retrotransposons or chromoviruses are widely distributed among eukaryotes and have been found in plants, fungi and vertebrates. The previous comprehensive survey of chromoviruses from mosses (Bryophyta suggested that genomes of non-seed plants contain the clade which is closely related to the retrotransposons from fungi. The origin, distribution and evolutionary history of this clade remained unclear mainly due to the absence of information concerning the diversity and distribution of LTR retrotransposons in other groups of non-seed plants as well as in fungal genomes. Results In present study we preformed in silico analysis of chromodomain-containing LTR retrotransposons in 25 diverse fungi and a number of plant species including spikemoss Selaginella moellendorffii (Lycopodiophyta coupled with an experimental survey of chromodomain-containing Gypsy LTR retrotransposons from diverse non-seed vascular plants (lycophytes, ferns, and horsetails. Our mining of Gypsy LTR retrotransposons in genomic sequences allowed identification of numerous families which have not been described previously in fungi. Two new well-supported clades, Galahad and Mordred, as well as several other previously unknown lineages of chromodomain-containing Gypsy LTR retrotransposons were described based on the results of PCR-mediated survey of LTR retrotransposon fragments from ferns, horsetails and lycophytes. It appeared that one of the clades, namely Tcn1 clade, was present in basidiomycetes and non-seed plants including mosses (Bryophyta and lycophytes (genus Selaginella. Conclusions The interkingdom distribution is not typical for chromodomain-containing LTR retrotransposons clades which are usually very specific for a particular taxonomic group. Tcn1-like LTR retrotransposons from fungi and non-seed plants demonstrated high similarity to each other which can be explained by strong selective constraints and the

Clinical, polysomnographic and genome-wide association analyses of narcolepsy with cataplexy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Luca, Gianina; Haba-Rubio, José; Dauvilliers, Yves

2013-01-01

diagnosed according to International Classification of Sleep Disorders-2. Demographic and clinical characteristics, polysomnography and multiple sleep latency test data, hypocretin-1 levels, and genome-wide genotypes were available. We found a significantly lower age at sleepiness onset (men versus women...

Case-control genome-wide association study of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Neale, B.M.; Medland, S.; Ripke, S.; Anney, R.J.; Asherson, P.; Buitelaar, J.K.; Franke, B.; Gill, M.; Kent, L.; Holmans, P.; Middleton, F.; Thapar, A.; Lesch, K.P.; Faraone, S.V.; Daly, M.; Nguyen, T.T.; Schafer, H.; Steinhausen, H.C.; Reif, A.; Renner, T.J.; Romanos, M.; Romanos, J.; Warnke, A.; Walitza, S.; Freitag, C.; Meyer, J.; Palmason, H.; Rothenberger, A.; Hawi, Z.; Sergeant, J.A.; Roeyers, H.; Mick, E.; Biederman, J.

2010-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Although twin and family studies have shown attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) to be highly heritable, genetic variants influencing the trait at a genome-wide significant level have yet to be identified. Thus additional genomewide association studies (GWAS) are needed.

Genome-wide single-generation signatures of local selection in the panmictic European eel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pujolar, J. M.; Jacobsen, M. W.; Als, Thomas Damm

2014-01-01

Next-generation sequencing and the collection of genome-wide data allow identifying adaptive variation and footprints of directional selection. Using a large SNP data set from 259 RAD-sequenced European eel individuals (glass eels) from eight locations between 34 and 64oN, we examined the patterns...... of genome-wide genetic diversity across locations. We tested for local selection by searching for increased population differentiation using FST-based outlier tests and by testing for significant associations between allele frequencies and environmental variables. The overall low genetic differentiation...... with single-generation signatures of spatially varying selection acting on glass eels. After screening 50 354 SNPs, a total of 754 potentially locally selected SNPs were identified. Candidate genes for local selection constituted a wide array of functions, including calcium signalling, neuroactive ligand...

Genome-wide identification and characterization of WRKY gene family in peanut

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui eSong

2016-04-01

Full Text Available WRKY, an important transcription factor family, is widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Many reports focused on analysis of phylogenetic relationship and biological function of WRKY protein at the whole genome level in different plant species. However, little is known about WRKY proteins in the genome of Arachis species and their response to salicylic acid (SA and jasmonic acid (JA treatment. In this study, we identified 77 and 75 WRKY proteins from the two wild ancestral diploid genomes of cultivated tetraploid peanut, Arachis duranensis and Arachis ipaënsis, using bioinformatics approaches. Most peanut WRKY coding genes were located on A. duranensis chromosome A6 and A. ipaënsis chromosome B3, while the least number of WRKY genes was found in chromosome 9. The WRKY orthologous gene pairs in A. duranensis and A. ipaënsis chromosomes were highly syntenic. Our analysis indicated that segmental duplication events played a major role in AdWRKY and AiWRKY genes, and strong purifying selection was observed in gene duplication pairs. Furthermore, we translate the knowledge gained from the genome-wide analysis result of wild ancestral peanut to cultivated peanut to reveal that gene activities of specific cultivated peanut WRKY gene were changed due to SA and JA treatment. Peanut WRKY7, 8 and 13 genes were down-regulated, whereas WRKY1 and 12 genes were up-regulated with SA and JA treatment. These results could provide valuable information for peanut improvement.

Genome-Wide Identification and Characterization of WRKY Gene Family in Peanut.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Hui; Wang, Pengfei; Lin, Jer-Young; Zhao, Chuanzhi; Bi, Yuping; Wang, Xingjun

2016-01-01

WRKY, an important transcription factor family, is widely distributed in the plant kingdom. Many reports focused on analysis of phylogenetic relationship and biological function of WRKY protein at the whole genome level in different plant species. However, little is known about WRKY proteins in the genome of Arachis species and their response to salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) treatment. In this study, we identified 77 and 75 WRKY proteins from the two wild ancestral diploid genomes of cultivated tetraploid peanut, Arachis duranensis and Arachis ipaënsis, using bioinformatics approaches. Most peanut WRKY coding genes were located on A. duranensis chromosome A6 and A. ipaënsis chromosome B3, while the least number of WRKY genes was found in chromosome 9. The WRKY orthologous gene pairs in A. duranensis and A. ipaënsis chromosomes were highly syntenic. Our analysis indicated that segmental duplication events played a major role in AdWRKY and AiWRKY genes, and strong purifying selection was observed in gene duplication pairs. Furthermore, we translate the knowledge gained from the genome-wide analysis result of wild ancestral peanut to cultivated peanut to reveal that gene activities of specific cultivated peanut WRKY gene were changed due to SA and JA treatment. Peanut WRKY7, 8 and 13 genes were down-regulated, whereas WRKY1 and 12 genes were up-regulated with SA and JA treatment. These results could provide valuable information for peanut improvement.

Putting the Function in Maize Genomics

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Stephen P. Moose

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The 51st Maize Genetics Conference was held March 12–15, 2009 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, Illinois. Nearly 500 attendees participated in a scientific program (available at covering a wide range of topics which integrate the rich biology of maize with recent discoveries in our understanding of the highly dynamic maize genome. Among the many research themes highlighted at the conference, the historical emphasis on studying the tremendous phenotypic diversity of maize now serves as the foundation for maize as a leading experimental system to characterize the mechanisms that generate variation in complex plant genomes and associate evolutionary change with phenotypes of interest.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Abies nephrolepis (Pinaceae: Abietoideae

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Dong-Keun Yi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The plant chloroplast (cp genome has maintained a relatively conserved structure and gene content throughout evolution. Cp genome sequences have been used widely for resolving evolutionary and phylogenetic issues at various taxonomic levels of plants. Here, we report the complete cp genome of Abies nephrolepis. The A. nephrolepis cp genome is 121,336 base pairs (bp in length including a pair of short inverted repeat regions (IRa and IRb of 139 bp each separated by a small single copy (SSC region of 54,323 bp (SSC and a large single copy region of 66,735 bp (LSC. It contains 114 genes, 68 of which are protein coding genes, 35 tRNA and four rRNA genes, six open reading frames, and one pseudogene. Seventeen repeat units and 64 simple sequence repeats (SSR have been detected in A. nephrolepis cp genome. Large IR sequences locate in 42-kb inversion points (1186 bp. The A. nephrolepis cp genome is identical to Abies koreana’s which is closely related to taxa. Pairwise comparison between two cp genomes revealed 140 polymorphic sites in each. Complete cp genome sequence of A. nephrolepis has a significant potential to provide information on the evolutionary pattern of Abietoideae and valuable data for development of DNA markers for easy identification and classification.

Quantifying the Determinants of Evolutionary Dynamics Leading to Drug Resistance.

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Guillaume Chevereau

Full Text Available The emergence of drug resistant pathogens is a serious public health problem. It is a long-standing goal to predict rates of resistance evolution and design optimal treatment strategies accordingly. To this end, it is crucial to reveal the underlying causes of drug-specific differences in the evolutionary dynamics leading to resistance. However, it remains largely unknown why the rates of resistance evolution via spontaneous mutations and the diversity of mutational paths vary substantially between drugs. Here we comprehensively quantify the distribution of fitness effects (DFE of mutations, a key determinant of evolutionary dynamics, in the presence of eight antibiotics representing the main modes of action. Using precise high-throughput fitness measurements for genome-wide Escherichia coli gene deletion strains, we find that the width of the DFE varies dramatically between antibiotics and, contrary to conventional wisdom, for some drugs the DFE width is lower than in the absence of stress. We show that this previously underappreciated divergence in DFE width among antibiotics is largely caused by their distinct drug-specific dose-response characteristics. Unlike the DFE, the magnitude of the changes in tolerated drug concentration resulting from genome-wide mutations is similar for most drugs but exceptionally small for the antibiotic nitrofurantoin, i.e., mutations generally have considerably smaller resistance effects for nitrofurantoin than for other drugs. A population genetics model predicts that resistance evolution for drugs with this property is severely limited and confined to reproducible mutational paths. We tested this prediction in laboratory evolution experiments using the "morbidostat", a device for evolving bacteria in well-controlled drug environments. Nitrofurantoin resistance indeed evolved extremely slowly via reproducible mutations-an almost paradoxical behavior since this drug causes DNA damage and increases the mutation

Genome-wide association analysis of oxidative stress resistance in Drosophila melanogaster.

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Allison L Weber

Full Text Available Aerobic organisms are susceptible to damage by reactive oxygen species. Oxidative stress resistance is a quantitative trait with population variation attributable to the interplay between genetic and environmental factors. Drosophila melanogaster provides an ideal system to study the genetics of variation for resistance to oxidative stress.We used 167 wild-derived inbred lines of the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel for a genome-wide association study of acute oxidative stress resistance to two oxidizing agents, paraquat and menadione sodium bisulfite. We found significant genetic variation for both stressors. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs associated with variation in oxidative stress resistance were often sex-specific and agent-dependent, with a small subset common for both sexes or treatments. Associated SNPs had moderately large effects, with an inverse relationship between effect size and allele frequency. Linear models with up to 12 SNPs explained 67-79% and 56-66% of the phenotypic variance for resistance to paraquat and menadione sodium bisulfite, respectively. Many genes implicated were novel with no known role in oxidative stress resistance. Bioinformatics analyses revealed a cellular network comprising DNA metabolism and neuronal development, consistent with targets of oxidative stress-inducing agents. We confirmed associations of seven candidate genes associated with natural variation in oxidative stress resistance through mutational analysis.We identified novel candidate genes associated with variation in resistance to oxidative stress that have context-dependent effects. These results form the basis for future translational studies to identify oxidative stress susceptibility/resistance genes that are evolutionary conserved and might play a role in human disease.

Next-generation sequencing and phylogenetic signal of complete mitochondrial genomes for resolving the evolutionary history of leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Botero-Castro, Fidel; Tilak, Marie-ka; Justy, Fabienne; Catzeflis, François; Delsuc, Frédéric; Douzery, Emmanuel J P

2013-12-01

Leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are one of the most studied groups within the order Chiroptera mainly because of their outstanding species richness and diversity in morphological and ecological traits. Rapid diversification and multiple homoplasies have made the phylogeny of the family difficult to solve using morphological characters. Molecular data have contributed to shed light on the evolutionary history of phyllostomid bats, yet several relationships remain unresolved at the intra-familial level. Complete mitochondrial genomes have proven useful to deal with this kind of situation in other groups of mammals by providing access to a large number of molecular characters. At present, there are only two mitogenomes available for phyllostomid bats hinting at the need for further exploration of the mitogenomic approach in this group. We used both standard Sanger sequencing of PCR products and next-generation sequencing (NGS) of shotgun genomic DNA to obtain new complete mitochondrial genomes from 10 species of phyllostomid bats, including representatives of major subfamilies, plus one outgroup belonging to the closely-related mormoopids. We then evaluated the contribution of mitogenomics to the resolution of the phylogeny of leaf-nosed bats and compared the results to those based on mitochondrial genes and the RAG2 and VWF nuclear makers. Our results demonstrate the advantages of the Illumina NGS approach to efficiently obtain mitogenomes of phyllostomid bats. The phylogenetic signal provided by entire mitogenomes is highly comparable to the one of a concatenation of individual mitochondrial and nuclear markers, and allows increasing both resolution and statistical support for several clades. This enhanced phylogenetic signal is the result of combining markers with heterogeneous evolutionary rates representing a large number of nucleotide sites. Our results illustrate the potential of the NGS mitogenomic approach for resolving the evolutionary history of

Unraveling the evolutionary history of the phosphoryl-transfer chain of the phosphoenolpyruvate:phosphotransferase system through phylogenetic analyses and genome context

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Zúñiga Manuel

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase system (PTS plays a major role in sugar transport and in the regulation of essential physiological processes in many bacteria. The PTS couples solute transport to its phosphorylation at the expense of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP and it consists of general cytoplasmic phosphoryl transfer proteins and specific enzyme II complexes which catalyze the uptake and phosphorylation of solutes. Previous studies have suggested that the evolution of the constituents of the enzyme II complexes has been driven largely by horizontal gene transfer whereas vertical inheritance has been prevalent in the general phosphoryl transfer proteins in some bacterial groups. The aim of this work is to test this hypothesis by studying the evolution of the phosphoryl transfer proteins of the PTS. Results We have analyzed the evolutionary history of the PTS phosphoryl transfer chain (PTS-ptc components in 222 complete genomes by combining phylogenetic methods and analysis of genomic context. Phylogenetic analyses alone were not conclusive for the deepest nodes but when complemented with analyses of genomic context and functional information, the main evolutionary trends of this system could be depicted. Conclusion The PTS-ptc evolved in bacteria after the divergence of early lineages such as Aquificales, Thermotogales and Thermus/Deinococcus. The subsequent evolutionary history of the PTS-ptc varied in different bacterial lineages: vertical inheritance and lineage-specific gene losses mainly explain the current situation in Actinobacteria and Firmicutes whereas horizontal gene transfer (HGT also played a major role in Proteobacteria. Most remarkably, we have identified a HGT event from Firmicutes or Fusobacteria to the last common ancestor of the Enterobacteriaceae, Pasteurellaceae, Shewanellaceae and Vibrionaceae. This transfer led to extensive changes in the metabolic and regulatory networks of these bacteria

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies six novel loci associated with habitual coffee consumption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cornelis, M. C.; Byrne, E. M.; Esko, T.; Nalls, M. A.; Ganna, A.; Paynter, N.; Monda, K. L.; Amin, N.; Fischer, K.; Renstrom, F.; Ngwa, J. S.; Huikari, V.; Cavadino, A.; Nolte, I. M.; Teumer, A.; Yu, K.; Marques-Vidal, P.; Rawal, R.; Manichaikul, A.; Wojczynski, M. K.; Vink, J. M.; Zhao, J. H.; Burlutsky, G.; Lahti, J.; Mikkila, V.; Lemaitre, R. N.; Eriksson, J.; Musani, S. K.; Tanaka, T.; Geller, F.; Luan, J.; Hui, J.; Maegi, R.; Dimitriou, M.; Garcia, M. E.; Ho, W-K; Wright, M. J.; Rose, L. M.; Magnusson, P. K. E.; Pedersen, N. L.; Couper, D.; Oostra, B. A.; Hofman, A.; Ikram, M. A.; Tiemeier, H. W.; Uitterlinden, A. G.; van Rooij, F. J. A.; Barroso, I.; Johansson, I.; Xue, L.; Kaakinen, M.; Milani, L.; Power, C.; Snieder, H.; Stolk, R. P.; Baumeister, S. E.; Biffar, R.; Gu, F.; Bastardot, F.; Kutalik, Z.; Jacobs, D. R.; Forouhi, N. G.; Mihailov, E.; Lind, L.; Lindgren, C.; Michaelsson, K.; Morris, A.; Jensen, M.; Khaw, K-T; Luben, R. N.; Wang, J. J.; Mannisto, S.; Perala, M-M; Kahonen, M.; Lehtimaki, T.; Viikari, J.; Mozaffarian, D.; Mukamal, K.; Psaty, B. M.; Doering, A.; Heath, A. C.; Montgomery, G. W.; Dahmen, N.; Carithers, T.; Tucker, K. L.; Ferrucci, L.; Boyd, H. A.; Melbye, M.; Treur, J. L.; Mellstrom, D.; Hottenga, J. J.; Prokopenko, I.; Toenjes, A.; Deloukas, P.; Kanoni, S.; Lorentzon, M.; Houston, D. K.; Liu, Y.; Danesh, J.; Rasheed, A.; Mason, M. A.; Zonderman, A. B.; Franke, L.; Kristal, B. S.; Karjalainen, J.; Reed, D. R.; Westra, H-J; Evans, M. K.; Saleheen, D.; Harris, T. B.; Dedoussis, G.; Curhan, G.; Stumvoll, M.; Beilby, J.; Pasquale, L. R.; Feenstra, B.; Bandinelli, S.; Ordovas, J. M.; Chan, A. T.; Peters, U.; Ohlsson, C.; Gieger, C.; Martin, N. G.; Waldenberger, M.; Siscovick, D. S.; Raitakari, O.; Eriksson, J. G.; Mitchell, P.; Hunter, D. J.; Kraft, P.; Rimm, E. B.; Boomsma, D. I.; Borecki, I. B.; Loos, R. J. F.; Wareham, N. J.; Vollenweider, P.; Caporaso, N.; Grabe, H. J.; Neuhouser, M. L.; Wolffenbuttel, B. H. R.; Hu, F. B.; Hyppoenen, E.; Jarvelin, M-R; Cupples, L. A.; Franks, P. W.; Ridker, P. M.; van Duijn, C. M.; Heiss, G.; Metspalu, A.; North, K. E.; Ingelsson, E.; Nettleton, J. A.; van Dam, R. M.; Chasman, D. I.

Coffee, a major dietary source of caffeine, is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has received considerable attention regarding health risks and benefits. We conducted a genome-wide (GW) meta-analysis of predominately regular-type coffee consumption (cups per day) among up to

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies six novel loci associated with habitual coffee consumption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cornelis, M. C.; Byrne, E. M.; Esko, T.; Nalls, M. A.; Ganna, A.; Paynter, N.; Monda, K. L.; Amin, N.; Fischer, K.; Renstrom, F.; Ngwa, J. S.; Huikari, V.; Cavadino, A.; Nolte, I. M.; Teumer, A.; Yu, K.; Marques-Vidal, P.; Rawal, R.; Manichaikul, A.; Wojczynski, M. K.; Vink, J. M.; Zhao, J. H.; Burlutsky, G.; Lahti, J.; Mikkilä, V.; Lemaitre, R. N.; Eriksson, J.; Musani, S. K.; Tanaka, T.; Geller, F.; Luan, J.; Hui, J.; Mägi, R.; Dimitriou, M.; Garcia, M. E.; Ho, W.-K.; Wright, M. J.; Rose, L. M.; Magnusson, P. K. E.; Pedersen, N. L.; Couper, D.; Oostra, B. A.; Hofman, A.; Ikram, M. A.; Tiemeier, H. W.; Uitterlinden, A. G.; van Rooij, F. J. A.; Barroso, I.; Johansson, I.; Xue, L.; Kaakinen, M.; Milani, L.; Power, C.; Snieder, H.; Stolk, R. P.; Baumeister, S. E.; Biffar, R.; Gu, F.; Bastardot, F.; Kutalik, Z.; Jacobs, D. R.; Forouhi, N. G.; Mihailov, E.; Lind, L.; Lindgren, C.; Michaëlsson, K.; Morris, A.; Jensen, M.; Khaw, K.-T.; Luben, R. N.; Wang, J. J.; Männistö, S.; Perälä, M.-M.; Kähönen, M.; Lehtimäki, T.; Viikari, J.; Mozaffarian, D.; Mukamal, K.; Psaty, B. M.; Döring, A.; Heath, A. C.; Montgomery, G. W.; Dahmen, N.; Carithers, T.; Tucker, K. L.; Ferrucci, L.; Boyd, H. A.; Melbye, M.; Treur, J. L.; Mellström, D.; Hottenga, J. J.; Prokopenko, I.; Tönjes, A.; Deloukas, P.; Kanoni, S.; Lorentzon, M.; Houston, D. K.; Liu, Y.; Danesh, J.; Rasheed, A.; Mason, M. A.; Zonderman, A. B.; Franke, L.; Kristal, B. S.; Karjalainen, J.; Reed, D. R.; Westra, H.-J.; Evans, M. K.; Saleheen, D.; Harris, T. B.; Dedoussis, G.; Curhan, G.; Stumvoll, M.; Beilby, J.; Pasquale, L. R.; Feenstra, B.; Bandinelli, S.; Ordovas, J. M.; Chan, A. T.; Peters, U.; Ohlsson, C.; Gieger, C.; Martin, N. G.; Waldenberger, M.; Siscovick, D. S.; Raitakari, O.; Eriksson, J. G.; Mitchell, P.; Hunter, D. J.; Kraft, P.; Rimm, E. B.; Boomsma, D. I.; Borecki, I. B.; Loos, R. J. F.; Wareham, N. J.; Vollenweider, P.; Caporaso, N.; Grabe, H. J.; Neuhouser, M. L.; Wolffenbuttel, B. H. R.; Hu, F. B.; Hyppönen, E.; Järvelin, M.-R.; Cupples, L. A.; Franks, P. W.; Ridker, P. M.; van Duijn, C. M.; Heiss, G.; Metspalu, A.; North, K. E.; Ingelsson, E.; Nettleton, J. A.; van Dam, R. M.; Chasman, D. I.; Nalls, Michael A.; Plagnol, Vincent; Hernandez, Dena G.; Sharma, Manu; Sheerin, Una-Marie; Saad, Mohamad; Simón-Sánchez, Javier; Schulte, Claudia; Lesage, Suzanne; Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Sigurlaug; Arepalli, Sampath; Barker, Roger; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav; Berendse, Henk W.; Berg, Daniela; Bhatia, Kailash; de Bie, Rob M. A.; Biffi, Alessandro; Bloem, Bas; Bochdanovits, Zoltan; Bonin, Michael; Bras, M.; Brockmann, Kathrin; Brooks, Janet; Burn, David J.; Charlesworth, Gavin; Chen, Honglei; Chinnery, Patrick F.; Chong, Sean; Clarke, Carl E.; Cookson, Mark R.; Cooper, J. Mark; Corvol, Jean Christophe; Counsell, Carl; Damier, Philippe; Dartigues, Jean-François; Deloukas, Panos; Deuschl, Günther; Dexter, David T.; van Dijk, Karin D.; Dillman, Allissa; Durif, Frank; Dürr, Alexandra; Edkins, Sarah; Evans, Jonathan R.; Foltynie, Thomas; Dong, Jing; Gardner, Michelle; Gibbs, J. Raphael; Goate, Alison; Gray, Emma; Guerreiro, Rita; Harris, Clare; van Hilten, Jacobus J.; Hofman, Albert; Hollenbeck, Albert; Holton, Janice; Hu, Michele; Huang, Xuemei; Hershey, Milton S.; Wurster, Isabel; Mätzler, Walter; Hudson, Gavin; Hunt, Sarah E.; Huttenlocher, Johanna; Illig, Thomas; München, Helmholtz Zentrum; Jónsson, Pálmi V.; Lambert, Jean-Charles; Langford, Cordelia; Lees, Andrew; Lichtner, Peter; Limousin, Patricia; Lopez, Grisel; Lorenz, Delia; McNeill, Alisdair; Moorby, Catriona; Moore, Matthew; Morris, Huw R.; Morrison, Karen E.; O' Sullivan, Sean S.; Pearson, Justin; Perlmutter, Joel S.; Pétursson, Hjörvar; Pollak, Pierre; Potter, Simon; Ravina, Bernard; Revesz, Tamas; Riess, Olaf; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Rizzu, Patrizia; Ryten, Mina; Sawcer, Stephen; Schapira, Anthony; Scheffer, Hans; Shaw, Karen; Sidransky, Ellen; Smith, Colin; Spencer, Chris C. A.; Stefánsson, Hreinn; Bettella, Francesco; Stockton, Joanna D.; Strange, Amy; Talbot, Kevin; Tanner, M.; Tashakkori-Ghanbaria, Avazeh; Tison, François; Trabzuni, Daniah; Traynor, Bryan J.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Velseboer, Daan; Vidailhet, Marie; Walker, Robert; van de Warrenburg, Bart; Wickremaratchi, Mirdhu; Williams, Nigel; Williams-Gray, Caroline H.; Winder-Rhodes, Sophie; Stefánsson, Kári; Martinez, Maria; Sabatier, Paul; Wood, Nicholas W.; Hardy, John; Heutink, Peter; Brice, Alexis; Gasser, Thomas; Singleton, Andrew B.; Singleton, Andrew; Cookson, Mark; Hernandez, Dena; Nalls, Michael; Zonderman, Alan; Ferrucci, Luigi; Johnson, Robert; Longo, Dan; O'Brien, Richard; Traynor, Bryan; Troncoso, Juan; van der Brug, Marcel; Zielke, Ronald; Weale, Michael; Ramasamy, Adaikalavan; Box, P. O.

2015-01-01

Coffee, a major dietary source of caffeine, is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has received considerable attention regarding health risks and benefits. We conducted a genome-wide (GW) meta-analysis of predominately regular-type coffee consumption (cups per day) among up to

Mitochondrial genomes of two Australian fishflies with an evolutionary timescale of Chauliodinae.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Fan; Jiang, Yunlan; Yang, Ding; Liu, Xingyue

2017-06-30

Fishflies (Corydalidae: Chauliodinae) with a total of ca. 130 extant species are one of the major groups of the holometabolous insect order Megaloptera. As a group which originated during the Mesozoic, the phylogeny and historical biogeography of fishflies are of high interest. The previous hypothesis on the evolutionary history of fishflies was based primarily on morphological data. To further test the existing phylogenetic relationships and to understand the divergence pattern of fishflies, we conducted a molecule-based study. We determined the complete mitochondrial (mt) genomes of two Australian fishfly species, Archichauliodes deceptor Kimmins, 1954 and Protochauliodes biconicus Kimmins, 1954, both members of a major subgroup of Chauliodinae with high phylogenetic significance. A phylogenomic analysis was carried out based on 13 mt protein coding genes (PCGs) and two rRNAs genes from the megalopteran species with determined mt genomes. Both maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses recovered the Dysmicohermes clade as the sister group of the Archichauliodes clade + the Protochauliodes clade, which is consistent with the previous morphology-based hypothesis. The divergence time estimation suggested that the divergence among the three major subgroups of fishflies occurred during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous when the supercontinent Pangaea was undergoing sequential breakup.

A genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa suggests a risk locus implicated in dysregulated leptin signaling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Li, Dong; Chang, Xiao; Connolly, John J.; Tian, Lifeng; Liu, Yichuan; Bhoj, Elizabeth J.; Robinson, Nora; Abrams, Debra; Li, Yun R.; Bradfield, Jonathan P.; Kim, Cecilia E.; Li, Jin; Wang, Fengxiang; Snyder, James; Lemma, Maria; Hou, Cuiping; Wei, Zhi; Guo, Yiran; Qiu, Haijun; Mentch, Frank D.; Thomas, Kelly A.; Chiavacci, Rosetta M.; Cone, Roger; Li, Bingshan; Sleiman, Patrick A.; Hakonarson, Hakon; Perica, Vesna Boraska; Franklin, Christopher S.; Floyd, James A.B.; Thornton, Laura M.; Huckins, Laura M.; Southam, Lorraine; Rayner, William N; Tachmazidou, Ioanna; Schmidt, Ulrike; Tozzi, Federica; Kiezebrink, Kirsty; Hebebrand, Johannes; Gorwood, Philip; Adan, Roger A.H.; Kas, Martien J.H.; Favaro, Angela; Santonastaso, Paolo; Fernánde-Aranda, Fernando; Gratacos, Monica; Rybakowski, Filip; Dmitrzak-Weglarz, Monika; Kaprio, Jaakko; Keski-Rahkonen, Anna; Raevuori-Helkamaa, Anu; Furth, Eric F.Van; Slof-Opt Landt, Margarita C.T.; Hudson, James I.; Reichborn-Kjennerud, Ted; Knudsen, Gun Peggy S.; Monteleone, Palmiero; Karwautz, Andreas; Berrettini, Wade H.; Schork, Nicholas J.; Ando, Tetsuya; Inoko, Hidetoshi; Esko, Toñu; Fischer, Krista; Männik, Katrin; Metspalu, Andres; Baker, Jessica H.; DeSocio, Janiece E.; Hilliard, Christopher E.; O'Toole, Julie K.; Pantel, Jacques; Szatkiewicz, Jin P.; Zerwas, Stephanie; Davis, Oliver S P; Helder, Sietske; Bühren, Katharina; Burghardt, Roland; De Zwaan, Martina; Egberts, Karin; Ehrlich, Stefan; Herpertz-Dahlmann, Beate; Herzog, Wolfgang; Imgart, Hartmut; Scherag, André; Zipfel, Stephan; Boni, Claudette; Ramoz, Nicolas; Versini, Audrey; Danner, Unna N.; Hendriks, Judith; Koeleman, Bobby P.C.; Ophoff, Roel A.; Strengman, Eric; van Elburg, Annemarie A.; Bruson, Alice; Clementi, Maurizio; Degortes, Daniela; Forzan, Monica; Tenconi, Elena; Docampo, Elisa; Escaramís, Geòrgia; Jiménez-Murcia, Susana; Lissowska, Jolanta; Rajewski, Andrzej; Szeszenia-Dabrowska, Neonila; Slopien, Agnieszka; Hauser, Joanna; Karhunen, Leila; Meulenbelt, Ingrid; Slagboom, P. Eline; Tortorella, Alfonso; Maj, Mario; Dedoussis, George; DIkeos, DImitris; Gonidakis, Fragiskos; Tziouvas, Konstantinos; Tsitsika, Artemis; Papezova, Hana; Slachtova, Lenka; Martaskova, Debora; Kennedy, James L.; Levitan, Robert D.; Yilmaz, Zeynep; Huemer, Julia; Koubek, Doris; Merl, Elisabeth; Wagner, Gudrun; Lichtenstein, Paul; Breen, Gerome; Cohen-Woods, Sarah; Farmer, Anne; McGuffin, Peter; Cichon, Sven; Giegling, Ina; Herms, Stefan; Rujescu, Dan; Schreiber, Stefan; Wichmann, H-Erich; Dina, Christian; Sladek, Rob; Gambaro, Giovanni; Soranzo, Nicole; Julia, Antonio; Marsal, Sara; Rabionet, Raquel; Gaborieau, Valerie; DIck, Danielle M.; Palotie, Aarno; Ripatti, Samuli; Widén, Elisabeth; Andreassen, Ole A.; Espeseth, Thomas; Lundervold, Astri J; Reinvang, Ivar; Steen, Vidar M.; Le Hellard, Stephanie; Mattingsdal, Morten; Ntalla, Ioanna; Bencko, Vladimir; Foretova, Lenka; Janout, Vladimir; Navratilova, Marie; Gallinger, Steven; Pinto, Dalila; Scherer, Stephen W.; Aschauer, Harald; Carlberg, Laura; Schosser, Alexandra; Alfredsson, Lars; Ding, Bo; Klareskog, Lars; Padyukov, Leonid; Finan, Chris; Kalsi, Gursharan; Roberts, Marion; Barrett, Jeff C.; Estivill, Xavier; Hinney, Anke; Sullivan, Patrick F; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Bulik, Cynthia M.; Brandt, Harry; Crawford, Steve; Crow, Scott; Fichter, Manfred M.; Halmi, Katherine A.; Johnson, Craig; Kaplan, Allan S.; La Via, Maria C.; Mitchell, James R.; Strober, Michael; Rotondo, Alessandro; Treasure, Janet; Woodside, D. Blake; Keel, Pamela K.; Klump, Kelly L.; Lilenfeld, Lisa; Bergen, Andrew W.; Kaye, Walter; Magistretti, Pierre

2017-01-01

We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of anorexia nervosa (AN) using a stringently defined phenotype. Analysis of phenotypic variability led to the identification of a specific genetic risk factor that approached genome-wide significance (rs929626 in EBF1 (Early B-Cell Factor 1); P =

Simple sequence repeats in Neurospora crassa: distribution, polymorphism and evolutionary inference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Park Jongsun

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Simple sequence repeats (SSRs have been successfully used for various genetic and evolutionary studies in eukaryotic systems. The eukaryotic model organism Neurospora crassa is an excellent system to study evolution and biological function of SSRs. Results We identified and characterized 2749 SSRs of 963 SSR types in the genome of N. crassa. The distribution of tri-nucleotide (nt SSRs, the most common SSRs in N. crassa, was significantly biased in exons. We further characterized the distribution of 19 abundant SSR types (AST, which account for 71% of total SSRs in the N. crassa genome, using a Poisson log-linear model. We also characterized the size variation of SSRs among natural accessions using Polymorphic Index Content (PIC and ANOVA analyses and found that there are genome-wide, chromosome-dependent and local-specific variations. Using polymorphic SSRs, we have built linkage maps from three line-cross populations. Conclusion Taking our computational, statistical and experimental data together, we conclude that 1 the distributions of the SSRs in the sequenced N. crassa genome differ systematically between chromosomes as well as between SSR types, 2 the size variation of tri-nt SSRs in exons might be an important mechanism in generating functional variation of proteins in N. crassa, 3 there are different levels of evolutionary forces in variation of amino acid repeats, and 4 SSRs are stable molecular markers for genetic studies in N. crassa.

Simultaneous analysis of all SNPs in genome-wide and re-sequencing association studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clive J Hoggart

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Testing one SNP at a time does not fully realise the potential of genome-wide association studies to identify multiple causal variants, which is a plausible scenario for many complex diseases. We show that simultaneous analysis of the entire set of SNPs from a genome-wide study to identify the subset that best predicts disease outcome is now feasible, thanks to developments in stochastic search methods. We used a Bayesian-inspired penalised maximum likelihood approach in which every SNP can be considered for additive, dominant, and recessive contributions to disease risk. Posterior mode estimates were obtained for regression coefficients that were each assigned a prior with a sharp mode at zero. A non-zero coefficient estimate was interpreted as corresponding to a significant SNP. We investigated two prior distributions and show that the normal-exponential-gamma prior leads to improved SNP selection in comparison with single-SNP tests. We also derived an explicit approximation for type-I error that avoids the need to use permutation procedures. As well as genome-wide analyses, our method is well-suited to fine mapping with very dense SNP sets obtained from re-sequencing and/or imputation. It can accommodate quantitative as well as case-control phenotypes, covariate adjustment, and can be extended to search for interactions. Here, we demonstrate the power and empirical type-I error of our approach using simulated case-control data sets of up to 500 K SNPs, a real genome-wide data set of 300 K SNPs, and a sequence-based dataset, each of which can be analysed in a few hours on a desktop workstation.

Phylogenetic distribution of large-scale genome patchiness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hackenberg Michael

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The phylogenetic distribution of large-scale genome structure (i.e. mosaic compositional patchiness has been explored mainly by analytical ultracentrifugation of bulk DNA. However, with the availability of large, good-quality chromosome sequences, and the recently developed computational methods to directly analyze patchiness on the genome sequence, an evolutionary comparative analysis can be carried out at the sequence level. Results The local variations in the scaling exponent of the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis are used here to analyze large-scale genome structure and directly uncover the characteristic scales present in genome sequences. Furthermore, through shuffling experiments of selected genome regions, computationally-identified, isochore-like regions were identified as the biological source for the uncovered large-scale genome structure. The phylogenetic distribution of short- and large-scale patchiness was determined in the best-sequenced genome assemblies from eleven eukaryotic genomes: mammals (Homo sapiens, Pan troglodytes, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, and Canis familiaris, birds (Gallus gallus, fishes (Danio rerio, invertebrates (Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans, plants (Arabidopsis thaliana and yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We found large-scale patchiness of genome structure, associated with in silico determined, isochore-like regions, throughout this wide phylogenetic range. Conclusion Large-scale genome structure is detected by directly analyzing DNA sequences in a wide range of eukaryotic chromosome sequences, from human to yeast. In all these genomes, large-scale patchiness can be associated with the isochore-like regions, as directly detected in silico at the sequence level.

Unraveling the genetic etiology of adult antisocial behavior: a genome-wide association study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorim J Tielbeek

Full Text Available Crime poses a major burden for society. The heterogeneous nature of criminal behavior makes it difficult to unravel its causes. Relatively little research has been conducted on the genetic influences of criminal behavior. The few twin and adoption studies that have been undertaken suggest that about half of the variance in antisocial behavior can be explained by genetic factors. In order to identify the specific common genetic variants underlying this behavior, we conduct the first genome-wide association study (GWAS on adult antisocial behavior. Our sample comprised a community sample of 4816 individuals who had completed a self-report questionnaire. No genetic polymorphisms reached genome-wide significance for association with adult antisocial behavior. In addition, none of the traditional candidate genes can be confirmed in our study. While not genome-wide significant, the gene with the strongest association (p-value = 8.7×10(-5 was DYRK1A, a gene previously related to abnormal brain development and mental retardation. Future studies should use larger, more homogeneous samples to disentangle the etiology of antisocial behavior. Biosocial criminological research allows a more empirically grounded understanding of criminal behavior, which could ultimately inform and improve current treatment strategies.

Genome-Wide Association Mapping for Intelligence in Military Working Dogs: Canine Cohort, Canine Intelligence Assessment Regimen, Genome-Wide Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) Typing, and Unsupervised Classification Algorithm for Genome-Wide Association Data Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

SNP Array v2. A ‘proof-of-concept’ advanced data mining algorithm for unsupervised analysis of genome-wide association study (GWAS) dataset was... Opal F AUS Yes U141 Peggs F AUS Yes U142 Taxi F AUS Yes U143 Riso MI MAL Yes U144 Szarik MI GSD Yes U145 Astor MI MAL Yes U146 Roy MC MAL Yes... mining of genetic studies in general, and especially GWAS. As a proof-of-concept, a classification analysis of the WG SNP typing dataset of a

Genome-wide association study for ovarian cancer susceptibility using pooled DNA.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lu, Y.; Chen, X.; Beesley, J.; Johnatty, S.E.; Defazio, A.; Lambrechts, S.; Lambrechts, D.; Despierre, E.; Vergotes, I.; Chang-Claude, J.; Hein, R.; Nickels, S.; Wang-Gohrke, S.; Dork, T.; Durst, M.; Antonenkova, N.; Bogdanova, N.; Goodman, M.T.; Lurie, G.; Wilkens, L.R.; Carney, M.E.; Butzow, R.; Nevanlinna, H.; Heikkinen, T.; Leminen, A.; Kiemeney, L.A.L.M.; Massuger, L.F.A.G.; Altena, A.M. van; Aben, K.K.H.; Kjaer, S.K.; Hogdall, E.; Jensen, A.; Brooks-Wilson, A.; Le, N.; Cook, L.; Earp, M.; Kelemen, L.; Easton, D.; Pharoah, P.; Song, H.; Tyrer, J.; Ramus, S.; Menon, U.; Gentry-Maharaj, A.; Gayther, S.A.; Bandera, E.V.; Olson, S.H.; Orlow, I.; Rodriguez-Rodriguez, L.; MacGregor, S.; Chenevix-Trench, G.

2012-01-01

Recent Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have identified four low-penetrance ovarian cancer susceptibility loci. We hypothesized that further moderate- or low-penetrance variants exist among the subset of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) not well tagged by the genotyping arrays used in

Quantification and genome-wide mapping of DNA double-strand breaks.

Science.gov (United States)

Grégoire, Marie-Chantal; Massonneau, Julien; Leduc, Frédéric; Arguin, Mélina; Brazeau, Marc-André; Boissonneault, Guylain

2016-12-01

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) represent a major threat to the genetic integrity of the cell. Knowing both their genome-wide distribution and number is important for a better assessment of genotoxicity at a molecular level. Available methods may have underestimated the extent of DSBs as they are based on markers specific to those undergoing active repair or may not be adapted for the large diversity of naturally occurring DNA ends. We have established conditions for an efficient first step of DNA nick and gap repair (NGR) allowing specific determination of DSBs by end labeling with terminal transferase. We used DNA extracted from HeLa cells harboring an I-SceI cassette to induce a targeted nick or DSB and demonstrated by immunocapture of 3'-OH that a prior step of NGR allows specific determination of loci-specific or genome wide DSBs. This method can be applied to the global determination of DSBs using radioactive end labeling and can find several applications aimed at understanding the distribution and kinetics of DSBs formation and repair. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A genome-wide survey of transgenerational genetic effects in autism.

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Kathryn M Tsang

Full Text Available Effects of parental genotype or parent-offspring genetic interaction are well established in model organisms for a variety of traits. However, these transgenerational genetic models are rarely studied in humans. We have utilized an autism case-control study with 735 mother-child pairs to perform genome-wide screening for maternal genetic effects and maternal-offspring genetic interaction. We used simple models of single locus parent-child interaction and identified suggestive results (P<10(-4 that cannot be explained by main effects, but no genome-wide significant signals. Some of these maternal and maternal-child associations were in or adjacent to autism candidate genes including: PCDH9, FOXP1, GABRB3, NRXN1, RELN, MACROD2, FHIT, RORA, CNTN4, CNTNAP2, FAM135B, LAMA1, NFIA, NLGN4X, RAPGEF4, and SDK1. We attempted validation of potential autism association under maternal-specific models using maternal-paternal comparison in family-based GWAS datasets. Our results suggest that further study of parental genetic effects and parent-child interaction in autism is warranted.

Genome-wide association studies in asthma: progress and pitfalls

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

March ME

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Michael E March,1 Patrick MA Sleiman,1,2 Hakon Hakonarson1,2 1Center for Applied Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute, 2Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA Abstract: Genetic studies of asthma have revealed that there is considerable heritability to the phenotype. An extensive history of candidate-gene studies has identified a long list of genes associated with immune function that are potentially involved in asthma pathogenesis. However, many of the results of candidate-gene studies have failed to be replicated, leaving in question the true impact of the implicated biological pathways on asthma. With the advent of genome-wide association studies, geneticists are able to examine the association of hundreds of thousands of genetic markers with a phenotype, allowing the hypothesis-free identification of variants associated with disease. Many such studies examining asthma or related phenotypes have been published, and several themes have begun to emerge regarding the biological pathways underpinning asthma. The results of many genome-wide association studies have currently not been replicated, and the large sample sizes required for this experimental strategy invoke difficulties with sample stratification and phenotypic heterogeneity. Recently, large collaborative groups of researchers have formed consortia focused on asthma, with the goals of sharing material and data and standardizing diagnosis and experimental methods. Additionally, research has begun to focus on genetic variants that affect the response to asthma medications and on the biology that generates the heterogeneity in the asthma phenotype. As this work progresses, it will move asthma patients closer to more specific, personalized medicine. Keywords: asthma, genetics, GWAS, pharmacogenetics, biomarkers

Genome-wide associations of gene expression variation in humans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara E Stranger

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The exploration of quantitative variation in human populations has become one of the major priorities for medical genetics. The successful identification of variants that contribute to complex traits is highly dependent on reliable assays and genetic maps. We have performed a genome-wide quantitative trait analysis of 630 genes in 60 unrelated Utah residents with ancestry from Northern and Western Europe using the publicly available phase I data of the International HapMap project. The genes are located in regions of the human genome with elevated functional annotation and disease interest including the ENCODE regions spanning 1% of the genome, Chromosome 21 and Chromosome 20q12-13.2. We apply three different methods of multiple test correction, including Bonferroni, false discovery rate, and permutations. For the 374 expressed genes, we find many regions with statistically significant association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs with expression variation in lymphoblastoid cell lines after correcting for multiple tests. Based on our analyses, the signal proximal (cis- to the genes of interest is more abundant and more stable than distal and trans across statistical methodologies. Our results suggest that regulatory polymorphism is widespread in the human genome and show that the 5-kb (phase I HapMap has sufficient density to enable linkage disequilibrium mapping in humans. Such studies will significantly enhance our ability to annotate the non-coding part of the genome and interpret functional variation. In addition, we demonstrate that the HapMap cell lines themselves may serve as a useful resource for quantitative measurements at the cellular level.

Genome-Wide Associations of Gene Expression Variation in Humans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The exploration of quantitative variation in human populations has become one of the major priorities for medical genetics. The successful identification of variants that contribute to complex traits is highly dependent on reliable assays and genetic maps. We have performed a genome-wide quantitative trait analysis of 630 genes in 60 unrelated Utah residents with ancestry from Northern and Western Europe using the publicly available phase I data of the International HapMap project. The genes are located in regions of the human genome with elevated functional annotation and disease interest including the ENCODE regions spanning 1% of the genome, Chromosome 21 and Chromosome 20q12-13.2. We apply three different methods of multiple test correction, including Bonferroni, false discovery rate, and permutations. For the 374 expressed genes, we find many regions with statistically significant association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs with expression variation in lymphoblastoid cell lines after correcting for multiple tests. Based on our analyses, the signal proximal (cis- to the genes of interest is more abundant and more stable than distal and trans across statistical methodologies. Our results suggest that regulatory polymorphism is widespread in the human genome and show that the 5-kb (phase I HapMap has sufficient density to enable linkage disequilibrium mapping in humans. Such studies will significantly enhance our ability to annotate the non-coding part of the genome and interpret functional variation. In addition, we demonstrate that the HapMap cell lines themselves may serve as a useful resource for quantitative measurements at the cellular level.

Large-scale meta-analysis of genome-wide association data identifies six new risk loci for Parkinson's disease

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nalls, Mike A.; Pankratz, Nathan; Lill, Christina M.; Do, Chuong B.; Hernandez, Dena G.; Saad, Mohamad; DeStefano, Anita L.; Kara, Eleanna; Bras, Jose; Sharma, Manu; Schulte, Claudia; Keller, Margaux F.; Arepalli, Sampath; Letson, Christopher; Edsall, Connor; Stefansson, Hreinn; Liu, Xinmin; Pliner, Hannah; Lee, Joseph H.; Cheng, Rong; Ikram, M. Arfan; Ioannidis, John P. A.; Hadjigeorgiou, Georgios M.; Bis, Joshua C.; Martinez, Maria; Perlmutter, Joel S.; Goate, Alison; Marder, Karen; Fiske, Brian; Sutherland, Margaret; Xiromerisiou, Georgia; Myers, Richard H.; Clark, Lorraine N.; Stefansson, Kari; Hardy, John A.; Heutink, Peter; Chen, Honglei; Wood, Nicholas W.; Houlden, Henry; Payami, Haydeh; Brice, Alexis; Scott, William K.; Gasser, Thomas; Bertram, Lars; Eriksson, Nicholas; Foroud, Tatiana; Singleton, Andrew B.; Plagnol, Vincent; Sheerin, Una-Marie; Simón-Sánchez, Javier; Lesage, Suzanne; Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Sigurlaug; Barker, Roger; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav; Berendse, Henk W.; Berg, Daniela; Bhatia, Kailash; de Bie, Rob M. A.; Biffi, Alessandro; Bloem, Bas; Bochdanovits, Zoltan; Bonin, Michael; Bras, Jose M.; Brockmann, Kathrin; Brooks, Janet; Burn, David J.; Charlesworth, Gavin; Chinnery, Patrick F.; Chong, Sean; Clarke, Carl E.; Cookson, Mark R.; Cooper, J. Mark; Corvol, Jean Christophe; Counsell, Carl; Damier, Philippe; Dartigues, Jean-François; Deloukas, Panos; Deuschl, Günther; Dexter, David T.; van Dijk, Karin D.; Dillman, Allissa; Durif, Frank; Dürr, Alexandra; Edkins, Sarah; Evans, Jonathan R.; Foltynie, Thomas; Dong, Jing; Gardner, Michelle; Gibbs, J. Raphael; Gray, Emma; Guerreiro, Rita; Harris, Clare; van Hilten, Jacobus J.; Hofman, Albert; Hollenbeck, Albert; Holton, Janice; Hu, Michele; Huang, Xuemei; Wurster, Isabel; Mätzler, Walter; Hudson, Gavin; Hunt, Sarah E.; Huttenlocher, Johanna; Illig, Thomas; Jónsson, Pálmi V.; Lambert, Jean-Charles; Langford, Cordelia; Lees, Andrew; Lichtner, Peter; Limousin, Patricia; Lopez, Grisel; Lorenz, Delia; McNeill, Alisdair; Moorby, Catriona; Moore, Matthew; Morris, Huw R.; Morrison, Karen E.; Mudanohwo, Ese; O'Sullivan, Sean S.; Pearson, Justin; Pétursson, Hjörvar; Pollak, Pierre; Post, Bart; Potter, Simon; Ravina, Bernard; Revesz, Tamas; Riess, Olaf; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Rizzu, Patrizia; Ryten, Mina; Sawcer, Stephen; Schapira, Anthony; Scheffer, Hans; Shaw, Karen; Shoulson, Ira; Sidransky, Ellen; Smith, Colin; Spencer, Chris C. A.; Stefánsson, Hreinn; Bettella, Francesco; Stockton, Joanna D.; Strange, Amy; Talbot, Kevin; Tanner, Carlie M.; Tashakkori-Ghanbaria, Avazeh; Tison, François; Trabzuni, Daniah; Traynor, Bryan J.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Velseboer, Daan; Vidailhet, Marie; Walker, Robert; van de Warrenburg, Bart; Wickremaratchi, Mirdhu; Williams, Nigel; Williams-Gray, Caroline H.; Winder-Rhodes, Sophie; Stefánsson, Kári; Hardy, John; Factor, S.; Higgins, D.; Evans, S.; Shill, H.; Stacy, M.; Danielson, J.; Marlor, L.; Williamson, K.; Jankovic, J.; Hunter, C.; Simon, D.; Ryan, P.; Scollins, L.; Saunders-Pullman, R.; Boyar, K.; Costan-Toth, C.; Ohmann, E.; Sudarsky, L.; Joubert, C.; Friedman, J.; Chou, K.; Fernandez, H.; Lannon, M.; Galvez-Jimenez, N.; Podichetty, A.; Thompson, K.; Lewitt, P.; Deangelis, M.; O'Brien, C.; Seeberger, L.; Dingmann, C.; Judd, D.; Marder, K.; Fraser, J.; Harris, J.; Bertoni, J.; Peterson, C.; Rezak, M.; Medalle, G.; Chouinard, S.; Panisset, M.; Hall, J.; Poiffaut, H.; Calabrese, V.; Roberge, P.; Wojcieszek, J.; Belden, J.; Jennings, D.; Marek, K.; Mendick, S.; Reich, S.; Dunlop, B.; Jog, M.; Horn, C.; Uitti, R.; Turk, M.; Ajax, T.; Mannetter, J.; Sethi, K.; Carpenter, J.; Dill, B.; Hatch, L.; Ligon, K.; Narayan, S.; Blindauer, K.; Abou-Samra, K.; Petit, J.; Elmer, L.; Aiken, E.; Davis, K.; Schell, C.; Wilson, S.; Velickovic, M.; Koller, W.; Phipps, S.; Feigin, A.; Gordon, M.; Hamann, J.; Licari, E.; Marotta-Kollarus, M.; Shannon, B.; Winnick, R.; Simuni, T.; Videnovic, A.; Kaczmarek, A.; Williams, K.; Wolff, M.; Rao, J.; Cook, M.; Fernandez, M.; Kostyk, S.; Hubble, J.; Campbell, A.; Reider, C.; Seward, A.; Camicioli, R.; Carter, J.; Nutt, J.; Andrews, P.; Morehouse, S.; Stone, C.; Mendis, T.; Grimes, D.; Alcorn-Costa, C.; Gray, P.; Haas, K.; Vendette, J.; Sutton, J.; Hutchinson, B.; Young, J.; Rajput, A.; Klassen, L.; Shirley, T.; Manyam, B.; Simpson, P.; Whetteckey, J.; Wulbrecht, B.; Truong, D.; Pathak, M.; Frei, K.; Luong, N.; Tra, T.; Tran, A.; Vo, J.; Lang, A.; Kleiner- Fisman, G.; Nieves, A.; Johnston, L.; So, J.; Podskalny, G.; Giffin, L.; Atchison, P.; Allen, C.; Martin, W.; Wieler, M.; Suchowersky, O.; Furtado, S.; Klimek, M.; Hermanowicz, N.; Niswonger, S.; Shults, C.; Fontaine, D.; Aminoff, M.; Christine, C.; Diminno, M.; Hevezi, J.; Dalvi, A.; Kang, U.; Richman, J.; Uy, S.; Sahay, A.; Gartner, M.; Schwieterman, D.; Hall, D.; Leehey, M.; Culver, S.; Derian, T.; Demarcaida, T.; Thurlow, S.; Rodnitzky, R.; Dobson, J.; Lyons, K.; Pahwa, R.; Gales, T.; Thomas, S.; Shulman, L.; Weiner, W.; Dustin, K.; Singer, C.; Zelaya, L.; Tuite, P.; Hagen, V.; Rolandelli, S.; Schacherer, R.; Kosowicz, J.; Gordon, P.; Werner, J.; Serrano, C.; Roque, S.; Kurlan, R.; Berry, D.; Gardiner, I.; Hauser, R.; Sanchez-Ramos, J.; Zesiewicz, T.; Delgado, H.; Price, K.; Rodriguez, P.; Wolfrath, S.; Pfeiffer, R.; Davis, L.; Pfeiffer, B.; Dewey, R.; Hayward, B.; Johnson, A.; Meacham, M.; Estes, B.; Walker, F.; Hunt, V.; O'Neill, C.; Racette, B.; Swisher, L.; Dijamco, Cheri; Conley, Emily Drabant; Dorfman, Elizabeth; Tung, Joyce Y.; Hinds, David A.; Mountain, Joanna L.; Wojcicki, Anne; Lew, M.; Klein, C.; Golbe, L.; Growdon, J.; Wooten, G. F.; Watts, R.; Guttman, M.; Goldwurm, S.; Saint-Hilaire, M. H.; Baker, K.; Litvan, I.; Nicholson, G.; Nance, M.; Drasby, E.; Isaacson, S.; Burn, D.; Pramstaller, P.; Al-hinti, J.; Moller, A.; Sherman, S.; Roxburgh, R.; Slevin, J.; Perlmutter, J.; Mark, M. H.; Huggins, N.; Pezzoli, G.; Massood, T.; Itin, I.; Corbett, A.; Chinnery, P.; Ostergaard, K.; Snow, B.; Cambi, F.; Kay, D.; Samii, A.; Agarwal, P.; Roberts, J. W.; Higgins, D. S.; Molho, Eric; Rosen, Ami; Montimurro, J.; Martinez, E.; Griffith, A.; Kusel, V.; Yearout, D.; Zabetian, C.; Clark, L. N.; Liu, X.; Lee, J. H.; Taub, R. Cheng; Louis, E. D.; Cote, L. J.; Waters, C.; Ford, B.; Fahn, S.; Vance, Jeffery M.; Beecham, Gary W.; Martin, Eden R.; Nuytemans, Karen; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Haines, Jonathan L.; DeStefano, Anita; Seshadri, Sudha; Choi, Seung Hoan; Frank, Samuel; Psaty, Bruce M.; Rice, Kenneth; Longstreth, W. T.; Ton, Thanh G. N.; Jain, Samay; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Verlinden, Vincent J.; Koudstaal, Peter J.; Singleton, Andrew; Cookson, Mark; Hernandez, Dena; Nalls, Michael; Zonderman, Alan; Ferrucci, Luigi; Johnson, Robert; Longo, Dan; O'Brien, Richard; Traynor, Bryan; Troncoso, Juan; van der Brug, Marcel; Zielke, Ronald; Weale, Michael; Ramasamy, Adaikalavan; Dardiotis, Efthimios; Tsimourtou, Vana; Spanaki, Cleanthe; Plaitakis, Andreas; Bozi, Maria; Stefanis, Leonidas; Vassilatis, Dimitris; Koutsis, Georgios; Panas, Marios; Lunnon, Katie; Lupton, Michelle; Powell, John; Parkkinen, Laura; Ansorge, Olaf

2014-01-01

We conducted a meta-analysis of Parkinson's disease genome-wide association studies using a common set of 7,893,274 variants across 13,708 cases and 95,282 controls. Twenty-six loci were identified as having genome-wide significant association; these and 6 additional previously reported loci were

Genome-wide assessment in Escherichia coli reveals time-dependent nanotoxicity paradigms.

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, Vincent C; Li, Minghua; Hoek, Eric M V; Mahendra, Shaily; Damoiseaux, Robert

2012-11-27

The use of engineered nanomaterials (eNM) in consumer and industrial products is increasing exponentially. Our ability to rapidly assess their potential effects on human and environmental health is limited by our understanding of nanomediated toxicity. High-throughput screening (HTS) enables the investigation of nanomediated toxicity on a genome-wide level, thus uncovering their novel mechanisms and paradigms. Herein, we investigate the toxicity of zinc-containing nanomaterials (Zn-eNMs) using a time-resolved HTS methodology in an arrayed Escherichia coli genome-wide knockout (KO) library. The library was screened against nanoscale zerovalent zinc (nZn), nanoscale zinc oxide (nZnO), and zinc chloride (ZnCl(2)) salt as reference. Through sequential screening over 24 h, our method identified 173 sensitive clones from diverse biological pathways, which fell into two general groups: early and late responders. The overlap between these groups was small. Our results suggest that bacterial toxicity mechanisms change from pathways related to general metabolic function, transport, signaling, and metal ion homeostasis to membrane synthesis pathways over time. While all zinc sources shared pathways relating to membrane damage and metal ion homeostasis, Zn-eNMs and ZnCl(2) displayed differences in their sensitivity profiles. For example, ZnCl(2) and nZnO elicited unique responses in pathways related to two-component signaling and monosaccharide biosynthesis, respectively. Single isolated measurements, such as MIC or IC(50), are inadequate, and time-resolved approaches utilizing genome-wide assays are therefore needed to capture this crucial dimension and illuminate the dynamic interplay at the nano-bio interface.

Complete mitochondrial genomes reveal phylogeny relationship and evolutionary history of the family Felidae.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, W Q; Zhang, M H

2013-09-03

Many mitochondrial DNA sequences are used to estimate phylogenetic relationships among animal taxa and perform molecular phylogenetic evolution analysis. With the continuous development of sequencing technology, numerous mitochondrial sequences have been released in public databases, especially complete mitochondrial DNA sequences. Using multiple sequences is better than using single sequences for phylogenetic analysis of animals because multiple sequences have sufficient information for evolutionary process reconstruction. Therefore, we performed phylogenetic analyses of 14 species of Felidae based on complete mitochondrial genome sequences, with Canis familiaris as an outgroup, using neighbor joining, maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian inference methods. The consensus phylogenetic trees supported the monophyly of Felidae, and the family could be divided into 2 subfamilies, Felinae and Pantherinae. The genus Panthera and species tigris were also studied in detail. Meanwhile, the divergence of this family was estimated by phylogenetic analysis using the Bayesian method with a relaxed molecular clock, and the results shown were consistent with previous studies. In summary, the evolution of Felidae was reconstructed by phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial genome sequences. The described method may be broadly applicable for phylogenetic analyses of anima taxa.

Genomic regression of claw keratin, taste receptor and light-associated genes provides insights into biology and evolutionary origins of snakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Emerling, Christopher A

2017-10-01

Regressive evolution of anatomical traits often corresponds with the regression of genomic loci underlying such characters. As such, studying patterns of gene loss can be instrumental in addressing questions of gene function, resolving conflicting results from anatomical studies, and understanding the evolutionary history of clades. The evolutionary origins of snakes involved the regression of a number of anatomical traits, including limbs, taste buds and the visual system, and by analyzing serpent genomes, I was able to test three hypotheses associated with the regression of these features. The first concerns two keratins that are putatively specific to claws. Both genes that encode these keratins are pseudogenized/deleted in snake genomes, providing additional evidence of claw-specificity. The second hypothesis is that snakes lack taste buds, an issue complicated by conflicting results in the literature. I found evidence that different snakes have lost one or more taste receptors, but all snakes examined retained at least one gustatory channel. The final hypothesis addressed is that the earliest snakes were adapted to a dim light niche. I found evidence of deleted and pseudogenized genes with light-associated functions in snakes, demonstrating a pattern of gene loss similar to other dim light-adapted clades. Molecular dating estimates suggest that dim light adaptation preceded the loss of limbs, providing some bearing on interpretations of the ecological origins of snakes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genome-driven evolutionary game theory helps understand the rise of metabolic interdependencies in microbial communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Zomorrodi, Ali R; Segrè, Daniel

2017-11-16

Metabolite exchanges in microbial communities give rise to ecological interactions that govern ecosystem diversity and stability. It is unclear, however, how the rise of these interactions varies across metabolites and organisms. Here we address this question by integrating genome-scale models of metabolism with evolutionary game theory. Specifically, we use microbial fitness values estimated by metabolic models to infer evolutionarily stable interactions in multi-species microbial "games". We first validate our approach using a well-characterized yeast cheater-cooperator system. We next perform over 80,000 in silico experiments to infer how metabolic interdependencies mediated by amino acid leakage in Escherichia coli vary across 189 amino acid pairs. While most pairs display shared patterns of inter-species interactions, multiple deviations are caused by pleiotropy and epistasis in metabolism. Furthermore, simulated invasion experiments reveal possible paths to obligate cross-feeding. Our study provides genomically driven insight into the rise of ecological interactions, with implications for microbiome research and synthetic ecology.

Inversion variants in human and primate genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Catacchio, Claudia Rita; Maggiolini, Flavia Angela Maria; D'Addabbo, Pietro; Bitonto, Miriana; Capozzi, Oronzo; Signorile, Martina Lepore; Miroballo, Mattia; Archidiacono, Nicoletta; Eichler, Evan E; Ventura, Mario; Antonacci, Francesca

2018-05-18

For many years, inversions have been proposed to be a direct driving force in speciation since they suppress recombination when heterozygous. Inversions are the most common large-scale differences among humans and great apes. Nevertheless, they represent large events easily distinguishable by classical cytogenetics, whose resolution, however, is limited. Here, we performed a genome-wide comparison between human, great ape, and macaque genomes using the net alignments for the most recent releases of genome assemblies. We identified a total of 156 putative inversions, between 103 kb and 91 Mb, corresponding to 136 human loci. Combining literature, sequence, and experimental analyses, we analyzed 109 of these loci and found 67 regions inverted in one or multiple primates, including 28 newly identified inversions. These events overlap with 81 human genes at their breakpoints, and seven correspond to sites of recurrent rearrangements associated with human disease. This work doubles the number of validated primate inversions larger than 100 kb, beyond what was previously documented. We identified 74 sites of errors, where the sequence has been assembled in the wrong orientation, in the reference genomes analyzed. Our data serve two purposes: First, we generated a map of evolutionary inversions in these genomes representing a resource for interrogating differences among these species at a functional level; second, we provide a list of misassembled regions in these primate genomes, involving over 300 Mb of DNA and 1978 human genes. Accurately annotating these regions in the genome references has immediate applications for evolutionary and biomedical studies on primates. © 2018 Catacchio et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Genome-wide signatures of 'rearrangement hotspots' within segmental duplications in humans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Uddin

Full Text Available The primary objective of this study was to create a genome-wide high resolution map (i.e., >100 bp of 'rearrangement hotspots' which can facilitate the identification of regions capable of mediating de novo deletions or duplications in humans. A hierarchical method was employed to fragment segmental duplications (SDs into multiple smaller SD units. Combining an end space free pairwise alignment algorithm with a 'seed and extend' approach, we have exhaustively searched 409 million alignments to detect complex structural rearrangements within the reference-guided assembly of the NA18507 human genome (18× coverage, including the previously identified novel 4.8 Mb sequence from de novo assembly within this genome. We have identified 1,963 rearrangement hotspots within SDs which encompass 166 genes and display an enrichment of duplicated gene nucleotide variants (DNVs. These regions are correlated with increased non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR event frequency which presumably represents the origin of copy number variations (CNVs and pathogenic duplications/deletions. Analysis revealed that 20% of the detected hotspots are clustered within the proximal and distal SD breakpoints flanked by the pathogenic deletions/duplications that have been mapped for 24 NAHR-mediated genomic disorders. FISH Validation of selected complex regions revealed 94% concordance with in silico localization of the highly homologous derivatives. Other results from this study indicate that intra-chromosomal recombination is enhanced in genic compared with agenic duplicated regions, and that gene desert regions comprising SDs may represent reservoirs for creation of novel genes. The generation of genome-wide signatures of 'rearrangement hotspots', which likely serve as templates for NAHR, may provide a powerful approach towards understanding the underlying mutational mechanism(s for development of constitutional and acquired diseases.

Sandwich corrected standard errors in family-based genome-wide association studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Minica, C.C.; Dolan, C.V.; Kampert, M.M.D.; Boomsma, D.I.; Vink, J.M.

2015-01-01

Given the availability of genotype and phenotype data collected in family members, the question arises which estimator ensures the most optimal use of such data in genome-wide scans. Using simulations, we compared the Unweighted Least Squares (ULS) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) procedures. The former

Genome-wide association analysis identifies three new breast cancer susceptibility loci

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ghoussaini, Maya; Fletcher, Olivia; Michailidou, Kyriaki

2012-01-01

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. To date, 22 common breast cancer susceptibility loci have been identified accounting for ∼8% of the heritability of the disease. We attempted to replicate 72 promising associations from two independent genome-wide association studies (GWAS...

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A. Okbay (Aysu); J.P. Beauchamp (Jonathan); Fontana, M.A. (Mark Alan); J.J. Lee (James J.); T.H. Pers (Tune); Rietveld, C.A. (Cornelius A.); P. Turley (Patrick); Chen, G.-B. (Guo-Bo); V. Emilsson (Valur); Meddens, S.F.W. (S. Fleur W.); Oskarsson, S. (Sven); Pickrell, J.K. (Joseph K.); Thom, K. (Kevin); Timshel, P. (Pascal); R. de Vlaming (Ronald); A. Abdellaoui (Abdel); T.S. Ahluwalia (Tarunveer Singh); J. Bacelis (Jonas); C. Baumbach (Clemens); Bjornsdottir, G. (Gyda); J.H. Brandsma (Johan); Pina Concas, M. (Maria); J. Derringer; Furlotte, N.A. (Nicholas A.); T.E. Galesloot (Tessel); S. Girotto; Gupta, R. (Richa); L.M. Hall (Leanne M.); S.E. Harris (Sarah); E. Hofer; Horikoshi, M. (Momoko); J.E. Huffman (Jennifer E.); Kaasik, K. (Kadri); I.-P. Kalafati (Ioanna-Panagiota); R. Karlsson (Robert); A. Kong (Augustine); J. Lahti (Jari); S.J. van der Lee (Sven); Deleeuw, C. (Christiaan); P.A. Lind (Penelope); Lindgren, K.-O. (Karl-Oskar); Liu, T. (Tian); M. Mangino (Massimo); J. Marten (Jonathan); E. Mihailov (Evelin); M. Miller (Mike); P.J. van der Most (Peter); C. Oldmeadow (Christopher); A. Payton (Antony); N. Pervjakova (Natalia); W.J. Peyrot (Wouter ); Qian, Y. (Yong); O. Raitakari (Olli); Rueedi, R. (Rico); Salvi, E. (Erika); Schmidt, B. (Börge); Schraut, K.E. (Katharina E.); Shi, J. (Jianxin); A.V. Smith (Albert Vernon); R.A. Poot (Raymond); B. St Pourcain (Beate); A. Teumer (Alexander); G. Thorleifsson (Gudmar); N. Verweij (Niek); D. Vuckovic (Dragana); Wellmann, J. (Juergen); H.J. Westra (Harm-Jan); Yang, J. (Jingyun); Zhao, W. (Wei); Zhu, Z. (Zhihong); B.Z. Alizadeh (Behrooz); N. Amin (Najaf); Bakshi, A. (Andrew); S.E. Baumeister (Sebastian); G. Biino (Ginevra); K. Bønnelykke (Klaus); P.A. Boyle (Patricia); H. Campbell (Harry); Cappuccio, F.P. (Francesco P.); G. Davies (Gail); J.E. de Neve (Jan-Emmanuel); P. Deloukas (Panagiotis); I. Demuth (Ilja); Ding, J. (Jun); Eibich, P. (Peter); Eisele, L. (Lewin); N. Eklund (Niina); D.M. Evans (David); J.D. Faul (Jessica D.); M.F. Feitosa (Mary Furlan); A.J. Forstner (Andreas); I. Gandin (Ilaria); Gunnarsson, B. (Bjarni); B.V. Halldorsson (Bjarni); T.B. Harris (Tamara); E.G. Holliday (Elizabeth); A.C. Heath (Andrew C.); L.J. Hocking; G. Homuth (Georg); M. Horan (Mike); J.J. Hottenga (Jouke Jan); P.L. de Jager (Philip); P.K. Joshi (Peter); A. Juqessur (Astanand); M. Kaakinen (Marika); M. Kähönen (Mika); S. Kanoni (Stavroula); Keltigangas-Järvinen, L. (Liisa); L.A.L.M. Kiemeney (Bart); I. Kolcic (Ivana); Koskinen, S. (Seppo); A. Kraja (Aldi); Kroh, M. (Martin); Z. Kutalik (Zoltán); A. Latvala (Antti); L.J. Launer (Lenore); Lebreton, M.P. (Maël P.); D.F. Levinson (Douglas F.); P. Lichtenstein (Paul); P. Lichtner (Peter); D.C. Liewald (David C.); A. Loukola (Anu); P.A. Madden (Pamela); R. Mägi (Reedik); Mäki-Opas, T. (Tomi); R.E. Marioni (Riccardo); P. Marques-Vidal; Meddens, G.A. (Gerardus A.); G. Mcmahon (George); C. Meisinger (Christa); T. Meitinger (Thomas); Milaneschi, Y. (Yusplitri); L. Milani (Lili); G.W. Montgomery (Grant); R. Myhre (Ronny); C.P. Nelson (Christopher P.); D.R. Nyholt (Dale); W.E.R. Ollier (William); A. Palotie (Aarno); L. Paternoster (Lavinia); N.L. Pedersen (Nancy); K. Petrovic (Katja); D.J. Porteous (David J.); K. Räikkönen (Katri); Ring, S.M. (Susan M.); A. Robino (Antonietta); O. Rostapshova (Olga); I. Rudan (Igor); A. Rustichini (Aldo); V. Salomaa (Veikko); Sanders, A.R. (Alan R.); A.-P. Sarin; R. Schmidt (Reinhold); R.J. Scott (Rodney); B.H. Smith (Blair); J.A. Smith (Jennifer A); J.A. Staessen (Jan); E. Steinhagen-Thiessen (Elisabeth); K. Strauch (Konstantin); A. Terracciano; M.D. Tobin (Martin); S. Ulivi (Shelia); S. Vaccargiu (Simona); L. Quaye (Lydia); F.J.A. van Rooij (Frank); C. Venturini (Cristina); A.A.E. Vinkhuyzen (Anna A.); U. Völker (Uwe); Völzke, H. (Henry); J.M. Vonk (Judith); D. Vozzi (Diego); J. Waage (Johannes); E.B. Ware (Erin B.); G.A.H.M. Willemsen (Gonneke); J. Attia (John); D.A. Bennett (David A.); Berger, K. (Klaus); L. Bertram (Lars); H. Bisgaard (Hans); D.I. Boomsma (Dorret); I.B. Borecki (Ingrid); U. Bültmann (Ute); C.F. Chabris (Christopher F.); F. Cucca (Francesco); D. Cusi (Daniele); I.J. Deary (Ian J.); G.V. Dedoussis (George); C.M. van Duijn (Cornelia); K. Hagen (Knut); B. Franke (Barbara); L. Franke (Lude); P. Gasparini (Paolo); P.V. Gejman (Pablo); C. Gieger (Christian); H.J. Grabe (Hans Jörgen); J. Gratten (Jacob); P.J.F. Groenen (Patrick); V. Gudnason (Vilmundur); P. van der Harst (Pim); C. Hayward (Caroline); D.A. Hinds (David A.); W. Hoffmann (Wolfgang); E. Hypponen (Elina); W.G. Iacono (William); B. Jacobsson (Bo); M.-R. Jarvelin (Marjo-Riitta); K.-H. JöCkel (Karl-Heinz); J. Kaprio (Jaakko); S.L.R. Kardia (Sharon); T. Lehtimäki (Terho); Lehrer, S.F. (Steven F.); P.K. Magnusson (Patrik); N.G. Martin (Nicholas); M. McGue (Matt); A. Metspalu (Andres); N. Pendleton (Neil); B.W.J.H. Penninx (Brenda); M. Perola (Markus); N. Pirastu (Nicola); M. Pirastu (Mario); O. Polasek (Ozren); D. Posthuma (Danielle); C. Power (Christopher); M.A. Province (Mike); N.J. Samani (Nilesh); Schlessinger, D. (David); R. Schmidt (Reinhold); T.I.A. Sørensen (Thorkild); T.D. Spector (Timothy); J-A. Zwart (John-Anker); U. Thorsteinsdottir (Unnur); A.R. Thurik (Roy); Timpson, N.J. (Nicholas J.); H.W. Tiemeier (Henning); J.Y. Tung (Joyce Y.); A.G. Uitterlinden (André); Vitart, V. (Veronique); P. Vollenweider (Peter); D.R. Weir (David); J.F. Wilson (James F.); A.F. Wright (Alan); Conley, D.C. (Dalton C.); R.F. Krueger; G.D. Smith; Hofman, A. (Albert); D. Laibson (David); S.E. Medland (Sarah Elizabeth); M.N. Meyer (Michelle N.); J. Yang (Joanna); M. Johannesson (Magnus); P.M. Visscher (Peter); T. Esko (Tõnu); Ph.D. Koellinger (Philipp); D. Cesarini (David); D.J. Benjamin (Daniel J.)

2016-01-01

textabstractEducational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that

Genome-wide identification of structural variants in genes encoding drug targets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Henrik Berg; Dahmcke, Christina Mackeprang

2012-01-01

The objective of the present study was to identify structural variants of drug target-encoding genes on a genome-wide scale. We also aimed at identifying drugs that are potentially amenable for individualization of treatments based on knowledge about structural variation in the genes encoding...

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Okbay, A.; Beauchamp, J.; Fontana, M.A.; Lee, J.J.; Pers, T.H.; Rietveld, C.A.; Turley, P.; Chen, G.B.; Emilsson, V.; Meddens, S.F.W.; de Vlaming, R.; Abdellaoui, A.; Peyrot, W.; Vinkhuyzen, A.A.E.; Hottenga, J.J.; Willemsen, G.; Boomsma, D.I.; Penninx, B.W.J.H.; Laibson, D.; Medland, S.E.; Meyer, M.N.; Yang, J.; Johannesson, M.; Visscher, P.M.; Esko, T.; Koellinger, P.D.; Cesarini, D.; Benjamin, D.J.

2016-01-01

Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Okbay, Aysu; Beauchamp, Jonathan P.; Fontana, Mark Alan; Lee, James J.; Pers, Tune H.; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Turley, Patrick; Chen, Guo-Bo; Emilsson, Valur; Meddens, S. Fleur W.; Oskarsson, Sven; Pickrell, Joseph K.; Thom, Kevin; Timshel, Pascal; de Vlaming, Ronald; Abdellaoui, Abdel; Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S.; Bacelis, Jonas; Baumbach, Clemens; Bjornsdottir, Gyda; Brandsma, Johannes H.; Concas, Maria Pina; Derringer, Jaime; Furlotte, Nicholas A.; Galesloot, Tessel E.; Girotto, Giorgia; Gupta, Richa; Hall, Leanne M.; Harris, Sarah E.; Hofer, Edith; Horikoshi, Momoko; Huffman, Jennifer E.; Kaasik, Kadri; Kalafati, Ioanna P.; Karlsson, Robert; Kong, Augustine; Lahti, Jari; van der Lee, Sven J.; de Leeuw, Christiaan; Lind, Penelope A.; Lindgren, Karl-Oskar; Liu, Tian; van der Most, Peter J.; Verweij, Niek; Alizadeh, Behrooz Z.; Vonk, Judith M.; Bultmann, Ute; Franke, Lude; van der Harst, Pim; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.

2016-01-01

Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals(1). Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends

Imputation and quality control steps for combining multiple genome-wide datasets

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Shefali S Verma

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The electronic MEdical Records and GEnomics (eMERGE network brings together DNA biobanks linked to electronic health records (EHRs from multiple institutions. Approximately 52,000 DNA samples from distinct individuals have been genotyped using genome-wide SNP arrays across the nine sites of the network. The eMERGE Coordinating Center and the Genomics Workgroup developed a pipeline to impute and merge genomic data across the different SNP arrays to maximize sample size and power to detect associations with a variety of clinical endpoints. The 1000 Genomes cosmopolitan reference panel was used for imputation. Imputation results were evaluated using the following metrics: accuracy of imputation, allelic R2 (estimated correlation between the imputed and true genotypes, and the relationship between allelic R2 and minor allele frequency. Computation time and memory resources required by two different software packages (BEAGLE and IMPUTE2 were also evaluated. A number of challenges were encountered due to the complexity of using two different imputation software packages, multiple ancestral populations, and many different genotyping platforms. We present lessons learned and describe the pipeline implemented here to impute and merge genomic data sets. The eMERGE imputed dataset will serve as a valuable resource for discovery, leveraging the clinical data that can be mined from the EHR.

Comparative genomic characterization of three Streptococcus parauberis strains in fish pathogen, as assessed by wide-genome analyses.

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Seong-Won Nho

Full Text Available Streptococcus parauberis, which is the main causative agent of streptococcosis among olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus in northeast Asia, can be distinctly divided into two groups (type I and type II by an agglutination test. Here, the whole genome sequences of two Japanese strains (KRS-02083 and KRS-02109 were determined and compared with the previously determined genome of a Korean strain (KCTC 11537. The genomes of S. parauberis are intermediate in size and have lower GC contents than those of other streptococci. We annotated 2,236 and 2,048 genes in KRS-02083 and KRS-02109, respectively. Our results revealed that the three S. parauberis strains contain different genomic insertions and deletions. In particular, the genomes of Korean and Japanese strains encode different factors for sugar utilization; the former encodes the phosphotransferase system (PTS for sorbose, whereas the latter encodes proteins for lactose hydrolysis, respectively. And the KRS-02109 strain, specifically, was the type II strain found to be able to resist phage infection through the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR/Cas system and which might contribute valuably to serologically distribution. Thus, our genome-wide association study shows that polymorphisms can affect pathogen responses, providing insight into biological/biochemical pathways and phylogenetic diversity.

A mega-analysis of genome-wide association studies for major depressive disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Ripke, Stephan; Wray, Naomi R; Lewis, Cathryn M; Hamilton, Steven P; Weissman, Myrna M; Breen, Gerome; Byrne, Enda M; Blackwood, Douglas H R; Boomsma, Dorret I; Cichon, Sven; Heath, Andrew C; Holsboer, Florian; Lucae, Susanne; Madden, Pamela A F; Martin, Nicholas G; McGuffin, Peter; Muglia, Pierandrea; Noethen, Markus M; Penninx, Brenda P; Pergadia, Michele L; Potash, James B; Rietschel, Marcella; Lin, Danyu; Müller-Myhsok, Bertram; Shi, Jianxin; Steinberg, Stacy; Grabe, Hans J; Lichtenstein, Paul; Magnusson, Patrik; Perlis, Roy H; Preisig, Martin; Smoller, Jordan W; Stefansson, Kari; Uher, Rudolf; Kutalik, Zoltan; Tansey, Katherine E; Teumer, Alexander; Viktorin, Alexander; Barnes, Michael R; Bettecken, Thomas; Binder, Elisabeth B; Breuer, René; Castro, Victor M; Churchill, Susanne E; Coryell, William H; Craddock, Nick; Craig, Ian W; Czamara, Darina; De Geus, Eco J; Degenhardt, Franziska; Farmer, Anne E; Fava, Maurizio; Frank, Josef; Gainer, Vivian S; Gallagher, Patience J; Gordon, Scott D; Goryachev, Sergey; Gross, Magdalena; Guipponi, Michel; Henders, Anjali K; Herms, Stefan; Hickie, Ian B; Hoefels, Susanne; Hoogendijk, Witte; Hottenga, Jouke Jan; Iosifescu, Dan V; Ising, Marcus; Jones, Ian; Jones, Lisa; Jung-Ying, Tzeng; Knowles, James A; Kohane, Isaac S; Kohli, Martin A; Korszun, Ania; Landen, Mikael; Lawson, William B; Lewis, Glyn; Macintyre, Donald; Maier, Wolfgang; Mattheisen, Manuel; McGrath, Patrick J; McIntosh, Andrew; McLean, Alan; Middeldorp, Christel M; Middleton, Lefkos; Montgomery, Grant M; Murphy, Shawn N; Nauck, Matthias; Nolen, Willem A; Nyholt, Dale R; O'Donovan, Michael; Oskarsson, Högni; Pedersen, Nancy; Scheftner, William A; Schulz, Andrea; Schulze, Thomas G; Shyn, Stanley I; Sigurdsson, Engilbert; Slager, Susan L; Smit, Johannes H; Stefansson, Hreinn; Steffens, Michael; Thorgeirsson, Thorgeir; Tozzi, Federica; Treutlein, Jens; Uhr, Manfred; van den Oord, Edwin J C G; Van Grootheest, Gerard; Völzke, Henry; Weilburg, Jeffrey B; Willemsen, Gonneke; Zitman, Frans G; Neale, Benjamin; Daly, Mark; Levinson, Douglas F; Sullivan, Patrick F

2013-04-01

Prior genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of major depressive disorder (MDD) have met with limited success. We sought to increase statistical power to detect disease loci by conducting a GWAS mega-analysis for MDD. In the MDD discovery phase, we analyzed more than 1.2 million autosomal and X chromosome single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 18 759 independent and unrelated subjects of recent European ancestry (9240 MDD cases and 9519 controls). In the MDD replication phase, we evaluated 554 SNPs in independent samples (6783 MDD cases and 50 695 controls). We also conducted a cross-disorder meta-analysis using 819 autosomal SNPs with P<0.0001 for either MDD or the Psychiatric GWAS Consortium bipolar disorder (BIP) mega-analysis (9238 MDD cases/8039 controls and 6998 BIP cases/7775 controls). No SNPs achieved genome-wide significance in the MDD discovery phase, the MDD replication phase or in pre-planned secondary analyses (by sex, recurrent MDD, recurrent early-onset MDD, age of onset, pre-pubertal onset MDD or typical-like MDD from a latent class analyses of the MDD criteria). In the MDD-bipolar cross-disorder analysis, 15 SNPs exceeded genome-wide significance (P<5 × 10(-8)), and all were in a 248 kb interval of high LD on 3p21.1 (chr3:52 425 083-53 822 102, minimum P=5.9 × 10(-9) at rs2535629). Although this is the largest genome-wide analysis of MDD yet conducted, its high prevalence means that the sample is still underpowered to detect genetic effects typical for complex traits. Therefore, we were unable to identify robust and replicable findings. We discuss what this means for genetic research for MDD. The 3p21.1 MDD-BIP finding should be interpreted with caution as the most significant SNP did not replicate in MDD samples, and genotyping in independent samples will be needed to resolve its status.

An Open Access Database of Genome-wide Association Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johnson Andrew D

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The number of genome-wide association studies (GWAS is growing rapidly leading to the discovery and replication of many new disease loci. Combining results from multiple GWAS datasets may potentially strengthen previous conclusions and suggest new disease loci, pathways or pleiotropic genes. However, no database or centralized resource currently exists that contains anywhere near the full scope of GWAS results. Methods We collected available results from 118 GWAS articles into a database of 56,411 significant SNP-phenotype associations and accompanying information, making this database freely available here. In doing so, we met and describe here a number of challenges to creating an open access database of GWAS results. Through preliminary analyses and characterization of available GWAS, we demonstrate the potential to gain new insights by querying a database across GWAS. Results Using a genomic bin-based density analysis to search for highly associated regions of the genome, positive control loci (e.g., MHC loci were detected with high sensitivity. Likewise, an analysis of highly repeated SNPs across GWAS identified replicated loci (e.g., APOE, LPL. At the same time we identified novel, highly suggestive loci for a variety of traits that did not meet genome-wide significant thresholds in prior analyses, in some cases with strong support from the primary medical genetics literature (SLC16A7, CSMD1, OAS1, suggesting these genes merit further study. Additional adjustment for linkage disequilibrium within most regions with a high density of GWAS associations did not materially alter our findings. Having a centralized database with standardized gene annotation also allowed us to examine the representation of functional gene categories (gene ontologies containing one or more associations among top GWAS results. Genes relating to cell adhesion functions were highly over-represented among significant associations (p -14, a finding

The Modern Synthesis in the Light of Microbial Genomics.

Science.gov (United States)

Booth, Austin; Mariscal, Carlos; Doolittle, W Ford

2016-09-08

We review the theoretical implications of findings in genomics for evolutionary biology since the Modern Synthesis. We examine the ways in which microbial genomics has influenced our understanding of the last universal common ancestor, the tree of life, species, lineages, and evolutionary transitions. We conclude by advocating a piecemeal toolkit approach to evolutionary biology, in lieu of any grand unified theory updated to include microbial genomics.

Genome-wide DNA Methylation Profiling of Cell-Free Serum DNA in Esophageal Adenocarcinoma and Barrett Esophagus

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Rihong Zhai

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Aberrant DNA methylation (DNAm is a feature of most types of cancers. Genome-wide DNAm profiling has been performed successfully on tumor tissue DNA samples. However, the invasive procedure limits the utility of tumor tissue for epidemiological studies. While recent data indicate that cell-free circulating DNAm (cfDNAm profiles reflect DNAm status in corresponding tumor tissues, no studies have examined the association of cfDNAm with cancer or precursors on a genome-wide scale. The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the putative significance of genome-wide cfDNAm profiles in esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA and Barrett esophagus (BE, EA precursor. We performed genome-wide DNAm profiling in EA tissue DNA (n = 8 and matched serum DNA (n = 8, in serum DNA of BE (n = 10, and in healthy controls (n = 10 using the Infinium HumanMethylation27 BeadChip that covers 27,578 CpG loci in 14,495 genes. We found that cfDNAm profiles were highly correlated to DNAm profiles in matched tumor tissue DNA (r = 0.92 in patients with EA. We selected the most differentially methylated loci to perform hierarchical clustering analysis. We found that 911 loci can discriminate perfectly between EA and control samples, 554 loci can separate EA from BE samples, and 46 loci can distinguish BE from control samples. These results suggest that genome-wide cfDNAm profiles are highly consistent with DNAm profiles detected in corresponding tumor tissues. Differential cfDNAm profiling may be a useful approach for the noninvasive screening of EA and EA premalignant lesions.

Genome-Wide Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Extensive Alternative Splicing Events in the Protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis

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Liu, Shuai; Zhou, Xiaosu; Hao, Lili; Piao, Xianyu; Hou, Nan; Chen, Qijun

2017-01-01

Alternative splicing (AS), as one of the most important topics in the post-genomic era, has been extensively studied in numerous organisms. However, little is known about the prevalence and characteristics of AS in Echinococcus species, which can cause significant health problems to humans and domestic animals. Based on high-throughput RNA-sequencing data, we performed a genome-wide survey of AS in two major pathogens of echinococcosis-Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis. Our study revealed that the prevalence and characteristics of AS in protoscoleces of the two parasites were generally consistent with each other. A total of 6,826 AS events from 3,774 E. granulosus genes and 6,644 AS events from 3,611 E. multilocularis genes were identified in protoscolex transcriptomes, indicating that 33–36% of genes were subject to AS in the two parasites. Strikingly, intron retention instead of exon skipping was the predominant type of AS in Echinococcus species. Moreover, analysis of the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway indicated that genes that underwent AS events were significantly enriched in multiple pathways mainly related to metabolism (e.g., purine, fatty acid, galactose, and glycerolipid metabolism), signal transduction (e.g., Jak-STAT, VEGF, Notch, and GnRH signaling pathways), and genetic information processing (e.g., RNA transport and mRNA surveillance pathways). The landscape of AS obtained in this study will not only facilitate future investigations on transcriptome complexity and AS regulation during the life cycle of Echinococcus species, but also provide an invaluable resource for future functional and evolutionary studies of AS in platyhelminth parasites. PMID:28588571

Significant Locus and Metabolic Genetic Correlations Revealed in Genome-Wide Association Study of Anorexia Nervosa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duncan, Laramie; Yilmaz, Zeynep; Gaspar, Helena; Walters, Raymond K.; Goldstein, Jackie; Anttila, Verneri; Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan; Ripke, Stephan; Thornton, Laura M.; Hinney, Anke; Daly, Mark J.; Sullivan, Patrick F; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Breen, Gerome; Bulik, Cynthia M.; Adan, RAH

2017-01-01

Objective: The authors conducted a genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa and calculated genetic correlations with a series of psychiatric, educational, and metabolic phenotypes. Method: Following uniformquality control and imputation procedures using the 1000 Genomes Project (phase 3) in

Significant locus and metabolic genetic correlations revealed in genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duncan, Laramie; Yilmaz, Zeynep; Gaspar, Helena; Walters, Raymond; Goldstein, Jackie; Anttila, Verneri; Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan; Ripke, Stephan; Thornton, Laura; Hinney, Anke; Daly, Mark; Sullivan, Patrick F; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Breen, Gerome; Bulik, Cynthia M; Kas, Martinus J.H.

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The authors conducted a genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa and calculated genetic correlations with a series of psychiatric, educational, and metabolic phenotypes. METHOD: Following uniform quality control and imputation procedures using the 1000 Genomes Project (phase 3)

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 DNA Methylation Profiles of Phlegm-Dampness Constitution

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Haiqiang Yao

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Metabolic diseases are leading health concerns in today’s global society. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM, one body type studied is the phlegm-dampness constitution (PC, which predisposes individuals to complex metabolic disorders. Genomic studies have revealed the potential metabolic disorders and the molecular features of PC. The role of epigenetics in the regulation of PC, however, is unknown. Methods: We analyzed a genome-wide DNA methylation in 12 volunteers using Illumina Infinium Human Methylation450 BeadChip on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs. Eight volunteers had PC and 4 had balanced constitutions. Results: Methylation data indicated a genome-scale hyper-methylation pattern in PC. We located 288 differentially methylated probes (DMPs. A total of 256 genes were mapped, and some of these were metabolic-related. SQSTM1, DLGAP2 and DAB1 indicated diabetes mellitus; HOXC4 and SMPD3, obesity; and GRWD1 and ATP10A, insulin resistance. According to Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA, differentially methylated genes were abundant in multiple metabolic pathways. Conclusion: Our results suggest the potential risk for metabolic disorders in individuals with PC. We also explain the clinical characteristics of PC with DNA methylation features.

Genome-wide association analysis identifies 13 new risk loci for schizophrenia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ripke, S.; O'Dushlaine, C.; Chambert, K.; Moran, J.L.; Kähler, A.K.; Akterin, S.; Bergen, S.E.; Collins, A.L.; Crowley, J.J.; Fromer, M.; Kim, Y.; Lee, S.H.; Magnusson, P.K.; Sanchez, N.; Stahl, E.A.; Williams, S.; Wray, N.R.; Xia, K.; Bettella, F.; Borglum, A. D.; Bulik-Sullivan, B.K.; Cormican, P.; Craddock, N.; de Leeuw, C.A.; Durmishi, N.; Gill, M.; Golimbet, V.; Hamshere, M.L.; Holmans, P.; Hougaard, D. M.; Kendler, K.S.; Lin, K.; Morris, D. W.; Mors, O.; Mortensen, P.B.; Neale, B. M.; O'Neill, F. A.; Owen, M.J.; Milovancevic, M.P.; Posthuma, D.; Powell, J.; Richards, A.L.; Riley, B.P.; Ruderfer, D.; Rujescu, D.; Sigurdsson, E.; Silagadze, T.; Smit, A.B.; Stefansson, H.; Steinberg, S.; Suvisaari, J.; Tosato, S.; Verhage, M.; Walters, T.J.; Levinson, D.F.; Gejman, P.V.; Laurent, C.; Mowry, B. J.; O'Donovan, M.C.; Pulver, A. E.; Schwab, S.G.; Wildenauer, D. B.; Dudbridge, F.; Shi, J.; Albus, M.; Alexander, M.; Campion, D.; Cohen, D.; Dikeos, D.; Duan, J.; Eichhammer, P.; Godard, S.; Hansen, M.; Lerer, F.B.; Liang, K.Y.; Maier, W.; Mallet, J.; Nertney, D. A.; Nestadt, G.; Norton, N.; O'Neill, F.A.; Papadimitriou, G.N.; Ribble, R.; Sanders, A.R.; Silverman, J.M.; Wormley, B.; Arranz, M.J.; Bakker, S.; Bender, S.; Bramon, E.; Collier, D.; Crespo-Facorro, B.; Hall, J.; Iyegbe, C.; Jablensky, A.; Kahn, R.S.; Kalaydjieva, L.; Lawrie, S.M.; Lewis, C.M.; Linszen, D.H.; Mata, I.; McIntosh, A.; Murray, R.M.; Ophoff, R.A.; van Os, J.; Walshe, M.; Weisbrod, M.; Wiersma, D.; Donnely, P.; Barasso, I.; Blackwell, J.M.; Brown, M.A.; Casas, J.P.; Corvin, A.P.; Deloukas, P.; Duncanson, A.; Jankowski, J.; Markus, H.S.; Mathew, C.G.; Palmer, C.N.; Plomin, R.; Rautanen, A.; Sawcer, S.J.; Trembath, R.C.; Viswanathan, A.C.; Wood, N.W.; Spencer, C. C.; Band, G.; Bellenguez, C.; Freeman, C.; Hellenthal, G.; Giannoulatou, E.; Pirinen, M.; Pearson, R.D.; Strange, A.; Su, Z.; Vukcevic, D.; Langford, C.; Hunt, S.E.; Edkins, S.; Gwilliam, R.; Blackburn, H.; Bumpstead, S.; Dronov, S.; Gillman, M.; Gray, E.; Hammond, N.; Jayakumar, A.; McCann, O.T.; Liddle, J.; Potter, S.C.; Ravindrarajah, R.; Ricketts, M.; Tashakkori-Ghanbaria, A.; Waller, M.J.; Weston, P.; Widaa, S.; Whittaker, P.; Barrroso, I.; McCarthy, M.I.; Spencer, C.C.; Stefansson, K.; Scolnick, E.; Purcell, S.; McCarroll, S.A.; Sklar, P.; Hultman, C. M.; Sullivan, P.F.

2013-01-01

Schizophrenia is an idiopathic mental disorder with a heritable component and a substantial public health impact. We conducted a multi-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) for schizophrenia beginning with a Swedish national sample (5,001 cases and 6,243 controls) followed by meta-Analysis with

Genome-wide association study identifies multiple susceptibility loci for multiple myeloma

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mitchell, Jonathan S; Li, Ni; Weinhold, Niels

2016-01-01

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy with a significant heritable basis. Genome-wide association studies have transformed our understanding of MM predisposition, but individual studies have had limited power to discover risk loci. Here we perform a meta-analysis of these GWAS, add a ...

Genome-wide association analysis identifies 13 new risk loci for schizophrenia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ripke, Stephan; O'Dushlaine, Colm; Chambert, Kimberly; Moran, Jennifer L.; Kähler, Anna K.; Akterin, Susanne; Bergen, Sarah E.; Collins, Ann L.; Crowley, James J.; Fromer, Menachem; Kim, Yunjung; Lee, Sang Hong; Magnusson, Patrik K. E.; Sanchez, Nick; Stahl, Eli A.; Williams, Stephanie; Wray, Naomi R.; Xia, Kai; Bettella, Francesco; Borglum, Anders D.; Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan K.; Cormican, Paul; Craddock, Nick; de Leeuw, Christiaan; Durmishi, Naser; Gill, Michael; Golimbet, Vera; Hamshere, Marian L.; Holmans, Peter; Hougaard, David M.; Kendler, Kenneth S.; Lin, Kuang; Morris, Derek W.; Mors, Ole; Mortensen, Preben B.; Neale, Benjamin M.; O'Neill, Francis A.; Owen, Michael J.; Milovancevic, Milica Pejovic; Posthuma, Danielle; Powell, John; Richards, Alexander L.; Riley, Brien P.; Ruderfer, Douglas; Rujescu, Dan; Sigurdsson, Engilbert; Silagadze, Teimuraz; Smit, August B.; Stefansson, Hreinn; Steinberg, Stacy; Suvisaari, Jaana; Tosato, Sarah; Verhage, Matthijs; Walters, James T.; Levinson, Douglas F.; Gejman, Pablo V.; Laurent, Claudine; Mowry, Bryan J.; O'Donovan, Michael C.; Pulver, Ann E.; Schwab, Sibylle G.; Wildenauer, Dieter B.; Dudbridge, Frank; Shi, Jianxin; Albus, Margot; Alexander, Madeline; Campion, Dominique; Cohen, David; Dikeos, Dimitris; Duan, Jubao; Eichhammer, Peter; Godard, Stephanie; Hansen, Mark; Lerer, F. Bernard; Liang, Kung-Yee; Maier, Wolfgang; Mallet, Jacques; Nertney, Deborah A.; Nestadt, Gerald; Norton, Nadine; Papadimitriou, George N.; Ribble, Robert; Sanders, Alan R.; Silverman, Jeremy M.; Walsh, Dermot; Williams, Nigel M.; Wormley, Brandon; Arranz, Maria J.; Bakker, Steven; Bender, Stephan; Bramon, Elvira; Collier, David; Crespo-Facorro, Benedicto; Hall, Jeremy; Iyegbe, Conrad; Jablensky, Assen; Kahn, Rene S.; Kalaydjieva, Luba; Lawrie, Stephen; Lewis, Cathryn M.; Linszen, Don H.; Mata, Ignacio; McIntosh, Andrew; Murray, Robin M.; Ophoff, Roel A.; van Os, Jim; Walshe, Muriel; Weisbrod, Matthias; Wiersma, Durk; Donnelly, Peter; Barroso, Ines; Blackwell, Jenefer M.; Brown, Matthew A.; Casas, Juan P.; Corvin, Aiden P.; Deloukas, Panos; Duncanson, Audrey; Jankowski, Janusz; Markus, Hugh S.; Mathew, Christopher G.; Palmer, Colin N. A.; Plomin, Robert; Rautanen, Anna; Sawcer, Stephen J.; Trembath, Richard C.; Viswanathan, Ananth C.; Wood, Nicholas W.; Spencer, Chris C. A.; Band, Gavin; Bellenguez, Céline; Freeman, Colin; Hellenthal, Garrett; Giannoulatou, Eleni; Pirinen, Matti; Pearson, Richard D.; Strange, Amy; Su, Zhan; Vukcevic, Damjan; Langford, Cordelia; Hunt, Sarah E.; Edkins, Sarah; Gwilliam, Rhian; Blackburn, Hannah; Bumpstead, Suzannah J.; Dronov, Serge; Gillman, Matthew; Gray, Emma; Hammond, Naomi; Jayakumar, Alagurevathi; McCann, Owen T.; Liddle, Jennifer; Potter, Simon C.; Ravindrarajah, Radhi; Ricketts, Michelle; Tashakkori-Ghanbaria, Avazeh; Waller, Matthew J.; Weston, Paul; Widaa, Sara; Whittaker, Pamela; McCarthy, Mark I.; Stefansson, Kari; Scolnick, Edward; Purcell, Shaun; McCarroll, Steven A.; Sklar, Pamela; Hultman, Christina M.; Sullivan, Patrick F.

2013-01-01

Schizophrenia is an idiopathic mental disorder with a heritable component and a substantial public health impact. We conducted a multi-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) for schizophrenia beginning with a Swedish national sample (5,001 cases and 6,243 controls) followed by meta-analysis with

Genome-wide association analysis of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in common bean

Science.gov (United States)

A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to explore the genetic basis of variation for symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) and related traits in the Andean diversity panel (ADP) comprised of 259 common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) genotypes. The ADP was evaluated for SNF and related traits in...

In vivo genome-wide profiling of RNA secondary structure reveals novel regulatory features.

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Yiliang; Tang, Yin; Kwok, Chun Kit; Zhang, Yu; Bevilacqua, Philip C; Assmann, Sarah M

2014-01-30

RNA structure has critical roles in processes ranging from ligand sensing to the regulation of translation, polyadenylation and splicing. However, a lack of genome-wide in vivo RNA structural data has limited our understanding of how RNA structure regulates gene expression in living cells. Here we present a high-throughput, genome-wide in vivo RNA structure probing method, structure-seq, in which dimethyl sulphate methylation of unprotected adenines and cytosines is identified by next-generation sequencing. Application of this method to Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings yielded the first in vivo genome-wide RNA structure map at nucleotide resolution for any organism, with quantitative structural information across more than 10,000 transcripts. Our analysis reveals a three-nucleotide periodic repeat pattern in the structure of coding regions, as well as a less-structured region immediately upstream of the start codon, and shows that these features are strongly correlated with translation efficiency. We also find patterns of strong and weak secondary structure at sites of alternative polyadenylation, as well as strong secondary structure at 5' splice sites that correlates with unspliced events. Notably, in vivo structures of messenger RNAs annotated for stress responses are poorly predicted in silico, whereas mRNA structures of genes related to cell function maintenance are well predicted. Global comparison of several structural features between these two categories shows that the mRNAs associated with stress responses tend to have more single-strandedness, longer maximal loop length and higher free energy per nucleotide, features that may allow these RNAs to undergo conformational changes in response to environmental conditions. Structure-seq allows the RNA structurome and its biological roles to be interrogated on a genome-wide scale and should be applicable to any organism.

Genome-wide association identifies OBFC1 as a locus involved in human leukocyte telomere biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Levy, Daniel; Neuhausen, Susan L; Hunt, Steven C; Kimura, Masayuki; Hwang, Shih-Jen; Chen, Wei; Bis, Joshua C; Fitzpatrick, Annette L; Smith, Erin; Johnson, Andrew D; Gardner, Jeffrey P; Srinivasan, Sathanur R; Schork, Nicholas; Rotter, Jerome I; Herbig, Utz; Psaty, Bruce M; Sastrasinh, Malinee; Murray, Sarah S; Vasan, Ramachandran S; Province, Michael A; Glazer, Nicole L; Lu, Xiaobin; Cao, Xiaojian; Kronmal, Richard; Mangino, Massimo; Soranzo, Nicole; Spector, Tim D; Berenson, Gerald S; Aviv, Abraham

2010-05-18

Telomeres are engaged in a host of cellular functions, and their length is regulated by multiple genes. Telomere shortening, in the course of somatic cell replication, ultimately leads to replicative senescence. In humans, rare mutations in genes that regulate telomere length have been identified in monogenic diseases such as dyskeratosis congenita and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which are associated with shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and increased risk for aplastic anemia. Shortened LTL is observed in a host of aging-related complex genetic diseases and is associated with diminished survival in the elderly. We report results of a genome-wide association study of LTL in a consortium of four observational studies (n = 3,417 participants with LTL and genome-wide genotyping). SNPs in the regions of the oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding folds containing one gene (OBFC1; rs4387287; P = 3.9 x 10(-9)) and chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 gene (CXCR4; rs4452212; P = 2.9 x 10(-8)) were associated with LTL at a genome-wide significance level (P a gene associated with LTL (P = 1.1 x 10(-5)). The identification of OBFC1 through genome-wide association as a locus for interindividual variation in LTL in the general population advances the understanding of telomere biology in humans and may provide insights into aging-related disorders linked to altered LTL dynamics.

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 association study of susceptibility loci for breast cancer in Sardinian population.

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Palomba, Grazia; Loi, Angela; Porcu, Eleonora; Cossu, Antonio; Zara, Ilenia; Budroni, Mario; Dei, Mariano; Lai, Sandra; Mulas, Antonella; Olmeo, Nina; Ionta, Maria Teresa; Atzori, Francesco; Cuccuru, Gianmauro; Pitzalis, Maristella; Zoledziewska, Magdalena; Olla, Nazario; Lovicu, Mario; Pisano, Marina; Abecasis, Gonçalo R; Uda, Manuela; Tanda, Francesco; Michailidou, Kyriaki; Easton, Douglas F; Chanock, Stephen J; Hoover, Robert N; Hunter, David J; Schlessinger, David; Sanna, Serena; Crisponi, Laura; Palmieri, Giuseppe

2015-05-10

Despite progress in identifying genes associated with breast cancer, many more risk loci exist. Genome-wide association analyses in genetically-homogeneous populations, such as that of Sardinia (Italy), could represent an additional approach to detect low penetrance alleles. We performed a genome-wide association study comparing 1431 Sardinian patients with non-familial, BRCA1/2-mutation-negative breast cancer to 2171 healthy Sardinian blood donors. DNA was genotyped using GeneChip Human Mapping 500 K Arrays or Genome-Wide Human SNP Arrays 6.0. To increase genomic coverage, genotypes of additional SNPs were imputed using data from HapMap Phase II. After quality control filtering of genotype data, 1367 cases (9 men) and 1658 controls (1156 men) were analyzed on a total of 2,067,645 SNPs. Overall, 33 genomic regions (67 candidate SNPs) were associated with breast cancer risk at the p <  0(-6) level. Twenty of these regions contained defined genes, including one already associated with breast cancer risk: TOX3. With a lower threshold for preliminary significance to p < 10(-5), we identified 11 additional SNPs in FGFR2, a well-established breast cancer-associated gene. Ten candidate SNPs were selected, excluding those already associated with breast cancer, for technical validation as well as replication in 1668 samples from the same population. Only SNP rs345299, located in intron 1 of VAV3, remained suggestively associated (p-value, 1.16 x 10(-5)), but it did not associate with breast cancer risk in pooled data from two large, mixed-population cohorts. This study indicated the role of TOX3 and FGFR2 as breast cancer susceptibility genes in BRCA1/2-wild-type breast cancer patients from Sardinian population.

Genome-wide association study of susceptibility loci for breast cancer in Sardinian population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palomba, Grazia; Loi, Angela; Porcu, Eleonora; Cossu, Antonio; Zara, Ilenia

2015-01-01

Despite progress in identifying genes associated with breast cancer, many more risk loci exist. Genome-wide association analyses in genetically-homogeneous populations, such as that of Sardinia (Italy), could represent an additional approach to detect low penetrance alleles. We performed a genome-wide association study comparing 1431 Sardinian patients with non-familial, BRCA1/2-mutation-negative breast cancer to 2171 healthy Sardinian blood donors. DNA was genotyped using GeneChip Human Mapping 500 K Arrays or Genome-Wide Human SNP Arrays 6.0. To increase genomic coverage, genotypes of additional SNPs were imputed using data from HapMap Phase II. After quality control filtering of genotype data, 1367 cases (9 men) and 1658 controls (1156 men) were analyzed on a total of 2,067,645 SNPs. Overall, 33 genomic regions (67 candidate SNPs) were associated with breast cancer risk at the p < 10 −6 level. Twenty of these regions contained defined genes, including one already associated with breast cancer risk: TOX3. With a lower threshold for preliminary significance to p < 10 −5 , we identified 11 additional SNPs in FGFR2, a well-established breast cancer-associated gene. Ten candidate SNPs were selected, excluding those already associated with breast cancer, for technical validation as well as replication in 1668 samples from the same population. Only SNP rs345299, located in intron 1 of VAV3, remained suggestively associated (p-value, 1.16x10 −5 ), but it did not associate with breast cancer risk in pooled data from two large, mixed-population cohorts. This study indicated the role of TOX3 and FGFR2 as breast cancer susceptibility genes in BRCA1/2-wild-type breast cancer patients from Sardinian population. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-015-1392-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

A taxonomic framework for emerging groups of ecologically important marine gammaproteobacteria based on the reconstruction of evolutionary relationships using genome-scale data

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Stefan eSpring

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In recent years a large number of isolates were obtained from saline environments that are phylogenetically related to distinct clades of oligotrophic marine gammaproteobacteria, which were originally identified in seawater samples using cultivation independent methods and are characterized by high seasonal abundances in coastal environments. To date a sound taxonomic framework for the classification of these ecologically important isolates and related species in accordance with their evolutionary relationships is missing.In this study we demonstrate that a reliable allocation of members of the oligotrophic marine gammaproteobacteria (OMG group and related species to higher taxonomic ranks is possible by phylogenetic analyses of whole proteomes but also of the RNA polymerase beta subunit, whereas phylogenetic reconstructions based on 16S rRNA genes alone resulted in unstable tree topologies with only insignificant bootstrap support. The identified clades could be correlated with distinct phenotypic traits illustrating an adaptation to common environmental factors in their evolutionary history. Genome wide gene-content analyses revealed the existence of two distinct ecological guilds within the analyzed lineage of marine gammaproteobacteria which can be distinguished by their trophic strategies. Based on our results a novel order within the class Gammaproteobacteria is proposed, which is designated Cellvibrionales ord. nov. and comprises the five novel families Cellvibrionaceae fam. nov., Halieaceae fam. nov., Microbulbiferaceae fam. nov., Porticoccaceae fam. nov., and Spongiibacteraceae fam. nov.

Genome-wide association yields new sequence variants at seven loci that associate with measures of obesity

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Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Walters, G Bragi; Gudbjartsson, Daniel F

2009-01-01

Obesity results from the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. To search for sequence variants that affect variation in two common measures of obesity, weight and body mass index (BMI), both of which are highly heritable, we performed a genome-wide association (GWA) study with 305......,846 SNPs typed in 25,344 Icelandic, 2,998 Dutch, 1,890 European Americans and 1,160 African American subjects and combined the results with previously published results from the Diabetes Genetics Initiative (DGI) on 3,024 Scandinavians. We selected 43 variants in 19 regions for follow-up in 5,586 Danish...... individuals and compared the results to a genome-wide study on obesity-related traits from the GIANT consortium. In total, 29 variants, some correlated, in 11 chromosomal regions reached a genome-wide significance threshold of P

Genome-wide engineering of an infectious clone of herpes simplex virus type 1 using synthetic genomics assembly methods.

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Oldfield, Lauren M; Grzesik, Peter; Voorhies, Alexander A; Alperovich, Nina; MacMath, Derek; Najera, Claudia D; Chandra, Diya Sabrina; Prasad, Sanjana; Noskov, Vladimir N; Montague, Michael G; Friedman, Robert M; Desai, Prashant J; Vashee, Sanjay

2017-10-17

Here, we present a transformational approach to genome engineering of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which has a large DNA genome, using synthetic genomics tools. We believe this method will enable more rapid and complex modifications of HSV-1 and other large DNA viruses than previous technologies, facilitating many useful applications. Yeast transformation-associated recombination was used to clone 11 fragments comprising the HSV-1 strain KOS 152 kb genome. Using overlapping sequences between the adjacent pieces, we assembled the fragments into a complete virus genome in yeast, transferred it into an Escherichia coli host, and reconstituted infectious virus following transfection into mammalian cells. The virus derived from this yeast-assembled genome, KOS YA , replicated with kinetics similar to wild-type virus. We demonstrated the utility of this modular assembly technology by making numerous modifications to a single gene, making changes to two genes at the same time and, finally, generating individual and combinatorial deletions to a set of five conserved genes that encode virion structural proteins. While the ability to perform genome-wide editing through assembly methods in large DNA virus genomes raises dual-use concerns, we believe the incremental risks are outweighed by potential benefits. These include enhanced functional studies, generation of oncolytic virus vectors, development of delivery platforms of genes for vaccines or therapy, as well as more rapid development of countermeasures against potential biothreats.

Genephony: a knowledge management tool for genome-wide research

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Riva Alberto

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background One of the consequences of the rapid and widespread adoption of high-throughput experimental technologies is an exponential increase of the amount of data produced by genome-wide experiments. Researchers increasingly need to handle very large volumes of heterogeneous data, including both the data generated by their own experiments and the data retrieved from publicly available repositories of genomic knowledge. Integration, exploration, manipulation and interpretation of data and information therefore need to become as automated as possible, since their scale and breadth are, in general, beyond the limits of what individual researchers and the basic data management tools in normal use can handle. This paper describes Genephony, a tool we are developing to address these challenges. Results We describe how Genephony can be used to manage large datesets of genomic information, integrating them with existing knowledge repositories. We illustrate its functionalities with an example of a complex annotation task, in which a set of SNPs coming from a genotyping experiment is annotated with genes known to be associated to a phenotype of interest. We show how, thanks to the modular architecture of Genephony and its user-friendly interface, this task can be performed in a few simple steps. Conclusion Genephony is an online tool for the manipulation of large datasets of genomic information. It can be used as a browser for genomic data, as a high-throughput annotation tool, and as a knowledge discovery tool. It is designed to be easy to use, flexible and extensible. Its knowledge management engine provides fine-grained control over individual data elements, as well as efficient operations on large datasets.

Organizational heterogeneity of vertebrate genomes.

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Frenkel, Svetlana; Kirzhner, Valery; Korol, Abraham

2012-01-01

Genomes of higher eukaryotes are mosaics of segments with various structural, functional, and evolutionary properties. The availability of whole-genome sequences allows the investigation of their structure as "texts" using different statistical and computational methods. One such method, referred to as Compositional Spectra (CS) analysis, is based on scoring the occurrences of fixed-length oligonucleotides (k-mers) in the target DNA sequence. CS analysis allows generating species- or region-specific characteristics of the genome, regardless of their length and the presence of coding DNA. In this study, we consider the heterogeneity of vertebrate genomes as a joint effect of regional variation in sequence organization superimposed on the differences in nucleotide composition. We estimated compositional and organizational heterogeneity of genome and chromosome sequences separately and found that both heterogeneity types vary widely among genomes as well as among chromosomes in all investigated taxonomic groups. The high correspondence of heterogeneity scores obtained on three genome fractions, coding, repetitive, and the remaining part of the noncoding DNA (the genome dark matter--GDM) allows the assumption that CS-heterogeneity may have functional relevance to genome regulation. Of special interest for such interpretation is the fact that natural GDM sequences display the highest deviation from the corresponding reshuffled sequences.

Organizational heterogeneity of vertebrate genomes.

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Svetlana Frenkel

Full Text Available Genomes of higher eukaryotes are mosaics of segments with various structural, functional, and evolutionary properties. The availability of whole-genome sequences allows the investigation of their structure as "texts" using different statistical and computational methods. One such method, referred to as Compositional Spectra (CS analysis, is based on scoring the occurrences of fixed-length oligonucleotides (k-mers in the target DNA sequence. CS analysis allows generating species- or region-specific characteristics of the genome, regardless of their length and the presence of coding DNA. In this study, we consider the heterogeneity of vertebrate genomes as a joint effect of regional variation in sequence organization superimposed on the differences in nucleotide composition. We estimated compositional and organizational heterogeneity of genome and chromosome sequences separately and found that both heterogeneity types vary widely among genomes as well as among chromosomes in all investigated taxonomic groups. The high correspondence of heterogeneity scores obtained on three genome fractions, coding, repetitive, and the remaining part of the noncoding DNA (the genome dark matter--GDM allows the assumption that CS-heterogeneity may have functional relevance to genome regulation. Of special interest for such interpretation is the fact that natural GDM sequences display the highest deviation from the corresponding reshuffled sequences.

Natural selection among Eurasians at genomic regions associated with HIV-1 control

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Allison David B

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background HIV susceptibility and pathogenicity exhibit both interindividual and intergroup variability. The etiology of intergroup variability is still poorly understood, and could be partly linked to genetic differences among racial/ethnic groups. These genetic differences may be traceable to different regimes of natural selection in the 60,000 years since the human radiation out of Africa. Here, we examine population differentiation and haplotype patterns at several loci identified through genome-wide association studies on HIV-1 control, as determined by viral-load setpoint, in European and African-American populations. We use genome-wide data from the Human Genome Diversity Project, consisting of 53 world-wide populations, to compare measures of FST and relative extended haplotype homozygosity (REHH at these candidate loci to the rest of the respective chromosome. Results We find that the Europe-Middle East and Europe-South Asia pairwise FST in the most strongly associated region are elevated compared to most pairwise comparisons with the sub-Saharan African group, which exhibit very low FST. We also find genetic signatures of recent positive selection (higher REHH at these associated regions among all groups except for sub-Saharan Africans and Native Americans. This pattern is consistent with one in which genetic differentiation, possibly due to diversifying/positive selection, occurred at these loci among Eurasians. Conclusions These findings are concordant with those from earlier studies suggesting recent evolutionary change at immunity-related genomic regions among Europeans, and shed light on the potential genetic and evolutionary origin of population differences in HIV-1 control.

Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis of pseudohypoparathyroidism patients with GNAS imprinting defects.

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Rochtus, Anne; Martin-Trujillo, Alejandro; Izzi, Benedetta; Elli, Francesca; Garin, Intza; Linglart, Agnes; Mantovani, Giovanna; Perez de Nanclares, Guiomar; Thiele, Suzanne; Decallonne, Brigitte; Van Geet, Chris; Monk, David; Freson, Kathleen

2016-01-01

Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) is caused by (epi)genetic defects in the imprinted GNAS cluster. Current classification of PHP patients is hampered by clinical and molecular diagnostic overlaps. The European Consortium for the study of PHP designed a genome-wide methylation study to improve molecular diagnosis. The HumanMethylation 450K BeadChip was used to analyze genome-wide methylation in 24 PHP patients with parathyroid hormone resistance and 20 age- and gender-matched controls. Patients were previously diagnosed with GNAS-specific differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and include 6 patients with known STX16 deletion (PHP(Δstx16)) and 18 without deletion (PHP(neg)). The array demonstrated that PHP patients do not show DNA methylation differences at the whole-genome level. Unsupervised clustering of GNAS-specific DMRs divides PHP(Δstx16) versus PHP(neg) patients. Interestingly, in contrast to the notion that all PHP patients share methylation defects in the A/B DMR while only PHP(Δstx16) patients have normal NESP, GNAS-AS1 and XL methylation, we found a novel DMR (named GNAS-AS2) in the GNAS-AS1 region that is significantly different in both PHP(Δstx16) and PHP(neg), as validated by Sequenom EpiTYPER in a larger PHP cohort. The analysis of 58 DMRs revealed that 8/18 PHP(neg) and 1/6 PHP(Δstx16) patients have multi-locus methylation defects. Validation was performed for FANCC and SVOPL DMRs. This is the first genome-wide methylation study for PHP patients that confirmed that GNAS is the most significant DMR, and the presence of STX16 deletion divides PHP patients in two groups. Moreover, a novel GNAS-AS2 DMR affects all PHP patients, and PHP patients seem sensitive to multi-locus methylation defects.

Genome-Wide Linkage and Association Analysis Identifies Major Gene Loci for Guttural Pouch Tympany in Arabian and German Warmblood Horses

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Metzger, Julia; Ohnesorge, Bernhard; Distl, Ottmar

2012-01-01

Equine guttural pouch tympany (GPT) is a hereditary condition affecting foals in their first months of life. Complex segregation analyses in Arabian and German warmblood horses showed the involvement of a major gene as very likely. Genome-wide linkage and association analyses including a high density marker set of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were performed to map the genomic region harbouring the potential major gene for GPT. A total of 85 Arabian and 373 German warmblood horses were genotyped on the Illumina equine SNP50 beadchip. Non-parametric multipoint linkage analyses showed genome-wide significance on horse chromosomes (ECA) 3 for German warmblood at 16–26 Mb and 34–55 Mb and for Arabian on ECA15 at 64–65 Mb. Genome-wide association analyses confirmed the linked regions for both breeds. In Arabian, genome-wide association was detected at 64 Mb within the region with the highest linkage peak on ECA15. For German warmblood, signals for genome-wide association were close to the peak region of linkage at 52 Mb on ECA3. The odds ratio for the SNP with the highest genome-wide association was 0.12 for the Arabian. In conclusion, the refinement of the regions with the Illumina equine SNP50 beadchip is an important step to unravel the responsible mutations for GPT. PMID:22848553

Essentiality, conservation, evolutionary pressure and codon bias in bacterial genomes.

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Dilucca, Maddalena; Cimini, Giulio; Giansanti, Andrea

2018-07-15

Essential genes constitute the core of genes which cannot be mutated too much nor lost along the evolutionary history of a species. Natural selection is expected to be stricter on essential genes and on conserved (highly shared) genes, than on genes that are either nonessential or peculiar to a single or a few species. In order to further assess this expectation, we study here how essentiality of a gene is connected with its degree of conservation among several unrelated bacterial species, each one characterised by its own codon usage bias. Confirming previous results on E. coli, we show the existence of a universal exponential relation between gene essentiality and conservation in bacteria. Moreover, we show that, within each bacterial genome, there are at least two groups of functionally distinct genes, characterised by different levels of conservation and codon bias: i) a core of essential genes, mainly related to cellular information processing; ii) a set of less conserved nonessential genes with prevalent functions related to metabolism. In particular, the genes in the first group are more retained among species, are subject to a stronger purifying conservative selection and display a more limited repertoire of synonymous codons. The core of essential genes is close to the minimal bacterial genome, which is in the focus of recent studies in synthetic biology, though we confirm that orthologs of genes that are essential in one species are not necessarily essential in other species. We also list a set of highly shared genes which, reasonably, could constitute a reservoir of targets for new anti-microbial drugs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide association studies in Alzheimer's disease.

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Bertram, Lars; Tanzi, Rudolph E

2009-10-15

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have gained considerable momentum over the last couple of years for the identification of novel complex disease genes. In the field of Alzheimer's disease (AD), there are currently eight published and two provisionally reported GWAS, highlighting over two dozen novel potential susceptibility loci beyond the well-established APOE association. On the basis of the data available at the time of this writing, the most compelling novel GWAS signal has been observed in GAB2 (GRB2-associated binding protein 2), followed by less consistently replicated signals in galanin-like peptide (GALP), piggyBac transposable element derived 1 (PGBD1), tyrosine kinase, non-receptor 1 (TNK1). Furthermore, consistent replication has been recently announced for CLU (clusterin, also known as apolipoprotein J). Finally, there are at least three replicated loci in hitherto uncharacterized genomic intervals on chromosomes 14q32.13, 14q31.2 and 6q24.1 likely implicating the existence of novel AD genes in these regions. In this review, we will discuss the characteristics and potential relevance to pathogenesis of the outcomes of all currently available GWAS in AD. A particular emphasis will be laid on findings with independent data in favor of the original association.

Genome-wide analysis of cell wall-related genes in Tuber melanosporum.

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Balestrini, Raffaella; Sillo, Fabiano; Kohler, Annegret; Schneider, Georg; Faccio, Antonella; Tisserant, Emilie; Martin, Francis; Bonfante, Paola

2012-06-01

A genome-wide inventory of proteins involved in cell wall synthesis and remodeling has been obtained by taking advantage of the recently released genome sequence of the ectomycorrhizal Tuber melanosporum black truffle. Genes that encode cell wall biosynthetic enzymes, enzymes involved in cell wall polysaccharide synthesis or modification, GPI-anchored proteins and other cell wall proteins were identified in the black truffle genome. As a second step, array data were validated and the symbiotic stage was chosen as the main focus. Quantitative RT-PCR experiments were performed on 29 selected genes to verify their expression during ectomycorrhizal formation. The results confirmed the array data, and this suggests that cell wall-related genes are required for morphogenetic transition from mycelium growth to the ectomycorrhizal branched hyphae. Labeling experiments were also performed on T. melanosporum mycelium and ectomycorrhizae to localize cell wall components.

Genome-wide association study for milking speed in French Holstein cows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marete, Andrew Gitahi; Sahana, Goutam; Fritz, Sebastian

2018-01-01

Using a combination of data from the BovineSNP50 BeadChip SNP array (Illumina, San Diego, CA) and a EuroGenomics (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) custom single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip with SNP pre-selected from whole genome sequence data, we carried out an association study of milking speed...... associated with milking speed. As clinical mastitis and somatic cell score have an unfavorable genetic correlation with milking speed, we tested whether the most significant SNP on these 22 chromosomes associated with milking speed were also associated with clinical mastitis or somatic cell score. Nine...... hundred seventy-one genome-wide significant SNP were associated with milking speed. Of these, 86 were associated with clinical mastitis and 198 with somatic cell score. The most significant association signals for milking speed were observed on chromosomes 7, 8, 10, 14, and 18. The most significant signal...

Common genetic variation and susceptibility to partial epilepsies: a genome-wide association study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kasperaviciūte, Dalia; Catarino, Claudia B; Heinzen, Erin L; Depondt, Chantal; Cavalleri, Gianpiero L; Caboclo, Luis O; Tate, Sarah K; Jamnadas-Khoda, Jenny; Chinthapalli, Krishna; Clayton, Lisa M S; Shianna, Kevin V; Radtke, Rodney A; Mikati, Mohamad A; Gallentine, William B; Husain, Aatif M; Alhusaini, Saud; Leppert, David; Middleton, Lefkos T; Gibson, Rachel A; Johnson, Michael R; Matthews, Paul M; Hosford, David; Heuser, Kjell; Amos, Leslie; Ortega, Marcos; Zumsteg, Dominik; Wieser, Heinz-Gregor; Steinhoff, Bernhard J; Krämer, Günter; Hansen, Jörg; Dorn, Thomas; Kantanen, Anne-Mari; Gjerstad, Leif; Peuralinna, Terhi; Hernandez, Dena G; Eriksson, Kai J; Kälviäinen, Reetta K; Doherty, Colin P; Wood, Nicholas W; Pandolfo, Massimo; Duncan, John S; Sander, Josemir W; Delanty, Norman; Goldstein, David B; Sisodiya, Sanjay M

2010-07-01

Partial epilepsies have a substantial heritability. However, the actual genetic causes are largely unknown. In contrast to many other common diseases for which genetic association-studies have successfully revealed common variants associated with disease risk, the role of common variation in partial epilepsies has not yet been explored in a well-powered study. We undertook a genome-wide association-study to identify common variants which influence risk for epilepsy shared amongst partial epilepsy syndromes, in 3445 patients and 6935 controls of European ancestry. We did not identify any genome-wide significant association. A few single nucleotide polymorphisms may warrant further investigation. We exclude common genetic variants with effect sizes above a modest 1.3 odds ratio for a single variant as contributors to genetic susceptibility shared across the partial epilepsies. We show that, at best, common genetic variation can only have a modest role in predisposition to the partial epilepsies when considered across syndromes in Europeans. The genetic architecture of the partial epilepsies is likely to be very complex, reflecting genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity. Larger meta-analyses are required to identify variants of smaller effect sizes (odds ratio<1.3) or syndrome-specific variants. Further, our results suggest research efforts should also be directed towards identifying the multiple rare variants likely to account for at least part of the heritability of the partial epilepsies. Data emerging from genome-wide association-studies will be valuable during the next serious challenge of interpreting all the genetic variation emerging from whole-genome sequencing studies.

From Genome-Wide Association Study to Phenome-Wide Association Study: New Paradigms in Obesity Research.

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Zhang, Y-P; Zhang, Y-Y; Duan, D D

2016-01-01

Obesity is a condition in which excess body fat has accumulated over an extent that increases the risk of many chronic diseases. The current clinical classification of obesity is based on measurement of body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio, and body fat percentage. However, these measurements do not account for the wide individual variations in fat distribution, degree of fatness or health risks, and genetic variants identified in the genome-wide association studies (GWAS). In this review, we will address this important issue with the introduction of phenome, phenomics, and phenome-wide association study (PheWAS). We will discuss the new paradigm shift from GWAS to PheWAS in obesity research. In the era of precision medicine, phenomics and PheWAS provide the required approaches to better definition and classification of obesity according to the association of obese phenome with their unique molecular makeup, lifestyle, and environmental impact. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Genome-wide pharmacogenomic study of citalopram-induced side effects in STAR*D.

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Adkins, D E; Clark, S L; Åberg, K; Hettema, J M; Bukszár, J; McClay, J L; Souza, R P; van den Oord, E J C G

2012-07-03

Affecting about 1 in 12 Americans annually, depression is a leading cause of the global disease burden. While a range of effective antidepressants are now available, failure and relapse rates remain substantial, with intolerable side effect burden the most commonly cited reason for discontinuation. Thus, understanding individual differences in susceptibility to antidepressant therapy side effects will be essential to optimize depression treatment. Here we perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify genetic variation influencing susceptibility to citalopram-induced side effects. The analysis sample consisted of 1762 depression patients, successfully genotyped for 421K single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), from the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR(*)D) study. Outcomes included five indicators of citalopram side effects: general side effect burden, overall tolerability, sexual side effects, dizziness and vision/hearing side effects. Two SNPs met our genome-wide significance criterion (qeffects of citalopram on vision/hearing side effects (P=3.27 × 10(-8), q=0.026). The second genome-wide significant finding, representing a haplotype spanning ∼30 kb and eight genotyped SNPs in a gene desert on chromosome 13, was associated with general side effect burden (P=3.22 × 10(-7), q=0.096). Suggestive findings were also found for SNPs at LAMA1, AOX2P, EGFLAM, FHIT and RTP2. Although our findings require replication and functional validation, this study demonstrates the potential of GWAS to discover genes and pathways that potentially mediate adverse effects of antidepressant medications.

A Genome-Wide Landscape of Retrocopies in Primate Genomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro, Fábio C P; Galante, Pedro A F

2015-07-29

Gene duplication is a key factor contributing to phenotype diversity across and within species. Although the availability of complete genomes has led to the extensive study of genomic duplications, the dynamics and variability of gene duplications mediated by retrotransposition are not well understood. Here, we predict mRNA retrotransposition and use comparative genomics to investigate their origin and variability across primates. Analyzing seven anthropoid primate genomes, we found a similar number of mRNA retrotranspositions (∼7,500 retrocopies) in Catarrhini (Old Word Monkeys, including humans), but a surprising large number of retrocopies (∼10,000) in Platyrrhini (New World Monkeys), which may be a by-product of higher long interspersed nuclear element 1 activity in these genomes. By inferring retrocopy orthology, we dated most of the primate retrocopy origins, and estimated a decrease in the fixation rate in recent primate history, implying a smaller number of species-specific retrocopies. Moreover, using RNA-Seq data, we identified approximately 3,600 expressed retrocopies. As expected, most of these retrocopies are located near or within known genes, present tissue-specific and even species-specific expression patterns, and no expression correlation to their parental genes. Taken together, our results provide further evidence that mRNA retrotransposition is an active mechanism in primate evolution and suggest that retrocopies may not only introduce great genetic variability between lineages but also create a large reservoir of potentially functional new genomic loci in primate genomes. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Genome-wide identification of coding and non-coding conserved sequence tags in human and mouse genomes

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Maggi Giorgio P

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The accurate detection of genes and the identification of functional regions is still an open issue in the annotation of genomic sequences. This problem affects new genomes but also those of very well studied organisms such as human and mouse where, despite the great efforts, the inventory of genes and regulatory regions is far from complete. Comparative genomics is an effective approach to address this problem. Unfortunately it is limited by the computational requirements needed to perform genome-wide comparisons and by the problem of discriminating between conserved coding and non-coding sequences. This discrimination is often based (thus dependent on the availability of annotated proteins. Results In this paper we present the results of a comprehensive comparison of human and mouse genomes performed with a new high throughput grid-based system which allows the rapid detection of conserved sequences and accurate assessment of their coding potential. By detecting clusters of coding conserved sequences the system is also suitable to accurately identify potential gene loci. Following this analysis we created a collection of human-mouse conserved sequence tags and carefully compared our results to reliable annotations in order to benchmark the reliability of our classifications. Strikingly we were able to detect several potential gene loci supported by EST sequences but not corresponding to as yet annotated genes. Conclusion Here we present a new system which allows comprehensive comparison of genomes to detect conserved coding and non-coding sequences and the identification of potential gene loci. Our system does not require the availability of any annotated sequence thus is suitable for the analysis of new or poorly annotated genomes.

A genome-wide analysis of promoter-mediated phenotypic noise in Escherichia coli.

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Olin K Silander

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Gene expression is subject to random perturbations that lead to fluctuations in the rate of protein production. As a consequence, for any given protein, genetically identical organisms living in a constant environment will contain different amounts of that particular protein, resulting in different phenotypes. This phenomenon is known as "phenotypic noise." In bacterial systems, previous studies have shown that, for specific genes, both transcriptional and translational processes affect phenotypic noise. Here, we focus on how the promoter regions of genes affect noise and ask whether levels of promoter-mediated noise are correlated with genes' functional attributes, using data for over 60% of all promoters in Escherichia coli. We find that essential genes and genes with a high degree of evolutionary conservation have promoters that confer low levels of noise. We also find that the level of noise cannot be attributed to the evolutionary time that different genes have spent in the genome of E. coli. In contrast to previous results in eukaryotes, we find no association between promoter-mediated noise and gene expression plasticity. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that, in bacteria, natural selection can act to reduce gene expression noise and that some of this noise is controlled through the sequence of the promoter region alone.

The mitochondrial genome of Elodia flavipalpis Aldrich (Diptera: Tachinidae and the evolutionary timescale of Tachinid flies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhe Zhao

Full Text Available Tachinid flies are natural enemies of many lepidopteran and coleopteran pests of forests, crops, and fruit trees. In order to address the lack of genetic data in this economically important group, we sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of the Palaearctic tachinid fly Elodia flavipalpis Aldrich, 1933. Usually found in Northern China and Japan, this species is one of the primary natural enemies of the leaf-roller moths (Tortricidae, which are major pests of various fruit trees. The 14,932-bp mitochondrial genome was typical of Diptera, with 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 2 rRNA genes. However, its control region is only 105 bp in length, which is the shortest found so far in flies. In order to estimate dipteran evolutionary relationships, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis of 58 mitochondrial genomes from 23 families. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods supported the monophyly of both Tachinidae and superfamily Oestroidea. Within the subsection Calyptratae, Muscidae was inferred as the sister group to Oestroidea. Within Oestroidea, Calliphoridae and Sarcophagidae formed a sister clade to Oestridae and Tachinidae. Using a Bayesian relaxed clock calibrated with fossil data, we estimated that Tachinidae originated in the middle Eocene.

LD Score regression distinguishes confounding from polygenicity in genome-wide association studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan K.; Loh, Po-Ru; Finucane, Hilary K.

2015-01-01

Both polygenicity (many small genetic effects) and confounding biases, such as cryptic relatedness and population stratification, can yield an inflated distribution of test statistics in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, current methods cannot distinguish between inflation from...

Significant Locus and Metabolic Genetic Correlations Revealed in Genome-Wide Association Study of Anorexia Nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Laramie; Yilmaz, Zeynep; Gaspar, Helena; Walters, Raymond; Goldstein, Jackie; Anttila, Verneri; Bulik-Sullivan, Brendan; Ripke, Stephan; Thornton, Laura; Hinney, Anke; Daly, Mark; Sullivan, Patrick F; Zeggini, Eleftheria; Breen, Gerome; Bulik, Cynthia M

2017-09-01

The authors conducted a genome-wide association study of anorexia nervosa and calculated genetic correlations with a series of psychiatric, educational, and metabolic phenotypes. Following uniform quality control and imputation procedures using the 1000 Genomes Project (phase 3) in 12 case-control cohorts comprising 3,495 anorexia nervosa cases and 10,982 controls, the authors performed standard association analysis followed by a meta-analysis across cohorts. Linkage disequilibrium score regression was used to calculate genome-wide common variant heritability (single-nucleotide polymorphism [SNP]-based heritability [h 2 SNP ]), partitioned heritability, and genetic correlations (r g ) between anorexia nervosa and 159 other phenotypes. Results were obtained for 10,641,224 SNPs and insertion-deletion variants with minor allele frequencies >1% and imputation quality scores >0.6. The h 2 SNP of anorexia nervosa was 0.20 (SE=0.02), suggesting that a substantial fraction of the twin-based heritability arises from common genetic variation. The authors identified one genome-wide significant locus on chromosome 12 (rs4622308) in a region harboring a previously reported type 1 diabetes and autoimmune disorder locus. Significant positive genetic correlations were observed between anorexia nervosa and schizophrenia, neuroticism, educational attainment, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and significant negative genetic correlations were observed between anorexia nervosa and body mass index, insulin, glucose, and lipid phenotypes. Anorexia nervosa is a complex heritable phenotype for which this study has uncovered the first genome-wide significant locus. Anorexia nervosa also has large and significant genetic correlations with both psychiatric phenotypes and metabolic traits. The study results encourage a reconceptualization of this frequently lethal disorder as one with both psychiatric and metabolic etiology.

GLIDERS - A web-based search engine for genome-wide linkage disequilibrium between HapMap SNPs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Broxholme John

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A number of tools for the examination of linkage disequilibrium (LD patterns between nearby alleles exist, but none are available for quickly and easily investigating LD at longer ranges (>500 kb. We have developed a web-based query tool (GLIDERS: Genome-wide LInkage DisEquilibrium Repository and Search engine that enables the retrieval of pairwise associations with r2 ≥ 0.3 across the human genome for any SNP genotyped within HapMap phase 2 and 3, regardless of distance between the markers. Description GLIDERS is an easy to use web tool that only requires the user to enter rs numbers of SNPs they want to retrieve genome-wide LD for (both nearby and long-range. The intuitive web interface handles both manual entry of SNP IDs as well as allowing users to upload files of SNP IDs. The user can limit the resulting inter SNP associations with easy to use menu options. These include MAF limit (5-45%, distance limits between SNPs (minimum and maximum, r2 (0.3 to 1, HapMap population sample (CEU, YRI and JPT+CHB combined and HapMap build/release. All resulting genome-wide inter-SNP associations are displayed on a single output page, which has a link to a downloadable tab delimited text file. Conclusion GLIDERS is a quick and easy way to retrieve genome-wide inter-SNP associations and to explore LD patterns for any number of SNPs of interest. GLIDERS can be useful in identifying SNPs with long-range LD. This can highlight mis-mapping or other potential association signal localisation problems.

Comparative genomics in the Asteraceae reveals little evidence for parallel evolutionary change in invasive taxa.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgins, Kathryn A; Bock, Dan G; Hahn, Min A; Heredia, Sylvia M; Turner, Kathryn G; Rieseberg, Loren H

2015-05-01

Asteraceae, the largest family of flowering plants, has given rise to many notorious invasive species. Using publicly available transcriptome assemblies from 35 Asteraceae, including six major invasive species, we examined evidence for micro- and macro-evolutionary genomic changes associated with invasion. To detect episodes of positive selection repeated across multiple introductions, we conducted comparisons between native and introduced genotypes from six focal species and identified genes with elevated rates of amino acid change (dN/dS). We then looked for evidence of positive selection at a broader phylogenetic scale across all taxa. As invasive species may experience founder events during colonization and spread, we also looked for evidence of increased genetic load in introduced genotypes. We rarely found evidence for parallel changes in orthologous genes in the intraspecific comparisons, but in some cases we identified changes in members of the same gene family. Using among-species comparisons, we detected positive selection in 0.003-0.69% and 2.4-7.8% of the genes using site and stochastic branch-site models, respectively. These genes had diverse putative functions, including defence response, stress response and herbicide resistance, although there was no clear pattern in the GO terms. There was no indication that introduced genotypes have a higher proportion of deleterious alleles than native genotypes in the six focal species, suggesting multiple introductions and admixture mitigated the impact of drift. Our findings provide little evidence for common genomic responses in invasive taxa of the Asteraceae and hence suggest that multiple evolutionary pathways may lead to adaptation during introduction and spread in these species. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Long- and short-term selective forces on malaria parasite genomes

KAUST Repository

Nygaard, Sanne; Braunstein, Alexander; Malsen, Gareth; Van Dongen, Stijn; Gardner, Paul P.; Krogh, Anders; Otto, Thomas D.; Pain, Arnab; Berriman, Matthew; McAuliffe, Jon; Dermitzakis, Emmanouil T.; Jeffares, Daniel C.

2010-01-01

of these genomes. Although evolutionary processes have a significant impact on malaria control, the selective pressures within Plasmodium genomes are poorly understood, particularly in the non-protein-coding portion of the genome. We use evolutionary methods