and gene sequences uploaded to gene databases adding to the pool of data available for comparison by scientists trying to unravel the origin of novel viruses.
APEIR recommended that all gene sequences of influenza viruses should be shared as soon as they are available
and the number of genes analyzed and the new patterns of relationships among fish families result in
and has broader applications related to exploring disease-causing genes and developmental processes shared with humans.
Specific BACTERIAL RNA genes present in the DNA were amplified then using a technique known as PCR and the genes sequenced with high-capacity DNA sequencers.
The specific BACTERIAL RNA genes amplified from each sample obtained from each body site of each individual were tagged during the PCR step with a sample-specific DNA barcode developed by Knight's group allowing the team to pool hundreds of samples
together prior to a single sequencing run. Knight also is involved in the American Gut project a crowdfunded effort that allows members of the public to learn more about their own individual microbes as well as microbes being carried by their dogs.
which do not affect gene function) of any known genome. Compared to humans the rate is 2000 times slower--the amount of genomic change in a single human generation would take 50000 years for the tulip tree.
Ancestral gene clusters and trna genes have been preserved and L. tulipifera still contains many genes lost during the subsequent 200 million years of evolution of flowering plants.
In fact one trna gene is no longer present in any other sequenced angiosperm. Prof Jeffrey Palmer who led this study explained By using the tulip tree as a guide we are able to estimate that the ancestral angiosperm mitochondrial genome contained 41 protein genes 14 trna genes seven trna
genes sequestered from chloroplasts and more than 700 sites of protein editing. Based on this it appears that the genome has been more
-or-less frozen in time for millions and millions of years. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Biomed Central Limited.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal References s
#Maya Long Count calendar calibrated to modern European calendar using carbon-14 datingthe Maya are famous for their complex intertwined calendric systems
Analysis of the honeybee genome suggests that they lack many of the immune-system genes of other insects raising the possibility that honeybees'use of medicine has been partly responsible
but turn on genes which produce a biofilm protecting them from the detrimental environment. Researchers tested the resilience of the Salmonella biofilm by drying it
Now Professor Hoffmann from the University of Melbourne and Professor Michale Turelli from the University of California have shown that by introducing an insecticide resistance gene alongside the Wolbachia bacteria into the mosquito that the insects pass on the disease-blocking bacteria to other mosquitoes faster.
The approach taken in this new work involves adding a pesticide resistance gene to a newer strain of Wolbachia called wmelpop
Prof Hoffmann added that insecticide resistance genes would not spread to the uninfected mosquito populations
because a Wolbachia-infected female with a resistance gene will always pass on both the gene and the bacteria to her offspring.
In that case deleting the gene that encodes FIP200 leads to an increased proliferation and ultimate depletion of such cells called hematopoietic stem cells.
But with neural stem cells they report in the new paper deleting the FIP200 gene led neural stem cells to die
The team is also looking at the role of autophagy in breast cancer stem cells because of intriguing findings about the impact of FIP200 deletion on the activity of the p53 tumor suppressor gene
Their report on advances in getting those genes to produce fully functional nanocellulose was part of the 245th National Meeting
In the 1980s and 1990s Brown's team sequenced the first nanocellulose genes from A. xylinum.
They also pinpointed the genes involved in polymerizing nanocellulose (linking its molecules together into long chains)
or other bacteria engineered with those genes to make commercial amounts of nanocellulose. Bacteria for instance would need a high-purity broth of food
Those drawbacks shifted their focus on engineering the A. xylinum nanocellulose genes into Nobles'blue-green algae. Brown explained that algae have multiple advantages for producing nanocellulose.
The genome sequencing of the first North american pest bark beetle species in the Genus dendroctonus also uncovers a bacterial gene that has jumped into the MPB genome.
This gene codes for an enzyme that digests sugar. It might be used to digest woody tissue
Gene transfers sometimes make organisms more successful in their environments. The following SFU-related graduates and/or faculty co-authored the paper:
and study monocot genes of agronomic interest. Explains Dr. Kobayashi Head of the Experimental Plant Division.
which already include human specimens mice the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana cell lines genes and microorganisms.
one or both of two natural genes known to resist the so-called TOSPO viruses which include tomato spotted wilt virus
. If some thrips get through with the virus the virus resistance genes are there to mop it up Mutschler-Chu said.
and without the virus resistance genes will be used by Mutschler-Chu and an interdisciplinary team of eight other scientists from seven other institutions nationwide as part of a new five-year $3. 75 million project to control thrips and TOSPO viruses in tomatoes.
They describe evidence from an analysis of the recently published sorghum genome the complete set of genes in the plant
#Gene responsible for short stature of dwarf pearl millet identifiedwhile pearl millet is a major food staple in some of the fastest growing regions On earth relatively little is known about the drought-hardy grain.
Recently plant geneticists at the University of Georgia successfully isolated the gene that creates dwarfed varieties of pearl millet.
It is the first time a gene controlling an important agronomic trait has been isolated in the pearl millet genome.
Genes Genomics Genetics. The dwarf varieties are economically important in the U s. India and Africa in particular.
The researchers led by UGA's Katrien Devos also were able to trace the dwarf gene to plants bred 50 years ago by Glenn Burton a UGA plant breeder who worked on the College of Agricultural and Environmental sciences'Tifton campus. Knowing
which gene controls the dwarfing trait will help plant breeders create more efficient sustainable varieties of millet that have the short stature some farmers and ranchers want.
Knowing the actual gene that reduces plant height has allowed us to develop markers that can be used by breeders to screen for the presence of the gene long before the effects of the gene can be observed visually said Devos a professor in the College of Agricultural
Rajiv K. Parvathaneni a doctoral student working in Devos'lab was in charge of tracking down the gene
He also wanted to understand the mechanism by which the gene controls auxin and to develop plant-breeder-friendly markers that would allow breeders to screen for the dwarfing gene before their plants matured.
The gene that Parvathaneni found affects the downward transport of auxin which is made in the top part of the plant.
If this gene is on the auxin flows freely and millet will grow to its full height about 10 feet.
If it is off the millet plant may only grow to be 3 to 5 feet in height.
The comparison revealed that ABCB1 a gene controlling auxin transport and causing reduced plant height in sorghum was the prime gene candidate controlling pearl millet dwarf stature Devos said.
Comparative genome analysis a process in which an unmapped genome is compared to the genome of a similar
and more thoroughly described plant genome is a common method to help identify the functions of specific genes especially in crops for which little genetic resources are available.
and to verify that ABCB1 is in fact the gene that controls dwarfism. After Devos and Parvathaneni located the dwarfing gene they tested pearl millet dwarfs from around the world.
All dwarfs caused by a nonfunctional ABCB1 gene have the same mutation as the dwarfs that were bred first by Burton in the 1960s.
Dwarf varieties of pearl millet are not ideal for every planting situation. In Africa many farmers prefer taller varieties
#Gene discovery may yield lettuce that will sprout in hot weathera team of researchers led by a University of California Davis plant scientist has identified a lettuce gene
Discovery of the genes will enable plant breeders to develop lettuce varieties that can better germinate
They identified a region of chromosome six in a wild ancestor of commercial lettuce varieties that enables seeds to germinate in warm temperatures.
When that chromosome region was crossed into cultivated lettuce varieties those varieties gained the ability to germinate in warm temperatures.
Further genetic mapping studies zeroed in on a specific gene that governs production of a plant hormone called abscisic acid--known to inhibit seed germination.
The newly identified gene turns on in most lettuce seeds when the seed is exposed to moisture at warm temperatures increasing production of abscisic acid.
however this gene does not turn on at high temperatures. As a result abscisic acid is produced not and the seeds can still germinate.
either silence or mutate the germination-inhibiting gene in cultivated lettuce varieties thus enabling those varieties to germinate
and Claire Mccallum of Arcadia Biosciences which provided the lettuce lines with variants of the target gene to help confirm the study's findings.
They identified genes responsible for making a special coat or slime capsule which the bacteria surround themselves In this protects the bacteria from stomach acids
By turning off one or more of the coat genes they could see what effect this had on its ability to stick to gut tissues.
The next step is to understand the regulation of the genes involved in making the coat said Dr Arjan Narbad who led the studies.
and green teas and coffee activated the highest levels of a well-known cancer-linked gene called p53.
The p53 gene becomes activated when DNA is damaged. Its gene product makes repair proteins that mend DNA.
The higher the level of DNA damage the more p53 becomes activated. We don't know much about the foods we eat
and Next-generation sequencing (NGS) researchers identified a large set of gene models (34879) and abundant genetic markers with the potential to provide a valuable resource for accelerating deeper and more systematic genomic and breeding
Remarkably a higher number of genes for the cytochrome P450 family were identified in Ae tauschii (485) than sorghum (365) rice (333) Brachypodium (262) and maize (261.
This family of genes has been found to be important for abiotic stress response especially in biosynthetic and detoxification pathways.
Scientists have shown that an enzyme in corn responsible for reading information from DNA can prompt unexpected changes in gene activity--an example of epigenetics.
and found that one particular gene's activity persisted from one generation to the next whether the enzyme was functioning
or not--meaning typical genetic behavior was required not for the gene's trait to come through.
because the enzyme targets a tiny piece of DNA--previously thought of as junk DNA--that had jumped from one area of the genome to another giving that little fragment power to unexpectedly turn on the gene.
The gene in question affects pigmentation in the corn plant. As a result of these experiments the researchers were able to change yellow kernel corn to a blue kernel variety by compromising the activity of the enzyme in each male parent.
The gene changes its expression in an epigenetic fashion and it doesn't follow standard inheritance behaviors.
Offspring receive one copy of genes from each parental plant and the characteristics of the alleles or alternative forms of genes help predict which traits will show up in the next plant generation.
However epigenetic variations that change the predictability of gene behavior have complicated those expectations. The breeding community searches for novel traits that will have commercial interest
and they really don't care what the basis is as long as they can capture it and breed it.
Just by knowing that this allele behaves in this epigenetic fashion I can breed plants that either have full coloration or no coloration or anything in between because
With a longtime specialization in the molecular basis for unexpected gene activity in plants Hollick had zeroed in on an enzyme called RNA polymerase IV (Pol IV.
Since we knew the misplaced tassel-seed trait was due to misexpression of a gene we hypothesized that this pigment trait might be due to a pigment regulator being expressed in a tissue where it normally is expressed never.
This is taking a gene that is genetically null that doesn't have any function in this part of the plant
but not by selecting for any particular gene. We were just continually altering the epigenetic status of one of the two parental genomes every time.
This led the scientists to question why the affected alleles of the pigmentation gene would behave in this way.
An investigation of the affected alleles revealed the nearby presence of a transposon or transposable element:
Now that we know that Pol IV is involved in regulating transposons it's not surprising that genes that are near transposons are regulated now by Pol IV Hollick said.
and Dave Weisrock both at Duke university at the time analyzed two mitochondrial and four nuclear DNA genes to figure out where the animals fit into the lemur family tree.
and Paul Schaberg and John Battles of the University of California Berkley Charles Driscoll of Syracuse University Timothy Fahey of Cornell University Lucie Lepine of the University of New hampshire Gene
and brought these African genes and of course the European cattle were there as well. All those influences come together in the cattle of the Iberian peninsula
And their genes may prove valuable to ranchers who can use the increasingly sophisticated genetic information to selectively breed the Longhorns'toughness into other breeds of cattle.
They also found that a gene expansion in the olfactory receptor Î-c clade in chicken
and sodium ion transport have evolved rapidly in falcons and also the evolutionary novelties in beak development related genes of falcons and saker-unique arid-adaptation related genes.
They compared 141 peach gene families to those of six other fully sequenced diverse plant species to unravel unique metabolic pathways for instance those that lead to lignin biosynthesis--the molecular glue that holds the plant cells together
For bioenergy researchers the size of the peach genome makes it ideal to serve as a plant model for studying genes found in related genomes such as poplar one of the DOE JGI's Plant Flagship Genomes
One gene we're interested in is the so-called evergreen locus in peaches which extends the growing season said Daniel Rokhsar DOE JGI Eukaryotic Program head under
#In triplicate, genes make maize tolerant to toxic soilrendering some of the world's toxic soils far less unfriendly the U s. Department of agriculture Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
In this effort when plant scientists searched the maize genome for clues as to why some plants can tolerate toxic aluminum in soil they found three copies of the same gene known to affect aluminum tolerance according to new USDA/Cornell-led research.
The MATE1 gene which was found in triplicate in aluminum-tolerant maize turns on in the presence of aluminum ions
He added that the extra gene copies had a cumulative effect of coding for more protein that transports aluminum-binding citric acid into the soil.
The study Aluminum tolerance in maize is associated with higher MATE1 gene copy number appeared online March 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The finding points to the importance of looking for multiple copies of a gene for higher expression of certain traits.
which provided the aluminum-tolerant maize germplasm where the 3-copy allele was discovered. Lead author Lyza Maron a senior research associate at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell also collaborated with researchers at the University of Florida Gainesville the University of Missouri Arizona Genomics Institute
By sequencing the genomic regions that harbor the MATE1 gene in aluminum-tolerant and aluminum-sensitive plants she found a similar MATE1 allele (version of a gene) in both types of plants.
But when she examined copy number variation she found the aluminum-tolerant plant had three copies
while the intolerant plant had only one copy of the MATE1 allele. Copy number variation is documented well in the human genome Kochian said
when viruses from humans and animals exchanged genes to create a new virus in a process called reassortment.
Recent research using mice confirms that genes from bird flu and human flu can combine to create dangerous new flu strains.
and Sickkids Research Institute announced today that they have mapped successfully the genes in the fungus that causes Dutch elm disease.
and their colleagues to carry the gene for producing human lysozyme in their milk. Story Source:
Additionally this opens the door to examine the use of gene silencing as a control mechanism for this devastating fungus.
and 96%genome sequences are anchored on 12 chromosomes based upon BAC-based physical map. After the comprehensive analysis they found that the compact genome of O. brachyantha was caused by the silencing of LTR (Long terminal Repeats) retrotransposons and massive internal deletions of ancient elements.
Compared with the rice genome the team found that many gene families were expanded in rice where tandem duplications
and gene movements mediated by double-strand break repair are responsible for the amplification of these genes.
Quanfei Huang Project Manager from BGI said This work revealed many important genomic mechanisms underlying Oryza genome such as the genome size variation gene movement and transition of euchromatin
#oewith relevant genes integrated in the right place in cyanobacteria s genome we have tricked the cells to produce butanol instead of fulfilling their normal function#he says.
After that more genes will have to be modified so that the end product becomes longer hydrocarbons that can fully function as a substitute for gasoline.
and genes human and bee brains function very similarly. Thus we can use the honeybee to investigate how caffeine affects our own brains and behaviours.
and it is known for passing genes on more reliably. The results of this project were published ahead of print in the Journal of Animal Science.
After developing the initial line of Enviropigs researchers found that the line had certain genes that could be unstable during reproduction or impractical in commercial use.
We have demonstrated that the gene can be transferred by breeding through many generations in a stable fashion.
#A new cryptic spider species from Africathe species from the genus Copa are very common spiders found in the leaf litter of various habitats.
The spiders from this cryptic ground-dwelling genus in the continental Afrotropical Region are revised in a study published in the open access journal Zookeys.
Newly discovered mutations in a single potato gene are likely to have contributed to the widespread success of the potato
The team of scientists headed by Wageningen UR Plant Breeding has published its findings on the gene allowing potato to grow
The authors also describe a variety of mutations in the tuber formation regulator gene which occur in different combinations in modern potato cultivars giving rise to early medium
and late varieties depending on the combination of the gene variants present in the tetraploid crop.
Knowledge of the genes underlying the mechanism of early development will allow plant breeders to tailor new potato varieties to various geographic locations.
Together the transcriptome and genome can be used as a reference for pinpointing differences in slender false brome genes
and gene activity that may contribute to its invasive capabilities. Slender false brome is an invasive grass that is native to Europe Asia and North africa.
To allow future studies to identify the functions of slender false brome genes the authors also compared the false brome transcriptome to those of well-studied agricultural species including rice and sorghum.
If false brome possesses a gene that has already been studied in an agricultural species it will be easier to identify the gene's supposed function.
#Human Y chromosome much older than previously thoughtthe discovery and analysis of an extremely rare African american Y chromosome pushes back the time of the most recent common ancestor for the Y chromosome lineage tree to 338000 years ago.
University of Arizona geneticists have discovered the oldest known genetic branch of the human Y chromosome--the hereditary factor determining male sex.
The new divergent lineage which was found in an individual who submitted his DNA to Family tree DNA a company specializing in DNA analysis to trace family roots branched from the Y chromosome tree before the first appearance of anatomically modern humans in the fossil record.
Our analysis indicates this lineage diverged from previously known Y chromosomes about 338000 ago a time
and evolutionary biology and a research scientist at the UA's Arizona Research Labs. This pushes back the time the last common Y chromosome ancestor lived by almost 70 percent.
Unlike the other human chromosomes the majority of the Y chromosome does not exchange genetic material with other chromosomes
If two Y chromosomes carry the same mutation it is because they share a common paternal ancestor at some point in the past.
The more mutations that differ between two Y chromosomes the farther back in time the common ancestor lived.
When none of the genetic markers used to assign lineages to known Y chromosome groupings were found the DNA sample was sent to Family tree DNA for sequencing.
Fernando Mendez a postdoctoral researcher in Hammer's lab led the effort to analyze the DNA sequence which included more than 240000 base pairs of the Y chromosome.
Hammer said the most striking feature of this research is that a consumer genetic testing company identified a lineage that didn't fit anywhere on the existing Y chromosome tree
Hammer said the newly discovered Y chromosome variation is extremely rare. Through large database searches his team eventually was able to find a similar chromosome in the Mbo a population living in a tiny area of western Cameroon in Sub-saharan africa.
This was surprising because previously the most diverged branches of the Y chromosome were found in traditional hunter-gatherer populations such as Pygmies
and the click-speaking Khoesan who are considered to be diverged the most human populations living today.
Instead the sample matched the Y chromosome DNA of 11 men who all came from a very small region of western Cameroon Hammer said.
or Y chromosome Adam that suggest all of humankind descended from exactly one pair of humans that lived at a certain point in human evolution.
whether in Africa or among African-americans in the U s. and that some of these may further increase the age of the Y chromosome tree.
There has been a lot of hype with people trying to trace their Y chromosome to different tribes but this individual from South carolina can say he did it.
determining cell wall chemistry to find plants with ideal genes. NREL's new High-Throughput Analytical Pyrolysis tool (HTAP) can thoroughly analyze hundreds of biomass samples a day
Difference in Signal Intensity Identifies Gene Manipulationsthe lignin in a plant is crucial for its development
HTAP integrates a molecular beam mass spectrometer with the pyrolysis unit to quickly determine chemical signatures (phenotypes) on small amounts of biomass samples that can be used for among other things identifying the genes controlling the chemical makeup.
Combining the HTAP chemical phenotypes with information such as genetic markers can signal there is a gene nearby that controls those chemical phenotypes--for better or worse.
Know the genes associated with the traits and you gain the ability to manipulate the cell wall to your advantage.
HTAP provides the information that combined with other genetic information tells us there's a gene controlling the plant's cell wall chemistry located somewhere on this chromosome--at the same location every time Davis said.
and can pinpoint the gene that has an effect on lignin content cellulose content or some other factor affecting recalcitrance (the plant's resistance to give up its structural sugars).
and breeders can determine what genes in the cloned trees are responsible for the advantageous biofuel potential.
#Selfish gene may undermine genome policefor a bunch of inanimate chemical compounds the nucleic and amino acids caught up in the infamous selfish segregation distorter (SD) saga have put on quite a soap opera for biologists
A gene exploits a rival gene's excesses sabotaging any sperm that bear a rival's chromosome.
When male flies make their sperm the SD gene (call it A) manages to rig meiosis--the specialized cell division that makes sex cells
--so that maturing sperm that bear chromosomes with the susceptible allele (call that one a) end up defective and discarded.
In the Genetics study conducted at Brown University scientists uncover new clues about how the SD gene might be gaming the system against a. It's a plot
Mendel's first law is that different alleles of a gene will segregate said Robert Reeenan professor of biology and the study's senior author.
If we have two alleles--big A and little a--then Mendel says 50 percent of the sperm at random will get the big A
. But some SD (A) alleles are so strong they pretty much kill off all the non-SD (a) chromosomes.
Most genes like most people are good upstanding citizens but some genes want to hog all the resources hog all the benefit.
The SD backstorywhat makes the a allele susceptible to SD's subterfuge is the number of copies it harbors of a runaway snippet of genetic code called Responder.
A few copies of Responder are no problem but hundreds of copies make a susceptible. Some alleles have thousands of copies
and only one in a thousand survives. Genomes try to root out parasites like Responder by creating
and Gell show that engineered mutations in the police gene named Aubergine (others on the force in the experiments are called Piwi Squash
and Zucchini) amplify SD chromosomes'success in eliminating Responder-laden sperm compared to that of SD chromosomes without Aubergine's help.
We used homologous recombination to knock in a mutation specifically on the SD chromosome to compromise Aubergine
the chromosome became more selfish. Reenan and Gell did not go so far as to determine
whether known SD-promoting genes called Enhancer of SD Stabilizer of SD and Modifier of SD act by interfering with Aubergine or its buddies on the force but Reenan said that is among the next things his group will look into.
but when the selfish genes come in the form of viruses or other kinds of transposons there can be trouble.
So investigating the tactics of selfish genes is not merely the stuff of biological soap operas.
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