Identification of reference genes for qRT-PCR in human lung squamous-cell carcinoma by RNA-Seq

Although the accuracy of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction （qRT-PCR） is highly dependent on the reliable reference genes, many commonly used reference genes are not stably expressed and as such are not suitable for quantification and normalization of qRT-PCR data. The aim of this study was to identify novel reliable reference genes in lung squamous-cell carcinoma. We used RNA sequencing （RNA-Seq） to survey the whole genome expression in 5 lung normal samples and 44 lung squamous-cell carcinoma samples. We evaluated the expression proffies of 15 commonly used reference genes and identified five additional candidate reference genes. To validate the RNA-Seq dataset, we used qRT-PCR to verify the expression levels of these 20 genes in a separate set of 100 pairs of normal lung tissue and lung squamous-cell carcinoma samples, and then analyzed these results using geNorm and NormFinder. With respect to 14 of the 15 common reference genes （B2M, GAPDH, GUSB, HMBS, HPRT1, IP08, PGK1, POLR2A, PPIA, RPLPO, TBP, TFRC, UBC, and YWHAZ）, the expression levels were either too low to be easily detected, or exhibited a high degree of variability either between lung normal and squamous-cell carcinoma samples, or even among samples of the same tissue type. In contrast, 1 of the 15 common reference genes （ACTB） and the 5 additional candidate reference genes （EEFIA1, FAU, RPS9, RPSll, and RPSI4） were stably and constitutively expressed at high levels in all the samples tested. ACTB, EEFIAI, FA U, RPS9, RPSl l, and RPS14 are ideal reference genes for qRT-PCR analysis of lung squamous-cell carcinoma, while 14 commonly used qRT-PCR reference genes are less appropriate in this context.     

焦磷酸测序测定SNP的常见问题与解决方法

目的:探讨焦磷酸测序技术对单核苷酸多态性分型因测序图谱中存在的一些典型问题而导致分型结果不准确的解决方法。方法:以VKORC1基因1639 GA位点、CYP2C19基因636 GA位点及UGT1A1基因TA重复序列(TA)6(TA)7的多态性检测为例,分别采用优化PCR条件、改变测序时dNTP的加入顺序以及设立外标校正的方法来解决上述问题,从而提高焦测序对SNP分型的准确性。结果:通过升高PCR退火温度,可以显著提高VKORC1基因的扩增特异性,降低了测序图谱中非特异性信号峰强度;通过优化测序时dNTP的加入顺序,CYP2C19基因636 GA位点的准确分型结果可通过观察测序图谱中相关信号峰的有无而简单获得,避免了比较信号峰的相对强度;通过比较待测样本与已知基因型的外标样本的测序图谱来确定待测样本的基因型,提高了对UGT1A1基因TA重复序列(TA)6(TA)7多态性的分型准确性。结论:本文针对焦测序在测定SNP时的常见问题所提出的相应解决方法不仅简单、经济有效,而且在临床应用方面具有可靠性。     

科学家发现新型果蝇基因测序法

美国斯托瓦斯医学研究所开发出了一种名为“全基因组测序法”的果蝇突变基因测序法。研究人员称，在寻找果蝇突变基因上该方法能大幅减少时间和精力。相关研究发表在5月出版的《遗传学》（Genetics）杂志上。     

一个Ⅰ型神经纤维瘤家系的基因突变分析

鉴定了一个中国家庭中的常染色体显性遗传病-Ⅰ型神经纤维瘤, 通过连锁分析和NF1基因测序, 发现该家系中NF1疾病的致病基因与NF1基因连锁, 并在NF1基因上发现了一个无义突变G1336X, 该突变导致神经纤维蛋白从C末端截断1 483个氨基酸残基。G1336X突变在该家系中与疾病共分离, 但家系中的正常成员未能检出, 表明NF1基因的G1336X的突变是引起该家族患NF1疾病的原因。该突变是第一次在中国NF1疾病人群中报道。     

一中国正常血钾周期性麻痹家系中的SCN4A基因的T704M突变

家族性周期性麻痹(periodic paralysis,PP)是以反复发作骨骼肌迟缓性瘫痪为特征的一组疾病。我们对一个来自湖北省的正常血钾周期性麻痹家系进行致病基因突变检测。应用微卫星标记对该家系进行连锁分析,证实致病基因可能同SCN4A连锁。对SCN4A基因全部外显子测序,发现患者在一个致病突变热点存在碱基替换C2188T。该突变导致编码氨基酸改变Thr704Met,经单链构象多态性分析证明该突变只存在于该家系患者,不存在于家系中健康人和100名无亲缘关系对照中,Thr704Met是该家系的致病突变。     

萱草microRNAs生物信息学及与冷冻相关microRNAs的分析

microRNA是一类长度为16-29nt的非蛋白质编码的内源小分子RNA（sRNA）,在植物生长发育以及逆境胁迫响应等过程中发挥着重要作用。本文利用基于HiSeq原理的sRNA深度测序技术,结合生物信息学方法对萱草根系中已知miRNA的类型、丰度以及部分与冷冻胁迫相关的已知miRNA的功能进行了分析。结果表明,在10℃常温和2-5℃低温条件下萱草根系中分别有14843184和16072575条序列信息,代表14064385和15309725种sRNA片段,且sRNA均呈现正态分布特征;在非编码RNA中转运RNA（tRNA）、核糖体RNA（rRNA）所占比例较大。低温sRNA组中得到注释的sRNA有67411种,共计799994条sRNAff／段;常温NsRNA组中,得到注释的sRNA有66524种,共计1055466条sRNA片段。冷冻胁迫下,萱草通过提高miR393、miR397、miR396的表达量和降4NmiR319的表达量来增强其抗冻性。本研究为后续揭示萱草低温应答蛋白合成的调控机理,筛选抗冻关键调控基因提供了丰富的数据。     

利用二代测序技术高通量分析水稻品种间抗病性差异的分子基础

稻瘟病和白叶枯病是由稻温病菌(Magnaporthe oryzae)和白叶枯病菌(Xanthomonas oryzae pv.oryzae)引起的两种主要水稻病害,也是制约中国水稻生产的主要病害。为了从DNA水平探索造成水稻感病品种‘丽江新团黑谷’(LTH)和高抗品种‘特特普’(Tetep,TTP)间抗病性差异的分子基础,该研究对其已知的3个抗稻瘟病基因和3个抗白叶枯基因所在DNA区段分别进行PCR扩增,将等量混合的PCR产物再与基因组重测序样品按Ct值差值(ΔCt)~10的比例混合,采用二代测序技术进行一次性测序和比较分析,并对有差异的基因区域进行常规传统测序验证,以确定这2个品种中抗性基因(R基因)的数目和结构与品种抗病或感病表型的关联性。实验结果表明,二代测序能够快速并准确地寻找到2个不同水稻品种中多个特定基因的序列差异,且差异位点与常规测序结果相符。从LTH和TTP这2种抗性不同水稻品种在多个抗性基因的DNA水平差异来看,有差异的抗性基因位点在高抗品种TTP中大都与原始抗性基因序列相同,而对应的普感品种LTH的抗性基因往往多表现为氨基酸突变,这些序列差异很可能就是导致TTP与LTH抗性差异的分子基础。     

乳酸乳球菌KLDS4.0325的糖代谢过程及乳酸生物合成途径的比较

【目的】为了探究乳酸乳球菌乳酸亚种KLDS4.0325的碳水化合物利用能力和乳酸形成潜力。【方法】本文对该菌株进行了全基因组鸟枪法测序,并应用生物信息学方法对该菌株细胞外糖的转运、代谢及产酸途径涉及的一系列基因与其它9株参考菌株进行了比较分析。【结果】与参考菌株相比,该菌株基因组中具有较多涉及整个途径糖代谢途径的关键酶编码基因。【结论】该菌株在基因水平上表现出能够利用多种糖类物质来产乳酸的优良性状,是一株具有高产L-乳酸工业潜能的乳酸菌。     

Complete Sequence of pABTJ2, A Plasmid from Acinetobacter baumannii MDR-TJ,Carrying Many Phage-like Elements

Acinetobacter baumannii is an important opportunistic pathogeq in hospital, and tile multidrug-resistant isolates of A. haumannii have been increasingly reported i,a recent years. A num- ber of different mechanisms of resistance have been reported, some of which are associated with plasmid-mediated acquisition of genes. Therefore, studies on plasmids in A. haumannii have been a hot issue lately. We have performed complete genome sequencing of A. haumannii MDR-TJ, which is a multidrug-resistant isolate. Finalizing the remaining large scaffold of the previous assem- bly, we found a new plasmid pABTJ2, which carries many phage-like elements. The plasmid pAB- TJ2 is a circular double-stranded DNA molecule, which is 110,967 bp in length. We annotated 125 CDSs from pABTJ2 using IMG ER and ZCURVE_V, accounting lbr 88.28% of the whole plasmid sequence. Many phage-like elements and a tRNA-coding gene were detected in pABTJ2, which is rarely reported among A. haumannii. The tRNA gene is specific for asparagine codon GTT, which may be a small chromosomal sequence picked up through incorrect excision during plasmid forma- tion. The phage-like elements may have been acquired during the integration process, as the GC content of the region carrying phage-like elements was higher than that of the adjacent regions. The finding of phage-like elements and tRNA-coding gene in pABTJ2 may provide a novel insight into the study of A. haumannii pan-plasmidome.