Nuclear rDNA Variability in Laboratory Strains of the German Cockroach <Emphasis Type="Italic">Blattella germanica</Emphasis> L. (Blattellidae)

The polymorphism of nuclear ribosomal DNA has been studied in male German cockroaches. The RFLP analysis has been used to identify seven types of HindIII fragments, the variation of which may serve as the basis for the differentiation of laboratory strains with respect to some population indices, including the average number of fragments per animal (N), the proportion of polymorphic loci (P), and the average pairwise similarity (APS). The interpopulation variation (F _ST) calculated for nine haplotypes is 53.85%.__________Translated from Genetika, Vol. 41, No. 5, 2005, pp. 590–594.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Lazebnaya, Semenova, Lazebnyi, Schal, Mukha.     

Identification of exotic genetic components and DNA methylation pattern analysis of three cotton introgression lines from Gossypium bickii

The impact of alien DNA fragments on plant genome has been studied in many species. However, little is known about the introgression lines of Gossypium. To study the consequences of introgression in Gossypium, we investigated 2000 genomic and 800 epigenetic sites in three typical cotton introgression lines, as well as their cultivar (Gossypium hirsutum) and wild parents (Gossypium bickii), by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP). The results demonstrate that an average of 0.5% of exotic DNA segments from wild cotton is transmitted into the genome of each introgression line, with the addition of other forms of genetic variation. In total, an average of 0.7% of genetic variation sites is identified in introgression lines. Simultaneously, the overall cytosine methylation level in each introgression line is very close to that of the upland cotton parent (an average of 22.6%). Further dividing patterns reveal that both hypomethylation and hypermethylation occurred in introgression lines in comparison with the upland cotton parent. Sequencing of nine methylation polymorphism fragments showed that most (7 of 9) of the methylation alternations occurred in the noncoding sequences. The molecular evidence of introgression from wild cotton into introgression lines in our study is identified by AFLP. Moreover, the causes of petal variation in introgression lines are discussed.     

Time-course of mitochondrial genome variation in wheat embryogenic somatic tissue cultures

Mitochondrial (mt) DNA has been isolated from wheat (Triticum aestivum L., cultivar Chinese Spring) plants and embryogenic callus cultures initiated from immature embryos and harvested after various subcultures. Sal I-restricted mtDNA has been probed with cloned labelled restriction fragments internal to two of the ten sets of recombinationally active repeats found in wheat mtDNA. The resulting hybridization patterns suggest that (1) novel restriction fragments appear in callus culture mtDNA, (2) some of the restriction fragments encompassing a given recombinatory repeat endergo relative quantitative variation (amplification, decrease or loss), (3) this variation is rapidly stabilized during the course of callogenesis.     

Identification of exotic genetic components and DNA methylation pattern analysis of three cotton introgression lines from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium bickii</Emphasis>

The impact of alien DNA fragments on plant genome has been studied in many species. However, little is known about the introgression lines of Gossypium. To study the consequences of introgression in Gossypium, we investigated ∼2000 genomic and ∼800 epigenetic sites in three typical cotton introgression lines, as well as their cultivar (Gossypium hirsutum) and wild parents (Gossypium bickii), by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP). The results demonstrate that an average of 0.5% of exotic DNA segments from wild cotton is transmitted into the genome of each introgression line, with the addition of other forms of genetic variation. In total, an average of 0.7% of genetic variation sites is identified in introgression lines. Simultaneously, the overall cytosine methylation level in each introgression line is very close to that of the upland cotton parent (an average of 22.6%). Further dividing patterns reveal that both hypomethylation and hypermethylation occurred in introgression lines in comparison with the upland cotton parent. Sequencing of nine methylation polymorphism fragments showed that most (7 of 9) of the methylation alternations occurred in the noncoding sequences. The molecular evidence of introgression from wild cotton into introgression lines in our study is identified by AFLP. Moreover, the causes of petal variation in introgression lines are discussed.     

Effects of target sequence and sense versus anti-sense strands on gene correction with single-stranded DNA fragments

The correction of an inactivated hygromycin resistance and enhanced green fluorescent protein (Hyg-EGFP) fusion gene by a several hundred-base single-stranded (ss) DNA fragment has been reported. In this study, the effectiveness of this type of gene correction was examined for various positions in the rpsL gene. Sense and anti-sense ssDNA fragments were prepared, and the gene correction efficiencies were determined by co-introduction of the target plasmid containing the gene with the ssDNA fragments. The gene correction efficiency varied (0.8-9.3%), depending on target positions and sense/anti-sense strands. Sense ssDNA fragments corrected the target gene with equal or higher efficiencies as compared to their anti-sense counterparts. The target positions corrected with high efficiency by the sense fragments also tended to be corrected efficiently by the anti-sense fragments. These results suggest that the sense ssDNA fragments are useful for the correction of mutated genes. The variation in the correction efficiency may depend on the sequence of the target position in double-stranded DNA.     

Increasing the accuracy of the global alignment of amino acid sequences by constructing a set of alignment candidates

The accuracy of the global Smith-Waterman alignments and Pareto-optimal alignments depending on the degree of sequence similarity (percent of coincidence, % id, and the number of remote fragments NGap) has been examined. An algorithm for constructing a set of three to six alignments has been developed of which the accuracy of the best alignment exceeds on the average the accuracy of the best alignment that can be constructed using the Smith-Waterman algorithm. For weakly homologous sequences (% id 15, NGap 20), the increase in the accuracy is on the average about 8%, with the average accuracy of the global Smith-Waterman alignments being about 38% (the accuracy was estimated on model test sets).     

PCR-based molecular markers for assessment of somaclonal variation in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus pinea</Emphasis> clones micropropagated <Emphasis Type="Italic">in vitro</Emphasis>

Four different markers [random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), and selective amplified microsatellite polymorphism length (SAMPL)] were applied for evaluating somaclonal variation of micropropagated genotypes of stone pine (Pinus pinea L.). The total number of primers tested was 130, with 223 combinations assayed. A high number of them amplified successfully (178), representing 79.82 % of the total, and the average number of amplified fragments ranged from 2.47 (ISSR) to 65.76 (SAMPL). Based on internal controls, no problem of reproducibility was detected. Almost no somaclonal variation was detected within the clones. Of the tested markers, ISSR, AFLP, and SAMPL showed monomorphic amplification profiles, with only RAPD markers showing some interclonal variation.     

An evaluation of a new approach to the regeneration of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don, and the molecular characterization of the variation among sets of differently derived regenerants

A protocol for the induction of regeneration from leaves of Helichrysum italicum was established. Calli were found to form on the basal medium only when it was supplemented with thidiazuron (TDZ) alone or in combination with naphthalene acetic acid (NAA), with a percentage ranking of at least 80%. The hormone-free medium showed the highest percentage of shoot regeneration (62%) even though no callus formed. AFLP markers were employed to verify tissue culture-induced variation in the regenerated plantlets obtained by direct shoot regeneration or the indirect shoot regeneration process (callus formation). Seven out of the eleven AFLP primer pairs yielded polymorphic patterns. The average number of fragments per primer pair was 64.1. Singletons were represented by 12 (2.7%) fragments. Student’s T-test was performed both on the average number of shared fragments and on the nucleotide diversity, and no significant statistical difference was observed between the two regeneration treatments. These authors contributed equally to this work.     

Variation of DNA fingerprints among accessions within maize inbred lines and implications for identification of essentially derived varieties.

Genetic distances (GDs) based on molecular markers are important parameters for identifying essentially derived varieties (EDVs). In this context information about the variability of molecular markers within maize inbred lines is essential. Our objectives were to (1) determine the variation in the size of simple sequence repeat (SSR) fragments among different accessions of maize inbreds and doubled haploid (DH) lines, (2) attribute the observed variation to genetic and marker system-specific sources, and (3) investigate the effect of SSR fragment size differences within maize lines on the GD between maize lines and their consequences for the identification of essentially derived varieties. Two to five accessions from nine inbred lines and five DH lines were taken from different sources or drawn as independent samples from the same seed lot. Each accession was genotyped with 100 SSR markers that evenly covered the whole maize genome. In total, 437 SSR fragments were identified, with a mean of 4.4 alleles per locus. The average polymorphic information content (PIC) was 0.58. GD estimates between two accessions of the same genotype ranged from 0.00 to 0.12 with an average of 0.029 for inbred lines and 0.001 for DH lines. An average of 11.1 SSRs was polymorphic between accessions of the same inbred line due to non-amplification (8.1 SSRs), heterogeneity (4.0 SSRs) or unknown alleles (2.6 SSRs). In contrast to lab errors, heterogeneity contributed considerably to the observed variation for GD. In order to decrease the probability to be suited for infringing an EDV threshold by chance, we recommend to increase the level of homogeneity of inbred lines before applying for plant variety protection.     

Electro-optical analysis of 'curved' DNA fragments

The structure of some 'short' DNA fragments with 106-108 base-pairs and of a 'long' kinetoplast DNA fragment with 419 base-pairs has been analyzed by electro-optical procedures. According to their electrophoretic mobilities and circularization probabilities, it was concluded that two of our short fragments with clusters of four and five and six adenosines phased at the period of the double helix are inherently curved with an approximate curvature around 200 degrees. The dichroism decay curves of our short fragments exhibited two processes. A fast one with time constants of approx. 100 ns is attributed to bending; the bending amplitudes observed for the fragments with dA4 and dA5/6 clusters are slightly higher (23 and 29%, respectively) than those observed for control fragments (17-20%). The second process reflects the overall rotational diffusion of the whole fragments and shows some variation with the DNA sequence, but on average the rotation of fragments with dA4 and dA5/6 clusters corresponds to that observed for standard DNA. Since the rotational diffusion coefficients are very strongly dependent on the effective hydrodynamic lengths, we must conclude that the effective lengths of our fragments, including the 'curved' ones, are very similar under the conditions of our experiments. The rotation time constant for the long kinetoplast DNA is also rather close to those observed for the usual DNA fragments of corresponding length. One way to resolve the conflict of our results with conclusions obtained from other investigations would invoke the assumption that the curved fragments are not 'elastic'. According to this hypothesis, electric field pulses would stretch the curved fragments to an almost straight form and the stretched DNA would return to its equilibrium state with a time constant longer than the rotation time constant.     

用EST-SSR标记检测我国甘蓝型油菜品种的遗传多样性

杂交育种依然是我国油菜育种的主要方法,杂种优势的利用仍然是提高产量的重要途径.为了解我国甘蓝型油菜的遗传变异,采用16个EST-SSR标记对近年来推广的91个品种的遗传多样性进行了分析.共扩增到100个条带,其中84个多态性带,多态性比率为84%.平均每对引物扩增的带数和多态性带数分别为6.25个和5.25个.多态性信息含量(PIC)变化在0.022-0.926之间,平均为0.677,所揭示的基因型数变化于2-24之间,平均为12.44个.供试材料间遗传距离变幅较大(0.0530-0.7223之间),说明它们具有广泛的遗传变异.其中,杂交种和2000年以后育成品种的遗传基础较宽,遗传多样性分别明显高于常规品种和2000年以前育成的品种.按非加权成对平均数法(UPGMA)进行的聚类分析显示,在遗传距离为0.313处,参试材料可以分为三大类,其中,包含87份材料的第一大类在遗传距离为0.233处又可进一步分为10个亚类.聚类结果与系谱来源基本一致,比较真实反映了所用材料的遗传变异情况.     

Electrooptical study of the electric polarizability of rodlike fragments of DNA

The anisotropy of electrical polarizability of rodlike fragments of DNA has been studied by a number of electro-optical methods: Kerr effect (combined with flow birefringence), light scattering, diehroism, and fluorescence in an electric field. The most sensitive technique (Kerr effect) has been used to study the variation of the polarizability with the nature and concentration of counteroins. DNA fragments constitute a truly rigid polyelectrolyte of known structure. The value obtained can then be quantitatively compared to the predictions of those of the theories of the longitudinal polarizability of rigid polyelectrolytes which are based on true molecular parameters. The comparison emphasizes the role of the counterion–counterion repulsion. Oosawa's theory seems to represent the best approach but fails to explain the differences observed between monovalent and divalent ions.     

Increasing the accuracy of global alignment of amino acid sequences by constructing a set of alignment candidates

The accuracy of global Smith-Waterman alignments and Pareto-optimal alignments depending on the degree of sequence similarity (percent of coincidence, %id, and the number of removed fragments NGap) has been examined. An algorithm for constructing a set of three to six alignments has been developed of which the best alignment on the average exceeds in accuracy the best alignment that can be constructed using the Smith-Waterman algorithm. For weakly homologous sequences (%id 15, NGap 20), the increase in accuracy is on the average about 8%, with the average accuracy of the global Smith-Waterman alignments being about 38% (the accuracy was estimated on model test sets).     

A combination of techniques proves useful in the development of nuclear markers in the newt genus Triturus

To increase the number of markers available for study of phylogeny and phylogeography in the newt genus Triturus, we developed and tested 59 primer pairs using three different techniques. Primers were obtained from published sources, by designing exon-primed intron-crossing primers and from randomly cloned anonymous nuclear DNA fragments. Successful polymerase chain reaction products were cloned and sequenced. Five fragments were successfully amplified and sequenced for six species of Triturus: intron 7 of the β-fibrinogen gene (βfibint7), third intron of the calreticulin gene (CalintC), the 11th intron of the α-subunit of the platelet derived growth factor receptor (PDGFRα) and two anonymous markers (Cri1 and Cri4). The average percentage species divergence across all the markers is low (c. 3%), compared to what has been found in mitochondrial DNA (25-30%).     

Motility of single one-headed kinesin molecules along microtubules

The motility of single one-headed kinesin molecules (K351 and K340), which were truncated fragments of Drosophila two-headed kinesin, has been tested using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. One-headed kinesin fragments moved continuously along the microtubules. The maximum distance traveled until the fragments dissociated from the microtubules for both K351 and K340 was approximately 600 nm. This value is considerably larger than the space resolution of the measurement system (SD approximately 30 nm). Although the movements of the fragments fluctuated in forward and backward directions, statistical analysis showed that the average movements for both K340 and K351 were toward the plus end of the microtubules, i.e., forward direction. When BDTC (a 1.3-S subunit of Propionibacterium shermanii transcarboxylase, which binds weakly to a microtubule), was fused to the tail (C-terminus) of K351, its movement was enhanced, smooth, and unidirectional, similar to that of the two-headed kinesin fragment, K411. However, the travel distance and velocity of K351BDTC molecules were approximately 3-fold smaller than that of K411. These observations suggest that a single kinesin head has basal motility, but coordination between the two heads is necessary for stabilizing the basal motility for the normal level of kinesin processivity.     

Terminal restriction fragment length measurement errors are affected mainly by fragment length, G + C nucleotide content and secondary structure melting point

Several methods of molecular analysis of microbial diversity, including terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis are based on measurement of the DNA fragment length. Significant variation between sequence-determined and measured length of restriction fragments (drift) has been observed, which can affect the efficiency of the identification of microorganisms in the analyzed communities. In the past, this variation has been attributed to varying fragment length and purine content. In this study, principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis were applied to find the contributions of those and several other fragment characteristics. We conclude that secondary structure melting point and G + C nucleotide content, besides the fragment length, contribute to the variation observed, whereas the contribution of purine content is less important. Incomplete denaturation of the sample at the start of electrophoretic separation of fragments has been excluded as a major cause of the variation observed. Our regression model explains the observed drift variation by approximately 56%, with standard deviation of the prediction equal to approximately 1.3 bp.     

Helical repeat of DNA in solution. The V curve method.

The V-like dependence of the electrophoretic mobility of small DNA rings on their topological constraint, which has been documented in a recent paper [Zivanovic et al. (1986), J. Mol. Biol., 192, 645-660], has been explored as a tool to measure the helical twist of the torsionally unstressed duplex. The method was applied to single mixed sequence fragments approximately 350 to 1400 base pairs in length, providing estimates of their average helical periodicity. It was also used to compare two DNA fragments, and to evaluate the helical repeat of poly(dA.dT).poly(dA.dT) and poly(dA).poly(dT) inserts, and the helix unwindings associated with dA and dC methylations by dam and Hhal methylases, respectively. Data were found to be highly reproducible and helical repeat estimates were in good agreement with those obtained from previous techniques.     

A complete cleavage map of Neurospora crassa mtDNA obtained with endonucleases Eco RI and Bam HI.

A physical map of Neurospora crassa mitochondrial DNA has been constructed using specific fragments obtained with restriction endonucleases. The DNA has 5 cleavage sites for endonuclease Bam HI, 12 for endonuclease Eco RI and more than 30 for endonuclease Hind III. The sequence of the Eco RI and Bam HI fragments has been established by analysis of partial fragments. By digestion of the Eco RI fragments with Bam HI, a complete overlapping map has been constructed. The position of the largest Hind III fragment on this map has also been determined. The map is circular and the added molecular weight of the fragments is 40 - 10(6), which is in good agreement with earlier measurements on intact DNA, using the electron microscope.     

iPBS-Retrotransposons-based genetic diversity and relationship among wild annual Cicer species

Lack of requisite genetic variation in cultivated species has necessitated systematic collection, documentation and evaluation of wild Cicer species for use in chickpea variety improvement programs. Cicer arietinum has very narrow genetic variation, and the use of a wild relative in chickpea breeding could provide a good opportunity for increasing the available genetic variation of cultivated chickpea. Genetic diversity and the relationship of 71 accessions, from the core area of chickpea origin and domestication (Southeastern Turkey), belonging to five wild annual species and one cultivated species (Cicer arietinum) were analysed using iPBS-retrotransposon and ISSR markers. A total of 136 scorable bands were detected using 10 ISSR primers among 71 accessions belonging to 6 species, out of which 135 were polymorphic (99.3 %), with an average of 13.5 polymorphic fragments per primer, whereas iPBS detected 130 bands with 100 % polymorphism with an average of 13.0 bands per primer. C. echinospermum and C. pinnatifidum were the most diverse among species, whereas C. arietinum exhibited lower polymorphism. The average polymorphism information contents (PIC) value for both marker systems was 0.91. The clustering of the accessions and species within groups was almost similar, when iPBS and ISSR NeighborNet (NNet) planar graphs were compared. Further detailed studies are indispensable in order to collect Cicer germplasm, especially C. reticulatum, from southeastern Turkey particularly, from Karacada? Mountain for preservation, management of this species, and to study their genetic diversity at molecular level. This study also demonstrates the utility and role of iPBS-retrotransposons, a dominant and ubiquitous part of eukaryotic genomes, for diversity studies in wild chickpea and in cultivated chickpea.     

Evaluation of Genetic Diversity in Lemons and Some of Their Relatives Based on SRAP and SSR Markers

Genetic diversity was evaluated by sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers among 45 lemons (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. f.), five citrons (Citrus medica L.), four rough lemons (Citrus jambhiri Lush), and two Citrus volkameriana accessions. Twenty-one SRAP primer combinations produced a total of 141 (77%) polymorphic fragments with an average of 6.7 fragments per primer combinations whereas 13 SSR primers produced a total of 26 (76%) polymorphic fragments with an average of 2.0 per primer. The unweighted pair-group method arithmetic average analysis as assessed with combined SRAP and SSR data demonstrated that the accessions had a similarity range from 0.65 to 1.00. Rough lemons and C. volkameriana accessions were relatively closely related. In lemon group, accessions from hybrid origin were distant from the others. We also applied principal components analysis (PCA) for a better presentation of relation among the accessions studies. Using PCA, 88.7% of the total variation in the original dimensions could be represented by just the two dimensions defined by the first two PCs. Although nearly all accessions could be distinguished, there was a low level of genetic diversity detected among lemon cultivars.