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T Rognes

Publications and source records attributed to T Rognes.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

ParAlign: a parallel sequence alignment algorithm for rapid and sensitive database searches.

There is a need for faster and more sensitive algorithms for sequence similarity searching in view of the rapidly increasing amounts of genomic sequence data available. Parallel processing capabilities in the form of the single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) technology are now available in common microprocessors and enable a single microprocessor to perform many operations in parallel. The ParAlign algorithm has been specifically designed to take advantage of this technology. The new algorithm initially exploits parallelism to perform a very rapid computation of the exact optimal ungapped alignment score for all diagonals in the alignment matrix. Then, a novel heuristic is employed to compute an approximate score of a gapped alignment by combining the scores of several diagonals. This approximate score is used to select the most interesting database sequences for a subsequent Smith-Waterman alignment, which is also parallelised. The resulting method represents a substantial improvement compared to existing heuristics. The sensitivity and specificity of ParAlign was found to be as good as Smith-Waterman implementations when the same method for computing the statistical significance of the matches was used. In terms of speed, only the significantly less sensitive NCBI BLAST 2 program was found to outperform the new approach. Online searches are available at http://dna.uio.no/search/

Algorithms↗

Cell-cycle regulation, intracellular sorting and induced overexpression of the human NTH1 DNA glycosylase involved in removal of formamidopyrimidine residues from DNA.

Endonuclease III (Nth) of Escherichia coli is a DNA glycosylase essential for the removal of oxidised pyrimidine base residues from DNA. Several eukaryotic homologues have recently been identified and shown to have biochemical properties similar to those of Nth. However, some of the eukaryotic counterparts also appear to remove imidazole ring-opened purine residues (faPy), a property not shared by the enzymes of bacterial origin. Here, we show that the human enzyme also possesses efficient faPy DNA glycosylase activity as indicated both from studies of the purified protein and induced overexpression of the human NTH1 cDNA in HeLa cells. We constructed green fluorescent protein-tagged hNTH1 fusion proteins to study the cellular localisation of hNTH1 and found strong and exclusive sorting to the nucleus. Studies with synchronised cells showed that the expression of hNTH1 is regulated during the cell cycle with increased transcription during early and mid S-phase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Six-fold speed-up of Smith-Waterman sequence database searches using parallel processing on common microprocessors.

MOTIVATION: Sequence database searching is among the most important and challenging tasks in bioinformatics. The ultimate choice of sequence-search algorithm is that of Smith-Waterman. However, because of the computationally demanding nature of this method, heuristic programs or special-purpose hardware alternatives have been developed. Increased speed has been obtained at the cost of reduced sensitivity or very expensive hardware. RESULTS: A fast implementation of the Smith-Waterman sequence-alignment algorithm using Single-Instruction, Multiple-Data (SIMD) technology is presented. This implementation is based on the MultiMedia eXtensions (MMX) and Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) technology that is embedded in Intel's latest microprocessors. Similar technology exists also in other modern microprocessors. Six-fold speed-up relative to the fastest previously known Smith-Waterman implementation on the same hardware was achieved by an optimized 8-way parallel processing approach. A speed of more than 150 million cell updates per second was obtained on a single Intel Pentium III 500 MHz microprocessor. This is probably the fastest implementation of this algorithm on a single general-purpose microprocessor described to date.

Algorithms↗

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae homologues of endonuclease III from Escherichia coli, Ntg1 and Ntg2, are both required for efficient repair of spontaneous and induced oxidative DNA damage in yeast.

Endonuclease III from Escherichia coli is the prototype of a ubiquitous DNA repair enzyme essential for the removal of oxidized pyrimidine base damage. The yeast genome project has revealed the presence of two genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, NTG1 and NTG2, encoding proteins with similarity to endonuclease III. Both contain the highly conserved helix-hairpin-helix motif, whereas only one (Ntg2) harbors the characteristic iron-sulfur cluster of the endonuclease III family. We have characterized these gene functions by mutant and enzyme analysis as well as by gene expression and intracellular localization studies. Targeted gene disruption of NTG1 and NTG2 produced mutants with greatly increased spontaneous and hydrogen peroxide-induced mutation frequency relative to the wild type, and the mutation response was further increased in the double mutant. Both enzymes were found to remove thymine glycol and 2, 6-diamino-4-hydroxy-5-N-methylformamidopyrimidine (faPy) residues from DNA with high efficiency. However, on UV-irradiated DNA, saturating concentrations of Ntg2 removed only half of the cytosine photoproducts released by Ntg1. Conversely, 5-hydroxycytosine was removed efficiently only by Ntg2. The enzymes appear to have different reaction modes, as judged from much higher affinity of Ntg2 for damaged DNA and more efficient borhydride trapping of Ntg1 to abasic sites in DNA despite limited DNA binding. Northern blot and promoter fusion analysis showed that NTG1 is inducible by cell exposure to DNA-damaging agents, whereas NTG2 is constitutively expressed. Ntg2 appears to be a nuclear enzyme, whereas Ntg1 was sorted both to the nucleus and to the mitochondria. We conclude that functions of both NTG1 and NTG2 are important for removal of oxidative DNA damage in yeast.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

SALSA: improved protein database searching by a new algorithm for assembly of sequence fragments into gapped alignments.

MOTIVATION: Optimal sequence alignment based on the Smith-Waterman algorithm is usually too computationally demanding to be practical for searching large sequence databases. Heuristic programs like FASTA and BLAST have been developed which run much faster, but at the expense of sensitivity. RESULTS: In an effort to approximate the sensitivity of an optimal alignment algorithm, a new algorithm has been devised for the computation of a gapped alignment of two sequences. After scanning for high-scoring words and extensions of these to form fragments of similarity, the algorithm uses dynamic programming to build an accurate alignment based on the fragments initially identified. The algorithm has been implemented in a program called SALSA and the performance has been evaluated on a set of test sequences. The sensitivity was found to be close to the Smith-Waterman algorithm, while the speed was similar to FASTA (ktup = 2). AVAILABILITY: Searches can be performed from the SALSA homepage at http://dna.uio.no/salsa/ using a wide range of databases. Source code and precompiled executables are also available. CONTACT: torbjorn.rognes@labmed.uio.no

Algorithms↗

Opposite base-dependent reactions of a human base excision repair enzyme on DNA containing 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine and abasic sites.

The guanine modification 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG) is a potent premutagenic lesion formed spontaneously at high frequencies in the genomes of aerobic organisms. We have characterized a human DNA repair glycosylase for 8-oxoG removal, hOGH1 (human yeast OGG1 homologue), by molecular cloning and functional analysis. Expression of the human cDNA in a repair deficient mutator strain of Escherichia coli (fpg mutY) suppressed the spontaneous mutation frequency to almost normal levels. The hOGH1 enzyme was localized to the nucleus in cells transfected by constructs of hOGH1 fused to green fluorescent protein. Enzyme purification yielded a protein of 38 kDa removing both formamidopyrimidines and 8-oxoG from DNA. The enzymatic activities of hOGH1 was analysed on DNA containing single residues of 8-oxoG or abasic sites opposite each of the four normal bases in DNA. Excision of 8-oxoG opposite C was the most efficient and was followed by strand cleavage via beta-elimination. However, significant removal of 8-oxoG from mispairs (8-oxoG: T >G >A) was also demonstrated, but essentially without an associated strand cleavage reaction. Assays with abasic site DNA showed that strand cleavage was indeed dependent on the presence of C in the opposite strand, irrespective of the prior removal of an 8-oxoG residue. It thus appears that strand incisions are made only if repair completion results in correct base insertion, whereas excision from mispairs preserves strand continuity and hence allows for error-free correction by a postreplicational repair mechanism.

Amino Acid Sequence↗