A cost-effective plasmid purification protocol suitable for fluorescent automated DNA sequencing

A cost-effective, reliable, and reproducible method has been developed to produce good-quality, double-stranded plasmid DNA for automated sequence analysis. The method incorporates modifications to a previously described plasmid-purification protocol used in manual sequencing. The quality of the DNA produced from the present protocol is suitable for automated fluorescent sequencing. Using a dye-terminator sequencing protocol, most runs using plasmid DNA prepared using this protocol produced over 700 bases with greater than 99% base-calling accuracy.     

Strategy and methods for directly sequencing cosmid clones

The primer-directed enzymatic sequencing method for sequencing double-stranded DNA templates has made possible the development of new strategies for directly sequencing large DNA molecules. Toward this goal, we have developed a strategy and the necessary techniques to obtain the complete sequence of cosmid clones (double-stranded DNA molecules in the size range of 50 kb). Our present strategy uses the chemical sequencing method to obtain sequence initiation points internal to a cosmid insert and the primer-directed enzymatic DNA sequencing method to extend these sequence contigs. As part of this development we added a nucleotide "chase" solution to the standard T7 sequencing protocol and included the use of both [alpha-32P]-dATP and -dCTP for labeling. With these modifications our double-stranded cosmid DNA sequencing reactions routinely extend well beyond 1000 bp, and film exposure times are kept to a minimum (24 to 48 h). We can routinely separate sequenced DNA fragments, using a 1-m gel system, which can be accurately read (with less than 0.5% error) to distances of 800 bp or more, from the oligomer primer. The strategy and procedures presented here allow the complete sequence of a cosmid clone to be obtained without subcloning.     

单分子实时测序及其在微生物表观遗传学中的应用

表观遗传学对于微生物的生命进程起着重要作用。由限制-修饰系统调控的DNA修饰参与微生物的免疫防御系统,无限制-修饰系统调控的DNA修饰通过调控基因表达影响表型。然而,表观遗传信息还没有被常规地作为DNA信息收集分析。基于对DNA合成反应的动力学分析,单分子实时测序技术可以在获得基本序列数据的同时实现对被修饰核苷酸的检测。这个技术为微生物中已知DNA修饰的研究提供了新的平台,也为新型DNA修饰的发现做好准备。本文综述了单分子实时测序技术及其在微生物表观遗传学中的应用。     

Rapid and reliable fluorescent cycle sequencing of double-stranded templates.

Automated DNA sequencing is an extremely valuable technique which requires very high quality DNA templates to be carried out successfully. While it has been possible to readily produce large numbers of such templates from M13 or other single-stranded vectors for several years, the sequencing of double-stranded DNA templates using the ABI 373 DNA Sequencer has had a considerably lower success rate. We describe how the combination of a new fluorescent, dideoxy sequencing method, called cycle-sequencing, coupled with modifications to template isolation procedures based on Qiagen columns, makes fluorescent sequencing of double-stranded templates a reliable procedure. From a single five milliliter culture enough DNA can be isolated (up to 20 micrograms) to do 4-8 sequencing reactions, each of which yields 400-500 bases of high quality sequence data. These procedures make the routine use of double-stranded DNA templates a viable strategy in automated DNA sequencing projects.     

RNA-mediated transgenerational inheritance in ciliates and plants

In the age of next-generation sequencing (NGS) and with the availability of whole sequenced genomes and epigenomes, some attention has shifted from purely sequence-based studies to those of heritable epigenetic modifications. Transgenerational inheritance can be defined as heritable changes to the state of DNA that may be passed on to subsequent generations without alterations to the underlying DNA sequence. Although this phenomenon has been extensively studied in many systems, studies of transgenerational inheritance in mammals and other higher-level eukaryotes may be complicated by the fact that many epigenetic marks are reprogrammed during sexual reproduction. This, by definition, may obscure our interpretation of what is in fact truly transgenerational. Therefore, in this mini review, we discuss what is currently known in the field about transgenerational epigenetic inheritance in ciliates and plants, with a particular emphasis on RNA-mediated processes and changes in chromatin states.     

Enzymic detection of uracil in a cloned and sequenced deoxyribonucleic acid segment

Uracil can occur in DNA either as a result of utilization of dUTP by DNA polymerases or from in situ deamination of cytosine. The latter results in transition mutations following the next round of replication. We describe a technique for the detection of uracil in DNA by a modification of the Maxam-Gilbert sequencing procedure. Reaction of end-labeled DNA with uracil-DNA glycosylase followed by 1 M piperidine results in scission products corresponding to locations of uracils. These are detected by autoradiography following electrophoresis through a sequencing gel. Comparison of these scission products with the DNA sequences elucidates the mechanism of origin of the DNA uracils. The technique was tested with a cloned human DNA sequence grown in a dut-,ung-strain of Escherichia coli, which incorporates uracil in place of thymine in its DNA, and by chemical deamination of cytosines in that sequence. The technique was expanded by use of alkaline and enzymic probes to investigate possible accumulation of uracil, base losses, and other modifications in human liver and brain DNA. No damaged DNA moieties were detected. This method is applicable to the study of any recoverable reiterated sequence by any enzyme preparation that can recognize modifications in DNA.     

Detecting DNA Modifications from SMRT Sequencing Data by Modeling Sequence Context Dependence of Polymerase Kinetic

DNA modifications such as methylation and DNA damage can play critical regulatory roles in biological systems. Single molecule, real time (SMRT) sequencing technology generates DNA sequences as well as DNA polymerase kinetic information that can be used for the direct detection of DNA modifications. We demonstrate that local sequence context has a strong impact on DNA polymerase kinetics in the neighborhood of the incorporation site during the DNA synthesis reaction, allowing for the possibility of estimating the expected kinetic rate of the enzyme at the incorporation site using kinetic rate information collected from existing SMRT sequencing data (historical data) covering the same local sequence contexts of interest. We develop an Empirical Bayesian hierarchical model for incorporating historical data. Our results show that the model could greatly increase DNA modification detection accuracy, and reduce requirement of control data coverage. For some DNA modifications that have a strong signal, a control sample is not even needed by using historical data as alternative to control. Thus, sequencing costs can be greatly reduced by using the model. We implemented the model in a R package named seqPatch, which is available at https://github.com/zhixingfeng/seqPatch.     

Peptide and protein de novo sequencing by mass spectrometry

Although the advent of large-scale genomic sequencing has greatly simplified the task of determining the primary structures of peptides and proteins, the genomic sequences of many organisms are still unknown. Even for those that are known, modifications such as post-translational events may prevent the identification of all or part of the protein sequence. Thus, complete characterization of the protein primary structure often requires determination of the protein sequence by mass spectrometry with minimal assistance from genomic data - de novo protein sequencing. This task has been facilitated by technical developments during the past few years: 'soft' ionization techniques, new forms of chemical modification (derivatization), new types of mass spectrometer and improved software.     

Microsoft Word macro for analysis of cytosine methylation by the bisulfite deamination reaction

Cytosine methylation at CpG dinucleotides is an important control mechanism in development, differentiation, and neoplasia. Bisulfite genomic sequencing and its modifications have been developed to examine methylation at these CpG dinucleotides. To use these methods, one has to (i) manually convert the sequence to that produced by bisulfite conversion and PCR amplification, taking into account that cytosine residues at CpG dinucleotides may or may not be converted depending on their methylation status, (ii) identify relevant restriction sites that may be used for methylation analysis, and (iii) conduct similar steps with the other DNA strand since the two strands of DNA are no longer complementary after bisulfite conversion. To automate these steps, we have developed a macro that can be used with Microsoft Word. This macro (i) converts genomic sequence to modified sequence that would result after bisulfite treatment facilitating primer design for bisulfite genomic sequencing and methylation-sensitive PCR assay and (ii) identifies restriction sites that are preserved in bisulfite-converted and PCR-amplified product only if cytosine residues at relevant CpG dinucleotides are methylated (and thereby not converted to uracil) in the genomic DNA.     

Stepping stones in DNA sequencing

In recent years there have been tremendous advances in our ability to rapidly and cost-effectively sequence DNA. This has revolutionized the fields of genetics and biology, leading to a deeper understanding of the molecular events in life processes. The rapid technological advances have enormously expanded sequencing opportunities and applications, but also imposed strains and challenges on steps prior to sequencing and in the downstream process of handling and analysis of these massive amounts of sequence data. Traditionally, sequencing has been limited to small DNA fragments of approximately one thousand bases (derived from the organism's genome) due to issues in maintaining a high sequence quality and accuracy for longer read lengths. Although many technological breakthroughs have been made, currently the commercially available massively parallel sequencing methods have not been able to resolve this issue. However, recent announcements in nanopore sequencing hold the promise of removing this read-length limitation, enabling sequencing of larger intact DNA fragments. The ability to sequence longer intact DNA with high accuracy is a major stepping stone towards greatly simplifying the downstream analysis and increasing the power of sequencing compared to today. This review covers some of the technical advances in sequencing that have opened up new frontiers in genomics.     

刺猬高重复顺序DNA的分子克隆及核苷酸顺序分析

为了分析比较食虫目高重复顺序的结构特征,我们将食虫目动物刺猬的高重复顺序DNA进行了分离、纯化、分子克隆,并测出了1186bp的核苷酸顺序。经分析发现在碱基组成上它与食虫目另一动物臭鼩有许多相似之处,如:G-C碱基对与A-T碱基对在整个片段中分布很不均衡;片段内部含有许多连续多次重复的短片段等,很可能为食虫目动物所特有。     

Single-molecule DNA sequencing of widely varying GC-content using nucleotide release,capture and detection in microdroplets

Despite remarkable progress in DNA sequencing technologies there remains a trade-off between short-read platforms, having limited ability to sequence homopolymers, repeated motifs or long-range structural variation, and long-read platforms, which tend to have lower accuracy and/or throughput. Moreover, current methods do not allow direct readout of epigenetic modifications from a single read. With the aim of addressing these limitations, we have developed an optical electrowetting sequencing platform that uses step-wise nucleotide triphosphate (dNTP) release, capture and detection in microdroplets from single DNA molecules. Each microdroplet serves as a reaction vessel that identifies an individual dNTP based on a robust fluorescence signal, with the detection chemistry extended to enable detection of 5-methylcytosine. Our platform uses small reagent volumes and inexpensive equipment, paving the way to cost-effective single-molecule DNA sequencing, capable of handling widely varying GC-bias, and demonstrating direct detection of epigenetic modifications.     

Region-specific DNA methylation in the preimplantation embryo as a target for genomic plasticity

It has been long known that the unique genetic sequence each embryo inherits is not the sole determinant of phenotype. However, only recently have epigenetic modifications to DNA been implicated in providing potential developmental plasticity to the embryonic and fetal genome, with environmental influences directly altering the epigenetic modifications that contribute to tissue-specific gene regulation. Most is known about the potential environmental regulation of DNA methylation, epigenetic addition of methyl groups to cytosine residues in DNA that acts in the long-term silencing of affected sequences. While most attention has been paid to the methylation of imprinted gene sequences, in terms of developmental plasticity there are many more parts of the genome that are methylated and that could be affected. This review explores the distribution of cytosine methylation in the genome and discusses the potential effects of regional plasticity on subsequent development. Widening our consideration of potentially plastic regions is likely to greatly enhance our understanding of how individuals are shaped not only by DNA sequence, but by the environment in which pluripotent embryonic cells are transformed into the many cell types of the body.     

基于NGS的染色质测序在肿瘤研究中的应用

染色质是真核生物细胞核内由核酸和蛋白质组成的复合结构,有着精密且复杂的三维结构。染色质除基本的DNA序列外,内部还存在着不同化学修饰,DNA-蛋白质相互作用,DNA-DNA相互作用和DNA-RNA相互作用,以上这些若发生改变都可能在肿瘤发生发展过程中起到至关重要的作用。通过不同的染色质测序方法,可以解析出这些改变,并进一步加深研究者对肿瘤形成机制的理解,最终应用于肿瘤的治疗。本文对常见的染色质测序技术部分原理和应用进行综述。     

Unlocking hidden genomic sequence

Despite the success of conventional Sanger sequencing, significant regions of many genomes still present major obstacles to sequencing. Here we propose a novel approach with the potential to alleviate a wide range of sequencing difficulties. The technique involves extracting target DNA sequence from variants generated by introduction of random mutations. The introduction of mutations does not destroy original sequence information, but distributes it amongst multiple variants. Some of these variants lack problematic features of the target and are more amenable to conventional sequencing. The technique has been successfully demonstrated with mutation levels up to an average 18% base substitution and has been used to read previously intractable poly(A), AT-rich and GC-rich motifs.     

Optimized genomic sequencing as a tool for the study of cytosine methylation in the regulatory region of the chicken vitellogenin II gene

Some critical parameters of genomic sequencing are described. As an example we show a 200-nucleotide (nt) sequence of the estradiol-regulated avian vitellogenin gene II upstream region containing four CpG nt pairs. The two CpG's at positions -612 and -618 are in the sequence binding estradiol-receptor complex. While all four CpG's are methylated in erythrocytes, they are hypomethylated in the DNA of estradiol-responsive organs of egg-laying hens. A simple electroblot DNA transfer system which gives no distortion of DNA bands and quantitative transfer of denatured DNA from the gel to the filter membrane is described. Using Gene Screen membranes, a maximal hybridization signal was obtained when 30-50% of the input DNA was stably bound to the filters. Hybridization background signal and exposure time could be largely reduced by using highly purified fractionated DNA. Using a 90-120 nt long homogeneous single-stranded DNA probe of high specific activity it was possible to read a genomic sequence of up to 200 nt. The resolution was further improved by reducing the extent of chemical modifications of the DNA during the Maxam-Gilbert sequencing reactions.