生物信息学在毒理基因组学研究中的应用

毒理基因组学主要在基因组水平上研究机体对环境因子的应答反应,了解基因和环境交互作用在疾病发生中的作用。生物信息学与毒理基因组学研究的结合为环境与健康研究开辟了新的方法。本文对毒理基因组学的研究手段、意义及面临的挑战,生物信息学在毒理基因组学研究中的作用以及存在的问题和展望进行了综述。     

生态毒理基因组学和生态毒理蛋白质组学研究进展

将基因组学和蛋白质组学知识整合到生态毒理学中形成了生态毒理基因组学和生态毒理蛋白质组学.通过生态毒理基因组学和生态毒理蛋白质组学的研究能够在基因组和蛋白质组水平更深入理解毒物的作用机制,寻找更敏感、有效的生物标记物,形成潜在的强有力的生态风险评价工具.介绍了生态毒理基因组学和生态毒理蛋白质组学的研究进展,以及DNA芯片技术和2D-凝胶电泳技术在持久性有毒污染物的生态毒理学研究中的应用.     

小麦的比较基因组学和功能基因组学

小麦是异源多倍体植物,具有大的染色体组,并且基因组中重复序列所占比例较高,这些特征限制了小麦基因组研究的进展。比较基因组学方法为运用模式植物进行小麦基因组学研究提供了一个操作平台。功能基因组学的研究集中于基因组中转录表达的部分,基因功能的确定是功能基因组学研究的主要内容。对比较基因组学在小麦基因组研究中的应用和小麦功能基因组学的研究内容和方法进行了综述。     

林木基因组学研究进展

林木基因组学研究进展迅速。结构基因组学方面,已构建了近40个主要造林树种的遗传连锁图谱,在不同树种中定位了30余个重要的数量性状位点,在部分树种中开展了基因组比较和综合图谱构建研究,杨树的全基因组测序已经完成,桉树的全基因组测序正在进行。功能基因组学方面,已分析了主要造林树种多种组织的转录组EST序列,对林木次生生长与木材形成、开花和抗寒性的形成等过程开展了功能基因组学研究。另外,探讨了林木基因组学研究的发展趋势,以期为我国林木基因组学研究提供有益的参考。     

病毒宏基因组学研究进展

病毒宏基因组学是一种新的病毒组学研究手段,随着高通量测序技术的飞速发展,人们能够从环境中快速发现、鉴定病毒基因组的组成并研究其特征。在过去的十年里,研究者们运用病毒宏基因组学发现了许多新型病毒,增强了人们对不同环境中病毒组成、分布和多样性的了解。因此,病毒宏基因组学已成为清晰描绘各种特殊环境中病毒图谱、了解自然界中病毒分布动态的有效工具。本文主要从病毒宏基因组的概念、样品前处理和病毒总基因组提取方法、测序技术以及病毒宏基因组的应用和发展前景方面进行概述。     

微生物功能基因组学研究

自从1995年流感嗜血杆菌的基因组序列测定完成之后[1],目前已有75种(株)微生物的基因组完成测序,160多种(株)微生物的基因组测序正在进行中[2]。随着各种微生物基因组测序工作的不断完成和序列信息的积累,微生物基因组学研究的重点已由结构基因组学向功能基因组学转移。微生物功能基因组学研究不仅要阐明微生物基因组内每个基因的作用或功能,还要研究基因的调节及表达谱,进而从整个基因组及其全套蛋白质产物的结构、功能、机理的高度去了解微生物生命活动的全貌,揭示微生物世界的各种前所未知的规律,并使之为人类和社会服务。与真核生物相比,虽然微生物的基因组相对简单,但微生物基因组学研究仍具有重大的科学和经济意义。在细菌基因组中,既有编码在极端环境下起催化作用的酶的基因,也有编码分解化学污染物的酶的基因,这些基因在真核细胞是不存在的。通过微生物功能基因组学研究,还能发现药物靶位和疫苗抗原。微生物基因的功能及表达研究结果也能为研究复杂生物的基因功能提供参考。近些年微生物功能基因组学研究受到了普遍重视。日本组织了十几所大学和研究机构,计划用5年时间完成大肠杆菌的功能基因组研究[3]。日本还与欧洲联合正在开展枯草杆菌功能基因组学研究[4]。其它微生物的功能基因组学研究也在进行中。由于微生物的种类繁多,功能基因组研究的内容又较丰富,要全面介绍微生物功能基因组学研究是困难的。本文仅从未知功能基因的鉴定、药物靶位及疫苗抗原研究、致病机制研究、生物功能图谱研究4个方面进行简要的评述。     

功能基因组学研究概述

21世纪是生物时代和信息时代,基因组学的研究已从结构基因组学转向功能基因组学,功能基因组学时代对于基因功能的研究也由单一基因转向大规模、批量分析。对功能基因组学及相关学科的概念作了概述,综述了功能基因组学的研究内容与方法,主要包括应用差异显示反转录PCR、基因表达序列分析（SAGE）、微点阵、蛋白质组学和生物信息学等方法来研究基因组表达概况、基因组多样性和模式生物学等。     

植物古基因组学研究进展

植物古基因组学是基因组学一个新兴分支,从现存物种中重建其祖先基因组,推断在古历史中导致形成现存物种的进化或物种形成事件。高通量测序技术的不断革新使测序读长更长、更准确,加快了植物参考基因组序列的组装进程,为古基因组学研究提供了大批量可靠的现存物种的基因组序列资源。全基因组复制(whole-genome duplication, WGD)亦称古多倍化,使植物基因组快速重组,丢失大量基因,增加结构变异,对植物进化极其重要。本文综述了植物基因组测序与组装研究进展、植物古基因组学的原理、植物基因组WGD事件以及植物祖先基因组进化场景,并对未来植物古基因组学研究进行了展望。     

中国基因组学研究进展与发展态势

20 世纪 90 年代初,以完成人类基因组全序列测定和注释为核心任务的人类基因组计划在美国的领导下兴起．自1999年中国加入人类基因组计划到现在的10年时间里,中国基因组学得到了快速的发展,建立了先进的基因组学技术平台,并出色完成了多项重大基因组科学研究项目,对我国生命科学各个领域的发展产生了重要影响．结合我国基因组学研究现状,《中国科学C辑·生命科学》(Sci China Ser C-Life Sci) 2009年第1期发表了中国基因组学专题,综述了基因组测序、分型,功能基因检测技术和生物信息学分析技术,以及肝癌、免疫和环境与工业微生物的基因组学研究等方面的研究工作．     

合成基因组学：设计与合成的艺术

随着基因组相关技术(测序、编辑、合成等)和知识(功能基因组学)的日益成熟,合成基因组学在本世纪迎得了发展的契机。病毒、原核生物的全基因组相继被化学合成并支持生命的存活,第1个真核生物合成基因组计划已经完成过半,人类基因组编写计划提上日程。在基因组合成的实践过程中,研究者们不断探索对基因组进行重编和设计所应遵循的规则,提高从头合成、组装和替换基因组的技术手段。合成基因组在工业、环境、健康和基础研究领域有着广阔的应用前景,同时也带来了相应的伦理问题。结合在Sc2.0计划中的基因组合成研究和近期合成基因组学所取得的重大进展,本文综述了基因组设计和合成相关的科学、技术和伦理内容,并探讨了未来发展所面对的挑战。作为合成生物学最重要的领域之一,合成基因组学方兴未艾。     

For an ethics of promising, or: a few kind words about James Watson

This essay questions some of the limits that both science studies and bioethics have assumed in their engagements with technoscience, and genomics in particular. It argues that these disciplines have privileged an "ethics of suspicion" regarding technoscience, and argues that this is ill-suited to promissory sciences such as genomics. The essay begins to develop elements of an "ethics of friendship" toward genomics, using examples from toxicogenomics and behavioral genetics, to suggest what an ethics of promising might involve.     

High-throughput phenotypic profiling of gene-environment interactions by quantitative growth curve analysis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Cell-based assays are widely used in high-throughput screening to determine the effects of toxicants and drugs on their biological targets. To enable a functional genomics modeling of gene-environment interactions, quantitative assays are required both for gene expression and for the phenotypic responses to environmental challenge. To address this need, we describe an automated high-throughput methodology that provides phenotypic profiling of the cellular responses to environmental stress in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Standardized assay conditions enable the use of a single metric value to quantify yeast microculture growth curves. This assay format allows precise control of both genetic and environmental determinants of the cellular responses to oxidative stress, a common mechanism of environmental insult. These yeast-cell-based assays are validated with hydrogen peroxide, a simple direct-acting oxidant. Phenotypic profiling of the oxidative stress response of a yap1 mutant strain demonstrates the mechanistic analysis of genetic susceptibility to oxidative stress. As a proof of concept for analysis of more complex gene-environment interactions, we describe a combinatorial assay design for phenotypic profiling of the cellular responses to tert-butyl hydroperoxide, a complex oxidant that is actively metabolized by its target cells. Thus, the yeast microculture assay format supports comprehensive applications in toxicogenomics.     

DNA microarray technology in toxicogenomics of aquatic models: methods and applications

Toxicogenomics represents the merging of toxicology with genomics and bioinformatics to investigate biological functions of genome in response to environmental contaminants. Aquatic species have traditionally been used as models in toxicology to characterize the actions of environmental stresses. Recent completion of the DNA sequencing for several fish species has spurred the development of DNA microarrays allowing investigators access to toxicogenomic approaches. However, since microarray technology is thus far limited to only a few aquatic species and derivation of biological meaning from microarray data is highly dependent on statistical arguments, the full potential of microarray in aquatic species research has yet to be realized. Herein we review some of the issues related to construction, probe design, statistical and bioinformatical data analyses, and current applications of DNA microarrays. As a model a recently developed medaka (Oryzias latipes) oligonucleotide microarray was described to highlight some of the issues related to array technology and its application in aquatic species exposed to hypoxia. Although there are known non-biological variations present in microarray data, it remains unquestionable that array technology will have a great impact on aquatic toxicology. Microarray applications in aquatic toxicogenomics will range from the discovery of diagnostic biomarkers, to establishment of stress-specific signatures and molecular pathways hallmarking the adaptation to new environmental conditions.     

A strategy capitalizing on synergies: the Reporting Structure for Biological Investigation (RSBI) working group

In this article we present the Reporting Structure for Biological Investigation (RSBI), a working group under the Microarray Gene Expression Data (MGED) Society umbrella. RSBI brings together several communities to tackle the challenges associated with integrating data and representing complex biological investigations, employing multiple OMICS technologies. Currently, RSBI includes environmental genomics, nutrigenomics and toxicogenomics communities, where independent activities are underway to develop databases and establish data communication standards within their respective domains. The RSBI working group has been conceived as a "single point of focus" for these communities, conforming to general accepted view that duplication and incompatibility should be avoided where possible. This endeavour has aimed to synergize insular solutions into one common terminology between biologically driven standardisation efforts and has also resulted in strong collaborations and shared understanding between those in the technological domain. Through extensive liaisons with many standards efforts, several threads have been woven with the hope that ultimately technology-centered standards and their specific extensions into biological domains of interest will not only stand alone, but will also be able to function together, as interchangeable modules.