scholarly journals Exploring DNA structures in real-time polymerase kinetics using Pacific Biosciences sequencer data

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sterling Sawaya ◽  
James Boocock ◽  
Mik Black ◽  
Neil Gemmell
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Double Helix ◽  
Dna Structure ◽  
R Package ◽  
Dna Structures ◽  
Pacific Biosciences ◽  
Tandem Repeat Sequences ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Polymerase Pausing

Pausing of DNA polymerase can indicate the presence of a DNA structure that differs from the canonical double-helix. Here we detail a method to investigate how polymerase pausing in the Pacific Biosciences sequencer reads can be related to DNA structure. The Pacific Biosciences sequencer uses optics to view a polymerase and its interaction with a single DNA molecule in real-time, offering a unique way to detect potential alternative DNA structures. We have developed a new way to examine polymerase kinetics and relate it to the DNA sequence by using a wavelet transform of read information from the sequencer. We use this method to examine how polymerase kinetics are related to nucleotide base composition. We then examine tandem repeat sequences known for their ability to form different DNA structures: (CGG)n and (CG)n repeats which can, respectively, form G-quadruplex DNA and Z-DNA. We find pausing around the (CGG)n repeat that may indicate the presence of G-quadruplexes in some of the sequencer reads. The (CG)n repeat does not appear to cause polymerase pausing, but its kinetics signature nevertheless suggests the possibility that alternative nucleotide conformations may sometimes be present. We discuss the implications of using our method to discover DNA sequences capable of forming alternative structures. The analyses presented here can be reproduced on any Pacific Biosciences kinetics data for any DNA pattern of interest using an R package that we have made publicly available.

Systematics, Biogeography, and Morphological Character Evolution of the Hemiepiphytic Subfamily Monsteroideae (Araceae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Zuluaga ◽  
Martin Llano ◽  
Ken Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
R Package ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Seed Shape ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Tropics

The subfamily Monsteroideae (Araceae) is the third richest clade in the family, with ca. 369 described species and ca. 700 estimated. It comprises mostly hemiepiphytic or epiphytic plants restricted to the tropics, with three intercontinental disjunctions. Using a dataset representing all 12 genera in Monsteroideae (126 taxa), and five plastid and two nuclear markers, we studied the systematics and historical biogeography of the group. We found high support for the monophyly of the three major clades (Spathiphylleae sister to Heteropsis Kunth and Rhaphidophora Hassk. clades), and for six of the genera within Monsteroideae. However, we found low rates of variation in the DNA sequences used and a lack of molecular markers suitable for species-level phylogenies in the group. We also performed ancestral state reconstruction of some morphological characters traditionally used for genera delimitation. Only seed shape and size, number of seeds, number of locules, and presence of endosperm showed utility in the classification of genera in Monsteroideae. We estimated ancestral ranges using a dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis model as implemented in the R package BioGeoBEARS and found evidence for a Gondwanan origin of the clade. One tropical disjunction (Monstera Adans. sister to Amydrium Schott–Epipremnum Schott) was found to be the product of a previous Boreotropical distribution. Two other disjunctions are more recent and likely due to long-distance dispersal: Spathiphyllum Schott (with Holochlamys Engl. nested within) represents a dispersal from South America to the Pacific Islands in Southeast Asia, and Rhaphidophora represents a dispersal from Asia to Africa. Future studies based on stronger phylogenetic reconstructions and complete morphological datasets are needed to explore the details of speciation and migration within and among areas in Asia.

scholarly journals Exploring possible DNA structures in real-time polymerase kinetics using Pacific Biosciences sequencer data

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sterling Sawaya ◽  
James Boocock ◽  
Michael A Black ◽  
Neil J Gemmell
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Dna Structures ◽  
Pacific Biosciences

Effect of chemical environment changes in cell on DNA structures and functions

Impact ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (7) ◽  
pp. 25-27
Author(s):  
Hisae Tateishi-Karimata ◽  
Naoki Sugimoto
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Double Helix ◽  
Associate Professor ◽  
Chemical Environment ◽  
Important Work ◽  
Chain Reaction ◽  
Dna Structures ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Environment Changes

Diseases are caused by mutations in DNA sequences. DNA tends to form double-helix structures but in more recent times, it has been found that it can also form non-canonical structures in response to changes in the environment around it. Japanese researchers have now unearthed some exciting findings about the chain reaction that results, potentially leading to diseases such as cancer. Associate Professor Hisae Tateishi-Karimata and Professor Naoki Sugimoto are based at the Frontier Institute for Biomolecular Engineering Research (FIBER), Konan University in Japan, and are collaborating on important work to better understand the complex inner workings of cells in disease. An area of focus for this research is the elucidation of mechanisms of diseases caused by non-canonical structures of DNA and regulation for DNA function.

Sequence-specific assignments and their use in NMR studies of DNA structure

1987 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. R. Reid
Keyword(s):  
Dna Sequences ◽  
Nearest Neighbor ◽  
Context Effects ◽  
Double Helix ◽  
Dna Structure ◽  
Nmr Studies ◽  
Specific Sequence ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Fibre Diffraction ◽  
Number Of Publications

There has been a surge of recent interest, reflected by a sharp increase in the number of publications, in the area of high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of DNA. The goal of many of these studies is to monitor the structure of biologically important DNA sequences directly in solution; the impetus for such studies was the realization, from early single-crystal X-ray structures, that nearest-neighbor context effects are a major determinant of local structure in short double-helical DNAs (Dickerson & Drew, 1981; Dickerson, 1983). Thus, instead of the previously assumed regular averaged structure of the double helix derived from fibre diffraction analysis, the more interesting concept emerged that specific sequence-dependent distortions from ‘classical’ DNA structure might be responsible for the recognition of such sequences by a variety of ligands such as repressors, polymerases, drugs, etc.

scholarly journals Subtle structural alterations in G-quadruplex DNA regulate site specificity of fluorescence light-up probes

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 1108-1119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajendra Kumar ◽  
Karam Chand ◽  
Sudipta Bhowmik ◽  
Rabindra Nath Das ◽  
Snehasish Bhattacharjee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rational Design ◽  
Dna Structure ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Chemical Research ◽  
Quadruplex Dna ◽  
Dna Structures ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
G4 Dna ◽  
G Quadruplex ◽  
Fluorescence Light

Abstract G-quadruplex (G4) DNA structures are linked to key biological processes and human diseases. Small molecules that target specific G4 DNA structures and signal their presence would therefore be of great value as chemical research tools with potential to further advance towards diagnostic and therapeutic developments. However, the development of these types of specific compounds remain as a great challenge. In here, we have developed a compound with ability to specifically signal a certain c-MYC G4 DNA structure through a fluorescence light-up mechanism. Despite the compound's two binding sites on the G4 DNA structure, only one of them result in the fluorescence light-up effect. This G-tetrad selectivity proved to originate from a difference in flexibility that affected the binding affinity and tilt the compound out of the planar conformation required for the fluorescence light-up mechanism. The intertwined relation between the presented factors is likely the reason for the lack of examples using rational design to develop compounds with turn-on emission that specifically target certain G4 DNA structures. However, this study shows that it is indeed possible to develop such compounds and present insights into the molecular details of specific G4 DNA recognition and signaling to advance future studies of G4 biology.

Mercury Electrodes in Nucleic Acid Electrochemistry: Sensitive Analytical Tools and Probes of DNA Structure. A Review

2004 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslav Fojta
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acid ◽  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Double Helix ◽  
Dna Structure ◽  
Electrochemical Analysis ◽  
Label Free ◽  
Helix Formation ◽  
Mercury Electrodes ◽  
Dna Strand ◽  
Dna Double Helix

This review is devoted to applications of mercury electrodes in the electrochemical analysis of nucleic acids and in studies of DNA structure and interactions. At the mercury electrodes, nucleic acids yield faradaic signals due to redox processes involving adenine, cytosine and guanine residues, and tensammetric signals due to adsorption/desorption of polynucleotide chains at the electrode surface. Some of these signals are highly sensitive to DNA structure, providing information about conformation changes of the DNA double helix, formation of DNA strand breaks as well as covalent or non-covalent DNA interactions with small molecules (including genotoxic agents, drugs, etc.). Measurements at mercury electrodes allow for determination of small quantities of unmodified or electrochemically labeled nucleic acids. DNA-modified mercury electrodes have been used as biodetectors for DNA damaging agents or as detection electrodes in DNA hybridization assays. Mercury film and solid amalgam electrodes possess similar features in the nucleic acid analysis to mercury drop electrodes. On the contrary, intrinsic (label-free) DNA electrochemical responses at other (non-mercury) solid electrodes cannot provide information about small changes of the DNA structure. A review with 188 references.

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