Similarity in oligonucleotide usage in introns and intergenic regions contributes to long-range correlation in the Caenorhabditis elegans genome.

A method is presented which allows detection of a sequence correlation effect not related to patchiness in base composition or to preferences in codon usage. Recurrence plots providing local views of oligonucleotide recurrence regimen show that introns and intergenic regions are often characterised by a highly recurrent use of oligonucleotides. By window analysis it is possible to score a long sequence for the recurrence of a given subset of oligos while filtering away the effects of short-range correlations. Long-range exploration of chromosome III from Caenorhabditis elegans reveals that consistent use of recurrent oligonucleotides in introns and intergenic regions generates a correlation effect that extends over several megabases.     

酵母基因上游序列中潜在的转录正调控位点分析

前期研究表明,高效转录酵母基因内含子在序列长度、寡核苷酸使用、以及位置分布等方面都有着区别于低转录内含子的特征 . 进一步观察发现：上游基因间区域的序列长度与基因转录频率也有与内含子序列相同的现象,转录频率高的上游基因间序列一般都比转录频率低的长 . 对高效转录和低效转录上游基因间序列的寡核苷酸使用频率进行统计比较分析,抽提出高转录基因上游区可能的转录正调控元件 . 与酵母的所有非编码序列比较,这些可能的正调控元件基本上也是过表达的 (over-represented) ,其中多数和实验所得的一些位点特征相吻合 . 这些元件富含 G 、 C ,这与内含子中可能的正调控元件在碱基组成上有一定的互补性 . 从这些特征看,高效转录基因上游的序列结构确实有利于基因的转录 .     

Contrasting patterns of sequence divergence and base composition between Drosophila introns and intergenic regions

Two non-coding DNA classes, introns and intergenic regions, of Drosophila melanogaster exhibit contrasting evolutionary patterns. GC content is significantly higher in intergenic regions and affects their degree of nucleotide variability. Divergence is positively correlated with recombination rate in intergenic regions, but not in introns. We argue that these differences are due to different selective constraints rather than mutational or recombinational mechanisms.     

Antiviral activity of conjugates between poly(L-lysine) and synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides

Short (14 to 20-mer range) synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides (oligos) allow to modulate specifically viral or cellular gene expression at various stages thus providing a versatile tool for fundamental studies and a rational approach to antiviral chemotherapy. Several problems, such as metabolic stability and efficient cell internalization of oligos, still limit this approach appreciably, as briefly discussed here. We demonstrate here that the conjugation of 15-mer (beta)-anomeric oligos to poly(L-lysine) allows a specific protection of various cell lines against vesicular stomatitis virus infection at concentrations lower than 1 microM. This can be achieved with oligos complementary to the viral N-protein mRNA initiation site or to viral intergenic sequences, i.e., to untranscribed regions. No antiviral activity can be obtained with (alpha)-anomeric oligos directed against the same targets, although such analogues are much more resistant to nuclease degradation and form stable hybrids, at least in cell-free experiments.     

Insertion/deletion and nucleotide polymorphism data reveal constraints in Drosophila melanogaster introns and intergenic regions

Our study of nucleotide sequence and insertion/deletion polymorphism in Drosophila melanogaster noncoding DNA provides evidence for selective pressures in both intergenic regions and introns (of the large size class). Intronic and intergenic sequences show a similar polymorphic deletion bias. Insertions have smaller sizes and higher frequencies than deletions, supporting the hypothesis that insertions are selected to compensate for the loss of DNA caused by deletion bias. Analysis of a simple model of selective constraints suggests that the blocks of functional elements located in intergenic sequences are on average larger than those in introns, while the length distribution of relatively unconstrained sequences interspaced between these blocks is similar in intronic and intergenic regions.     

Exact word matches in rice pseudomolecules.

Using pseudomolecules of assembled genomic sequence, we computed the frequencies of 6 to 24 bp oligonucleotide (oligo) "words" across the genome of rice (Oryza sativa L. subsp. japonica). All oligos of 10 or fewer basepairs were repeated at least 12 times in the genome. The percentage of unique (non-repeated) oligos ranged from 0.1% for 12 bp oligos to 76.0% for 24 bp oligos. For three 200 kb regions, we annotated each nucleotide position with the genome-wide frequency of the 18 bp oligo starting at that position. These frequencies formed landscapes consisting of high- and low-frequency zones. Low-frequency zones contained occasional high-frequency spikes; these may represent footprints of RIM2 transposon activity. BLASTn searches of high-frequency non-SSR (simple sequence repeat) 18 bp oligos returned few sequences from species other than rice. These results demonstrate that, in rice, words are not randomly used between different regions within the same genome, and indicate that words that are frequently repeated within the rice genome tend to be unique to rice.     

Evolution of noncoding and silent coding sites in the Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium reichenowi genomes

We compared levels of sequence divergence between fourfold synonymous coding sites and noncoding sites from the intergenic and intronic regions of the Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium reichenowi genomes. We observed significant differences in the level of divergence between these classes of silent sites. Fourfold synonymous coding sites exhibited the highest level of sequence divergence, followed by introns, and then intergenic sequences. This pattern of relative divergence rates has been observed in primate genomes but was unexpected in Plasmodium due to a paucity of variation at silent sites in P. falciparum and the corollary hypothesis that silent sites in this genome may be subject to atypical selective constraints. Exclusion of hypermutable CpG dinucleotides reduces the divergence level of synonymous coding sites to that of intergenic sites but does not diminish the significantly higher divergence level of introns relative to intergenic sites. A greater than expected incidence of CpG dinucleotides in intergenic regions less than 500 bp from genes may indicate selective maintenance of regulatory motifs containing CpGs. Divergence rates of different classes of silent sites in these Plasmodium genomes are determined by a combination of mutational and selective pressures.     

Noncoding DNA, isochores and gene expression: nucleosome formation potential

The nucleosome formation potential of introns, intergenic spacers and exons of human genes is shown here to negatively correlate with among-tissues breadth of gene expression. The nucleosome formation potential is also found to negatively correlate with the GC content of genomic sequences; the slope of regression line is steeper in exons compared with noncoding DNA (introns and intergenic spacers). The correlation with GC content is independent of sequence length; in turn, the nucleosome formation potential of introns and intergenic spacers positively (albeit weakly) correlates with sequence length independently of GC content. These findings help explain the functional significance of the isochores (regions differing in GC content) in the human genome as a result of optimization of genomic structure for epigenetic complexity and support the notion that noncoding DNA is important for orderly chromatin condensation and chromatin-mediated suppression of tissue-specific genes.     

Haplotype block partition with limited resources and applications to human chromosome 21 haplotype data

Recent studies have shown that the human genome has a haplotype block structure such that it can be decomposed into large blocks with high linkage disequilibrium (LD) and relatively limited haplotype diversity, separated by short regions of low LD. One of the practical implications of this observation is that only a small fraction of all the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (referred as "tag SNPs") can be chosen for mapping genes responsible for human complex diseases, which can significantly reduce genotyping effort, without much loss of power. Algorithms have been developed to partition haplotypes into blocks with the minimum number of tag SNPs for an entire chromosome. In practice, investigators may have limited resources, and only a certain number of SNPs can be genotyped. In the present article, we first formulate this problem as finding a block partition with a fixed number of tag SNPs that can cover the maximal percentage of the whole genome, and we then develop two dynamic programming algorithms to solve this problem. The algorithms are sufficiently flexible to permit knowledge of functional polymorphisms to be considered. We apply the algorithms to a data set of SNPs on human chromosome 21, combining the information of coding and noncoding regions. We study the density of SNPs in intergenic regions, introns, and exons, and we find that the SNP density in intergenic regions is similar to that in introns and is higher than that in exons, results that are consistent with previous studies. We also calculate the distribution of block break points in intergenic regions, genes, exons, and coding regions and do not find any significant differences.     

De novo origin of new genes with introns in Plasmodium vivax

The origin of new genes is critical for organisms adapting to new niches. Here, we present evidence for a recent de novo origin of at least 13 protein-coding genes in the genome of Plasmodium vivax. Although recently de novo originated genes have often been suggested to be initially intronless, five of the genes identified in our analysis contain introns in their coding regions. Further investigations revealed that these introns likely evolved from previously intergenic regions together with the coding sequences. We discuss the potential mechanisms for intron formation in these genes and propose that intronization be considered in the formation of de novo originated genes.     

真核生物DNA非编码区的组分分析

在全基因组水平上,用直方图、混沌表示灰度图、距离差异度和信息熵差异度四种方法,研究了拟南芥、线虫、果蝇的DNA内含子、基因间隔区DNA、外显子三种区域的核苷酸短序列组分及组分复杂度.结果表明：a.不同基因组之间,不管基因数目多少,用4种方法得到的外显子部分其组分复杂度都比较接近,而非编码区部分的组分复杂度却很大.这一点定量地说明了物种之间的复杂程度,主要不体现在编码区部分,而体现在非编码区部分.b.同一基因组中,内含子的核苷酸短序列组分复杂度都是相似的,外显子和intergenic DNA部分的组分复杂度也是相似的.c.内含子和intergenic DNA在转录、剪切、二级结构等方面有很大的不同,但它们在核苷酸短序列组分上的差异却很小,说明内含子和intergenic DNA在转录、剪切、二级结构上的不同并不通过核苷酸短序列组分来进行限制.     

Organization and variation of angiosperm mitochondrial genome

The mitochondrial genomes of angiosperms are the largest mitochondrial genomes so far reported and are highly variable in size among plant species. The comparative analysis of the angiosperm mitochondrial genomes at the nucleotide level has now become feasible for addressing long-standing questions, owing to the publication of five dicot and three monocot genomes. Whereas the identified genes and introns are rather well conserved, intergenic regions are highly variable in sequence, even between two close relatives. Promiscuous DNA and horizontally transferred sequence constitute part of the intergenic regions, but the origin of the majority of these regions is unknown. On the other hand, duplication and extensive rearrangement of preexisting sequences may be one of the explanations for the occurrence of unknown sequences. Functional aspects of the mitochondrial genome, such as RNA editing and expression of unique open reading frames (ORFs), can be changed under certain nuclear genotypes.     

An experimental and theoretical study of the inhibition of Escherichia coli lac operon gene expression by antigene oligonucleotides

Previously, we have developed a genetically structured mathematical model to describe the inhibition of Escherichia coli lac operon gene expression by antigene oligos. Our model predicted that antigene oligos targeted to the operator region of the lac operon would have a significant inhibitory effect on beta-galactosidase production. In this investigation, the E. coli lac operon gene expression in the presence of antigene oligos was studied experimentally. A 21-mer oligo, which was designed to form a triplex with the operator, was found to be able to specifically inhibit beta-galactosidase production in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast to the 21-mer triplex-forming oligonucleotide (TFO), several control oligos showed no inhibitory effect. The ineffectiveness of the various control oligos, along with the fact that the 21-mer oligo has no homology sequence with lacZYA, and no mRNA is transcribed from the operator, suggests that the 21-mer oligo inhibits target gene expression by an antigene mechanism. To simulate the kinetics of lac operon gene expression in the presence of antigene oligos, a genetically structured kinetic model, which includes transport of oligo into the cell, growth of bacteria cells, and lac operon gene expression, was developed. Predictions of the kinetic model fit the experimental data quite well after adjustment of the value of the oligonucleotide transport rate constant (9.0 x 10(-)(3) min(-)(1)) and oligo binding affinity constant (1.05 x 10(6) M(-)(1)). Our values for these two adjusted parameters are in the range of reported literature values.     

Sequence studies on the soybean chloroplast 16S–23S rDNA spacer region

The sequence of the ribosomal spacer region of soybean chloroplast DNA including the 3 end of the 16S rRNA gene, the tRNA^Ala and tRNA^Ile genes (but not their introns), the three intergenic regions and the 5 end of the 23S rRNA gene, has been determined. This sequence has been compared to corresponding regions of other angiosperm chloroplast DNAs. Secondary structure models are proposed for the entirety of the intergenic regions a, b and c and for the flanking rRNA regions. A model for a common secondary structure of the ribosomal spacer intergenic regions from chloroplasts of higher plants is proposed, which is supported by comparative evidence.     

Pattern of selective constraint in C. elegans and C. briggsae genomes.

Similarity between related genomes may carry information on selective constraint in each of them. We analysed patterns of similarity between several homologous regions of Caenorhabditis elegans and C. briggsae genomes. All homologous exons are quite similar. Alignments of introns and of intergenic sequences contain long gaps, segments where similarity is low and close to that between random sequences aligned using the same parameters, and segments of high similarity. Conservative estimates of the fractions of selectively constrained nucleotides are 72%, 17% and 18% for exons, introns and intergenic sequences, respectively. This implies that the total number of constrained nucleotides within non-coding sequences is comparable to that within coding sequences, so that at least one-third of nucleotides in C. elegans and C. briggsae genomes are under strong stabilizing selection.     

The extent of nucleotide polymorphism is highly variable across a 3-kb region on Plasmodium falciparum chromosome 2

Genomic nucleotide polymorphism in the virulent human malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum was surveyed by sequencing a 3-kb region of chromosome 2 from 21 isolates, including the MSP4 and MSP5 genes. Extensive sequence polymorphism was observed in the coding regions of these genes and in the region downstream to MSP5, and the average pairwise divergence time of haplotypes in this region was estimated to be at least about 200,000 years. But nucleotide polymorphism was not found in the introns and was much reduced in the intergenic region. Over the entire region, nucleotide diversity was negatively correlated with a nucleotide content skewed toward thymine. Together with the previous evidence of limited nucleotide polymorphism in introns of P. falciparum, these data suggest the existence of a mechanism suppressing single-nucleotide polymorphism in regions of the P. falciparum genome with highly skewed nucleotide content.