桉树EST序列中微卫星含量及相关特征

通过对桉树属(Eucalyptus)的10 000条EST序列进行分析, 在其中的1 499条序列上共发现1 775个微卫星重复序列。含有微卫星的EST序列约占序列总数的15%。此外, 还发现桉树EST序列所含微卫星长度的变异速率与重复单元长度呈负相关; 微卫星的丰度与重复单元长度也呈负相关(三碱基重复微卫星除外)。在桉树EST序列中, 重复单元长度为三碱基的微卫星最为丰富。三碱基重复单元微卫星的过度富集可能是由于遗传密码选择所致。在微卫星的丰度及长度变异方面, 桉树EST序列与杨树(Populus trichocarpa)基因组注释的转录序列随重复单元长度的变化呈现出相同的规律, 但桉树EST序列中微卫星频率及三碱基重复微卫星的含量显著偏低, 推测含微卫星的基因表达丰度极有可能低于不含微卫星的基因。通过对发现的所有微卫星位点进行引物设计, 并对设计的引物进行PCR检测, 结果表明所设计的引物具有极高的扩增成功率。     

松树、杨树及桉树表达基因序列微卫星比对分析

微卫星是生物基因组中变异频率最快的序列,结构基因中微卫星重复数的变化会引起基因的框移突变,导致基因表达完全不同或截短的蛋白.因此在进化过程中,基因区微卫星会受到强烈选择的影响.为研究基因区微卫星在不同树种中的变化情况,在本研究中,利用SPUTNIK程序分析了NCBI数据库中松树(Pinus spp.)、杨树(Populus spp.)及桉树(Eucalyptus spp.)的表达序列标签(express sequence tag, EST)序列各3万条.结果显示,桉树和杨树EST序列含有微卫星的比例比较接近,分别为18.7%和15.3%,而在松树中则发生了较大分化,只有8.2%.研究发现,三碱基重复单元是这3个树种编码序列中微卫星的主要重复类型.除三碱基重复微卫星外,桉树和杨树EST序列中其它类型微卫星的丰度随着重复单元长度的增加而减少,而在松树中则呈相反现象.同时值得注意的是松树EST序列中变异频率快的微卫星(>20 bp)数量明显比桉树及杨树少.研究还发现,3个树种中微卫星获得或丢失重复单元的速率都随着重复单元的增加而降低.本研究首次报道了不同树种基因区微卫星比较研究,发现了一些松树与杨树、桉树相比较EST序列中所含微卫星在丰度及变异频率方面存在的异同.基因所含微卫星序列对基因的功能有重要影响,本研究的结果将为了解不同树种中基因区微卫星的特征提供重要参数,同时也将为利用所研究树种的EST序列开发多态性高的微卫星标记提供有益的生物信息学参考.     

赤拟谷盗全基因组和EST中微卫星的丰度

微卫星是近年大力开发的一种分子标记,为了推进赤拟谷盗Tribolium castaneum(Herbst)遗传学相关研究,对赤拟谷盗全基因组和EST中由1~6个碱基重复单元组成的简单序列重复进行分析,进而对其微卫星的丰度和分布进行比较分析。微卫星在赤拟谷盗EST中的分布频率为1/0.87kb,其中单碱基重复序列占71.25%,是最丰富的重复单元,而六、三、四、二,五碱基重复单元序列分别占23.93%,2.94%,1.56%,0.17%,0.15%。全基因组中微卫星的分布频率为1/3.65kb,其中六碱基重复序列占61.96%,是最丰富的重复单元,而三,四,一,五,二碱基重复单元序列分别占14.35%,13.75%,4.68%,3.60%,1.69%。同时发现富含A和T碱基的微卫星占主导地位,富含G和C碱基的微卫星数量较少。进一步的分析显示,微卫星在每条染色体上的丰度存在很大的相似性。     

柑橘EST-SSR分子标记分析

对来源于甜橙（Citrus sinensis Osbeck）、枳壳（Poncirus trifoliata Raf．）和其他柑橘非冗余EST数据库的38124条单-基因（Unigene）序列进行了简单重复序列SSRs（Simple Sequence Repeat）搜索,所分析的柑橘非冗余核酸序列总长23．29Mb,从中获得了8218条SSR,其中包括单碱基重复4913条（59．8％）,2碱基重复1419条（17．3％）,3碱基重复1709条（20．8％）,4碱基重复114条（1．39％）,5碱基重复23条（0．28％）,6碱基重复40条（0．49％）。大约每2．8kb长度的单-基因序列中即存在1个SSR,即平均4．6个单-基因中存在1个SSR。随碱基重复单元（motif）的不同,SSR的最大长度在40-105之间,全部重复序列的平均长度为20．9bp。各种SSR（1-,2-,3-,4-,5-,6-核苷酸重复）的发生频率在甜橙和枳壳间非常接近。其中单碱基重复序列是最丰富的重复单元,其次为3碱基重复。在所得的SSR的重复单元中,富含A碱基的重复单元的分布占据优势地位,出现的频率与密度均较高,而富含CG碱基的重复单元出现频率和密度较低。用25对EST-SSR引物对6个柑橘品种的多样性进行了PCR检测,结果表明,所有25对引物在6个柑橘品种间均扩增到多样性条带,证实通过柑橘EST数据库的发掘能够高效地筛选到基因水平的SSR标记。     

烟草EST-SSR位点分析

利用MISA软件对烟草EST公共数据库中的简单重复序列(SSRs)进行了分析。结果表明,在133523条EST序列中,共获得81757条SSR序列,SSRs之间的距离约为0.92 kb。其中,六碱基重复丰度最大,占60.3%,而单碱基、三碱基、四碱基、二碱基和五碱基重复丰度分别为20.0%、11.0%、4.2%、2.8%和1.7%。在单碱基、二碱基、三碱基和四碱基重复模体中,丰度最大的分别是A/T、AG、AAG和AAAT,而CG在编码区内丰度很低。用CAP3软件进行冗余分析表明,在这6种类型的重复模体中,冗余与非冗余的烟草EST之间没有显著差异。在得到的SSR序列中随机选择10个序列设计引物,在7个烟草品种中进行PCR扩增。结果表明,10对引物全部扩增出PCR产物,其中8对引物扩增出预期片段。用这8组扩增出预期片段的PCR产物进行变性PAGE凝胶电泳检测,结果表明,其中有4对引物(EB4、EB5、EB6和EB8)扩增出多态性条带。     

中国明对虾基因组微卫星重复单元类型与其多态性关系

利用超声波粉碎中国明对虾Fenneropenaeus chinensis基因组后建立随机基因组文库,对其测序后获得了1996个克隆序列,经SeqmanⅡ（DNAstar）拼装后获得独立克隆数目为1900个,每个序列长度从400－700bp不等。利用重复序列分析软件对这些序列中含有微卫星重复序列的序列进行分析,共找到136个包含完整侧翼序列的重复序列。利用引物设计软件从以上重复序列中设计出34对引物,合成引物后,通过PCR扩增和聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳的方法获得了各个微卫星位点的等位基因数目。34对引物中,除4个没有扩增出产物外,其他都有较好的扩增结果,可以分辨出多态性信息情况,并据此分析了不同微卫星重复序列类型与其对应的位点多态性之间的关系。结果表明,两碱基重复类型具有较高的遗传多态性,而三碱基和四碱基以及复合型重复类型的平均多态性不高;两碱基重复序列类型各拷贝类别间的多态性信息没有明显的差异。进一步对两碱基的重复拷贝数目与多态性信息（等位基因数目）的相关关系进行分析,以考察拷贝数多少与等位基因数目之间的关系。利用SPSS软件进行相关分析,结果表明重复拷贝数目和等位基因数目呈一定相关（相关系数0.121）,但相关性不显著（P＝0.621）。     

利用RNA-seq技术分析棘腹蛙编码区微卫星特征

棘腹蛙Paa boulengeri的遗传研究和基因组信息比较匮乏,致使可有效利用的分子标记非常有限。以棘腹蛙RNA-seq高通量测序数据为基础进行微卫星分子标记的大规模发掘和特征分析,结果显示:在121.6 Mb的棘腹蛙转录组序列中发现微卫星位点3165个,包含于3034条Contig序列中。在筛选到的1~6碱基重复核心的微卫星中,单碱基重复核心的比例最高,之后为三碱基、二碱基、四碱基、六碱基和五碱基重复核心,分别占29.0%、25.2%、21.7%、10.0%、10.0%和3.0%。其中A/T、AC/GT、AGG/CCT、ACAT/ATCT、AAAAT/ATTTT和AAAAAG/CTTTTT分别是单碱基、二碱基、三碱基、四碱基、五碱基、六碱基重复类型中对应的优势重复单元。棘腹蛙编码区微卫星多为重复长度小于24 bp的短序列,长度大于24 bp的微卫星仅占总数的0.92%。对编码区微卫星的侧翼序列分析发现,微卫星侧翼序列的GC含量显著低于转录组整体GC含量,且在含有微卫星上下游侧翼序列的Contig中,71.9%的序列可以设计特异引物扩增出含有微卫星序列的位点。研究结果为棘腹蛙的遗传研究和分子系统地理学研究提供了丰富的序列信息和标记资源。     

蚊子全基因组中微卫星的丰度及其分布

微卫星是近年大力开发的一种遗传标记,为推进按蚊遗传学相关研究,对按蚊全基因组中由 1~6 个碱基重复单元组成的简单序列重复 ( 微卫星 ) 进行了分析 . 进而对其微卫星的丰度和分布进行了比较分析,也比较了染色体各个区域 ( 外显子、内含子和基因间隔区 ) 之间的分布差异 . 微卫星在按蚊基因组中的比例约占 2.14% ,其中 X 染色体拥有微卫星的密度最大 . 对按蚊基因组中微卫星丰度而言, A 碱基和 C 碱基重复在基因组中丰度相似, AC 单元的丰度是 AG 单元的两倍多,然而 AT 和 CG 单元非常稀少;对于三四碱基而言, AGC, AAAC 和 AAAT 单元最为丰富, ACG, ACT, AGG, CCG, ATGC, CCCG, ACTG, AACT, ACGT, AGAT, CCGG, ACCT 和 AGCT 单元等均很稀少,而一些五碱基重复,在某条甚至某几条染色体中均未分布 . 除两碱基重复单元在 2L 的外显子区域丰度较高外,其他重复单元均在内含子和基因间隔区丰富 . 进一步分析显示,微卫星在每条染色体两臂的丰度和分布存在着很多的相似性 .     

天麻基因组微卫星特征分析与分子标记开发

该研究基于第二代测序技术建立了天麻的基因文库,筛选微卫星序列,并对微卫星位点的类型、丰度、长度、偏好性等进行了分析与比较;并为60条重复次数高的微卫星序列设计了引物,运用4个种群80个样本进行了PCR扩增和聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳检测。结果表明:(1)天麻基因组测序得到61 048条基因序列,检测出微卫星位点12 107个,其中二核苷酸重复最多、长度变异大。(2)设计的60对微卫星引物中的20对能扩增出清晰条带且有多态性,每个位点的复等位基因数(N_a)在4~14之间,平均为8.40;多态性信息含量(PIC)平均为0.77。该研究开发的天麻微卫星分子标记为开展天麻遗传学研究及种质资源鉴定等工作奠定了基础。     

基于Solexa高通量测序的唐古特红景天(Rhodiola algida)微卫星信息分析

利用所获得的Solexa高通量唐古特红景天转录组拼接EST序列进行微卫星位点的挖掘分析,期望为红景天属SSR标记的开发提供生物信息学依据。在得到的6552条EST序列中,三碱基最多,占总EST序列的41.50%;单核苷酸和二核苷酸重复类型的SSR含量相似,分别为27.76%和24.76%;二至六碱基微卫星分布密度与其对应的SSR含量成正比。在单核苷酸重复类型中,T和A重复类型最多,分别为总SSR的14.91%、12.70%,而G和C重复类型则很少;在二核苷酸重复类型中,AG重复类型最多,占总SSR的5.60%,GA和TC重复类型次之,分别为4.75%、4.72%;在三核苷酸重复类型中,GAA重复类型最多,为总SSR的1.85%,GAT次之,为1.79%,TTC、TCT、TCA、GGA、GCT、GAG重复类型间的SSR数相差不大;四、五、六核苷酸重复类型则很少。除五、六核苷酸重复类型外,其长度变化与其对应的重复类型碱基长度成反比;同种重复类型中,微卫星的长度与其对应的SSR数成反比。     

Map and analysis of microsatellites in the genome of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Populus</Emphasis>: The first sequenced perennial plant

We mapped and analyzed the microsatellites throughout 284295605 base pairs of the unambiguously assembled sequence scaffolds along 19 chromosomes of the haploid poplar genome. Totally, we found 150985 SSRs with repeat unit lengths between 2 and 5 bp. The established microsatellite physical map demonstrated that SSRs were distributed relatively evenly across the genome of Populus. On average, These SSRs occurred every 1883 bp within the poplar genome and the SSR densities in intergenic regions, introns, exons and UTRs were 85.4%, 10.7%, 2.7% and 1.2%, respectively. We took di-, tri-, tetra-and pentamers as the four classes of repeat units and found that the density of each class of SSRs decreased with the repeat unit lengths except for the tetranucleotide repeats. It was noteworthy that the length diversification of microsatellite sequences was negatively correlated with their repeat unit length and the SSRs with shorter repeat units gained repeats faster than the SSRs with longer repeat units. We also found that the GC content of poplar sequence significantly correlated with densities of SSRs with uneven repeat unit lengths (tri-and penta-), but had no significant correlation with densities of SSRs with even repeat unit lengths (di-and tetra-). In poplar genome, there were evidences that the occurrence of different microsatellites was under selection and the GC content in SSR sequences was found to significantly relate to the functional importance of microsatellites.     

Map and analysis of microsatellites in the genome of Populus: The first sequenced perennial plant

Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, USA We mapped and analyzed the microsatellites throughout 284295605 base pairs of the unambiguously assembled sequence scaffolds along 19 chromosomes of the haploid poplar genome. Totally, we found 150985 SSRs with repeat unit lengths between 2 and 5 bp. The established microsatellite physical map demonstrated tr at SSRs were distributed relatively evenly across the genome of Populus. On average, These SSRs occurred every 1883 bp within the poplar genome and the SSR densities in intergenic regions, introns, exons and UTRs were 85.4%, 10.7%, 2.7% and 1.2%, respectively. We took di-, tri-, tetra-and pentamers as the four classes of repeat units and found that the density of each class of SSRs decreased with the repeat unit lengths except for the tetranucleotide repeats. It was noteworthy that the length diversification of microsatellite sequences was negatively correlated with their repeat unit length and the SSRs with shorter repeat units gained repeats faster than the SSRs with longer repeat units. We also found that the GC content of poplar sequence significantly correlated with densities of SSRs with uneven repeat unit lengths (tri-and penta-), but had no significant correlation with densities of SSRs with even repeat unit lengths (di-and tetra-). In poplar genome, there were evidences that the occurrence of different microsatellites was under selection and the GC content in SSR sequences was found to significantly relate to the functional importance of microsatellites.     

Survey and analysis of microsatellites in the silkworm, Bombyx mori: frequency, distribution, mutations, marker potential and their conservation in heterologous species

We studied microsatellite frequency and distribution in 21.76-Mb random genomic sequences, 0.67-Mb BAC sequences from the Z chromosome, and 6.3-Mb EST sequences of Bombyx mori. We mined microsatellites of >/=15 bases of mononucleotide repeats and >/=5 repeat units of other classes of repeats. We estimated that microsatellites account for 0.31% of the genome of B. mori. Microsatellite tracts of A, AT, and ATT were the most abundant whereas their number drastically decreased as the length of the repeat motif increased. In general, tri- and hexanucleotide repeats were overrepresented in the transcribed sequences except TAA, GTA, and TGA, which were in excess in genomic sequences. The Z chromosome sequences contained shorter repeat types than the rest of the chromosomes in addition to a higher abundance of AT-rich repeats. Our results showed that base composition of the flanking sequence has an influence on the origin and evolution of microsatellites. Transitions/transversions were high in microsatellites of ESTs, whereas the genomic sequence had an equal number of substitutions and indels. The average heterozygosity value for 23 polymorphic microsatellite loci surveyed in 13 diverse silkmoth strains having 2-14 alleles was 0.54. Only 36 (18.2%) of 198 microsatellite loci were polymorphic between the two divergent silkworm populations and 10 (5%) loci revealed null alleles. The microsatellite map generated using these polymorphic markers resulted in 8 linkage groups. B. mori microsatellite loci were the most conserved in its immediate ancestor, B. mandarina, followed by the wild saturniid silkmoth, Antheraea assama.     

Motif mismatches in microsatellites: insights from genome-wide investigation among 20 insect species

We present a detailed genome-wide comparative study of motif mismatches of microsatellites among 20 insect species representing five taxonomic orders. The results show that varying proportions (∼15–46%) of microsatellites identified in these species are imperfect in motif structure, and that they also vary in chromosomal distribution within genomes. It was observed that the genomic abundance of imperfect repeats is significantly associated with the length and number of motif mismatches of microsatellites. Furthermore, microsatellites with a higher number of mismatches tend to have lower abundance in the genome, suggesting that sequence heterogeneity of repeat motifs is a key determinant of genomic abundance of microsatellites. This relationship seems to be a general feature of microsatellites even in unrelated species such as yeast, roundworm, mouse and human. We provide a mechanistic explanation of the evolutionary link between motif heterogeneity and genomic abundance of microsatellites by examining the patterns of motif mismatches and allele sequences of single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified within microsatellite loci. Using Drosophila Reference Genetic Panel data, we further show that pattern of allelic variation modulates motif heterogeneity of microsatellites, and provide estimates of allele age of specific imperfect microsatellites found within protein-coding genes.     

Genome-Wide Comparative Analyses of Microsatellites in Papaya

Microsatellites, or simple sequence repeats (SSRs), are highly polymorphic and universally distributed in eukaryotes. SSRs have been used extensively as sequence tagged markers in genetic studies. Recently, the functional and evolutionary importance of SSRs has received considerable attention. Here we report the mining and characterization of the SSRs in papaya genome. We analyzed SSRs from 277.4 Mb of whole genome shotgun (WGS) sequences, 51.2 Mb bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) end sequences (BES), and 13.4 Mb expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences. The papaya SSR density was one SSR per 0.7 kb of DNA sequence in the WGS, which was higher than that in BES and EST sequences. SSR abundance was dramatically reduced as the repeat length increased. According to SSR motif length, dinucleotide repeats were the most common motif in class I, whereas hexanucleotides were the most copious in class II SSRs. The tri- and hexanucleotide repeats of both classes were greater in EST sequences compared to genomic sequences. In class I SSR, AT and AAT were the most frequent motifs in BES and WGS sequences. By contrast, AG and AAG were the most abundant in EST sequences. For SSR marker development, 9,860 primer pairs were surveyed for amplification and polymorphism. Successful amplification and polymorphic rates were 66.6% and 17.6%, respectively. The highest polymorphic rates were achieved by AT, AG, and ATG motifs. The genome wide analysis of microsatellites revealed their frequency and distribution in papaya genome, which varies among plant genomes. This complete set of SSRs markers throughout the genome will assist diverse genetic studies in papaya and related species.     

Low abundance of microsatellite repeats in the genome of the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater).

A cosmid library made from brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) DNA was examined for representation of 17 distinct microsatellite motifs including all possible mono-, di-, and trinucleotide microsatellites, and the tetranucleotide repeat (GATA)n. The overall density of microsatellites within cowbird DNA was found to be one repeat per 89 kb and the frequency of the most abundant motif, (AGC)n, was once every 382 kb. The abundance of microsatellites within the cowbird genome is estimated to be reduced approximately 15-fold compared to humans. The reduced frequency of microsatellites seen in this study is consistent with previous observations indicating reduced numbers of microsatellites and other interspersed repeats in avian DNA. In addition to providing new information concerning the abundance of microsatellites within an avian genome, these results provide useful insights for selecting cloning strategies that might be used in the development of locus-specific microsatellite markers for avian studies.     

Survey of human and rat microsatellites

Length variations in simple sequence tandem repeats (microsatellite DNA polymorphisms) are finding increasing usage in mammalian genetics. Although every variety of short tandem repeat that has been tested has been shown to exhibit length polymorphisms, little information on the relative abundance of the different repeat motifs has been collected. In this report, summaries of GenBank searches for all possible human and rat microsatellites ranging from mononucleotide to tetranucleotide repeats are presented. In humans, the five most abundant microsatellites with total lengths for the runs of repeats of greater than or equal to 20 nucleotides contained repeat sequences of A, AC, AAAN, AAN, and AG, in order of decreasing abundance, where N is C, G, or T. These five groups comprised about 76% of all microsatellites. Many other human simple sequence repeats were found at low frequency. In the 745 kb of human genomic DNA surveyed, one microsatellite of greater than or equal to 20 nucleotides in length was found, on average, every 6 kb. Only 12% of the human microsatellites had total lengths greater than or equal to 40 nucleotides. Roughly 80% of the A, AAN, and AAAN microsatellites and 50% of the AT microsatellites, but few of the other human microsatellites, were found to be associated with interspersed, repetitive Alu elements. In rats, the five most abundant microsatellites contained AC, AG, A, AAAN, and AAGG sequences, respectively. Rat microsatellites were generally longer than human microsatellites, with 43% of the rat sequences greater than or equal to 40 nucleotides.     

Microsatellites in the silkworm, Bombyx mori: abundance, polymorphism, and strain characterization.

We have isolated and characterized microsatellites (simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci) from the silkworm genome. The screening of a partial genomic library by the conventional hybridization method led to the isolation of 28 microsatellites harbouring clones. The abundance of (CA)n repeats in the silkworm genome was akin to those reported in the other organisms such as honey bee, pig, and human, but the (CT)n repeat motif is less common compared to bumble bee and honey bee genomes. Detailed analysis of 13 diverse silkworm strains with a representative of 15 microsatellite loci revealed a number of alleles ranging from 3 to 17 with heterozygosity values of 0.66-0.90. Along with strain-specific microsatellite markers, diapause and non-diapause strain-specific alleles were also identified. The repeat length did not show any relationship with the degree of polymorphism in the present study. The co-dominant inheritance of microsatellite markers was demonstrated in F1 offspring. A list of primer sequences that tag each locus is provided. The availability of microsatellite markers can be expected to enhance the power and resolution of genome analysis in silkworm.