scholarly journals PHISDetector: a tool to detect diverse in silico phage-host interaction signals for virome studies

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Fengxia Zhou ◽  
Rui Gan ◽  
Chunyan Ren ◽  
Yuqiang Jia ◽  
...  

AbstractPhage-microbe interactions not only are appealing systems to study coevolution but also have been increasingly emphasized due to their roles in human health, diseases, and novel therapeutic development. Meanwhile, their interactions leave diverse signals in bacterial and phage genomic sequences, defined as phage-host interaction signals (PHISs), such as sequence composition, CRISPR targeting, prophage, and protein-protein interaction signals. We infer that proper detection and integration of these diverse PHISs will allow us to predict phage-host interactions. Here, we developed PHISDetector, a novel tool to predict phage-host interactions by detecting and integrating diverse in silico PHISs and scoring the probability of phage-host interactions using machine-learning models based on PHIS features. PHISDetector is available as a one-stop web service version for general users to study individual inputs. A stand-alone software version is also provided to process massive phage contigs from virome studies. PHISDetector is freely available at http://www.microbiome-bigdata.com/PHISDetector/ and https://github.com/HIT-ImmunologyLab/PHISDector.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengxia Zhou ◽  
Rui Gan ◽  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Chunyan Ren ◽  
Ling Yu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Phage-host interaction is one of the essential questions in microbial environments. These interactions not only are appealing systems to study coevolution but also have been increasingly emphasized due to their roles in human health, diseases, and novel therapeutic development. Meanwhile, molecular and ecological co-evolutionary processes of phages and microbe leave signals in their genomic sequences, defined as phage-host interaction signals (PHISs) in this study, which allow us to predict microbe-phage interactions in silico . Results: We developed PHISDetector, which utilizes sophisticated bioinformatics methods to detect comprehensive in silico PHISs, including sequence composition, CRISPR targeting, prophage, and protein-protein interaction signals, further systematically integrates various categories of PHISs, and carries out machine-learning modeling to predict phage-host interactions. PHISDetector captures phage-host associations in a data-driven manner and reflects various phage-microbe interaction patterns or mechanisms so that users can easily compare the results from different approaches to better understand phage-microbe coevolution. We present it as a software pipeline for phage-host interaction identification, annotation and analysis in a comprehensive and user-friendly manner. PHISDetector can be run either as a web-server (http://www.microbiome-bigdata.com/PHISDetector/) or as a stand-alone version especially designed for virome studies.Conclusions: PHISDetector is a unique tool capable of incorporating all five categories of PHISs for comprehensive prediction of global phage-host interactions. PHISDetector outperforms currently available tools which are limited by accuracy, effective detection range, types of interacting signals, and the capability to apply for high-throughput virome studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
Ferenc Orosz

In 2009, apicortin was identified in silico as a characteristic protein of apicomplexans that also occurs in the placozoa, Trichoplax adhaerens. Since then, it has been found that apicortin also occurs in free-living cousins of apicomplexans (chromerids) and in flagellated fungi. It contains a partial p25-α domain and a doublecortin (DCX) domain, both of which have tubulin/microtubule binding properties. Apicortin has been studied experimentally in two very important apicomplexan pathogens, Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium falciparum. It is localized in the apical complex in both parasites. In T. gondii, apicortin plays a key role in shaping the structure of a special tubulin polymer, conoid. In both parasites, its absence or downregulation has been shown to impair pathogen–host interactions. Based on these facts, it has been suggested as a therapeutic target for treatment of malaria and toxoplasmosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Kagami ◽  
Joel Roca-Martínez ◽  
Jose Gavaldá-García ◽  
Pathmanaban Ramasamy ◽  
K. Anton Feenstra ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of COVID-19, consists of an assembly of proteins that determine its infectious and immunological behavior, as well as its response to therapeutics. Major structural biology efforts on these proteins have already provided essential insights into the mode of action of the virus, as well as avenues for structure-based drug design. However, not all of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins, or regions thereof, have a well-defined three-dimensional structure, and as such might exhibit ambiguous, dynamic behaviour that is not evident from static structure representations, nor from molecular dynamics simulations using these structures. Main We present a website (https://bio2byte.be/sars2/) that provides protein sequence-based predictions of the backbone and side-chain dynamics and conformational propensities of these proteins, as well as derived early folding, disorder, β-sheet aggregation, protein-protein interaction and epitope propensities. These predictions attempt to capture the inherent biophysical propensities encoded in the sequence, rather than context-dependent behaviour such as the final folded state. In addition, we provide the biophysical variation that is observed in homologous proteins, which gives an indication of the limits of their functionally relevant biophysical behaviour. Conclusion The https://bio2byte.be/sars2/ website provides a range of protein sequence-based predictions for 27 SARS-CoV-2 proteins, enabling researchers to form hypotheses about their possible functional modes of action.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 999
Author(s):  
Sue E. Crawford ◽  
Sasirekha Ramani ◽  
Sarah E. Blutt ◽  
Mary K. Estes

Historically, knowledge of human host–enteric pathogen interactions has been elucidated from studies using cancer cells, animal models, clinical data, and occasionally, controlled human infection models. Although much has been learned from these studies, an understanding of the complex interactions between human viruses and the human intestinal epithelium was initially limited by the lack of nontransformed culture systems, which recapitulate the relevant heterogenous cell types that comprise the intestinal villus epithelium. New investigations using multicellular, physiologically active, organotypic cultures produced from intestinal stem cells isolated from biopsies or surgical specimens provide an exciting new avenue for understanding human specific pathogens and revealing previously unknown host–microbe interactions that affect replication and outcomes of human infections. Here, we summarize recent biologic discoveries using human intestinal organoids and human enteric viral pathogens.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 216.2-217
Author(s):  
D. Hartl ◽  
M. Keller ◽  
A. Klenk ◽  
M. Murphy ◽  
M. Martinic ◽  
...  

Background:To explore the full therapeutic spectrum of a drug it is crucial to consider its potential effectiveness in all diseases. Serendipitous clinical observations have often shown that approved drugs and those in development to be efficacious in indications different to those originally tested for. Traditional approaches to match a drug candidate with possible indications are mostly based on matching drug mechanistic knowledge with disease pathophysiology. Proof-of-concept trials or elaborate pre-clinical studies in animal models do not allow for a broad assessment due to high costs and slow progress. Gene expression changes in patients or animal models represent a good proxy to comprehensively assess both disease and drug effects. Furthermore, this data type can be integrated with a plethora of publicly available data.Objectives:Generation of a novel in silico framework to support the selection and expansion of potential indications which associate with a compound or approved drug. The framework was exemplified by the clinical compound cenerimod, a potent, selective, and orally active sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1 modulator (Piali et al., 2017).Methods:A total of ~13’000 public patient gene expression datasets from ~140 diseases were evaluated against cenerimod gene expression data generated in mouse disease models. To improve comparability of studies across platforms and species, computer algorithms (neural networks) were trained and employed to reduce noise within the data sets and improve signal. The predicted response to cenerimod for individual patients was contrasted against clinical patient characteristics.Results:The neural network algorithm efficiently reduced experimental noise and improved sensitivity in the gene expression data. The results predicted cenerimod to be efficacious in several auto-immune diseases foremost SLE. Additionally, focused analysis on individual patients rather than disease cohorts revealed potential determinants predictive of maximal clinical response, with the highest predicted clinical response for cenerimod in patients with severe inflammatory endotype and/or high SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI).Conclusion:Combining preclinical compound data with the wealth of public disease gene expression data, provides great potential to support indication selection. The novel in silico framework identified SLE as a prime potential indication for cenerimod and supported the cenerimod phase 2b clinical trial in patients with SLE (CARE study,NCT03742037).References:[1]Piali, L., Birker-Robaczewska, M., Lescop, C., Froidevaux, S., Schmitz, N., Morrison, K., … Nayler, O. (2017). Cenerimod, a novel selective S1P1 receptor modulator with unique signaling properties. Pharmacology Research & Perspectives, 5(6), 1–12.https://doi.org/10.1002/prp2.370Disclosure of Interests:Dominik Hartl Shareholder of: Idorsia shares, Employee of: Idorsia employee, Marcel Keller Shareholder of: Idorsia options/shares, Employee of: Idorsia employee, Axel Klenk Shareholder of: Idorsia option/shares, Employee of: Idorsia employee, Mark Murphy Shareholder of: Idorsia shares and stock options, Employee of: Idorsia employee, Marianne Martinic Shareholder of: Idorsia options/shares, Employee of: Idorsia employee, Gabin Pierlot Shareholder of: Idorsia options/shares, Employee of: Idorsia employee, Peter Groenen Shareholder of: Idorsia options/shares, Employee of: Idorsia employee, Daniel Strasser Shareholder of: Idorsia options/shares, Employee of: Idorsia employee


Mobile DNA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavel Jedlicka ◽  
Matej Lexa ◽  
Ivan Vanat ◽  
Roman Hobza ◽  
Eduard Kejnovsky

Abstract Background Nesting is common in LTR retrotransposons, especially in large genomes containing a high number of elements. Results We analyzed 12 plant genomes and obtained 1491 pairs of nested and original (pre-existing) LTR retrotransposons. We systematically analyzed mutual nesting of individual LTR retrotransposons and found that certain families, more often belonging to the Ty3/gypsy than Ty1/copia superfamilies, showed a higher nesting frequency as well as a higher preference for older copies of the same family (“autoinsertions”). Nested LTR retrotransposons were preferentially located in the 3’UTR of other LTR retrotransposons, while coding and regulatory regions (LTRs) are not commonly targeted. Insertions displayed a weak preference for palindromes and were associated with a strong positional pattern of higher predicted nucleosome occupancy. Deviation from randomness in target site choice was also found in 13,983 non-nested plant LTR retrotransposons. Conclusions We reveal that nesting of LTR retrotransposons is not random. Integration is correlated with sequence composition, secondary structure and the chromatin environment. Insertion into retrotransposon positions with a low negative impact on family fitness supports the concept of the genome being viewed as an ecosystem of various elements.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 4425-4431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaoxing Chen ◽  
Yao Xu ◽  
Siqi Sun ◽  
Jingwen Liu ◽  
Feilong Chen

A halophilic archaeon, strain H22T, was isolated from a subterranean salt deposit sampled at Yunnan salt mine, PR China. Colonies of strain H22T were light pink-pigmented. Cells were coccus, non-motile, Gram-stain-negative, and did not lyse in distilled water. The strain was aerobic and grew at 20–55 °C (optimum, 37 °C), in the presence of 10–30 % (w/v) NaCl (20 %) and at pH 6.5–9.0 (pH 7.0). Mg2+ was required for growth (optimum, 0.005 M). Major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol phosphate methyl ester and sulfated mannosyl-glucosyl-glycerol diether-1. Sequence similarity search based on the multiple 16S rRNA genes (rrnA, rrnB and rrnC) of strain H22T revealed that it was most closely related to species of the genera Haloarchaeobius , Haladaptatus , Halorussus and Halorubellus with relative low sequence similarities (91.9–93.7 %). The strain, however, shared highest rpoB′ gene sequence identities with Halorussus rarus TBN4T (90.8 % rpoB′ gene sequence similarity). Phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA and rpoB′ gene sequences revealed a robust lineage of the strain H22T with members of related genera of the family Halobacteriaceae . The DNA G+C content of strain H22T was 62.9 mol%. Genome-based analysis of average nucleotide identity (ANI) and in silico DNA–DNA hybridization (DDH) between strains H22T and its closest relative were equal or lower than 77.7 and 22.4 %, respectively, which were far below the threshold for delineation of a new species. Based on ANI values, in silico DDH, and distinct morphological and physiological differences from the previously described taxa, we suggest that strain H22T represents a novel species of a new genus within the family Halobacteriaceae , for which the name Halomicrococcus hydrotolerans gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is H22T (=CGMCC 1.16291T=NBRC 113231T).


Author(s):  
Liang Ren ◽  
Daonan Shen ◽  
Chengcheng Liu ◽  
Yi Ding

The human oral cavity harbors approximately 1,000 microbial species, and dysbiosis of the microflora and imbalanced microbiota-host interactions drive many oral diseases, such as dental caries and periodontal disease. Oral microbiota homeostasis is critical for systemic health. Over the last two decades, bacterial protein phosphorylation systems have been extensively studied, providing mounting evidence of the pivotal role of tyrosine and serine/threonine phosphorylation in oral bacterial dysbiosis and bacteria-host interactions. Ongoing investigations aim to discover novel kinases and phosphatases and to understand the mechanism by which these phosphorylation events regulate the pathogenicity of oral bacteria. Here, we summarize the structures of bacterial tyrosine and serine/threonine kinases and phosphatases and discuss the roles of tyrosine and serine/threonine phosphorylation systems in Porphyromonas gingivalis and Streptococcus mutans, emphasizing their involvement in bacterial metabolism and virulence, community development, and bacteria-host interactions.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Federico ◽  
Stefano Monti

ABSTRACTSummaryGeneset enrichment is a popular method for annotating high-throughput sequencing data. Existing tools fall short in providing the flexibility to tackle the varied challenges researchers face in such analyses, particularly when analyzing many signatures across multiple experiments. We present a comprehensive R package for geneset enrichment workflows that offers multiple enrichment, visualization, and sharing methods in addition to novel features such as hierarchical geneset analysis and built-in markdown reporting. hypeR is a one-stop solution to performing geneset enrichment for a wide audience and range of use cases.Availability and implementationThe most recent version of the package is available at https://github.com/montilab/hypeR.Supplementary informationComprehensive documentation and tutorials, are available at https://montilab.github.io/hypeR-docs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (6) ◽  
pp. 3656-3664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nao Ikeyama ◽  
Atsushi Toyoda ◽  
Sho Morohoshi ◽  
Tadao Kunihiro ◽  
Takumi Murakami ◽  
...  

Four strains (9CBEGH2T, 9BBH35, 6BBH38 and 6EGH11) of Gram-stain-positive, obligately anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria were isolated from faecal samples from healthy Japanese humans. The results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the four strains represented members of the family Erysipelotrichaceae and formed a monophyletic cluster with ‘ Absiella argi ’ strain N6H1-5 (99.4% sequence similarity) and Eubacterium sp. Marseille-P5640 (99.3 %). Eubacterium dolichum JCM 10413T (94.2 %) and Eubacterium tortuosum ATCC 25548T (93.7 %) were located near this monophyletic cluster. The isolates, 9CBEGH2T, ‘ A. argi ’ JCM 30884 and Eubacterium sp. Marseille-P5640 shared 98.7–99.1% average nucleotide identity (ANI) with each other. Moreover, the in silico DNA–DNA hybridization (DDH) values among three strains were 88.4–90.6%, indicating that these strains represent the same species. Strain 9CBEGH2T showed 21.5–24.1 % in silico DDH values with other related taxa. In addition, the ANI values between strain 9CBEGH2T and other related taxa ranged from 71.2 % to 73.5 %, indicating that this strain should be considered as representing a novel species on the basis of whole-genome relatedness. Therefore, we formally propose a novel name for ‘ A. argi ’ strains identified because the name ‘ A. argi ’ has been effectively, but not validly, published since 2017. On the basis of the collected data, strain 9CBEGH2T represents a novel species of a novel genus, for which the name Amedibacterium intestinale gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of A. intestinale is 9CBEGH2T (=JCM 33778T=DSM 110575T).


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