Morphological and phylogenetic study of five species of Astrocystis and Collodiscula on bamboo

Five taxa that morphologically resemble Astrocystis and Collodiscula were collected on bamboo culms from Guizhou, Hainan and Yunnan provinces in China. Based on morphology and molecular analyses (combined ITS, RPB2, β-tubulin and α-actin genes), these species were identified as Astrocystis cocoes (a new record to China), A. bambusicola, Collodiscula japonica and two new species (A. multiloculata and C. lancangjiangensis). Astrocystis multiloculata can be distinguished from other Astrocystis species by its superficial stromata containing many perithecia and larger ascospores (19–25 × 7–11 μm). Collodiscula lancangjiangensis has larger ascospores (26–36.5 × 5–7.5 μm) than those of the most similar species C. fangjingshanensis (19–25.5 × 4.5–6 μm). It also has larger, 3-septate ascospores than C. japonica (1-septate, 19–26 × 4.5–5.5 μm).

In Silico Analysis of Actin Gene as a Candidate for DNA Non-Halal Detection Base on Real-Time PCR

Actin genes are genes that are common in organisms, and their expression is constitutive. These genes are used for gene normalization and internal control of DNA extraction, but the actin gene is not widely used for halal certification tests. Bioinformatic studies help to analyze the experiment through in silico more deeply before the experiment is carried out in laboratory, making it more efficient and time effective. uMelt is an analysis to predict the melting curve of target amplification in real-time PCR. Real-time PCR has been widely used for screening and detection of pork content in a product. This research aimed to explore actin gene as a candidate for testing pork using qPCR. The study was carried out in two main stages, namely alignment of the DNA sequence and analysis of the melting curve using the uMelt approach. The results showed a set of actin genes containing conserved regions that can be used as degenerate primers with different family-type coverages. Melting curve prediction with uMelt shows differences in tm peaks so as the types of samples can be easily identified. The use of bioinformatic applications such as uMelt helps in the simulation of predicting the melting curve to increase the precision of the analysis.

Which actin genes are necessary for zebrafish heart development and function?

Heart failure is the number one cause of mortality in the world, contributed to by cardiovascular disease. Many diseases of the heart muscle are caused by mutations in genes encoding contractile proteins, including cardiac actin mutations. Zebrafish are an advantageous system for modeling cardiac disease since embryos can develop without a functional heart. However, genome duplication in the teleost lineage creates a unique obstacle by increasing the number of genes involved in heart development. Four actin genes are expressed in the zebrafish heart: acta1b; actc1c; and duplicates of actc1a on chromosome 19 and 20. Here, we characterize the actin genes involved in early zebrafish heart development using in situ hybridization and CRISPR targeting to determine which gene is best to model changes seen in human patients with heart disease. The actc1a and acta1b genes are predominant during embryonic heart development, resulting in severe cardiac phenotypes when targeted with CRISPRs. Targeting these two cardiac genes with CRISPRs simultaneously results in a more severe phenotype than their individual counterparts, with the results suggesting compensation for lost actin genes by other actin paralogues. Given the duplication of the actc1a gene, we recommend acta1b as the best gene for targeted cardiac actin research.

Ist and IIIrd intron length polymorphism of actin genes as a tool for flax DNA-profiling

Aim. The purpose of the work was to evaluate the possibility of using the polymorphism of the Ist and IIIrd introns of actin genes for DNA plant genotyping using flax varieties as model. Methods. 16 varieties of Ukrainian flax were analyzed. PCR was conducted using self-developed species-specific primers for the Ist and IIIrd introns of flax actin genes. DNA fragments were separated by electrophoresis in a 6% polyacrylamide gel and visualized by silver stains. Results. As a result of the evaluation of the Ist and IIIrd intron length polymorphism of actin genes, the species-specific DNA profiles of 16 flax varieties containing the target amplicons were obtained. The 7 allele phenotypes (PIC = 0.62) were detected for the Ist introns of the actin genes, and 3 allelic phenotypes (PIC = 0.32) for the IIIrd intron of actin genes. The highest level of polymorphism in the flax varieties was detected by evaluating the Ist intron length polymorphism of actin genes. Conclusions. Evaluation of the polymorphism of the Ist and IIIrd introns of actin genes allows genotyping and obtaining DNA profiles of flax varieties, which demonstrates the feasibility of further using both approaches for molecular genetic analysis of plants. Keywords: gene introns, length polymorphism, actin genes, flax (Linum usitatissimum L.).