Preventive SNP–SNP interactions in the mitochondrial displacement loop (D-loop) from chronic dialysis patients

Chronic dialysis association study involving individual single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the mitochondrial displacement loop (D-loop) has previously been reported. However, possible SNP–SNP interactions for SNPs in the D-loop which could be associated with a reduced risk for chronic dialysis were not investigated. The purpose of this study was to propose an effective algorithm to identify protective SNP–SNP interactions in the D-loop from chronic dialysis patients. We introduce ISGA that uses an initialization strategy for genetic algorithms (GA) to improve the computational analysis for protective SNP–SNP interactions. ISGA generates genotype patterns with combined SNPs (SNP barcodes) for chronic dialysis. Using our previously reported 77 SNPs in the D-loop, the algorithm-generated protective SNP barcodes for chronic dialysis were evaluated. ISGA provides the SNP barcodes with the maximum frequency differences of occurrence between the cases and controls. The identified SNP barcodes with the lowest odds ratio (OR) values were regarded as the best preventive SNP barcodes against chronic dialysis. The best ISGA-generated SNP barcodes (two to nine SNPs) are more closely associated with the prevention of chronic dialysis when more SNPs are chosen (OR = 0.64 to 0.32; 95% confidence interval = 0.882 to 0.198). The cumulative effects of SNP–SNP interactions were more dominant in ISGA rather than in GA without the initialization strategy. We provide a fast identification of chronic dialysis-associated protective SNP barcodes and demonstrate that the SNP–SNP interactions may have a cumulative effect on prediction for chronic dialysis.     

SNP high-throughput screening in grapevine using the SNPlex™ genotyping system

Background

Until recently, only a small number of low- and mid-throughput methods have been used for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery and genotyping in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.). However, following completion of the sequence of the highly heterozygous genome of Pinot Noir, it has been possible to identify millions of electronic SNPs (eSNPs) thus providing a valuable source for high-throughput genotyping methods.

Results

Herein we report the first application of the SNPlex? genotyping system in grapevine aiming at the anchoring of an eukaryotic genome. This approach combines robust SNP detection with automated assay readout and data analysis. 813 candidate eSNPs were developed from non-repetitive contigs of the assembled genome of Pinot Noir and tested in 90 progeny of Syrah × Pinot Noir cross. 563 new SNP-based markers were obtained and mapped. The efficiency rate of 69% was enhanced to 80% when multiple displacement amplification (MDA) methods were used for preparation of genomic DNA for the SNPlex assay.

Conclusion

Unlike other SNP genotyping methods used to investigate thousands of SNPs in a few genotypes, or a few SNPs in around a thousand genotypes, the SNPlex genotyping system represents a good compromise to investigate several hundred SNPs in a hundred or more samples simultaneously. Therefore, the use of the SNPlex assay, coupled with whole genome amplification (WGA), is a good solution for future applications in well-equipped laboratories.     

A novel SNP of α-lactalbumin gene in Chinese dairy goats

The α-lactalbumin (α-LA) plays a key role in lactose synthesis in mammary glands of domestic animals. Mutations in the α-LA gene are associated with the milk traits in dairy cattle. In our study, a novel SNP: NO_X06366: g.875 C > T was detected in 708 dairy goat individuals—268 of the Xinong Saanen breed and 440 of Guanzhong breed, which revealed a synonymous mutation in the exon 1 of α-LA gene. The Polymerase Chain Reaction-Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and sequencing techniques showed that there were three genotypes: CC, CT and TT. Moreover, the χ²-test showed that the genotype frequencies of the two breeds were in good agreement with the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0.05). The relationship of the polymorphism of dairy goat α-LA gene with the milk trait and the body size trait was revealed. Individuals with the CC genotype were significantly smaller at chest circumference than those with CT (P < 0.05) in both breeds. But the milk trait and other body size traits of the two dairy goat breeds had no significant association with genotypes studied.     

人类基因组致病SNP与良性SNP分布模式探究

基因组变异与生物学功能,乃至人体健康紧密相关。不同种类的基因组变异会对人类健康产生不同的影响,可能出现致病、良性或未知的临床症状。深入研究临床上表现为致病性或良性的基因组变异,能够有效加深我们对基因组变异与疾病发生发展的认识,对评估基因组变异所带来的影响具有一定的意义。本研究选择Clinvar数据库中与疾病相关的SNP,探究临床表现为致病与良性的SNP位点分别在基因组上的分布模式以及对蛋白序列的影响。本研究发现,致病SNP与良性SNP在外显子与内含子上的分布以及蛋白结构域内外的分布上具有非常显著差异,致病SNP在外显子和蛋白结构域内的分布密度更高。从蛋白编码区的SNP突变类型来看,致病SNP位点中的同义突变与非同义突变所占比例分别是0.64%和99.36%,而良性SNP位点中两类突变的比例相差较小,检验结果显示致病SNP位点中非同义突变更多。此外,本研究通过分析致病SNP与良性SNP中的同义突变与非同义突变在蛋白质结构域内外的分布情况,发现两类SNP变异中同义突变的分布没有显著差异,但非同义突变的分布具有显著差异,其中致病SNP变异分布在蛋白质结构域内外的比例是53.22%和46.78%,良性SNP变异分布比例为31.96%和68.04%。随后,我们对非同义突变所在基因进行了功能注释和富集分析,发现两类变异所在基因的功能范围几乎一致。     

Protein–protein interaction and SNP analysis in intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) is a type of tumor that grows within the pancreatic ducts. It is a progress from hyperplasia to intraductal adenoma (IPMA), to noninvasive carcinoma, and ultimately to invasive carcinoma (IPMC). The objective of this study was to explore the molecular mechanism of the progression from IPMA to IPMC. By using the GSE19650 affymetrix microarray data accessible from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, we first identified the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between IPMA and IPMC, followed by the protein–protein interaction and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis of the DEGs. Our study identified thousands of DEGs which involved regulation of cell cycle and apoptosis in this progression from IPMA to IPMC. Protein–protein interaction network construction found that MYC, IL6ST, NR3C1, CREBBP, GATA1 and LRP1 might play an important role in the progression. Furthermore, the SNP analysis confirmed the association between BRAC1 and pancreas cancer. In conclusion, our data provide a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis of genes and pathways which may be involved in the progression of IPMN from IPMA to IPMC.     

What Is the Significance of Difference in Phenotypic Variability across SNP Genotypes?

We studied the general problem of interpreting and detecting differences in phenotypic variability among the genotypes at a locus, from both a biological and a statistical point of view. The scales on which we measure interval-scale quantitative traits are man-made and have little intrinsic biological relevance. Before claiming a biological interpretation for genotype differences in variance, we should be sure that no monotonic transformation of the data can reduce or eliminate these differences. We show theoretically that for an autosomal diallelic SNP, when the three corresponding means are distinct so that the variance can be expressed as a quadratic function of the mean, there implicitly exists a transformation that will tend to equalize the three variances; we also demonstrate how to find a transformation that will do this. We investigate the validity of Bartlett’s test, Box’s modification of it, and a modified Levene’s test to test for differences in variances when normality does not hold. We find that, although they may detect differences in variability, these tests do not necessarily detect differences in variance. The same is true for permutation tests that use these three statistics.     

rs4215 SNP in zinc-α2-glycoprotein gene is associated with obesity in Chinese north Han population

Objective

Zinc-α2-glycoprotein (ZAG) has been identified recently as a novel adipokine due to its close link with lipid and glucose metabolism, as well as regulation of body weight. The aim of our present study is to investigate the ZAG genetic polymorphism association with obesity in Chinese north Han population.

Design and methods

Five SNPs of ZAG gene including rs2247607 (A>T), rs4727442 (G>T), rs4215 (A>G), rs2527923 (C>T) and rs2527882 (C>T) were genotyped in 648 overweight/obese patients and 313 healthy controls by TaqMan-PCR methods. Crosstabs statistical analysis method with subjects stratifying by age (≦ 30 y, 31–45 y, ≧ 46 y) and gender was used.

Results

The results showed the constitution of three genotype frequencies in rs4215 (A>G) site significantly differs in male subgroup (aged 31–45 y) between overweight/obese and healthy control group (χ² = 6.401, P = 0.041). GG genotype frequency in overweight/obese group is 19.3% which is much higher than 6.1% in healthy control group. Further statistical analysis under a recessive inheritance model demonstrated odd ratio (OR) for GG vs. AA+AG in overweight/obese group was 3.674 (95% CI 1.049–12.866; P = 0.035). Among three genotypes of rs4215, the subjects with GG genotype have much more higher body weight, BMI, waist circumference and SBP.

Conclusion

Our data, for the first time, suggest the genotypes of rs4215 in ZAG gene are significantly associated with obesity in Chinese north Han population. GG genotype subjects in rs4215 site have an increased susceptibility to obesity when compared with the AA+AG genotype subjects.     

鸡基因组pre-microRNA SNP多态性

为探讨鸡pre-microRNA SNP的多态性及其可能的功能意义, 对鸡471个pre-microRNA区域的SNP位点进行了鉴定和生物信息学分析。结果表明: pre-microRNA的SNP多态性显著地低于其侧翼区(P＜0.01＝, 其种子区SNP变异对pre-microRNA二级结构稳定性的影响高于其他各区; microRNA成熟体SNP可能影响microRNA对靶基因的选择。研究结果提示: pre-microRNA相对于其侧翼区在分子进化过程中受到更大的选择压力; 成熟体SNP可通过影响microRNA加工和靶基因的选择, 改变多种生理过程, 导致鸡种间表型变异。研究结果将为鸡microRNA的进化模式研究及其功能性SNP的鉴定提供参考信息。     

Do changes in DNA methylation mediate or interact with SNP variation? A pharmacoepigenetic analysis

Background

In studies with multi-omics data available, there is an opportunity to investigate interdependent mechanisms of biological causality. The GAW20 data set includes both DNA genotype and methylation measures before and after fenofibrate treatment. Using change in triglyceride (TG) levels pre- to posttreatment as outcome, we present a mediation analysis that incorporates methylation. This approach allows us to simultaneously consider a mediation hypothesis that genotype affects change in TG level by means of its effect on methylation, and an interaction hypothesis that the effect of change in methylation on change in TG levels differs by genotype. We select 322 single-nucleotide polymorphism–cytosine-phosphate-guanine (SNP-CpG) site pairs for mediation analysis on the basis of proximity and marginal genome-wide association study (GWAS) and epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) significance, and present results from the real-data sample of 407 individuals with complete genotype, methylation, TG levels, and covariate data.

Results

We identified 3 SNP-CpG site pairs with significant interaction effects at a Bonferroni-corrected significance threshold of 1.55E-4. None of the analyzed sites showed significant evidence of mediation. Power analysis by simulation showed that a sample size of at least 19,500 is needed to detect nominally significant indirect effects with true effect sizes equal to the point estimates at the locus with strongest evidence of mediation.

Conclusions

These results suggest that there is stronger evidence for interaction between genotype and methylation on change in triglycerides than for methylation mediating the effect of genotype.

     

SNP标记与大豆基因组作图

大豆是重要的粮油作物,在农业和经济中具有重要地位,因此对大豆基因的研究具有重要的意义。利用分子标记构建的遗传图谱是植物基因组结构和功能分析的有力工具。本文综述了SNP标记在大豆基因组中的开发、大豆基因组作图的研究概况及SNP标记在其中的应用。     

SNP功能活性研究方法进展

SNP位点是目前基因多态性研究的主要内容,包括检测分型和功能活性研究两个层次,已经建立了高度自动化和高通量的SNP检测分型技术.本文系统介绍了在性状功能、蛋白质表达、mRNA转录、基因组结构功能等不同层次上进行SNP功能活性研究的方法,并对相关研究结果进行分析,通过对各种研究方法及结果的比较,对SNP位点功能活性研究的前景进行了展望.     

SNP分型前的PAGE检测

目的：探讨单核苷酸多态性(single nucleotide polymmphism,SNP)分型前聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳(polyaerylamide gel electro—phoresis,PAGE)的作用。方法：对3个DNA片段(DAOA基因的片段E1和E2、RGS4基因的片段S4)的PCR产物先用PAGE分析,然后用变性高效液相色谱(denaturing high performance liquid chromatography,DHPLC)分型,并比对结果。结果：PAGE能将片段E1、E2和S4中同一位点的SNP杂合子样本和纯合子样本区分开来,还能进一步将片段S4中SNP位点的2种不同纯合子样本区分开来。结论：PAGE能提高SNP的检测效率,而且具有成本低,操作简便的特点。     

高通量SNP基因分型技术研究进展

在后基因组时代,单核苷酸多态性研究已迅速成为了生物医学许多领域的焦点。发展可靠、敏感、经济、稳定、高通量的SNP基因分型技术已迫在眉睫。本文主要着重于高通量SNP基因分型技术的原理、利弊以及这些技术在这个领域过去几年中的进展。     

A 55 K SNP array-based genetic map and its utilization in QTL mapping for productive tiller number in common wheat

Key message

A high-density genetic map constructed with a wheat 55 K SNP array was highly consistent with the physical map of this species and it facilitated the identification of a novel major QTL for productive tiller number.

Abstract

Productive tiller number (PTN) plays a key role in wheat grain yield. In this study, a recombinant inbred line population with 199 lines derived from a cross between ‘20828’ and ‘Chuannong16’ was used to construct a high-density genetic map using wheat 55 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. The constructed genetic map contains 12,109 SNP markers spanning 3021.04 cM across the 21 wheat chromosomes. The orders of the genetic and physical positions of these markers are generally in agreement, and they also match well with those based on the 660 K SNP array from which the one used in this study was derived. The ratios of SNPs located in each of the wheat deletion bins were similar among the wheat 9 K, 55 K, 90 K, 660 K and 820 K SNP arrays. Based on the constructed maps, a novel major quantitative trait locus QPtn.sau-4B for PTN was detected across multi-environments in a 0.55 cM interval on 4B and it explained 17.23–45.46% of the phenotypic variance. Twenty common genes in the physical interval between the flanking markers were identified on chromosome 4B of ‘Chinese Spring’ and wild emmer. These results indicate that wheat 55 K SNP array could be an ideal tool in primary mapping of target genes and the identification of QPtn.sau-4B laid a foundation for the following fine mapping and cloning work.