DNA在鸟类分子系统发育研究中的应用

鸟类分子系统发育研究中常用的DNA技术有DNA杂交、RFLP和DNA序列分析等。DNA杂交技术曾在鸟类中有过大规模的应用,并由此诞生了一套新的鸟类分类系统。在鸟类的RFLP分析中,用的最多的靶序列是线粒体DNA。DNA序列分析技术被认为是进行分子系统发育研究最有效、最可靠的方法。在DNA序列分析中,线粒体基因应用最广泛,但由于其自身的一些不足,近年来,不少学者把目光投向了核基因,将线粒体基因和核基因结合起来进行系统发育研究。目前在鸟类分子系统发育中,应用较多的核基因是scnDNA,其内含子可以用于中等阶元水平的系统研究,而外显子主要用于高等阶元的系统研究。除了分子标记自身的问题之外,鸟类分子系统发育研究中还存在着方法上的问题,包括分子标记的选择,样本数量以及数据处理等。今后鸟类分子系统发育研究应该更加注重方法的标准化。     

中国鸟类的DNA分类及系统发育研究概述

鸟类分类是鸟类学其他研究领域的基础,近年来分子技术的发展,以及计算机技术的应用为鸟类分类学和鸟类系统演化研究提供了新的研究手段,给传统的系统分类研究带来了新的机遇.Tautz等于2002年首先提出运用DNA序列作为生物分类系统的主要平台,即DNA分类学(DNA Taxonomy).而Hebert等于2003年则首次提出了DNA条形码(DNA Barcoding)的概念,并对其物种分类和鉴定意义予以肯定,建议利用线粒体细胞色素C氧化酶亚单位Ⅰ(COI)的特定区段来做DNA条形编码的基础.在鸟类DNA分类方面,国内学者应用线粒体基因Cut b,COI,c-mos,c-myc,12s rRNA,16s rRNA,ND2,ND3,CR,RAG-1以及核基因myoglobin introⅡ等不同片段对很多类群进行了分类探讨和系统发育研究.但是主要集中在鸡形目及雀形目鸟类.中国是鸟类多样性极其丰富的国家,近年来很多亚种、种及以上分类阶元依然存在问题,因此,中国鸟类物种的分类地位、系统发育与演化关系等依然有很多问题等待深入研究.目前国内基于COI的鸟类分类及系统发育研究有了一些报道,但是真正的DNA条形码工作尚需继续、深入地开展.     

天麻特异DNA序列的克隆及其在天麻鉴定中的应用

应用改进的RAPD方法测定了名贵中药材天麻基因组DNA指纹图谱;通过选择和回收各种天麻种群共有和优良种群特有的DNA片段,加以克隆、测序和生物信息学分析,证明其中5个DNA序列是未报道的,已被美国基因数据库收录,并运用高效液相色谱技术测定了天麻样本的有效成分天麻素含量。运用PCR技术研究了这些DNA序列在9个天麻种群中的分布及其与天麻素含量的关系。结果表明这5个DNA序列在这些天麻种群中的分布各不相同,其中DNA序列1是所研究的全部天麻种群共有、而其伪品没有的特异DNA分子标记;DNA序列2可能与天麻的天麻素含量高有关。这些DNA标记序列可用于天麻的真伪鉴别、品种鉴定和优选优育等。     

雀形目10种鸟类线粒体的DNA变异及分子进化

采用14种限制性内切酶（Apa I、BamHI、Bgl Ⅱ、EcoRI、EcoRV、HindⅢ、HpaI、KpnI、PstI、PuvⅡ、SalI、ScaI、XbaI和XhoI）对雀形目3科10种鸟类（蒙古百灵、喜鹊、小嘴乌雅、白腰朱顶雀、锡嘴雀、朱雀、红腹灰雀、灰腹灰雀、红交嘴雀和黄喉Wu）进行限制性片段长度多态分析（RFLP分析）。结果表明：雀形目鸟类基因组大小存在遗传多态性,不同类群在酶切类型上表现出各自的特点,雀形目鸟类与非雀形目鸟类在线粒体DNA的进化速率有着相同的特点,化石记录的地质年代与线粒体DNA分子时钟记录的年代有着惊人的吻合,这两个互为独立事件的统一,提示线粒体DNA作为分子进化的良好工具。     

雀形目15种鸟类Co Ⅰ与Cyt b基因序列的比较

对雀形目Passeriformes 6科15种鸟类线粒体DNA的Cyt b基因全序列(1 143 bp)和CoⅠ基因部分序列(1 176 bp)进行了比较,结果显示Cyt b和CoⅠ基因序列的变异位点分别为454个和366个,简约信息位点为337个和303个,而且CoⅠ基因比Cyt b基因略微保守,进化速率也较低.采用邻接法、最大简约法、最大似然法和贝叶斯法分别构建了CoⅠ和Cyt b基因两组数据集的分子系统发生树及其合一树,并对建树结果进行了比较分析.基于以上两点,本文认为CoⅠ基因比Cyt b基因更适合于确定雀形目科级阶元之间的系统发生关系,而且它也能够作为雀形目物种鉴定的分子标记,但在物种鉴定方面不如Cyt b基因稳定和准确.     

DNA芯片与应用

DNA芯片就是利用光导原位化学合成或液相合成自动化点样,将数以万计的寡核苷酸固定于固相支持物硅片、尼龙膜上,与荧光素或同位素标记的特检样本DNA/cDNA杂交,通过对杂交信号分析反映样本中的DNA序列信息。它广泛应用基因表达、DNA测序、基因分型、基因突变与多态性检测和遗传作图等生物医学研究领域。     

鹰科四种鸟类线粒体DNA的差异和分子进化关系的研究

采用聚合酶链反应,从雀鹰、大Kuang鹰4种鸟类中分别扩增出线粒体DNA细胞色素b基因,并测定出1086bp的碱基序列,它们之间的序列差异在10.31%-16.57%之间。DNA一序列数据显示,这4种鸟类DNA序列变异丰富,MEGA1．01数据软件构建了4种鸟类的分子系统树,与化石资料和形态学研究结果相吻合。     

基于线粒体细胞色素b基因序列的雀形目18种鸟系统发育关系

采用线粒体细胞色素b(cytochrome b)基因,利用DNA测序的方法研究了雀形目18种鸟类的分子系统发育关系。通过序列分析比对,运用邻接法和最大似然法构建了雀形目18种鸟类的系统发育树,结果表明,燕雀类和类的分歧程度达到了科级水平,建议分别独立成科;长尾山雀可从山雀科中分离出来,单列成科;柳莺归入柳莺亚科(Phylloscopinae),树莺归入大苇莺亚科(Acrocephalinae)。Cytb基因的各主要分支中存在着相对恒定的分子钟,根据鸟类mtDNA的cytb进化速度大约是每百万年1.6%,得到18种鸟的科间分歧时间在10.5百万年左右,科内分歧在9.0百万年左右。     

我国32种鸟类DNA条形码分析

DNA条形码是一种分子分类方法,近年来在物种鉴定方面得到迅速的发展和应用.本研究分析了我国27属32种鸟类(61只)的线粒体细胞色素c氧化酶亚基Ⅰ(COⅠ)基因的条形码片段,分别用阈值法、聚类法和诊断核苷酸进行了分析,探究DNA条形码鉴定我国鸟类的准确性.结果显示,种内CO Ⅰ序列变异很小,种间存在较多的变异位点,种间的遗传距离显著大于种内的遗传距离,DNA条形码序列能够鉴定所有鸟类.     

动物种群遗传多态性研究中的PCR技术

基因组DNA的变异是种群遗传多态性研究的基础。PCR技术可以在反应管内经济快速地扩增特定DNA序列,在动物种群遗传多态性研究中的应用主要包括三个方面：(1)种群遗传多态位点的检测;(2)基因定位或利用已经定位的单拷贝基因设计染色体位点特异的分子标记;(3)与DNA测序技术相结合,高效经济地获取特定基因座位的全部遗传变异。     

Topoisomerase II Regulates the Maintenance of DNA Methylation

The maintenance of DNA methylation in nascent DNA is a critical event for numerous biological processes. Following DNA replication, DNMT1 is the key enzyme that strictly copies the methylation pattern from the parental strand to the nascent DNA. However, the mechanism underlying this highly specific event is not thoroughly understood. In this study, we identified topoisomerase IIα (TopoIIα) as a novel regulator of the maintenance DNA methylation. UHRF1, a protein important for global DNA methylation, interacts with TopoIIα and regulates its localization to hemimethylated DNA. TopoIIα decatenates the hemimethylated DNA following replication, which might facilitate the methylation of the nascent strand by DNMT1. Inhibiting this activity impairs DNA methylation at multiple genomic loci. We have uncovered a novel mechanism during the maintenance of DNA methylation.     

Distributions of Topological States in Circular DNA

A distinctive feature of closed circular DNA molecules is their particular topological state, which cannot be altered by any conformational rearrangement short of breaking at least one strand. This topological constraint opens unique possibilities for experimental studies of the distributions of topological states created in different ways. Primarily, the equilibrium distributions of topological properties are considered in the review. It is described how such distributions can be obtained and measured experimentally, and how they can be computed. Comparison of the calculated and measured equilibrium distributions over the linking number of complementary strands, equilibrium fractions of knots and links formed by circular molecules has provided much valuable information about the properties of the double helix. Study of the steady-state fraction of knots and links created by type II DNA topoisomerases has revealed a surprising property of the enzymes: their ability to reduce these fractions considerably below the equilibrium level.     

Human HEL308 localizes to damaged replication forks and unwinds lagging strand structures

HEL308 is a superfamily II DNA helicase, conserved from archaea through to humans. HEL308 family members were originally isolated by their similarity to the Drosophila melanogaster Mus308 protein, which contributes to the repair of replication-blocking lesions such as DNA interstrand cross-links. Biochemical studies have established that human HEL308 is an ATP-dependent enzyme that unwinds DNA with a 3' to 5' polarity, but little else is know about its mechanism. Here, we show that GFP-tagged HEL308 localizes to replication forks following camptothecin treatment. Moreover, HEL308 colocalizes with two factors involved in the repair of damaged forks by homologous recombination, Rad51 and FANCD2. Purified HEL308 requires a 3' single-stranded DNA region to load and unwind duplex DNA structures. When incubated with substrates that model stalled replication forks, HEL308 preferentially unwinds the parental strands of a structure that models a fork with a nascent lagging strand, and the unwinding action of HEL308 is specifically stimulated by human replication protein A. Finally, we show that HEL308 appears to target and unwind from the junction between single-stranded to double-stranded DNA on model fork structures. Together, our results suggest that one role for HEL308 at sites of blocked replication might be to open up the parental strands to facilitate the loading of subsequent factors required for replication restart.     

FBH1 Helicase Disrupts RAD51 Filaments in Vitro and Modulates Homologous Recombination in Mammalian Cells

Efficient repair of DNA double strand breaks and interstrand cross-links requires the homologous recombination (HR) pathway, a potentially error-free process that utilizes a homologous sequence as a repair template. A key player in HR is RAD51, the eukaryotic ortholog of bacterial RecA protein. RAD51 can polymerize on DNA to form a nucleoprotein filament that facilitates both the search for the homologous DNA sequences and the subsequent DNA strand invasion required to initiate HR. Because of its pivotal role in HR, RAD51 is subject to numerous positive and negative regulatory influences. Using a combination of molecular genetic, biochemical, and single-molecule biophysical techniques, we provide mechanistic insight into the mode of action of the FBH1 helicase as a regulator of RAD51-dependent HR in mammalian cells. We show that FBH1 binds directly to RAD51 and is able to disrupt RAD51 filaments on DNA through its ssDNA translocase function. Consistent with this, a mutant mouse embryonic stem cell line with a deletion in the FBH1 helicase domain fails to limit RAD51 chromatin association and shows hyper-recombination. Our data are consistent with FBH1 restraining RAD51 DNA binding under unperturbed growth conditions to prevent unwanted or unscheduled DNA recombination.     

Studies on human DNA polymerase epsilon and GINS complex and their role in DNA replication

In eukaryotic cells, DNA replication is carried out by the coordinated action of three DNA polymerases (Pols), Pol α, δ, and ε. In this report, we describe the reconstitution of the human four-subunit Pol ε and characterization of its catalytic properties in comparison with Pol α and Pol δ. Human Pol ε holoenzyme is a monomeric complex containing stoichiometric subunit levels of p261/Pol 2, p59, p17, and p12. We show that the Pol ε p261 N-terminal catalytic domain is solely responsible for its ability to catalyze DNA synthesis. Importantly, human Pol (hPol) ε was found more processive than hPol δ in supporting proliferating cell nuclear antigen-dependent elongation of DNA chains, which is in keeping with proposed roles for hPol ε and hPol δ in the replication of leading and lagging strands, respectively. Furthermore, GINS, a component of the replicative helicase complex that is composed of Sld5, Psf1, Psf2, and Psf3, was shown to interact weakly with all three replicative DNA Pols (α, δ, and ε) and to markedly stimulate the activities of Pol α and Pol ε. In vivo studies indicated that siRNA-targeted depletion of hPol δ and/or hPol ε reduced cell cycle progression and the rate of fork progression. Under the conditions used, we noted that depletion of Pol ε had a more pronounced inhibitory effect on cellular DNA replication than depletion of Pol δ. We suggest that reduction in the level of Pol δ may be less deleterious because of its collision-and-release role in lagging strand synthesis.     

The DDN Catalytic Motif Is Required for Metnase Functions in Non-homologous End Joining (NHEJ) Repair and Replication Restart

Metnase (or SETMAR) arose from a chimeric fusion of the Hsmar1 transposase downstream of a protein methylase in anthropoid primates. Although the Metnase transposase domain has been largely conserved, its catalytic motif (DDN) differs from the DDD motif of related transposases, which may be important for its role as a DNA repair factor and its enzymatic activities. Here, we show that substitution of DDN⁶¹⁰ with either DDD⁶¹⁰ or DDE⁶¹⁰ significantly reduced in vivo functions of Metnase in NHEJ repair and accelerated restart of replication forks. We next tested whether the DDD or DDE mutants cleave single-strand extensions and flaps in partial duplex DNA and pseudo-Tyr structures that mimic stalled replication forks. Neither substrate is cleaved by the DDD or DDE mutant, under the conditions where wild-type Metnase effectively cleaves ssDNA overhangs. We then characterized the ssDNA-binding activity of the Metnase transposase domain and found that the catalytic domain binds ssDNA but not dsDNA, whereas dsDNA binding activity resides in the helix-turn-helix DNA binding domain. Substitution of Asn-610 with either Asp or Glu within the transposase domain significantly reduces ssDNA binding activity. Collectively, our results suggest that a single mutation DDN⁶¹⁰ → DDD⁶¹⁰, which restores the ancestral catalytic site, results in loss of function in Metnase.     

Contribution of the intrinsic curvature to measured DNA persistence length

The persistence length of DNA, a, depends both on the intrinsic curvature of the double helix and on the thermal fluctuations of the angles between adjacent base-pairs. We have evaluated two contributions to the value of a by comparing measured values of a for DNA containing a generic sequence and for an "intrinsically straight" DNA. In each 10 bp segment of the intrinsically straight DNA an initial sequence of five bases is repeated in the sequence of the second five bases, so any bends in the first half of the segment are compensated by bends in the opposite direction in the second half. The value of a for the latter DNA depends, to a good approximation, on thermal fluctuations only; there is no intrinsic curvature. The values of a were obtained from measurements of the cyclization efficiency for short DNA fragments, about 200 bp in length. This method determines the persistence length of DNA with exceptional accuracy, due to the very strong dependence of the cyclization efficiency of short fragments on the value of a. We find that the values of a for the two types of DNA fragment are very close and conclude that the contribution of the intrinsic curvature to a is at least 20 times smaller than the contribution of thermal fluctuations. The relationship between this result and the angles between adjacent base-pairs, which specify the intrinsic curvature, is analyzed.     

A procedure for large-scale isolation of RNA-free plasmid and phage DNA without the use of RNase

A preparative procedure for the large-scale isolation of plasmid DNA without the use of RNAse is described. Crude plasmid DNA is prepared using a standard boiling method. High-molecular-weight RNA is removed by precipitation with LiCl, and low-molecular-weight RNA is removed by sedimentation through high-salt solution. The procedure is inexpensive, rapid, simple, and particularly suitable for processing several large-scale preparations simultaneously. A similar procedure has been developed for preparation of lambda-phage DNA.     

Formation of a stable RuvA protein double tetramer is required for efficient branch migration in vitro and for replication fork reversal in vivo

In bacteria, RuvABC is required for the resolution of Holliday junctions (HJ) made during homologous recombination. The RuvAB complex catalyzes HJ branch migration and replication fork reversal (RFR). During RFR, a stalled fork is reversed to form a HJ adjacent to a DNA double strand end, a reaction that requires RuvAB in certain Escherichia coli replication mutants. The exact structure of active RuvAB complexes remains elusive as it is still unknown whether one or two tetramers of RuvA support RuvB during branch migration and during RFR. We designed an E. coli RuvA mutant, RuvA2(KaP), specifically impaired for RuvA tetramer-tetramer interactions. As expected, the mutant protein is impaired for complex II (two tetramers) formation on HJs, although the binding efficiency of complex I (a single tetramer) is as wild type. We show that although RuvA complex II formation is required for efficient HJ branch migration in vitro, RuvA2(KaP) is fully active for homologous recombination in vivo. RuvA2(KaP) is also deficient at forming complex II on synthetic replication forks, and the binding affinity of RuvA2(KaP) for forks is decreased compared with wild type. Accordingly, RuvA2(KaP) is inefficient at processing forks in vitro and in vivo. These data indicate that RuvA2(KaP) is a separation-of-function mutant, capable of homologous recombination but impaired for RFR. RuvA2(KaP) is defective for stimulation of RuvB activity and stability of HJ·RuvA·RuvB tripartite complexes. This work demonstrates that the need for RuvA tetramer-tetramer interactions for full RuvAB activity in vitro causes specifically an RFR defect in vivo.