One species, two genomes: A critical assessment of inter-isolate variation and identification of assembly incongruence in Haemonchus contortus

BackgroundNumerous quality issues may compromise genomic data’s representation of its underlying organism. In this study, we compared two genomes published by different research groups for the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus, corresponding to divergent isolates. We analyzed differences between the genomes, attempting to ascertain which were attributable to legitimate biological differences, and which to technical error in one or both genomes.ResultsWe found discrepancies between the H. contortus genomes in both assembly and annotation. The genomes differed in representation of genes that are highly conserved across eukaryotes, with clear evidence of misassembly underlying conserved genes missing from one genome or the other. Only 45% of genes in one genome were orthologous to genes in the other genome, with one genome exhibiting almost as much orthology to C. elegans as its counterpart H. contortus strain. The two genomes differed substantially in probable causes underlying this unexpectedly low orthology. One genome included many more inparalogues than the other, and more frequently assembled inparalogues together on the same portions of contiguous sequence. It also exhibited cases of better-conserved gene position relative to C. elegans.ConclusionThe discrepancies between the two genomes far exceeded those expected as a consequence of biological differences between the two H. contortus isolates. This implies substantial quality issues in one or both genomes, suggesting that researchers must exercise caution when using genomic data for newly sequenced species.

Inter and Intra Variation of Potato Yellow Vein Virus in Three Potato Species From Colombia

Potato yellow vein virus (PYVV), (family Closteroviridae, genus Crinivirus) is a re-emergent virus in Andean countries. Low inter-isolate variation has been reported for PYVV CP gene, but there are no reports for intra-isolate variation. Inter- and intra-isolate variability in CP from a population of PYVV was studied. Samples of 216 symptomatic potato plants (115 Solanum tuberosum subsp. andigena (STA), 100 Solanum phureja (SPH) and 1 Solanum chaucha (SCH)) were collected in five Colombian departments. Viral isolates were amplified by RT-PCR and the amplicons were analyzed by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). Six different migration SSCP patterns (A to F) with different complexities were observed among the population. Pattern A was detected in the five departments in 66% of the isolates. Pattern E was found only in the department of Cundinamarca with a frequency of 0.09%. Patterns B, C, D and F were found in similar proportions of from 13% to 5.6% and were present in the five departments. Homology at the nucleotide level of 75% of the sequence of the CP gene was greater than 99% and the dN/dS ratio (no-synonymous/synonymous changes) was 0.002. Amplicons of the whole CP gene of eight selected isolates representing the six SSCP patterns were cloned and the SSCP analysis showed that, in all cases, more than one variant was present. The sequence analysis of the 35 clones confirmed intra-isolate variability of PYVV. The existence of several variants in a single field isolate was demonstrated and negative selection against amino acid changes of the CP was suggested.

Exploiting Friends-and-Neighbors to Estimate Coattail Effects

Federalist democracies often hold concurrent elections for multiple offices. A potential consequence of simultaneously voting for multiple offices that vary with respect to scope and scale is that the personal appeal of candidates in a high-profile race may affect electoral outcomes in less salient races. In this article I estimate the magnitude of such coattail effects from governors onto other concurrently elected statewide executive officers using a unique dataset of county election returns for all statewide executive office elections in the United States from 1987 to 2010. I exploit the disproportionate support that candidates receive from geographically proximate voters, which is often referred to as the friends-and-neighbors vote, to isolate variation in the personal appeal of candidates. I find that a one-percentage-point increase in the personal vote received by a gubernatorial candidate increases the vote share of their party's secretary of state and attorney general candidates by 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points. In contrast, personal votes for a secretary of state or attorney general candidate have no effect on the performance of their party's gubernatorial candidate or other down-ballot candidates.

Carbon acquisition mechanisms by planktonic desmids and their link to ecological distribution

To test if different inorganic carbon (Ci) uptake mechanisms underlie the ecological distribution pattern of planktonic desmids, we performed pH-drift experiments with 12 strains, belonging to seven species, originating from lakes of different pH. Staurastrum brachiatum Ralfs and Staurodesmus cuspidatus (Ralfs) Teil. var. curvatus (W. West) Teil., species confined to acidic, soft water habitats, showed remarkably different behavior in the pH drift experiments: S. brachiatum appeared to use CO2 only, whereas Staurodesmus cuspidatus appeared to use HCO3– as well. Staurastrum chaetoceras (Schr.) Smith and Staurastrum planctonicum Teil, species well-known for their abundant occurrence in alkaline waters, were the most effective at using HCO3–. Other species, to be encountered in both slightly acidic and slightly alkaline waters, took an intermediate position. Experiments using specific inhibitors suggested that Cosmarium abbreviatum Rac. var. planctonicum W. & G.S. West and S. brachiatum use CO2 by an active CO2 uptake mechanism, whereas S. chaetoceras and Staurodesmus cuspidatus showed an active HCO3– uptake pattern. Most likely, these active uptake mechanisms make use of H+-ATPase, as none of the desmids expressed significant carbonic anhydrase activity. A series of strains of Staurastrum planctonicum isolated from different habitats, all clustered in between the species using HCO3–, but no further differentiation was observed. Therefore, desmids cannot be simply characterized as exclusive CO2 users, and the ecological distribution pattern of a desmid species does not unequivocally link to a certain Ci uptake mechanism. Nevertheless, there does appear to be a general ecological link between a species' Ci uptake mechanism and its ecological distribution.Key words: pH drift, desmids, isolate variation, inorganic carbon acquisition.