scholarly journals DNLC: differential network local consistency analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (S15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianwei Lu ◽  
Yao Lu ◽  
Yusheng Ding ◽  
Qingyang Xiao ◽  
Linqing Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The biological network is highly dynamic. Functional relations between genes can be activated or deactivated depending on the biological conditions. On the genome-scale network, subnetworks that gain or lose local expression consistency may shed light on the regulatory mechanisms related to the changing biological conditions, such as disease status or tissue developmental stages. Results In this study, we develop a new method to select genes and modules on the existing biological network, in which local expression consistency changes significantly between clinical conditions. The method is called DNLC: Differential Network Local Consistency. In simulations, our algorithm detected artificially created local consistency changes effectively. We applied the method on two publicly available datasets, and the method detected novel genes and network modules that were biologically plausible. Conclusions The new method is effective in finding modules in which the gene expression consistency change between clinical conditions. It is a useful tool that complements traditional differential expression analyses to make discoveries from gene expression data. The R package is available at https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/DNLC.

Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 909
Author(s):  
Anyela Valentina Camargo Rodriguez

Senescence is the final stage of leaf development and is critical for plants’ fitness as nutrient relocation from leaves to reproductive organs takes place. Although senescence is key in nutrient relocation and yield determination in cereal grain production, there is limited understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms that control it in major staple crops such as wheat. Senescence is a highly orchestrated continuum of interacting pathways throughout the lifecycle of a plant. Levels of gene expression, morphogenesis, and phenotypic development all play key roles. Yet, most studies focus on a short window immediately after anthesis. This approach clearly leaves out key components controlling the activation, development, and modulation of the senescence pathway before anthesis, as well as during the later developmental stages, during which grain development continues. Here, a computational multiscale modelling approach integrates multi-omics developmental data to attempt to simulate senescence at the molecular and plant level. To recreate the senescence process in wheat, core principles were borrowed from Arabidopsis Thaliana, a more widely researched plant model. The resulted model describes temporal gene regulatory networks and their effect on plant morphology leading to senescence. Digital phenotypes generated from images using a phenomics platform were used to capture the dynamics of plant development. This work provides the basis for the application of computational modelling to advance understanding of the complex biological trait senescence. This supports the development of a predictive framework enabling its prediction in changing or extreme environmental conditions, with a view to targeted selection for optimal lifecycle duration for improving resilience to climate change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuping Li ◽  
Xiaoju Liang ◽  
Xuguo Zhou ◽  
Yu An ◽  
Ming Li ◽  
...  

AbstractGlycyrrhiza, a genus of perennial medicinal herbs, has been traditionally used to treat human diseases, including respiratory disorders. Functional analysis of genes involved in the synthesis, accumulation, and degradation of bioactive compounds in these medicinal plants requires accurate measurement of their expression profiles. Reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) is a primary tool, which requires stably expressed reference genes to serve as the internal references to normalize the target gene expression. In this study, the stability of 14 candidate reference genes from the two congeneric species G. uralensis and G. inflata, including ACT, CAC, CYP, DNAJ, DREB, EF1, RAN, TIF1, TUB, UBC2, ABCC2, COPS3, CS, R3HDM2, were evaluated across different tissues and throughout various developmental stages. More importantly, we investigated the impact of interactions between tissue and developmental stage on the performance of candidate reference genes. Four algorithms, including geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and Delta Ct, were used to analyze the expression stability and RefFinder, a comprehensive software, provided the final recommendation. Based on previous research and our preliminary data, we hypothesized that internal references for spatio-temporal gene expression are different from the reference genes suited for individual factors. In G. uralensis, the top three most stable reference genes across different tissues were R3HDM2, CAC and TUB, while CAC, CYP and ABCC2 were most suited for different developmental stages. CAC is the only candidate recommended for both biotic factors, which is reflected in the stability ranking for the spatio (tissue)-temporal (developmental stage) interactions (CAC, R3HDM2 and DNAJ). Similarly, in G. inflata, COPS3, R3HDM2 and DREB were selected for tissues, while RAN, COPS3 and CS were recommended for developmental stages. For the tissue-developmental stage interactions, COPS3, DREB and ABCC2 were the most suited reference genes. In both species, only one of the top three candidates was shared between the individual factors and their interactions, specifically, CAC in G. uralensis and COPS3 in G. inflata, which supports our overarching hypothesis. In summary, spatio-temporal selection of reference genes not only lays the foundation for functional genomics research in Glycyrrhiza, but also facilitates these traditional medicinal herbs to reach/maximize their pharmaceutical potential.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 6556
Author(s):  
Junjun Huang ◽  
Xiaoyu Li ◽  
Xin Chen ◽  
Yaru Guo ◽  
Weihong Liang ◽  
...  

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins are a gene super-family in plants and play vital roles in growth, development, and response to abiotic and biotic stresses. The ABC transporters have been identified in crop plants such as rice and buckwheat, but little is known about them in soybean. Soybean is an important oil crop and is one of the five major crops in the world. In this study, 255 ABC genes that putatively encode ABC transporters were identified from soybean through bioinformatics and then categorized into eight subfamilies, including 7 ABCAs, 52 ABCBs, 48 ABCCs, 5 ABCDs, 1 ABCEs, 10 ABCFs, 111 ABCGs, and 21 ABCIs. Their phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, and gene expression profiles were characterized. Segmental duplication was the main reason for the expansion of the GmABC genes. Ka/Ks analysis suggested that intense purifying selection was accompanied by the evolution of GmABC genes. The genome-wide collinearity of soybean with other species showed that GmABCs were relatively conserved and that collinear ABCs between species may have originated from the same ancestor. Gene expression analysis of GmABCs revealed the distinct expression pattern in different tissues and diverse developmental stages. The candidate genes GmABCB23, GmABCB25, GmABCB48, GmABCB52, GmABCI1, GmABCI5, and GmABCI13 were responsive to Al toxicity. This work on the GmABC gene family provides useful information for future studies on ABC transporters in soybean and potential targets for the cultivation of new germplasm resources of aluminum-tolerant soybean.


BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliki Xanthopoulou ◽  
Javier Montero-Pau ◽  
Belén Picó ◽  
Panagiotis Boumpas ◽  
Eleni Tsaliki ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Summer squash (Cucurbita pepo: Cucurbitaceae) are a popular horticultural crop for which there is insufficient genomic and transcriptomic information. Gene expression atlases are crucial for the identification of genes expressed in different tissues at various plant developmental stages. Here, we present the first comprehensive gene expression atlas for a summer squash cultivar, including transcripts obtained from seeds, shoots, leaf stem, young and developed leaves, male and female flowers, fruits of seven developmental stages, as well as primary and lateral roots. Results In total, 27,868 genes and 2352 novel transcripts were annotated from these 16 tissues, with over 18,000 genes common to all tissue groups. Of these, 3812 were identified as housekeeping genes, half of which assigned to known gene ontologies. Flowers, seeds, and young fruits had the largest number of specific genes, whilst intermediate-age fruits the fewest. There also were genes that were differentially expressed in the various tissues, the male flower being the tissue with the most differentially expressed genes in pair-wise comparisons with the remaining tissues, and the leaf stem the least. The largest expression change during fruit development was early on, from female flower to fruit two days after pollination. A weighted correlation network analysis performed on the global gene expression dataset assigned 25,413 genes to 24 coexpression groups, and some of these groups exhibited strong tissue specificity. Conclusions These findings enrich our understanding about the transcriptomic events associated with summer squash development and ripening. This comprehensive gene expression atlas is expected not only to provide a global view of gene expression patterns in all major tissues in C. pepo but to also serve as a valuable resource for functional genomics and gene discovery in Cucurbitaceae.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 522.3-523
Author(s):  
R. Shumnalieva ◽  
D. Kachakova ◽  
R. Kaneva ◽  
Z. Kolarov ◽  
S. Monov

Background:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression at posttranscriptional level. In rheumatoid arthritis studies have shown that miRNA are differentially expressed systemically as well as locally in the inflamed joints [1,2]. The correlation between their systemic or local expression levels and scores for disease activity and progression in RA make them possible candidate for biomarkers in the clinical practice.Objectives:To analyze the expression levels of miR-155 and miR-223 in synovial fluid (SF) from RA patients in regard to the ultrasound scores for disease activity.Methods:A total number of 48 RA patients according to the 1987 ACR criteria were included in the study. Expression levels of miR-155 and miR-223 SF were determined by qPCR (SybrGreen technology) and compared to healthy controls (HCs). Relative changes of gene expression levels of the studied miRNAs were calculated by 2-ΔΔCt method. Musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) examination was performed by two independent examiners on ESAOTE, MyLab60 using both grey scale and power Doppler technic. A semi-quantitative assessment of the peripheral joints was performed for detecting joint inflammation and determining the grade of synovial thickening and the degree of vascularization. Ultrasound features for active disease were correlated to the local expression of the studied miRNAs. SPSS was used for statistical analysis.Results:RA SF showed overexpression of miR-155 (in 79.17%, p=1.63x10-4) and of miR-223 (in 79.17%, p=1.64x10-3) when compared to HCs and both miRNAs could be used to differentiate RA patients from HCs (р=8.0х10-5 and р=2.8х10-4, respectively). When we analyzed the correlation between the diagnosis, the expression of miRNAs and the changes on the musculoskeletal ultrasound examination we found a statistically significant correlation between the presence of synovitis and the degree of the power Doppler signal on MSUS and the local expression of miR-223 (p=6.19 x 10-4 and p=0.003, respectively). SF levels of miR-223 correlated also with the degree of synovial hypertrophy on MSUS (p=0.013). The results for miRNA-155 were not statistically significant.Conclusion:The correlation between the local expression of miR-223 and the ultrasound features of active joint inflammation shows that this miRNA might be a better candidate for local disease biomarker than miR-155. Further analysis with larger sets is needed to confirm if altered local miRNA expression could be used in the clinical practice as biomarker for disease activity especially in cases with subclinical synovitis.References:[1]Filková M, Aradi B, Šenolt L, et al. Association of circulating miR-223 and miR-16 with disease activity in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. ARD, 2014; 73: 1898-1904.[2]Kriegsmann, M., Randau, T.M., Gravius, S. et al. Expression of miR-146a, miR-155, and miR-223 in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded synovial tissues of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Virchows Arch, 2016; 469, 93–100.Acknowledgements:The study was supported by Grant 14-D/2012 and Grant 60/2013 funded by Medical University-Sofia.Disclosure of Interests:Russka Shumnalieva: None declared, Darina Kachakova: None declared, Radka Kaneva: None declared, Zlatimir Kolarov Speakers bureau: Amgen, Pfizer, Novartis, Abbvie, Roche, Astra-Zeneka, Simeon Monov Speakers bureau: Amgen, Pfizer, Novartis, Abbvie, Roche, Astra-Zeneka


2021 ◽  
Vol 757 ◽  
pp. 143896
Author(s):  
Elin Sørhus ◽  
Carey E. Donald ◽  
Denis da Silva ◽  
Anders Thorsen ◽  
Ørjan Karlsen ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 2064 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingliang Jiang ◽  
Xiangshu Dong ◽  
Hong Lang ◽  
Wenxing Pang ◽  
Zongxiang Zhan ◽  
...  

Orphan genes, also called lineage-specific genes (LSGs), are important for responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, and are associated with lineage-specific structures and biological functions. To date, there have been no studies investigating gene number, gene features, or gene expression patterns of orphan genes in Brassica rapa. In this study, 1540 Brassica-specific genes (BSGs) and 1824 Cruciferae-specific genes (CSGs) were identified based on the genome of Brassica rapa. The genic features analysis indicated that BSGs and CSGs possessed a lower percentage of multi-exon genes, higher GC content, and shorter gene length than evolutionary-conserved genes (ECGs). In addition, five types of BSGs were obtained and 145 out of 529 real A subgenome-specific BSGs were verified by PCR in 51 species. In silico and semi-qPCR, gene expression analysis of BSGs suggested that BSGs are expressed in various tissue and can be induced by Plasmodiophora brassicae. Moreover, an A/C subgenome-specific BSG, BSGs1, was specifically expressed during the heading stage, indicating that the gene might be associated with leafy head formation. Our results provide valuable biological information for studying the molecular function of BSGs for Brassica-specific phenotypes and biotic stress in B. rapa.


Author(s):  
Daniel M. Sapozhnikov ◽  
Moshe Szyf

AbstractAlthough associations between DNA methylation and gene expression were established four decades ago, the causal role of DNA methylation in gene expression remains unresolved. Different strategies to address this question were developed; however, all are confounded and fail to disentangle cause and effect. We developed here a highly effective new method using only deltaCas9(dCas9):gRNA site-specific targeting to physically block DNA methylation at specific targets in the absence of a confounding flexibly-tethered enzymatic activity, enabling examination of the role of DNA methylation per se in living cells. We show that the extensive induction of gene expression achieved by TET/dCas9-based targeting vectors is confounded by DNA methylation-independent activities, inflating the role of DNA methylation in the promoter region. Using our new method, we show that in several inducible promoters, the main effect of DNA methylation is silencing basal promoter activity. Thus, the effect of demethylation of the promoter region in these genes is small, while induction of gene expression by different inducers is large and DNA methylation independent. In contrast, targeting demethylation to the pathologically silenced FMR1 gene targets robust induction of gene expression. We also found that standard CRISPR/Cas9 knockout generates a broad unmethylated region around the deletion, which might confound interpretation of CRISPR/Cas9 gene depletion studies. In summary, this new method could be used to reveal the true extent, nature, and diverse contribution to gene regulation of DNA methylation at different regions.


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