scholarly journals Comparative Genomics of Two New HF1-like Haloviruses

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Dyall-Smith ◽  
Sen-Lin Tang ◽  
Brendan Russ ◽  
Pei-Wen Chiang ◽  
Friedhelm Pfeiffer

Few genomes of the HF1-group of viruses are currently available, and further examples would enhance the understanding of their evolution, improve their gene annotation, and assist in understanding gene function and regulation. Two novel HF1-group haloviruses, Serpecor1 and Hardycor2, were recovered from widely separated hypersaline lakes in Australia. Both are myoviruses with linear dsDNA genomes and infect the haloarchaeon Halorubrum coriense. Both genomes possess long, terminal direct repeat (TDR) sequences (320 bp for Serpecor1 and 306 bp for Hardycor2). The Serpecor1 genome is 74,196 bp in length, 57.0% G+C, and has 126 annotated coding sequences (CDS). Hardycor2 has a genome of 77,342 bp, 55.6% G+C, and 125 annotated CDS. They show high nucleotide sequence similarity to each other (78%) and with HF1 (>75%), and carry similar intergenic repeat (IR) sequences to those originally described in HF1 and HF2. Hardycor2 carries a DNA methyltransferase gene in the same genomic neighborhood as the methyltransferase genes of HF1, HF2 and HRTV-5, but is in the opposite orientation, and the inferred proteins are only distantly related. Comparative genomics allowed us to identify the candidate genes mediating cell attachment. The genomes of Serpecor1 and Hardycor2 encode numerous small proteins carrying one or more CxxC motifs, a signature feature of zinc-finger domain proteins that are known to participate in diverse biomolecular interactions.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Ambrosino ◽  
Hamed Bostan ◽  
Valentino Ruggieri ◽  
Maria Luisa Chiusano

Motivation. Even after years from the first completion of genomes by sequencing, comparative genomics still remains a challenge, also enhanced by the availability of numerous draft genomes with still poor annotation quality. The detection of ortholog genes between different species is a key approach for comparative genomics. For example, ortholog gene detection may support investigations on mechanisms that shaped the organization of the genomes, highlighting on gain or loss of function and on gene annotation. On the other hand, the detection of paralog genes is fundamental for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms that drove gene function innovation and support gene families analyses. Here we report on the gene comparison between two distantly related plants, Solanum lycopersicum (Tomato) (The Tomato Genome Consortium 2012) and Vitis vinifera (Grapevine) (Jaillon et al. 2007), considered as economically important species from asterids and rosids clades, respectively. The strategy was accompanied by integration of multilevel analyses, from domain investigations to expression profiling, to get to the most reliable results and to offer powerful resources, in order to understand different useful aspects of plant evolution and physiology and to dissect traits and molecular aspects that could provide novel tools for agriculture applications and biotechnologies. Methods. In order to predict best putative orthologs and paralogs between Tomato and Grapevine, and to overcome possible annotation issues, all-against-all sequence similarity searches between genes, mRNAs and proteins collections of both species were performed. A Bidirectional Best Hit approach was implemented to detect the best orthologs between the two species. Moreover we developed a dedicated algorithm in Python programming language able to define more extended alignments between mRNA sequences. NetworkX package (Hagberg et al. 2008) was used to define networks of paralogs and orthologs. Proteins domain prediction was carried out on the entire Tomato and Grapevine protein collection by using InterProScan program (Jones et al. 2014). The enzyme classification was obtained by sequence similarity searches between Tomato and Grapevine mRNA collections and the entire UniProt reviewed protein collection (UniProt consortium 2015). The metabolic pathways associated to the detected enzymes were identified exploiting the KEGG Database (Kanehisa and Goto 2000). Expression level of three developmental stages of Tomato (2 cm fruit, breaker and mature red) and the corresponding stages of Grapevine (post-setting, veraison, mature berry) was defined on the basis of the iTAG loci (Shearer et al. 2014) and v1 vitis loci, respectively. The expression was normalized by Reads Per Kilobases per Million (RPKM) for each tissue/stage. Abstract truncated at 3,000 characters - the full version is available in the pdf file


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Sargent ◽  
Yating Liu ◽  
Wilson Leung ◽  
Nathan T. Mortimer ◽  
David Lopatto ◽  
...  

AbstractScientists are sequencing new genomes at an increasing rate with the goal of associating genome contents with phenotypic traits. After a new genome is sequenced and assembled, structural gene annotation is often the first step in analysis. Despite advances in computational gene prediction algorithms, most eukaryotic genomes still benefit from manual gene annotation. Undergraduates can become skilled annotators, and in the process learn both about genes/genomes and about how to utilize large datasets. Data visualizations provided by a genome browser are essential for manual gene annotation, enabling annotators to quickly evaluate multiple lines of evidence (e.g., sequence similarity, RNA-Seq, gene predictions, repeats). However, creating genome browsers requires extensive computational skills; lack of the expertise required remains a major barrier for many biomedical researchers and educators.To address these challenges, the Genomics Education Partnership (GEP; https://gep.wustl.edu/) has partnered with the Galaxy Project (https://galaxyproject.org) to develop G-OnRamp (http://g-onramp.org), a web-based platform for creating UCSC Assembly Hubs and JBrowse genome browsers. G-OnRamp can also convert a JBrowse instance into an Apollo instance for collaborative genome annotations in research and educational settings. G-OnRamp enables researchers to easily visualize their experimental results, educators to create Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) centered on genome annotation, and students to participate in genomics research.Development of G-OnRamp was guided by extensive user feedback from in-person workshops. Sixty-five researchers and educators from over 40 institutions participated in these workshops, which produced over 20 genome browsers now available for research and education. For example, genome browsers for four parasitoid wasp species were used in a CURE engaging 142 students taught by 13 faculty members — producing a total of 192 gene models. G-OnRamp can be deployed on a personal computer or on cloud computing platforms, and the genome browsers produced can be transferred to the CyVerse Data Store for long-term access.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Ambrosino ◽  
Hamed Bostan ◽  
Valentino Ruggieri ◽  
Maria Luisa Chiusano

Motivation. Even after years from the first completion of genomes by sequencing, comparative genomics still remains a challenge, also enhanced by the availability of numerous draft genomes with still poor annotation quality. The detection of ortholog genes between different species is a key approach for comparative genomics. For example, ortholog gene detection may support investigations on mechanisms that shaped the organization of the genomes, highlighting on gain or loss of function and on gene annotation. On the other hand, the detection of paralog genes is fundamental for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms that drove gene function innovation and support gene families analyses. Here we report on the gene comparison between two distantly related plants, Solanum lycopersicum (Tomato) (The Tomato Genome Consortium 2012) and Vitis vinifera (Grapevine) (Jaillon et al. 2007), considered as economically important species from asterids and rosids clades, respectively. The strategy was accompanied by integration of multilevel analyses, from domain investigations to expression profiling, to get to the most reliable results and to offer powerful resources, in order to understand different useful aspects of plant evolution and physiology and to dissect traits and molecular aspects that could provide novel tools for agriculture applications and biotechnologies. Methods. In order to predict best putative orthologs and paralogs between Tomato and Grapevine, and to overcome possible annotation issues, all-against-all sequence similarity searches between genes, mRNAs and proteins collections of both species were performed. A Bidirectional Best Hit approach was implemented to detect the best orthologs between the two species. Moreover we developed a dedicated algorithm in Python programming language able to define more extended alignments between mRNA sequences. NetworkX package (Hagberg et al. 2008) was used to define networks of paralogs and orthologs. Proteins domain prediction was carried out on the entire Tomato and Grapevine protein collection by using InterProScan program (Jones et al. 2014). The enzyme classification was obtained by sequence similarity searches between Tomato and Grapevine mRNA collections and the entire UniProt reviewed protein collection (UniProt consortium 2015). The metabolic pathways associated to the detected enzymes were identified exploiting the KEGG Database (Kanehisa and Goto 2000). Expression level of three developmental stages of Tomato (2 cm fruit, breaker and mature red) and the corresponding stages of Grapevine (post-setting, veraison, mature berry) was defined on the basis of the iTAG loci (Shearer et al. 2014) and v1 vitis loci, respectively. The expression was normalized by Reads Per Kilobases per Million (RPKM) for each tissue/stage. Abstract truncated at 3,000 characters - the full version is available in the pdf file


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 396
Author(s):  
Natrada Mitpuangchon ◽  
Kwan Nualcharoen ◽  
Singtoe Boonrotpong ◽  
Patamarerk Engsontia

Many animal species can produce venom for defense, predation, and competition. The venom usually contains diverse peptide and protein toxins, including neurotoxins, proteolytic enzymes, protease inhibitors, and allergens. Some drugs for cancer, neurological disorders, and analgesics were developed based on animal toxin structures and functions. Several caterpillar species possess venoms that cause varying effects on humans both locally and systemically. However, toxins from only a few species have been investigated, limiting the full understanding of the Lepidoptera toxin diversity and evolution. We used the RNA-seq technique to identify toxin genes from the stinging nettle caterpillar, Parasa lepida (Cramer, 1799). We constructed a transcriptome from caterpillar urticating hairs and reported 34,968 unique transcripts. Using our toxin gene annotation pipeline, we identified 168 candidate toxin genes, including protease inhibitors, proteolytic enzymes, and allergens. The 21 P. lepida novel Knottin-like peptides, which do not show sequence similarity to any known peptide, have predicted 3D structures similar to tarantula, scorpion, and cone snail neurotoxins. We highlighted the importance of convergent evolution in the Lepidoptera toxin evolution and the possible mechanisms. This study opens a new path to understanding the hidden diversity of Lepidoptera toxins, which could be a fruitful source for developing new drugs.


Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1232
Author(s):  
Sadaf Harandi-Zadeh ◽  
Cayla Boycott ◽  
Megan Beetch ◽  
Tony Yang ◽  
Benjamin J. E. Martin ◽  
...  

Epigenetic aberrations are linked to sporadic breast cancer. Interestingly, certain dietary polyphenols with anti-cancer effects, such as pterostilbene (PTS), have been shown to regulate gene expression by altering epigenetic patterns. Our group has proposed the involvement of DNA methylation and DNA methyltransferase 3B (DNMT3B) as vital players in PTS-mediated suppression of candidate oncogenes and suggested a role of enhancers as target regions. In the present study, we assess a genome-wide impact of PTS on epigenetic marks at enhancers in highly invasive MCF10CA1a breast cancer cells. Following chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-sequencing in MCF10CA1a cells treated with 7 μM PTS for 9 days, we discovered that PTS leads to increased binding of DNMT3B at enhancers of 77 genes, and 17 of those genes display an overlapping decrease in the occupancy of trimethylation at lysine 36 of histone 3 (H3K36me3), a mark of active enhancers. We selected two genes, PITPNC1 and LINC00910, and found that their enhancers are hypermethylated in response to PTS. These changes coincided with the downregulation of gene expression. Of importance, we showed that 6 out of 17 target enhancers, including PITPNC1 and LINC00910, are bound by an oncogenic transcription factor OCT1 in MCF10CA1a cells. Indeed, the six enhancers corresponded to genes with established or putative cancer-driving functions. PTS led to a decrease in OCT1 binding at those enhancers, and OCT1 depletion resulted in PITPNC1 and LINC00910 downregulation, further demonstrating a role for OCT1 in transcriptional regulation. Our findings provide novel evidence for the epigenetic regulation of enhancer regions by dietary polyphenols in breast cancer cells.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 2096
Author(s):  
Przemyslaw Decewicz ◽  
Piotr Golec ◽  
Mateusz Szymczak ◽  
Monika Radlinska ◽  
Lukasz Dziewit

The Ochrobactrum genus consists of an extensive repertoire of biotechnologically valuable bacterial strains but also opportunistic pathogens. In our previous study, a novel strain, Ochrobactrum sp. POC9, which enhances biogas production in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) was identified and thoroughly characterized. Despite an insightful analysis of that bacterium, its susceptibility to bacteriophages present in WWTPs has not been evaluated. Using raw sewage sample from WWTP and applying the enrichment method, two virulent phages, vB_OspM_OC and vB_OspP_OH, which infect the POC9 strain, were isolated. These are the first virulent phages infecting Ochrobactrum spp. identified so far. Both phages were subjected to thorough functional and genomic analyses, which allowed classification of the vB_OspM_OC virus as a novel jumbo phage, with a genome size of over 227 kb. This phage encodes DNA methyltransferase, which mimics the specificity of cell cycle regulated CcrM methylase, a component of the epigenetic regulatory circuits in Alphaproteobacteria. In this study, an analysis of the overall diversity of Ochrobactrum-specific (pro)phages retrieved from databases and extracted in silico from bacterial genomes was also performed. Complex genome mining allowed us to build similarity networks to compare 281 Ochrobactrum-specific viruses. Analyses of the obtained networks revealed a high diversity of Ochrobactrum phages and their dissimilarity to the viruses infecting other bacteria.


Author(s):  
Suchart Chanama ◽  
Chanwit Suriyachadkun ◽  
Manee Chanama

A novel actinomycete, strain SMC 257T, was isolated from a soil sample collected from mountain forest, Nan Province, Thailand. Strain SMC 257T formed tightly closed spiral spore chains on aerial mycelia. A polyphasic approach was used for the taxonomic study of this strain. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain SMC 257T belonged to the genus Nonomuraea , and the closest phylogenetically related species were Nonomuraea roseoviolacea subsp. carminata JCM 9946T (98.9 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), Nonomuraea rhodomycinica TBRC 6557T (98.4 %), and Nonomuraea roseoviolacea subsp. roseoviolacea JCM 3145T (98.3 %). Genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 9.76 Mbp and a G+C content of 72.3 mol%. The genome average nucleotide identity (ANI) and the digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) values that distinguished this novel strain from its closest related species were species boundary of 95–96 % and 70 %, respectively. The cell wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid. The whole-cell sugars were glucose, ribose, madurose and mannose. The major menaquinone was MK-9(H4). The polar lipid profile consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, hydroxyphosphatidylethanolamine, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, N-phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol mannosides. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C17 : 0 10-methyl and iso-C16 : 0. Based on comparative analysis of phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic data, strain SMC 257T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Nonomuraea , for which the name Nonomuraea montanisoli is proposed. The type strain is SMC 257T (=TBRC 13065T=NBRC 114772T).


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