http://www.biology-direct.com The latest research articles published by Biology Direct 2009-06-26T00:00:00Z This is an RSS newsfeed from BioMed Central It is intended to be used with an RSS reader. For more information about RSS newsfeeds from BioMed Central, visit http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/about/rss/ Background: Previous studies have revealed a wide-spread occurence of the partial and complete genomes of the reverse-transcribing pararetroviruses in the nuclear genomes of herbaceous plants. Although the absence of the virus-encoded integrases attests to the random and incidental incorporation of the viral sequences, their presence could have functional implications for the virus-host interactions.HypothesisAnalyses of two nuclear genomes of grapevine revealed multiple events of horizontal gene transfer from pararetroviruses. The ~200-800 bp inserts that corresponded to partial ORFs encoding reverse transcriptase apparently derived from unknown or extinct caulimoviruses and tungroviruses, were found in 11 grapevine chromosomes. In contrast to the previous reports, no reliable cases of the inserts derived from the positive-strand RNA viruses were found. Because grapevine is known to be infected by the diverse positive-strand RNA viruses, but not pararetroviruses, we hypothesize that pararetroviral inserts have conferred host resistance to these viruses. Furthermore, we propose that such resistance involves RNA interference-related mechanisms acting via small RNA-mediated methylation of pararetroviral DNAs and/or via degradation of the viral mRNAs. Conclusion: The pararetroviral sequences in plant genomes may be maintained due to the benefits of virus resistance to this class of viruses conferred by their presence. Such resistance could be particularly significant for the woody plants that must withstand years- to centuries-long virus assault. Experimental research into the RNA interference pathways involving the integrated pararetroviral inserts is required to test this hypothesis.ReviewersThis article was reviewed by Arcady R. Mushegian, I. King Jordan, and Eugene V. Koonin. http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/21 Christophe Bertsch Monique Beuve Valerian Dolja Marion Wirth Frederique Pelsy Etienne Herrbach Olivier Lemaire Biology Direct 2009, 4:21 2009-06-26T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-21 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 21 2009-06-26T00:00:00Z PDF Background: Over the past two decades, there have been several approximate methods that adopt different mutation models and used for estimating nonsynonymous and synonymous substitution rates (Ka and Ks) based on protein-coding sequences across species or even different evolutionary lineages. Among them, MYN method (a Modified version of Yang-Nielsen method) considers three major dynamic features of evolving DNA sequences–bias in transition/transversion rate, nucleotide frequency, and unequal transitional substitution but leaves out another important feature: unequal substitution rates among different sites or nucleotide positions. Results: We incorporated a new feature for analyzing evolving DNA sequences–unequal substitution rates among different sites–into MYN method, and proposed a modified version, namely γ (gamma)-MYN, based on an assumption that the evolutionary rate at each site follows a mode of γ-distribution. We applied γ-MYN to analyze the key estimator of selective pressure ω (Ka/Ks) and other relevant parameters in comparison to two other related methods, YN and MYN, and found that neglecting the variation of substitution rates among different sites may lead to biased estimations of ω. Our new method appears to have minimal deviations when relevant parameters vary within normal ranges defined by empirical data. Conclusion: Our results indicate that unequal substitution rates among different sites have variable influences on ω under different evolutionary rates while both transition/transversion rate ratio and unequal nucleotide frequencies affect Ka and Ks thus selective pressure ω.ReviewersThis paper was reviewed by Kateryna Makova, David A. Liberles (nominated by David H Ardell), Zhaolei Zhang (nominated by Mark Gerstein), and Shamil Sunyaev. http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/20 Da-Peng Wang Hao-Lei Wan Song Zhang Jun Yu Biology Direct 2009, 4:20 2009-06-16T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-20 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 20 2009-06-16T00:00:00Z XML Background: The prokaryotic toxin-antitoxin systems (TAS, also referred to as TA loci) are widespread, mobile two-gene modules that can be viewed as selfish genetic elements because they evolved mechanisms to become addictive for replicons and cells in which they reside, but also possess "normal" cellular functions in various forms of stress response and management of prokaryotic population. Several distinct TAS of type 1, where the toxin is a protein and the antitoxin is an antisense RNA, and numerous, unrelated TAS of type 2, in which both the toxin and the antitoxin are proteins, have been experimentally characterized, and it is suspected that many more remain to be identified. Results: We report a comprehensive comparative-genomic analysis of Type 2 toxin-antitoxin systems in prokaryotes. Using sensitive methods for distant sequence similarity search, genome context analysis and a new approach for the identification of mobile two-component systems, we identified numerous, previously unnoticed protein families that are homologous to toxins and antitoxins of known type 2 TAS. In addition, we predict 12 new families of toxins and 13 families of antitoxins, and also, predict a TAS or TAS-like activity for several gene modules that were not previously suspected to function in that capacity. In particular, we present indications that the two-gene module that encodes a minimal nucleotidyl transferase and the accompanying HEPN protein, and is extremely abundant in many archaea and bacteria, especially, thermophiles might comprise a novel TAS. We present a survey of previously known and newly predicted TAS in 750 complete genomes of archaea and bacteria, quantitatively demonstrate the exceptional mobility of the TAS, and explore the network of toxin-antitoxin pairings that combines plasticity with selectivity. Conclusion: The defining properties of the TAS, namely, the typically small size of the toxin and antitoxin genes, fast evolution, and extensive horizontal mobility, make the task of comprehensive identification of these systems particularly challenging. However, these same properties can be exploited to develop context-based computational approaches which, combined with exhaustive analysis of subtle sequence similarities were employed in this work to substantially expand the current collection of TAS by predicting both previously unnoticed, derived versions of known toxins and antitoxins, and putative novel TAS-like systems. In a broader context, the TAS belong to the resistome domain of the prokaryotic mobilome which includes partially selfish, addictive gene cassettes involved in various aspects of stress response and organized under the same general principles as the TAS. The "selfish altruism", or "responsible selfishness", of TAS-like systems appears to be a defining feature of the resistome and an important characteristic of the entire prokaryotic pan-genome given that in the prokaryotic world the mobilome and the "stable" chromosomes form a dynamic continuum.ReviewersThis paper was reviewed by Kenn Gerdes (nominated by Arcady Mushegian), Daniel Haft, Arcady Mushegian, and Andrei Osterman. For full reviews, go to the Reviewers' Reports section. http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/19 Kira Makarova Yuri Wolf Eugene Koonin Biology Direct 2009, 4:19 2009-06-03T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-19 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 19 2009-06-03T00:00:00Z XML In this work, we study the consequences of sequence variations of the "2009 H1N1" (swine or Mexican flu) influenza A virus strain neuraminidase for drug treatment and vaccination. We find that it is phylogenetically more closely related to European H1N1 swine flu and H5N1 avian flu rather than to the H1N1 counterparts in the Americas. Homology-based 3D structure modeling reveals that the novel mutations are preferentially located at the protein surface and do not interfere with the active site. The latter is the binding cavity for 3 currently used neuraminidase inhibitors: oseltamivir (Tamiflu®), zanamivir (Relenza®) and peramivir; thus, the drugs should remain effective for treatment. However, the antigenic regions of the neuraminidase relevant for vaccine development, serological typing and passive antibody treatment can differ from those of previous strains and already vary among patients.ReviewersThis article was reviewed by Sandor Pongor and L. Aravind. http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/18 Sebastian Maurer-Stroh Jianmin Ma Raphael Tze Chuen Lee Fernanda Sirota Frank Eisenhaber Biology Direct 2009, 4:18 2009-05-20T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-18 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 18 2009-05-20T00:00:00Z XML Background: During normal development, cells undergo a unidirectional course of differentiation that progressively decreases the number of cell types they can potentially become. Pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into several types of cells, but terminally differentiated cells cannot differentiate any further. A fundamental problem in stem cell biology is the characterization of the difference in cellular states, e.g., gene expression profiles, between pluripotent stem cells and terminally differentiated cells.Presentation of the hypothesisTo address the problem, we developed a dynamical systems model of cells with intracellular protein expression dynamics and interactions with each other. According to extensive simulations, cells with irregular (chaotic) oscillations in gene expression dynamics have the potential to differentiate into other cell types. During development, such complex oscillations are lost successively, leading to a loss of pluripotency. These simulation results, together with recent single-cell-level measurements in stem cells, led us to the following hypothesis regarding pluripotency: Chaotic oscillation in the expression of some genes leads to cell pluripotency and affords cellular state heterogeneity, which is supported by itinerancy over quasi-stable states. Differentiation stabilizes these states, leading to a loss of pluripotency.Testing the hypothesisTo test the hypothesis, it is crucial to measure the time course of gene expression levels at the single-cell level by fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. By analyzing the time series of single-cell-level expression data, one can distinguish whether the variation in protein expression level over time is due only to stochasticity in expression dynamics or originates from the chaotic dynamics inherent to cells, as our hypothesis predicts. By further analyzing the expression in differentiated cell types, one can examine whether the loss of pluripotency is accompanied by a loss of oscillation.Implications of the hypothesisRecovery of pluripotency from determined cells is a long-standing aspiration, from both scientific and clinical perspectives. Our hypothesis suggests a feasible route to recover the potential to differentiate, i.e., by increasing the variety of expressed genes to restore chaotic expression dynamics, as is consistent with the recent generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.ReviewersThis article was reviewed by David Krakauer, Jeroen van Zon (nominated by Rob de Boer), and Williams S. Hlavacek. http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/17 Chikara Furusawa Kunihiko Kaneko Biology Direct 2009, 4:17 2009-05-15T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-17 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 17 2009-05-15T00:00:00Z XML Background: The arrangement of the amino acids in the genetic code is such that neighbouring codons are assigned to amino acids with similar physical properties. Hence, the effects of translational error are minimized with respect to randomly reshuffled codes. Further inspection reveals that it is amino acids in the same column of the code (i.e. same second base) that are similar, whereas those in the same row show no particular similarity. We propose a 'four-column' theory for the origin of the code that explains how the action of selection during the build-up of the code leads to a final code that has the observed properties. Results: The theory makes the following propositions. (i) The earliest amino acids in the code were those that are easiest to synthesize non-biologically, namely Gly, Ala, Asp, Glu and Val. (ii) These amino acids are assigned to codons with G at first position. Therefore the first code may have used only these codons. (iii) The code rapidly developed into a four-column code where all codons in the same column coded for the same amino acid: NUN = Val, NCN = Ala, NAN = Asp and/or Glu, and NGN = Gly. (iv) Later amino acids were added sequentially to the code by a process of subdivision of codon blocks in which a subset of the codons assigned to an early amino acid were reassigned to a later amino acid. (v) Later amino acids were added into positions formerly occupied by amino acids with similar properties because this can occur with minimal disruption to the proteins already encoded by the earlier code. As a result, the properties of the amino acids in the final code retain a four-column pattern that is a relic of the earliest stages of code evolution. Conclusion: The driving force during this process is not the minimization of translational error, but positive selection for the increased diversity and functionality of the proteins that can be made with a larger amino acid alphabet. Nevertheless, the code that results is one in which translational error is minimized. We define a cost function with which we can compare the fitness of codes with varying numbers of amino acids, and a barrier function, which measures the change in cost immediately after addition of a new amino acid. We show that the barrier is positive if an amino acid is added into a column with dissimilar properties, but negative if an amino acid is added into a column with similar physical properties. Thus, natural selection favours the assignment of amino acids to the positions that they occupy in the final code.ReviewersThis article was reviewed by David Ardell, Eugene Koonin and Stephen Freeland (nominated by Laurence Hurst) http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/16 Paul Higgs Biology Direct 2009, 4:16 2009-04-24T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-16 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 16 2009-04-24T00:00:00Z XML Bacteriocins are peptide antibiotics from ribosomally translated precursors, produced by bacteria often through extensive post-translational modification. Minimal sequence conservation, short gene lengths, and low complexity sequence can hinder bacteriocin identification, even during gene calling, so they are often discovered by proximity to accessory genes encoding maturation, immunity, and export functions. This work reports a new subfamily of putative thiazole-containing heterocyclic bacteriocins. It appears universal in all strains of Bacillus anthracis and B. cereus, but has gone unrecognized because it is always encoded far from its maturation protein operon. Patterns of insertions and deletions among twenty-four variants suggest a repeating functional unit of Cys-Xaa-Xaa.ReviewersThis article was reviewed by Andrei Osterman and Lakshminarayan Iyer. http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/15 Daniel Haft Biology Direct 2009, 4:15 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-15 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 15 2009-04-21T00:00:00Z XML Background: Several recent studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of deep sequencing for transcriptome analysis (RNA-seq) in mammals. As RNA-seq becomes more affordable, whole genome transcriptional profiling is likely to become the platform of choice for species with good genomic sequences. As yet, a rigorous analysis methodology has not been developed and we are still in the stages of exploring the features of the data. Results: We investigated the effect of transcript length bias in RNA-seq data using three different published data sets. For standard analyses using aggregated tag counts for each gene, the ability to call differentially expressed genes between samples is strongly associated with the length of the transcript. Conclusion: Transcript length bias for calling differentially expressed genes is a general feature of current protocols for RNA-seq technology. This has implications for the ranking of differentially expressed genes, and in particular may introduce bias in gene set testing for pathway analysis and other multi-gene systems biology analyses.ReviewersThis article was reviewed by Rohan Williams (nominated by Gavin Huttley), Nicole Cloonan (nominated by Mark Ragan) and James Bullard (nominated by Sandrine Dudoit). http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/14 Alicia Oshlack Matthew Wakefield Biology Direct 2009, 4:14 2009-04-16T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-14 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 14 2009-04-16T00:00:00Z XML Background: Genome size and gene content in bacteria are associated with their lifestyles. Obligate intracellular bacteria (i.e., mutualists and parasites) have small genomes that derived from larger free-living bacterial ancestors; however, the different steps of bacterial specialization from free-living to intracellular lifestyle have not been studied comprehensively. The growing number of available sequenced genomes makes it possible to perform a statistical comparative analysis of 317 genomes from bacteria with different lifestyles. Results: Compared to free-living bacteria, host-dependent bacteria exhibit fewer rRNA genes, more split rRNA operons and fewer transcriptional regulators, linked to slower growth rates. We found a function-dependent and non-random loss of the same 100 orthologous genes in all obligate intracellular bacteria. Thus, we showed that obligate intracellular bacteria from different phyla are converging according to their lifestyle. Their specialization is an irreversible phenomenon characterized by translation modification and massive gene loss, including the loss of transcriptional regulators. Although both mutualists and parasites converge by genome reduction, these obligate intracellular bacteria have lost distinct sets of genes in the context of their specific host associations: mutualists have significantly more genes that enable nutrient provisioning whereas parasites have genes that encode Types II, IV, and VI secretion pathways. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that gene loss, rather than acquisition of virulence factors, has been a driving force in the adaptation of parasites to eukaryotic cells. This comparative genomic analysis helps to explore the strategies by which obligate intracellular genomes specialize to particular host-associations and contributes to advance our knowledge about the mechanisms of bacterial evolution.ReviewersThis article was reviewed by Eugene V. Koonin, Nicolas Galtier, and Jeremy Selengut. http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/13 Vicky Merhej Manuela Royer-Carenzi Pierre Pontarotti Didier Raoult Biology Direct 2009, 4:13 2009-04-10T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-13 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 13 2009-04-10T00:00:00Z XML Interactomes of proteins under positive selection from ionizing-radiation-resistant bacteria (IRRB) might be a part of the answer to the question as to how IRRB, particularly Deinococcus radiodurans R1 (Deira), resist ionizing radiation. Here, using the Database of Interacting Proteins (DIP) and the Protein Structural Interactome (PSI)-base server for PSI map, we have predicted novel interactions of orthologs of the 58 proteins under positive selection in Deira and other IRRB, but which are absent in IRSB. Among these, 18 domains and their interactomes have been identified in DNA checkpoint and repair; kinases pathways; energy and nucleotide metabolisms were the important biological processes that were found to be involved. This finding provides new clues to the cellular pathways that can to be important for ionizing-radiation resistance in Deira. http://www.biology-direct.com/content/4/1/12 Karim Mezhoud Haitham Sghaier Insaf Barkallah Biology Direct 2009, 4:12 2009-04-08T00:00:00Z doi:10.1186/1745-6150-4-12 Biology Direct 1745-6150 4 12 2009-04-08T00:00:00Z XML