Can the occurrence of rare insertion／deletion polymor—phisms in human mtDNA be verfied from phylogeny？

Due to its specific characteristics,such as ma-ternal inheritance and absence of recombination,each mtDNA belongs to certain monophyletic clade in the rooted mtDNA tree(haplogroup) according to the mutations it har-bors,Rare mutation(excluding parallel mutation) occurring at multiple times in different haplogroups could thus be a potential reading error according to the mtDNA phylogent.This experience has been widely used im double-checking the credibility of the rare mutations in human mtDNA sequences.However,no test has been performed so far for the feasibility of applying this strategy to the rare insertion/deletion(indel) events in mtDNA sequences.In this study,we attempted to relate the rare indels in mtDNAs to their haplogroup status in a total of 2352 individuals from 50 populations in China.Our results show that the insertion of A at position 16259 is restricted to a subclade of haplogroup Cand can be verified.The other indel polymorphisms,Which occur in the repeat of the deleted or inserted nucleotide(s),may not be distin-guished from phantom mutations from a phylogenetic point of view.Independently and multiply sequencing the frag-ment with the indel is the best and the most reliable way for confirmation.     

Can the occurrence of rare insertion/deletion polymor-phisms in human mtDNA be verified from phylogeny?

Owing to its maternal inheritance, absence of re-combination and high evolution rate, mtDNA has been widely used in unraveling the migration history of modern human and in medical genetics as well as in forensic prac-tice[1,2]. Compared with the Cambridge reference sequence (CRS) which was first sequenced in 1981[3] and the later revised CRS[4], insertions and deletions (indel) occur fre-quently in the mtDNA sequences available. Some of the indel polymorphisms are characteristic to mtDNA…     

An efficient way of finding good indel seeds for local homology search

Designing good or optimal seeds is a key factor for local homology search in bioinformatics. Continuous seeds have existed for nearly 20 years used by BLAST series programs. Recently, spaced seeds, which were introduced by PattenHunter program, were shown to be more sensitive and faster than continuous seeds under the same similarity level. However, there are 2 main disadvantages for space seeds： （i） It assumes that only matches and mismatches occur within seed alignments, but not insertions and deletions （indels）; （ii） calculating optimal spaced seeds is an NP-hard problem. Introduction for indel seeds solved the first problem, but the second is getting much harder because of its higher exponential level. In this paper, we introduce an efficient way of designing good （even optimal） indel seeds under ＂indel overlap complexity＂ model, and it can be calculated in polynomial time. We calculate indel seeds from weight of 11 to 15. The result shows that indel seeds have higher sensitivities than spaced ones and our algorithm finds good indel seeds very quickly.     

Molecular evolution of connective tissue growth factor in Cyprinidae （Teleostei： Cypriniformes）

Connective tissue growth factor （CTGF） plays an important role in regulation of cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis and individual development in animals. The study of sequences variation and molecular evolution of CTGF gene across various species of the cyprinid could be helpful for understanding of speciation and gene divergence in this kind of fish. In this study, 19 novel sequences of CTGF gene were obtained from the representative species of the family Cyprinidae using PCR amplification, cloning and sequencing. Phylogenetic relationships of Cyprinidae were reconstructed by neighbor-joining （NJ）, maximum parsimony （MP）, maximum likelihood （ML） and Bayesian method. Oryzias latipes from the family Cyprinodontidae was assigned to be the outgroup taxon. Leuciscini and Barbini were clustered into the monophyletic lineages, respectively, with the high nodal supports. The estimation of the ratio of non-synonymous to synonymous substitution （dN/dS） for the various branches indicated that there stood the different evolution rates between the Leuciscini and the Barbini. With the ratio of dN/dS of the Leuciscini being lower than that of the Barbini, species within the Barbini were demonstrated to be subjected to the relatively less selection pressure and under the relaxable evolution background. A 6 bp indel （insertion/deletion） was found at the 5＇ end of CTGF gene of Cyprinidae, and this 6 bp deletion only appeared in the Leuciscini, which is a typical characteristic of the Leuciscini and provides evidence for the monophylogeny of the Leuciscini. For the amino acid sequences of CTGF protein, the most variations and indels were distributed in the signal region and IGFBP region of this protein, implying that these variations were correlated with the regulation of the CTGF gene expression and protein activity.     

Comparative analyses of multi-species sequences from targeted genomic regions

The systematic comparison of genomic sequences from different organisms represents a central focus of contemporary genome analysis. Comparative analyses of vertebrate sequences can identify coding and conserved non-coding regions, including regulatory elements, and provide insight into the forces that have rendered modern-day genomes. As a complement to whole-genome sequencing efforts, we are sequencing and comparing targeted genomic regions in multiple, evolutionarily diverse vertebrates. Here we report the generation and analysis of over 12 megabases (Mb) of sequence from 12 species, all derived from the genomic region orthologous to a segment of about 1.8 Mb on human chromosome 7 containing ten genes, including the gene mutated in cystic fibrosis. These sequences show conservation reflecting both functional constraints and the neutral mutational events that shaped this genomic region. In particular, we identify substantial numbers of conserved non-coding segments beyond those previously identified experimentally, most of which are not detectable by pair-wise sequence comparisons alone. Analysis of transposable element insertions highlights the variation in genome dynamics among these species and confirms the placement of rodents as a sister group to the primates.     

玉米ELM1基因的序列变异及与株型和穗部相关性状的关联分析

 玉米elm1 突变体使得光敏色素载色体合成受阻并导致光敏色素活性下降,从而使得突变体植株表现出对光的不敏感性.为研究玉米ELM1 基因序列的多态性及其与主要农艺性状之间的关联,本研究对玉米ELM1 基因在80 个自交系中进行了目标序列重测序,并与株高和穗位高2 个株型性状以及穗长、穗粗、轴粗、穗重、行粒数、穗行数和穗粒数7 个穗部性状进行关联分析.ELM1 基因在供试玉米自交系中共有85 个变异,包括73 个SNP 和12 个Indel.尽管该基因的编码区不含Indel,但15 个SNP 变异位点依然可以将编码区划分成7 种单倍型,并编码6 种ELM1 蛋白质.关联分析发现,玉米ELM1 基因中1 个非同义突变位点与穗位高存在显著关联,另有2 个非同义突变位点与行粒数存在显著关联.     

A genetic variation map for chicken with 2.8 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms

We describe a genetic variation map for the chicken genome containing 2.8 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This map is based on a comparison of the sequences of three domestic chicken breeds (a broiler, a layer and a Chinese silkie) with that of their wild ancestor, red jungle fowl. Subsequent experiments indicate that at least 90% of the variant sites are true SNPs, and at least 70% are common SNPs that segregate in many domestic breeds. Mean nucleotide diversity is about five SNPs per kilobase for almost every possible comparison between red jungle fowl and domestic lines, between two different domestic lines, and within domestic lines--in contrast to the notion that domestic animals are highly inbred relative to their wild ancestors. In fact, most of the SNPs originated before domestication, and there is little evidence of selective sweeps for adaptive alleles on length scales greater than 100 kilobases.     

Global variation in copy number in the human genome

Copy number variation (CNV) of DNA sequences is functionally significant but has yet to be fully ascertained. We have constructed a first-generation CNV map of the human genome through the study of 270 individuals from four populations with ancestry in Europe, Africa or Asia (the HapMap collection). DNA from these individuals was screened for CNV using two complementary technologies: single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping arrays, and clone-based comparative genomic hybridization. A total of 1,447 copy number variable regions (CNVRs), which can encompass overlapping or adjacent gains or losses, covering 360 megabases (12% of the genome) were identified in these populations. These CNVRs contained hundreds of genes, disease loci, functional elements and segmental duplications. Notably, the CNVRs encompassed more nucleotide content per genome than SNPs, underscoring the importance of CNV in genetic diversity and evolution. The data obtained delineate linkage disequilibrium patterns for many CNVs, and reveal marked variation in copy number among populations. We also demonstrate the utility of this resource for genetic disease studies.     

Evolutionary nucleotide replacements in DNA.

With the increasing availability of analytical information on mRNA molecules, it is now possible to compare homologous nucleotide sequences from different organisms and to draw conclusions about their evolution. Such comparisons have shown that silent changes in codons occur more frequently than nucleotide replacements that produce changes in amino acid sequences (code-altering changes). Furthermore, there is an important difference between amino acid sequence comparisons and nucleotide sequence comparisons. The former show only differences in amino acid residues, but the latter show several types of differences when corresponding codons are compared. Single-base replacements may be degenerate (silent) or expressed as amino acid replacements. Two-base codon changes may be degenerate, single-base changes, or be visible as such. Three-base codon changes may be degenerate (involving serine), simulate either single-base or two-base changes or be visible as such. All nine types of change are found in comparisons of genes from the viruses phi X174 and G4. The relative numbers of these nine types as based on all possible interchanges between all 61 amino acid codons were listed by Holmquist et al. and are shown in Table 1. We discuss these results in the light of the significance of nucleotide changes in molecular evolution.     

Rapid genome evolution in Pms 1 region of rice revealed by comparative sequence analysis

Pms1, a locus for photoperiod sensitive genic male sterility in rice, was identified and mapped to chromosome 7 in previous studies. Here we report an effort to identify the candidate genes for Pms1 by comparative sequencing of BAC clones from two cultivars Minghui 63 and Nongken 58, the parents for the initial mapping population. Annotation and comparison of the sequences of the two clones resulted in a total of five potential candidates which should be functionally tested. We also conducted com-parative analysis of sequences of these two cultivars with two other cultivars, Nipponbare and 93-11, for which sequence data were available in public databases. The analysis revealed large differences in sequence composition among the four genotypes in the Pms1 region primarily due to retroelement activity leading to rapid recent growth and divergence of the genomes. High levels of polymorphism in the forms of indels and SNPs were found both in intra- and inter-subspecific comparisons. Dating analysis using LTRs of the retroelements in this region showed that the substitution rate of LTRs was much higher than reported in the literature. The results provided strong evidence for rapid genomic evolution of this region as a consequence of natural and artificial selection.     

Proportionally more deleterious genetic variation in European than in African populations

Quantifying the number of deleterious mutations per diploid human genome is of crucial concern to both evolutionary and medical geneticists. Here we combine genome-wide polymorphism data from PCR-based exon resequencing, comparative genomic data across mammalian species, and protein structure predictions to estimate the number of functionally consequential single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) carried by each of 15 African American (AA) and 20 European American (EA) individuals. We find that AAs show significantly higher levels of nucleotide heterozygosity than do EAs for all categories of functional SNPs considered, including synonymous, non-synonymous, predicted 'benign', predicted 'possibly damaging' and predicted 'probably damaging' SNPs. This result is wholly consistent with previous work showing higher overall levels of nucleotide variation in African populations than in Europeans. EA individuals, in contrast, have significantly more genotypes homozygous for the derived allele at synonymous and non-synonymous SNPs and for the damaging allele at 'probably damaging' SNPs than AAs do. For SNPs segregating only in one population or the other, the proportion of non-synonymous SNPs is significantly higher in the EA sample (55.4%) than in the AA sample (47.0%; P < 2.3 x 10(-37)). We observe a similar proportional excess of SNPs that are inferred to be 'probably damaging' (15.9% in EA; 12.1% in AA; P < 3.3 x 10(-11)). Using extensive simulations, we show that this excess proportion of segregating damaging alleles in Europeans is probably a consequence of a bottleneck that Europeans experienced at about the time of the migration out of Africa.     

A role for branchpoints in splicing in vivo

The nucleotides immediately surrounding intron/exon junctions of genes transcribed by RNA polymerase B can be derived from 'consensus' sequences for donor and acceptor splice sites by only a few base changes. Studies in vivo have underlined the importance of these junction nucleotides for splicing. In higher eukaryotes, no evidence has been found for specific internal intron sequences involved in splicing. However, the recent discovery that, in vitro, introns are excised in a lariat form where the 5' end of the intron is joined via a 2'-5'-phosphodiester linkage to an A residue (branchpoint acceptor) close to the 3' end of the intron, suggests that internal intron sequences may nonetheless be important for splicing. Indeed, in yeast nuclear genes, the internal sequence 5'-TACTAAC-3' (or close homologue) is essential for splicing in vivo. A proposed consensus sequence for branchpoints in mammalian introns is 5'-CT(A/G)A(C/T)-3'. This sequence resembles the essential yeast internal sequence. Are branchpoints involved in the splicing of introns of higher eukaryotes in vivo? We show here that a branchpoint sequence from a human globin gene (5'-CTGACTCTCTCTG-3') greatly enhances the efficiency of splicing of a 'synthetic' intron in HeLa cells. A mutated branchpoint sequence, 5'-CTCCTCTCTCTG-3', in which the branchpoint acceptor nucleotide A has been deleted and the neighbouring purine G mutated to a C, does not exhibit this enhancing capability. We conclude that branchpoints have an important function in the splicing process in vivo.     

中华按蚊的分子鉴定标准

中华按蚊（Anopheles sinensis）是重要的传疟媒介之一,广泛分布于中国和东南亚,它的形态特征和赫坎按蚊种团（Anopheles hyrcanus Group）其他蚊种十分近似,建立中华按蚊的分子鉴定标准十分重要。本研究从实验室中华按蚊品系的一个个体测序了线粒体DNA COI和COII基因,以及核糖体DNA D2、D3和ITS2位点,测序片段长度分别为658、663、551、365、556 bp。这些序列和近缘蚊种对应序列分别用最大似然法构建系统发育树,结果表明中华按蚊的序列均聚合为同一支。将测序的中华按蚊COII序列和已知蚊种的对应序列比对发现其中的保守位点分别是第133位点C,321位点C,382位点C,435位点T,516位点A和651位点C,线粒体DNA COI和COII基因序列的碱基组成具有AT偏向性,分别占69.15%和74.96%。提交了5条序列到NCBI数据库,其中核糖体DNA D2位点序列是首次在中华按蚊中公开报道。     

Evolution of the 87A and 87C heat-shock loci in Drosophila

Several species related to Drosophila melanogaster have two loci containing sequences which code for the major heat-shock protein of molecular weight 70,000 (hsp70). These sequences are arranged as two pairs of inverted repeats. The structure of the 87C locus in D. melanogaster seems to have arisen through DNA insertion. Hsp70-coding sequences at the two loci are not evolving independently. Gene conversion between hsp70 genes has apparently occurred both within and between loci.     

籼稻93-11和粳稻日本晴DNA插入缺失差异片段揭示的水稻籼-粳分化

碱基的插入/缺失(InDel)引起DNA序列变化并形成了DNA片段长度多态,可以用作遗传标记.为了评价基于籼稻93-11和粳稻日本晴全基因组序列比对获得的差异片段而设计的InDel引物在鉴定籼稻和粳稻两种生态型以及研究稻属不同物种之间亲缘关系的意义,采用45对InDel引物,对来自亚洲10个国家的49份籼稻、43份粳稻品种和24份野生稻进行了检验.结果表明,其中41对InDel引物鉴定籼稻或粳稻品种的准确率高于80%.主成分分析散点图显示:籼稻与粳稻存在明显的遗传分化;含AA基因组的野生稻物种与籼稻品种存在较近的亲缘关系;非AA基因组的野生稻物种不存在明显的籼-粳分化.并且证明了基于籼稻93-11和粳稻日本晴全基因组序列比对获得的InDel差异片段设计的引物可以用于栽培稻籼稻和粳稻品种的鉴定以及籼-粳分化问题的研究,及探索稻属不同物种间的亲缘关系.     

Molecular evolution of connective tissue growth factor in Cyprinidae (Teleostei: Cypriniformes)

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) plays an important role in regulation of cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis and individual development in animals. The study of sequences variation and molecular evolution of CTGF gene across various species of the cyprinid could be helpful for understanding of speciation and gene divergence in this kind of fish. In this study, 19 novel sequences of CTGF gene were obtained from the representative species of the family Cyprinidae using PCR amplification, cloning and sequencing. Phylogenetic relationships of Cyprinidae were reconstructed by neighbor-joining (NJ), maximum parsimony (MP), maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian method. Oryzias latipes from the family Cyprinodontidae was assigned to be the outgroup taxon. Leuciscini and Barbini were clustered into the monophyletic lineages respectively with the high nodal supports. The estimation of the ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitution (dN/dS) for the various branches indicated that there stood the different evolution rates between the Leuciscini and the Barbini. With the ratio of dN/dS of the Leuciscini being lower than that of the Barbini, species within the Barbini were demonstrated to be subjected to the relatively less selection pressure and under the relaxable evolution background. A 6 bp indel (insertion/deletion) was found at the 5' end of CTGF gene of Cyprinidae, and this 6 bp deletion only appeared in the Leuciscini, which is a typical characteristic of the Leuciscini and provides evidence for the monophylogeny of the Leuciscini. For the amino acid sequences of CTGF protein, the most variations and Indels were distributed in the signal region and IGFBP region of this protein, implying that these variations were correlated with the regulation of the CTGF gene expression and protein activity.