scholarly journals Comparative genomics of microsporidian genomes reveals a minimal non-coding RNA set and new insights for transcription in minimal eukaryotic genomes

DNA Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdel Belkorchia ◽  
Jean-François Pombert ◽  
Valérie Polonais ◽  
Nicolas Parisot ◽  
Frédéric Delbac ◽  
...  
BMC Genomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie E. Hernández-Salmerón ◽  
Gabriel Moreno-Hagelsieb

Abstract Background Finding orthologs remains an important bottleneck in comparative genomics analyses. While the authors of software for the quick comparison of protein sequences evaluate the speed of their software and compare their results against the most usual software for the task, it is not common for them to evaluate their software for more particular uses, such as finding orthologs as reciprocal best hits (RBH). Here we compared RBH results obtained using software that runs faster than blastp. Namely, lastal, diamond, and MMseqs2. Results We found that lastal required the least time to produce results. However, it yielded fewer results than any other program when comparing the proteins encoded by evolutionarily distant genomes. The program producing the most similar number of RBH to blastp was diamond ran with the “ultra-sensitive” option. However, this option was diamond’s slowest, with the “very-sensitive” option offering the best balance between speed and RBH results. The speeding up of the programs was much more evident when dealing with eukaryotic genomes, which code for more numerous proteins. For example, lastal took a median of approx. 1.5% of the blastp time to run with bacterial proteomes and 0.6% with eukaryotic ones, while diamond with the very-sensitive option took 7.4% and 5.2%, respectively. Though estimated error rates were very similar among the RBH obtained with all programs, RBH obtained with MMseqs2 had the lowest error rates among the programs tested. Conclusions The fast algorithms for pairwise protein comparison produced results very similar to blast in a fraction of the time, with diamond offering the best compromise in speed, sensitivity and quality, as long as a sensitivity option, other than the default, was chosen.


Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1349
Author(s):  
Václav Brázda ◽  
Yu Luo ◽  
Martin Bartas ◽  
Patrik Kaura ◽  
Otilia Porubiaková ◽  
...  

The importance of unusual DNA structures in the regulation of basic cellular processes is an emerging field of research. Amongst local non-B DNA structures, G-quadruplexes (G4s) have gained in popularity during the last decade, and their presence and functional relevance at the DNA and RNA level has been demonstrated in a number of viral, bacterial, and eukaryotic genomes, including humans. Here, we performed the first systematic search of G4-forming sequences in all archaeal genomes available in the NCBI database. In this article, we investigate the presence and locations of G-quadruplex forming sequences using the G4Hunter algorithm. G-quadruplex-prone sequences were identified in all archaeal species, with highly significant differences in frequency, from 0.037 to 15.31 potential quadruplex sequences per kb. While G4 forming sequences were extremely abundant in Hadesarchaea archeon (strikingly, more than 50% of the Hadesarchaea archaeon isolate WYZ-LMO6 genome is a potential part of a G4-motif), they were very rare in the Parvarchaeota phylum. The presence of G-quadruplex forming sequences does not follow a random distribution with an over-representation in non-coding RNA, suggesting possible roles for ncRNA regulation. These data illustrate the unique and non-random localization of G-quadruplexes in Archaea.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Unterman ◽  
Idit Bloch ◽  
Simona Cazacu ◽  
Gila Kazimirsky ◽  
Benjamin P. Berman ◽  
...  

AbstractInactivating mutations in the Methyl-CpG Binding Protein 2 (MECP2) gene are the main cause of Rett syndrome (RTT). Despite extensive research into MECP2 function, no treatments for RTT are currently available. Here we use an evolutionary genomics approach to construct an unbiased MECP2 gene network, using 1,028 eukaryotic genomes to prioritize proteins with strong co-evolutionary signatures with MECP2. Focusing on proteins targeted by FDA approved drugs led to three promising candidates, two of which were previously linked to MECP2 function (IRAK, KEAP1) and one that was not (EPOR). We show that each of these compounds has the ability to rescue different phenotypes of MECP2 inactivation in cultured human neural cell types, and appear to act on Nuclear Factor Kappa B (NF-κB) signaling in inflammation. This study highlights the potential of comparative genomics to accelerate drug discovery, and yields potential new avenues for the treatment of RTT.Abstract Figure


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 456 ◽  
Author(s):  
André F. Gabriel ◽  
Marina C. Costa ◽  
Francisco J. Enguita

Non-coding regulatory RNAs are generated as a core output of the eukaryotic genomes, being essential players in cell biology. At the organism level, they are key functional actors in those tissues and organs with limited proliferation capabilities such as the heart. The role of regulatory networks mediated by non-coding RNAs in the pathophysiology of cardiovascular conditions is starting to be unveiled. However, a deeper knowledge of the functional interactions among the diverse non-coding RNA families and their phenotypic consequences is required. This review presents the current knowledge about the functional crosstalk between circRNAs and other biomolecules in the framework of the cardiovascular diseases.


eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Unterman ◽  
Idit Bloch ◽  
Simona Cazacu ◽  
Gila Kazimirsky ◽  
Bruria Ben-Zeev ◽  
...  

Inactivating mutations in the Methyl-CpG Binding Protein 2 (MECP2) gene are the main cause of Rett syndrome (RTT). Despite extensive research into MECP2 function, no treatments for RTT are currently available. Here, we used an evolutionary genomics approach to construct an unbiased MECP2 gene network, using 1028 eukaryotic genomes to prioritize proteins with strong co-evolutionary signatures with MECP2. Focusing on proteins targeted by FDA-approved drugs led to three promising targets, two of which were previously linked to MECP2 function (IRAK, KEAP1) and one that was not (EPOR). The drugs targeting these three proteins (Pacritinib, DMF, and EPO) were able to rescue different phenotypes of MECP2 inactivation in cultured human neural cell types, and appeared to converge on Nuclear Factor Kappa B (NF-κB) signaling in inflammation. This study highlights the potential of comparative genomics to accelerate drug discovery, and yields potential new avenues for the treatment of RTT.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phani Rama Krishna Behra ◽  
B. M. Fredrik Pettersson ◽  
Sarbashis Das ◽  
Santanu Dasgupta ◽  
Leif A. Kirsebom

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (S 01) ◽  
Author(s):  
MP Ashton ◽  
I Tan ◽  
L Mackin ◽  
C Elso ◽  
E Chu ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annamaria Morotti ◽  
Irene Forno ◽  
Valentina Andre ◽  
Andrea Terrasi ◽  
Chiara Verdelli ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianjun Li ◽  
Gang Ma ◽  
Huimin Guo ◽  
Suhua Sun ◽  
Ying Xu ◽  
...  

Background & Aims: Down-regulation of the growth arrest specific transcript 5 (GAS5) (long non-coding RNA) is associated with cell proliferation of gastric cancer (GC) and a poor prognosis. We aimed to investigate whether the variant rs145204276 of GAS5 is associated with the prognosis of GC in the Chinese population, and to unveil the regulatory mechanism underlying the GAS5 expression in GC tissues.Method: 1,253 GC patients and 1,354 healthy controls were included. The frequency of the genotype del/del and the allele del of rs145204276 were compared between the patients and the controls and between different subgroups of patients classified by clinicopathological variables. The overall survival rate was analyzed according to the Kaplan-Meier method using the log-rank test.Results: The frequency of genotype del/del was significantly lower in patients than in the controls (7.0% vs. 9.1%, p = 0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that genotype del/del was significantly associated with a higher survival rate (p = 0.01). Patients with late tumor stage were found to have a significantly lower rate of genotype del/del than those with an early tumor stage (4.9% vs. 8.8%, p = 0.01). Patients with UICC III and IV were found to have a significantly lower rate of genotype del/del than those with UICC I and II (5.3% vs. 8.1%, p = 0.02).Conclusion: The variant rs145204276 of GAS5 is associated with the development and prognosis of GC. The allele del of rs145204276 is associated with a remarkably lower incidence of cancer progression and metastasis.


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