Gene Re-annotation in Genome of the Extremophile Pyrobaculum Aerophilum by Using Bioinformatics Methods

Abstract

In this paper, we re-annotated the genome of Pyrobaculum aerophilum str. IM2, particularly for hypothetical ORFs. The annotation process includes three parts. Firstly and most importantly, 23 new genes, which were missed in the original annotation, are found by combining similarity search and the ab initio gene finding approaches. Among these new genes, five have significant similarities with function-known genes and the rest have significant similarities with hypothetical ORFs contained in other genomes. Secondly, the coding potentials of the 1645 hypothetical ORFs are re-predicted by using 33 Z curve variables combined with Fisher linear discrimination method. With the accuracy being 99.68%, 25 originally annotated hypothetical ORFs are recognized as non-coding by our method. Thirdly, 80 hypothetical ORFs are assigned with potential functions by using similarity search with BLAST program. Re-annotation of the genome will benefit related researches on this hyperthermophilic crenarchaeon. Also, the re-annotation procedure could be taken as a reference for other archaeal genomes. Details of the revised annotation are freely available at http://cobi.uestc.edu.cn/resource/paero/     

福州野生蕉FeSOD家族基因的克隆及在低温胁迫下的表达分析

以抗寒性较强的福州野生蕉为材料,采用RACE和RT-PCR扩增得到铁超氧化物歧化酶(FeSOD)家族基因(FeSOD)的2个成员共4条转录本,分别命名为MuFSD1A(登录号JX844026)、MuFSD1B(登录号KJ786318)、MuFSD1B-variant1(登录号KJ786319)和MuFSD1B-variant2(登录号KJ786320)。MuFSD1A基因cDNA全长为1 277bp,编码300个氨基酸;MuFSD1B基因cDNA全长为1 378bp,编码260个氨基酸。基因结构分析表明MuFSD1B-variant1和MuFSD1B-variant2为MuFSD1B的可变剪接转录本。生物信息学和亚细胞定位分析显示,MuFSD1A和MuFSD1B主要定位于叶绿体,但他们的理化性质、磷酸化位点、蛋白结构等存在差异。序列比对分析发现MuFSD1A和MuFSD1B相似性仅为33.33%,但都具有保守的金属结合位点和FeSOD的特征氨基酸。进化树分析显示,MuFSD1A和MuFSD1B聚在不同的分支中。qRT-PCR分析表明,低温诱导MuFSD1A基因的表达而抑制MuFSD1B基因的表达,且MuFSD1A基因的相对表达量随着温度的降低而显著增加,说明该成员可能在香蕉抗寒中起主要作用。     

Determination of G-protein levels,ADP-ribosylation by cholera and pertussis toxins and the regulation of adenylyl cyclase activity in liver plasma membranes from lean and genetically diabetic (db/db)

Liver plasma membranes prepared from genetically diabetic (db/db) mice expressed levels of G_i α-2, G_i α-3 and G-protein β-subunits that were reduced by some 75, 63 and 73% compared with levels seen in membranes from lean animals. In contrast, there were no significant differences in the expression of the 42 and 45 kDa forms of G_s α-subunits. Pertussis toxin-catalysed ADP-ribosylation of membranes from lean animals identified a single 41 kDa band whose labelling was reduced by some 86% in membranes from diabetic animals. Cholera toxin-catalysed ADP-ribosylation identified two forms of G_s α-subunits whose labelling was about 4-fold greater in membranes from diabetic animals compared with those from lean animals. Maximal stimulations of adenylyl cyclase activity by forskolin (100 μM), GTP (100 μM), p[NH]ppG (100 μM), NaF (10 mM) and glucagon (10 μM) were similar in membranes from lean and diabetic animals, whereas stimulation by isoprenaline (100 μM) was lower by about 22%. Lower concentrations (EC₅₀-60 nM) of p[NH]ppG were needed to activate adenylyl cyclase in membranes from diabetic animals compared to those from lean animals (EC₅₀-158 nM). As well as causing activation, p[NH]ppG was capable of eliciting a pertussis toxin-sensitive inhibitory effect upon forskolin-stimulated adenylyl cyclase activity in membranes from both lean and diabetic animals. However, maximal inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity in membranes from diabetic animals was reduced to around 60% of that found using membranes from lean animals. Pertussis toxin-treatment in vivo enhanced maximal stimulation of adenylyl cyclase by glucagon, isoprenaline and p[NH]ppG through a process suggested to be mediated by the abolition of functional G_i activity. The lower levels of expression of G-protein β-subunits, in membranes from diabetic compared with lean animals, is suggested to perturb the equilibria between holomeric and dissociated G-protein subunits. We suggest that this may explain both the enhanced sensitivity of adenylyl cyclase to stimulation by p[NH]ppG in membranes from diabetic animals and the altered ability of pertussis and cholera toxins to catalyse the ADP-ribosylation of G-proteins in membranes from these two animals.