scholarly journals Properties and abundance of overlapping genes in viruses

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy E Schlub ◽  
Edward C Holmes

Abstract Overlapping genes are commonplace in viruses and play an important role in their function and evolution. However, aside from studies on specific groups of viruses, relatively little is known about the extent and nature of gene overlap and its determinants in viruses as a whole. Here, we present an extensive characterisation of gene overlap in viruses through an analysis of reference genomes present in the NCBI virus genome database. We find that over half the instances of gene overlap are very small, covering <10 nt, and 84 per cent are <50 nt in length. Despite this, 53 per cent of all viruses still contained a gene overlap of 50 nt or larger. We also investigate several predictors of gene overlap such as genome structure (single- and double-stranded RNA and DNA), virus family, genome length, and genome segmentation. This revealed that gene overlap occurs more frequently in DNA viruses than in RNA viruses, and more frequently in single-stranded viruses than in double-stranded viruses. Genome segmentation is also associated with gene overlap, particularly in single-stranded DNA viruses. Notably, we observed a large range of overlap frequencies across families of all genome types, suggesting that it is a common evolutionary trait that provides flexible genome structures in all virus families.

2010 ◽  
Vol 277 (1701) ◽  
pp. 3809-3817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Chirico ◽  
Alberto Vianelli ◽  
Robert Belshaw

The genomes of most virus species have overlapping genes—two or more proteins coded for by the same nucleotide sequence. Several explanations have been proposed for the evolution of this phenomenon, and we test these by comparing the amount of gene overlap in all known virus species. We conclude that gene overlap is unlikely to have evolved as a way of compressing the genome in response to the harmful effect of mutation because RNA viruses, despite having generally higher mutation rates, have less gene overlap on average than DNA viruses of comparable genome length. However, we do find a negative relationship between overlap proportion and genome length among viruses with icosahedral capsids, but not among those with other capsid types that we consider easier to enlarge in size. Our interpretation is that a physical constraint on genome length by the capsid has led to gene overlap evolving as a mechanism for producing more proteins from the same genome length. We consider that these patterns cannot be explained by other factors, namely the possible roles of overlap in transcription regulation, generating more divergent proteins and the relationship between gene length and genome length.


Author(s):  
Rami Obeid ◽  
Elias Wehbe ◽  
Mohamad Rima ◽  
Mohammad Kabara ◽  
Romeo Al Bersaoui ◽  
...  

Background: Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is the most known virus in the plant mosaic virus family and is able to infect a wide range of crops, in particularly tobacco, causing a production loss. Objectives: Herein, and for the first time in Lebanon, we investigated the presence of TMV infection in crops by analyzing 88 samples of tobacco, tomato, cucumber and pepper collected from different regions in North Lebanon. Methods: Double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA), revealed a potential TMV infection of four tobacco samples out of 88 crops samples collected. However, no tomato, cucumber and pepper samples were infected. The TMV+ tobacco samples were then extensively analyzed by RT-PCR to detect viral RNA using different primers covering all the viral genome. Results and Discussion: PCR results confirmed those of DAS-ELISA showing TMV infection of four tobacco samples collected from three crop fields of North Lebanon. In only one of four TMV+ samples, we were able to amplify almost all the regions of viral genome, suggesting possible mutations in the virus genome or an infection with a new, not yet identified, TMV strain. Conclusion: Our study is the first in Lebanon revealing TMV infection in crop fields, and highlighting the danger that may affect the future of agriculture.


Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poonam B ◽  
Prabhjot Kaur Gill

Background: The positive sense and inordinate large RNA genome are enclosed by helical nuceocapsids along with an outermost layer belongs to the family Coronaviridae. The phylogenetic tree of this family has been quartered into Class1 as alpha, Class 2 as beta, Class 3 as gamma and Class 4 as delta CoV. The mammalian respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts are the main target organs of this enveloped virus with misperceived mechanisms. The relevance of this virus family has considerably increased by the dint of recent emergence of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which are caused by viruses belonging to the beta-CoV group. Aim: Aforesaid illustrations of emergence of coronavirus diseases over the past two decades, SARS (2002 and 2003) and MERS (2012 to present) - the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has pressurized the WHO to take innovative measures for public health, research and medical communities. The aim of the present review is to have proficiency in coronavirus replication and transcription process which is still in its infancy. Conclusion: An outcome of epidemics, it is being recognized as one of the most advancing viruses by the virtue of high genomic nucleotide substitution rates and recombination. The hallmark of coronavirus replication is discontinuous transcription resulting in the production of multiple subgenomic mRNAs having sequences complementary to both ends of the genome. Therefore, complete genome sequence of coronavirus will be used as frame of reference for knowing this classical phenomenon of RNA replication process. Finally, research on the pathogenesis of coronaviruses and the host immunopathological response will aid in designing vaccines and minimizing mortality rate.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Farjana Saiada ◽  
Kun Zhang ◽  
Renfeng Li

Abstract Background Sterile alpha motif and HD domain 1 (SAMHD1) is a deoxynucleotide triphosphohydrolase (dNTPase) that restricts the infection of a variety of RNA and DNA viruses, including herpesviruses. The anti-viral function of SAMHD1 is associated with its dNTPase activity, which is regulated by several post-translational modifications, including phosphorylation, acetylation and ubiquitination. Our recent studies also demonstrated that the E3 SUMO ligase PIAS1 functions as an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) restriction factor. However, whether SAMHD1 is regulated by PIAS1 to restrict EBV replication remains unknown. Results In this study, we showed that PIAS1 interacts with SAMHD1 and promotes its SUMOylation. We identified three lysine residues (K469, K595 and K622) located on the surface of SAMHD1 as the major SUMOylation sites. We demonstrated that phosphorylated SAMHD1 can be SUMOylated by PIAS1 and SUMOylated SAMHD1 can also be phosphorylated by viral protein kinases. We showed that SUMOylation-deficient SAMHD1 loses its anti-EBV activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated that SAMHD1 is associated with EBV genome in a PIAS1-dependent manner. Conclusion Our study reveals that PIAS1 synergizes with SAMHD1 to inhibit EBV lytic replication through protein–protein interaction and SUMOylation.


Database ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Liu ◽  
Yutong Cui ◽  
Xuli Jia ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Ruoran Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Algae are the oldest taxa on Earth, with an evolutionary relationship that spans prokaryotes (Cyanobacteria) and eukaryotes. A long evolutionary history has led to high algal diversity. Their organelle DNAs are characterized by uniparental inheritance and a compact genome structure compared with nuclear genomes; thus, they are efficient molecular tools for the analysis of gene structure, genome structure, organelle function and evolution. However, an integrated organelle genome database for algae, which could enable users to both examine and use relevant data, has not previously been developed. Therefore, to provide an organelle genome platform for algae, we have developed a user-friendly database named Organelle Genome Database for Algae (OGDA, http://ogda.ytu.edu.cn/). OGDA contains organelle genome data either retrieved from several public databases or sequenced in our laboratory (Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding of Marine Organism [MOGBL]), which are continuously updated. The first release of OGDA contains 1055 plastid genomes and 755 mitochondrial genomes. Additionally, a variety of applications have been integrated into this platform to analyze the structural characteristics, collinearity and phylogeny of organellar genomes for algae. This database represents a useful tool for users, enabling the rapid retrieval and analysis of information related to organellar genomes for biological discovery.


2021 ◽  
Vol 220 ◽  
pp. 113467
Author(s):  
Liubov I. Kozlovskaya ◽  
Viktor P. Volok ◽  
Anna A. Shtro ◽  
Yulia V. Nikolaeva ◽  
Alexey A. Chistov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajan Saha Raju ◽  
Abdullah Al Nahid ◽  
Preonath Shuvo ◽  
Rashedul Islam

AbstractTaxonomic classification of viruses is a multi-class hierarchical classification problem, as taxonomic ranks (e.g., order, family and genus) of viruses are hierarchically structured and have multiple classes in each rank. Classification of biological sequences which are hierarchically structured with multiple classes is challenging. Here we developed a machine learning architecture, VirusTaxo, using a multi-class hierarchical classification by k-mer enrichment. VirusTaxo classifies DNA and RNA viruses to their taxonomic ranks using genome sequence. To assign taxonomic ranks, VirusTaxo extracts k-mers from genome sequence and creates bag-of-k-mers for each class in a rank. VirusTaxo uses a top-down hierarchical classification approach and accurately assigns the order, family and genus of a virus from the genome sequence. The average accuracies of VirusTaxo for DNA viruses are 99% (order), 98% (family) and 95% (genus) and for RNA viruses 97% (order), 96% (family) and 82% (genus). VirusTaxo can be used to detect taxonomy of novel viruses using full length genome or contig sequences.AvailabilityOnline version of VirusTaxo is available at https://omics-lab.com/virustaxo/.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narciso M. Quijada ◽  
Gislaine Fongaro ◽  
Célia R. M. Barardi ◽  
Marta Hernández ◽  
David Rodríguez-Lázaro

2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 482-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie A. Lemm ◽  
Donald O'Boyle ◽  
Mengping Liu ◽  
Peter T. Nower ◽  
Richard Colonno ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Using a cell-based replicon screen, we identified a class of compounds with a thiazolidinone core structure as inhibitors of hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication. The concentration of one such compound, BMS-824, that resulted in a 50% inhibition of HCV replicon replication was ∼5 nM, with a therapeutic index of >10,000. The compound showed good specificity for HCV, as it was not active against several other RNA and DNA viruses. Replicon cells resistant to BMS-824 were isolated, and mutations were identified. A combination of amino acid substitutions of leucine to valine at residue 31 (L31V) and glutamine to leucine at residue 54 (Q54L) in NS5A conferred resistance to this chemotype, as did a single substitution of tyrosine to histidine at amino acid 93 (Y93H) in NS5A. To further explore the region(s) of NS5A involved in inhibitor sensitivity, genotype-specific NS5A inhibitors were used to evaluate a series of genotype 1a/1b hybrid replicons. Our results showed that, consistent with resistance mapping, the inhibitor sensitivity domain also mapped to the N terminus of NS5A, but it could be distinguished from the key resistance sites. In addition, we demonstrated that NS5A inhibitors, as well as an active-site inhibitor that specifically binds NS3 protease, could block the hyperphosphorylation of NS5A, which is believed to play an essential role in the viral life cycle. Clinical proof of concept has recently been achieved with derivatives of these NS5A inhibitors, indicating that small molecules targeting a nontraditional viral protein like NS5A, without any known enzymatic activity, can also have profound antiviral effects on HCV-infected subjects.


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