Characterization of codon usage bias in the dUTPase gene of duck enteritis virus

A comparative analysis of the codon usage bias in the newly discovered dUTPase gene （Assigned Accession No.： DQ486149） of the duck enteritis virus （DEV） and the dUTPase gene of 32 reference herpesviruses was performed. The results indicated that the DEV dUTPase gene encodes a protein of 477 amino acids, which includes five conserved motifs with a 3-1-2-4-5 arrangement. The codon adaptation index （CAI）, effective number of codons （ENC）, and GC3s values indicated synonymous codon usage bias in the dUTPase gene of herpesviruses, and this synonymous bias was correlated with host evolution. The codon usage patterns of the DEV dUTPase gene were phylogenetically conserved and similar to that of the dUTPase genes of the avian alphaherpesvirus. Although codon usage in each microorganism was different, there were no strain-specific differences among them. Sixty-one codons in the predicted polypeptide, with a strong bias towards A and T at the third codon position, were used. Comparison of the codon usage in the dUTPase gene of different organisms revealed that there were 19 codons showing distinct codon usage differences between the DEV and Escherichia coli dUTPase genes; 16 between the DEV and yeast dUTPase genes; and 15 between the DEV and human dUTPase genes. Analysis of variance （ANOVA） showed significant differences between the DEV and yeast dUTPase genes （r = 0.536, P 〈 0.01）. The extent of codon usage bias in the DEV dUTPase gene was highly correlated with the gene expression level, therefore the results may provide useful information for gene classification and functional studies.     

Exploring Codon Usage Patterns of Alternatively Spliced Genes in Human Chromosome 1

Introduction A large number of species (prokaryotes and eukaryotes) have been used to study the pattern of codon usage bias, and it has also been demonstrated that inter- and intra-genomic variation of the pattern of codon usage is a widespread phenomenon, which may result from various factors. Alternative synonymous codon usage does not modify the amino acid sequence encoded in DNA among species and often among genes from the same genome. It has been suggested that the pattern of codon usag…     

Is there a close relationship between synonymous codon bias and codon-anticodon binding strength in human genes?

Synonymous codon bias has been examined in 78 human genes (19967 codons) and measured by relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU). Relative frequencies of all kinds of dinucleotides in 2,3 or 3,4 codon positions have been calculated, and codon-anticodon binding strength has been estimated by the stacking energies of codon-anticodon bases in Watson-Crick pairs. The data show common features in synonymous codon bias for all codon families in human genes: all C-ending codons, which possess the strongest codon-anticodon binding energies, are the most favored codons in almost all codon families, and those codons with medium codon-anticodon binding energies are avoided. Data analysis suggests that besides isochore and genome signature , codon-anticodon binding strength may be closely related to synonymous codon choice in human genes. The join-effect of these factors on human genes results in the common features in codon bias.     

Transferrin receptor 1 is a cellular receptor for New World haemorrhagic fever arenaviruses

At least five arenaviruses cause viral haemorrhagic fevers in humans. Lassa virus, an Old World arenavirus, uses the cellular receptor alpha-dystroglycan to infect cells. Machupo, Guanarito, Junin and Sabia viruses are New World haemorrhagic fever viruses that do not use alpha-dystroglycan. Here we show a specific, high-affinity association between transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) and the entry glycoprotein (GP) of Machupo virus. Expression of human TfR1, but not human transferrin receptor 2, in hamster cell lines markedly enhanced the infection of viruses pseudotyped with the GP of Machupo, Guanarito and Junin viruses, but not with those of Lassa or lymphocytic choriomeningitis viruses. An anti-TfR1 antibody efficiently inhibited the replication of Machupo, Guanarito, Junin and Sabia viruses, but not that of Lassa virus. Iron depletion of culture medium enhanced, and iron supplementation decreased, the efficiency of infection by Junin and Machupo but not Lassa pseudoviruses. These data indicate that TfR1 is a cellular receptor for New World haemorrhagic fever arenaviruses.     

栖热菌噬菌体TSP4密码子偏嗜性及其对基因异源表达的影响

 为了探索噬菌体TSP4、栖热菌模式菌株Thermus thermophilus HB27中6种蛋白编码序列和Escherichia coli基因组遗传密码子使用偏嗜性,探索TSP4基因密码子偏嗜性对其基因异源表达的影响本研究利用生物学软件Editseq和RSCU算法统计噬菌体TSP4密码子使用频率并分析其偏嗜性,与栖热菌HB27的同源基因以及常温菌E.coli基因组的密码子使用偏嗜性进行对比分析.结果显示,噬菌体TSP4与栖热菌HB27优势密码子相似度高达85%,而与E.coli的相似性仅有65%.为了验证分析结果,选取TSP4基因组中一个潜在分子伴侣基因序列在E.coli BL21和E.coli Rosetta(补充了BL21菌株中缺失的6个稀有密码子)中进行异源表达.噬菌体TSP4与其宿主菌HB27之间密码子高相似性说明在长期的进化过程中TSP4在基因水平上形成对宿主的一种适应性机制.异源表达结果显示,分子伴侣基因在E.coli BL21中未见明显表达,但在Rosetta中高效表达,说明Rosetta中补充的 6个稀有密码子明显有助于分子伴侣基因的表达,该结果也进一步证明密码子偏嗜性是否一致在很大程度上影响基因的表达.     

13种哺乳动物OTR密码子使用偏性及其聚类分析

目的研究13种哺乳动物催产素受体基因(OTR)密码子使用偏性,并探讨其影响因素;通过对偏性情况进行聚类分析,研究其与系统发育的关系.方法计算RSCU,CBI,ENC等密码子偏性指标,与可能的几种影响因素做相关性分析,采用SPASS 15.0软件,以相对同义密码子使用度为变量对偏性情况进行聚类分析.结果与结论 1)CUG,GUG,GCC,UUC,AUC,CGC为哺乳动物OTR使用频率较高的密码子;2)密码子第3位碱基的GC含量是影响哺乳动物OTR密码子偏性的主要因素,基因的GC含量次之,而芳香族氨基酸的含量和蛋白疏水水平对其密码子使用偏性的影响不大;3)对于功能相同的基因,亲缘关系相近的物种密码子使用偏性指标较接近,但某些物种仍有一定差异.     

3个茶树品种WOX基因家族的进化及密码子偏好性比较

【目的】WOX基因家族在模式植物组织培养中扮演着重要的分子调控角色。非模式植物WOX基因家族的系统发育和密码子使用偏好性研究有助于探索遗传进化规律和基因表达特征,进而为其转基因体系构建提供指导。【方法】利用生物信息学方法在3个茶树品种全基因组数据中鉴定WOX基因;通过ClustalX 2.1和MEGA X软件探索它们的进化规律。运用Perl语言、Codon W 1.4.2程序和SPSS 23.0等软件分析3个茶树品种WOX基因编码序列,探究它们的密码子使用偏好模式;基于ENc-GC_3s、PR2分析和中性分析结果解析影响密码子偏好的主要因素。【结果】共鉴定出42个WOX成员,其中‘云抗10号’(CSA)11个,‘舒茶早’(CSS)18个,‘云南野生古茶DASZ’(DASZ)13个,系统发育揭示3个茶树品种WOX基因在进化上存在较强的保守性。密码子偏好性分析揭示,3个茶树品种WOX基因密码子都偏好使用A/T和以A/T结尾;CSA和DASZ的WOX基因密码子使用模式相似,表明两者亲缘关系较近;以CSA和CSS作为转基因受体时,3个茶树品种WOX基因中个别密码子需优化;烟草是3个茶树品种WOX基因的最佳异源表达受体;ENc-GC_3s绘图、PR2分析和中性分析表明自然选择是影响3个茶树品种WOX基因密码子使用偏倚的主要因素。【结论】3个茶树品种WOX基因进化上较保守,密码子偏好使用A/T和以A/T结尾,且密码子偏好原因主要是自然选择;揭示出转茶树时密码子的优化信息和烟草为最佳异源表达受体的结果。     

分析伯氏疏螺旋体密码子使用的倾向性

本文采用非线性映射的方法分析伯氏疏螺旋体前导链和后随链上的基因结构，发现基因分布存在明显的差异，同义密码子的使用亦具有明显的倾向性．此外，高表达基因分布具有不对称性，其同义密码子使用与其它基因亦有不同，这表明原核生物基因组复制起始点两侧的碱基分布及翻译机制均影响基因的密码子使用．     

Coevolution of codon usage and transfer RNA abundance

The use of synonymous codons is strongly biased in the bacterium Escherichia coli and yeast, comprising both bias between codons recognized by the same transfer RNA and bias between groups of codons recognized by different synonymous tRNAs. A major determinant of the second sort of bias is tRNA content, codons recognized by abundant tRNAs being used more often than those recognised by rare tRNAs, particularly in highly expressed genes, probably owing to selection at the level of translation against codons recognized by rare tRNAs. Conversely, codon usage is likely to exert selection pressure on tRNA abundance. Here I develop a model for the coevolution of codon usage and tRNA abundance which explains why there are unequal abundances of synonymous tRNAs leading to biased usage between groups of codons recognized by them in unicellular organisms.     

两种超嗜热菌基因组中同义密码子使用的分析

对两种超嗜热菌敏捷气热菌(Aeropyrum pernix)和风产液菌(Aqui fex aeolicus)的密码子使用进行分析．相对密码子使用值(RSCU)的计算表明,它们在密码子使用上具有一定的相似性,但也有不同的使用模式,导致这一现象的机制可能存在差异．密码子RSCU值对应分析表明,两种菌中高表达基因均具有相对较高的GC含量,但基因表达水平对密码子使用偏好的影响程度却不一样．在A．pernix中,它是造成整个基因组密码子使用偏好的最主要因素,而在A．aeolicus中却不是．     

HIV infection of primate lymphocytes and conservation of the CD4 receptor

The CD4 T-lymphocyte differentiation antigen is an essential component of the cell surface receptor for human immunodeficiency viruses (HIVs) causing AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) (refs 1-3). Peripheral blood lymphocytes of apes, New World and Old World monkeys express cell surface antigens homologous to CD4 of human T-helper lymphocytes. The cells of several of these species can be infected in short term culture with diverse strains of the type-1 or type-2 human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV-1 and HIV-2). HIV-1 is the prototype AIDS virus, and HIV-2 is the second type of AIDS virus, prevalent in West Africa. Infection of the primate cells correlates with evolutionary conservation on CD4 of one particular epitope cluster, and is inhibited by treatment of the cells with monoclonal antibodies to this epitope. The capacity of HIV to replicate in simian cells may provide a means for evaluating antiviral drugs and vaccines.     

雌雄异株植物MADS-box基因密码子偏好性分析

为了解雌雄异株植物间MADS-box基因家族的密码子使用偏好性特点,以拟南芥为参照,利用Gen-Bank Feature Extractor,Codonw和CUSP等软件对已发表的雌雄异株植物MADS-box基因序列的密码子偏好性进行分析,发现拟南芥及雌雄异株植物中均偏好使用密码子第3位点为U和A的密码子.再运用SPSS11.5对拟南芥和雌雄异株植物的MADS-box基因密码子偏好性进行聚类分析,发现雌雄异株植物与拟南芥在MADS-box基因的密码子选择偏好方面的差异不显著.从而得出雌雄异株植物对MADS-box基因密码子偏好性不具有显著影响.     

哺乳动物MHC密码子使用概率的聚类分析

利用系统聚类分析方法对随机选取的3种哺乳动物的60个主要组织相容性复合体（MHCⅠ类和Ⅱ类）基因的mRNA序列进行了同义密码子使用概率偏性研究。结果发现，不同物种的MHC基因群中类型相同的基因具有相近的同义密码子使用偏性，而对于同一类型的基因由物种引起的同义密码子使用偏性的差异较小。即功能和类型决定密码子使用模式的大的分类，而物种决定该大类中进一步的差异。基因密码子偏向性的研究对于大幅度增加目标蛋白的产量具有重要的意义。该结果也为基因分类和基因功能的预测提供了新的生物信息学方法。     

Predicting disease genes for familial dilated cardiomyopathy based on the codon usage bias

Familial dilated cardiomyopathy （FDC） is a common monogenic disease mostly with autosomal dominant inheritance. Fifteen different loci for autosomal dominant FDC have been mapped; however, only eight FDC genes have been found, and it is still a big challenge to identify additional seven FDC genes in their chromosomal regions. We found that the codon usage frequencies in most of known FDC gene sequences are consistently biased, and significantly different from the average codon usage frequencies of human genes. This unique feature of codon usage was used to develop a novel approach to predicting FDC genes. Leave-oneout cross-validation results demonstrate that this approach can effectively detect FDC genes from numbers of genes in their chromosomal regions. Another advantage of this approach is that it is solely based on DNA sequences and therefore has the ability to identify potential FDC genes whose functions are completely unknown. Further, this approach has been used to analyze the seven FDC loci in which the FDC genes are still unknown. Both the detailed prediction results and the prediction program are available at http：// infosci.hust.edu.cn, which might provide help for relevant experimental researches to find new FDC genes.     

敏捷气热菌密码子及AUG侧翼序列保守性分析

比较敏捷气热菌和大肠杆菌等9种编码GC含量．以及各异生物的密码子使用情况．结果表明,与敏捷气热菌编码区GC含量比较接近的果蝇．在密码子使用上与之相差最小．它们在分类学上分别属于不同的域,与敏捷气热菌同属古菌．但GC含量相差较大的强烈炽热球菌．则相差较大．说明编码区GC含量对密码子使用偏好．比生物分类学(系统发育)地位更重要．碱基A．C在高、低表达基因中出现的概率差别较大．尤其在-1,-3,-4和7位点;碱基A,C在调控翻译起始效率中的作用．可能大于碱基G,U。因为碱基G,U在高表达和低表达基因中．其出现的概率差别不大．高表达和低表达基因起始密码子侧翼序列中．某些位点保守性存在差异．其中高表达基因-1位和-3全可能与其高表达特性有关．     

Bioinformatic analysis of expressed sequence tags from sporophyte of Porphyra yezoensis （Bagiaceae, Rhodophyta）

A total of 719 expressed sequence tags (EST) clustered into 329 non?redundant EST groups are obtained from the sporophyte cDNA library of red algae, Porphyra yezoensis. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis is employed in characterizing 60 strictest annotated unique genes out of the 329 EST groups and some domains such as COX1, Sod-Fe-C, GST-N, SHMT, and RNase-PH related to the enzymes and proteins functioning in cells have been identified by HMMPFAM search. As its leafy gametophyte, the similar codon usage with strong bias is found in P. yezoensis filamentous sporophyte, regardless of some differences found in given amino acids. The average GC content of the 329 unique genes is 53.0%. In contrast, the third nucleotide of codon exhibits a higher GC content (72%) than that of the first (58%) and the second (42%) nucleotides. Similarity search of the present study shows a novel EST ratio of 60.2%, which is against the Porphyra ESTs database, suggesting further investigations towards elucidating the characteristics of Porphyra functional genome.     

Cyclophilin A retrotransposition into TRIM5 explains owl monkey resistance to HIV-1

In Old World primates, TRIM5-alpha confers a potent block to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection that acts after virus entry into cells. Cyclophilin A (CypA) binding to viral capsid protects HIV-1 from a similar activity in human cells. Among New World primates, only owl monkeys exhibit post-entry restriction of HIV-1 (ref. 1). Paradoxically, the barrier to HIV-1 in owl monkey cells is released by capsid mutants or drugs that disrupt capsid interaction with CypA. Here we show that knockdown of owl monkey CypA by RNA interference (RNAi) correlates with suppression of anti-HIV-1 activity. However, reintroduction of CypA protein to RNAi-treated cells did not restore antiviral activity. A search for additional RNAi targets unearthed TRIMCyp, an RNAi-responsive messenger RNA encoding a TRIM5-CypA fusion protein. TRIMCyp accounts for post-entry restriction of HIV-1 in owl monkeys and blocks HIV-1 infection when transferred to otherwise infectable human or rat cells. It seems that TRIMCyp arose after the divergence of New and Old World primates when a LINE-1 retrotransposon catalysed the insertion of a CypA complementary DNA into the TRIM5 locus. This is the first vertebrate example of a chimaeric gene generated by this mechanism of exon shuffling.     

A statistical method for genetic mapping of sterility genes that exhibit epistasis in remote hybridization of plants using molecular markers in an F2 population

Estimation of the position and effect of sterility genes is an important problem to be solved to understand the sterility mechanism in remote hybridization in plants.In this study,a maximum likelihood (ML) method was used for estimation of the position and effect of sterility genes that exhibit epistasis in an F 2 population using the distorted segregation of markers.The ML solutions for recombination fraction and viability were obtained via an expectation-maximization algorithm.The results of Monte Carlo simulations showed that the estimates of recombination fraction and viability were consistent with their true values.The bias and standard deviation of parameters indicated that a larger sample size,closer linkage and lower viability of sterile genes led to better estimates of the parameters involved.A subset of marker data of the F 2 population derived from a single cross between the rice japonica cultivar Nipponbare and the indica cultivar Kasalath was analyzed using this method.Eight sterility genes were identified on chromosomes 1,3,6,8 and 10,and significant epistasis was detected among four pairs of sterility genes.     

41条牦牛CDS序列的密码子偏好性分析

密码子简并性特征造成了不同物种密码子使用偏好性不同．在对牦牛功能基因组学研究的基础上，利用EMBOSS中的CUSP程序、SMS2中的Codon Usage程序和软件CodonW对牦牛功能基因的41条CDS序列进行了密码子偏好性的分析，并与人、普通牛、猪等物种进行了比较基因组学研究．结果显示：TTC、TTG、CTC、CTG、ATT、GGA、GGG等27个密码子为牦牛的偏好性密码子．研究结果为以后进一步开展牦牛新基因的发现、功能基因表达调控研究，蛋白质结构和功能的预测以、与其他牛种的比较基因组学研究以及牦牛分子标记育种等工作，提供了理论基础．     

Strict evolutionary conservation followed rapid gene loss on human and rhesus Y chromosomes

The human X and Y chromosomes evolved from an ordinary pair of autosomes during the past 200-300 million years. The human MSY (male-specific region of Y chromosome) retains only three percent of the ancestral autosomes' genes owing to genetic decay. This evolutionary decay was driven by a series of five 'stratification' events. Each event suppressed X-Y crossing over within a chromosome segment or 'stratum', incorporated that segment into the MSY and subjected its genes to the erosive forces that attend the absence of crossing over. The last of these events occurred 30 million years ago, 5 million years before the human and Old World monkey lineages diverged. Although speculation abounds regarding ongoing decay and looming extinction of the human Y chromosome, remarkably little is known about how many MSY genes were lost in the human lineage in the 25 million years that have followed its separation from the Old World monkey lineage. To investigate this question, we sequenced the MSY of the rhesus macaque, an Old World monkey, and compared it to the human MSY. We discovered that during the last 25 million years MSY gene loss in the human lineage was limited to the youngest stratum (stratum 5), which comprises three percent of the human MSY. In the older strata, which collectively comprise the bulk of the human MSY, gene loss evidently ceased more than 25 million years ago. Likewise, the rhesus MSY has not lost any older genes (from strata 1-4) during the past 25 million years, despite its major structural differences to the human MSY. The rhesus MSY is simpler, with few amplified gene families or palindromes that might enable intrachromosomal recombination and repair. We present an empirical reconstruction of human MSY evolution in which each stratum transitioned from rapid, exponential loss of ancestral genes to strict conservation through purifying selection.