Assays for copy number, differential expression, and recombination in lysozyme multigene family.
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Six cloned 5' long terminal repeat (LTR) and adjoining cellular DNA regions of partially deleted feline endogenous RD-114 proviral loci were linked to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene and assayed for their ability to promote transient CAT expression. One endogenous LTR (clone CRL-3) and the LTR from an infectious RD-114 provirus, EX-LTR, were capable of actively expressing the CAT gene. DNA sequence comparison of these LTRs with an inactive endogenous LTR (CR-1) revealed extensive homology in all regions except in the 5' half of U3. The homologous portion contained transcriptional regulatory sequences including CAT, TATA, polyadenylation signal boxes and an octamer enhancer, which is rarely seen in retroviruses. Variations in the 5' half of U3 were primarily due to insertions and deletions. A major difference was in number of copies and integrity of tandemly repeated sequences. EX-LTR contained two pairs of tandem direct repeats, while the two endogenous LTRs contained different deletions of repeated sequences. DNA sequence data also revealed that the primer binding site for RD-114 loci was complementary to a glycine tRNA isotype, the use of which is distinct from any other known retrovirus. An analysis of the steady state RNA levels in T-lymphoid cell lines showed that at least three different incomplete proviral transcripts and their spliced products made up the majority of expressed RD-114 mRNA, and further demonstrated that partially deleted proviral loci have the potential to be transcriptionally vigorous in certain feline cell types.
The long-range structure of 5S rRNA gene clusters has been investigated in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by means of pulsed field gel electrophoresis. Using aneuploid stocks, 5S rRNA gene clusters were assigned to sites on chromosomes 1B, 1D, 5B and 5D. Cluster sizes were evaluated and the copy number of 5S DNA repeats was estimated at 4700-5200 copies for the short repeating unit (410 bp) and about 3100 copies for the long repeat (500 bp) per haploid genome. A comparison of wheat cultivars revealed extremely high levels of polymorphism in the 5S rRNA gene clusters. With one restriction enzyme digest all varieties tested gave unique banding patterns and, on a per fragment basis, 21-fold more polymorphism was detected among cultivars for 5S DNA compared to standard restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) detected with single copy clones. Experiments with aneuploid stocks suggest that the 5S rRNA gene clusters at several chromosomal sites contribute to this polymorphism. A number of previous reports have shown that wheat cultivars are not easily distinguished by isozymes or RFLPs. The high level of variation detected in 5S rRNA gene clusters therefore offers the possibility of a sensitive fingerprinting method for wheat. 5S DNA and other macro-satellite sequences may also serve as hypervariable Mendelian markers for genetic and breeding experiments in wheat.
A number of processes, such as sequence conversion, unequal crossingover, and molecular drive, have been postulated to explain the homogenization of tandemly repeated DNA families. To investigate the nature and extent of such processes in the alpha satellite family of centromeric DNA, we determined the nucleotide sequence of approximately 700 bp from each of 40 representative alpha satellite repeats from six sources of human X chromosomes, obtaining a total of approximately 28 kb of sequence data. Sequence divergence among the repeats examined was low, with an average pairwise difference of approximately 1%. Pairwise comparisons of all repeats indicate that the degree of similarity for those repeats in physical proximity (within approximately 15 kb) of each other is significantly greater than that for randomly located repeats, from either the same or different X chromosomes, suggesting that the mechanisms predicted to homogenize these arrays are effectively short-range in action. Analysis of individual patterns of sequence variation allows the assignment of haplotypes for five high-copy-number diagnostic positions and reveals distinct positions of equilibrium and disequilibrium within the repeat. These analyses address hypotheses about the origin of the observed patterns of variation throughout alpha satellite evolution.
We have determined for the X chromosomes of 10 laboratory strains and the Y chromosomes of 4 of them both the total number of ribosomal units and the relative percentages of uninterrupted (ins-), type 1 (ins1: with distinction between small ins1S and large ins1L) and type 2 (ins2) interrupted ribosomal units. These studies were made with the DNA extracted from third instar larval diploid tissues (brains and imaginal discs) of X/X female lines or XNO-/Y male lineages (devoid of X ribosomal genes) whose members possess copies of the same initial X or Y chromosome. Between the X chromosomes as well as the Y chromosomes an approximately equal to 2-fold variation was observed in the total number of ribosomal genes: from approximately equal to 200 to 420 for the X chromosomes and from approximately equal to 150 to 330 for the Y ones. The Y chromosomes are devoid of insertion 1 interrupted units, but one can observe some variation in the percentage and hence the absolute numbers of uninterrupted and insertion 2 interrupted units. Among the X chromosomes a very large variation exists between the percentage and absolute number of all the ribosomal unit types; it is to be noted especially that the number of uninterrupted units, which are the only kind of ribosomal genes actively transcribed, can vary from about 20 to 140 without any differences in the development of the different strains.
Five human lymphoblastoid cell lines immortalized in vitro with the B95-8 EBV strain, chosen to have a low number of copies of EBV genome, were examined to detect variations in electrophoretic mobility of viral restriction fragments and in the karyotype. Patterns of mobility detected with different viral probes are always the same as those obtained with fragments from purified virus-plasmidic DNA, with one exception. This "non-plasmidic" pattern occurs with a probe containing the termini of the linear virion DNA and consists in an increase of the molecular weight and in the appearance of more than one band. Cytogenetic studies carried on the same cell populations used as source of DNA, early after immortalization, showed a diploid modal chromosome number and no G banding rearrangements.
We have analyzed a variable domain of the mitochondrial DNA control region of 18 avian species. Intra-individual length variation was identified and characterized in 15 species. The occurrence of heteroplasmy among species is phylogenetically consistent with a current classification of birds. Polymerase chain reaction amplifications, direct sequencing, and Southern analysis of mitochondrial DNA showed that the heteroplasmy is due to variable numbers of direct repeats in a tandem organization, located in the control region close to the tRNAPhe gene. The tandem repeats consist of short sequence motifs that vary in size from 4 to 32 base pairs between species. Sequence complexity of the repeat motifs was low, with almost exclusively Ts and Gs in the heavy-strand. Extensive variation in the copy number of the repeats was seen both intra-specifically and within individuals. This is the first report of mitochondrial heteroplasmy characterized at the sequence level in birds.
A previously identified human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) origin of DNA replication contains two binding sites for the origin-binding protein (OBPH6B). We have investigated the functional significance of these sites by determining the replication efficiencies of mutated origin sequences, using a transient replication assay. The results indicate that both sites are required for DNA replication. In addition, we have tested the functional consequences of linear sequence amplifications in the origin. The data show that tandemized origin elements are more efficiently replicated than single-copy origins. Finally, we have determined the extent of interstrain origin sequence variation that exists among HHV-6 isolates by cloning, sequencing, and analyzing origins from a number of virus isolates, including examples of both HHV-6A and HHV-6B.
Fragile X syndrome is characterized as an inherited unstable DNA sequence: the increasement of (CGG)n copy number. It suffered from the inactivation of FMR-1 (fragile X mental retardation 1), which is inhibited by amplification of (CGG)n and methylation of CpG island. The (CGG)n repeat variation in normal Chinese population was detected by PCR with sequencing gel analysis. We also analysed the amplification of (CGG)n and methylation of CpG island at Xq27.3 from 15 individuals in 6 families by Southern hybridization. These results indicate that abnormal methylation of CpG island always occurs in Fra (X) patients together with large amplification of (CGG)n. The (CGG)n could be either stable or amplified in springs of carrier females. These suggest that there would be a new genetic mechanism dynamic mutation.
BACKGROUND: DNA methylation influences gene-environment interactions and brain development in bipolar disorder (BD). We aimed to identify BD-associated epigenetic loci and examine their associations with brain structural variation. METHODS: We conducted an epigenome-wide association study (BD group, n = 90; healthy controls group, n = 161) to identify BD-associated DNA methylation loci, and we additionally performed copy number alteration and functional enrichment analyses. The correlations between epigenetic loci and cortical thickness (CT) were assessed using Pearson's partial correlation analysis, and the co-methylation effect of the epigenetic loci identified in the neuroimaging-epigenetic analysis was investigated. FINDINGS: A total of 156 differentially methylated positions (DMPs) and 7 differentially methylated regions were identified, and the genes associated with them were observed to be enriched in biological processes related to muscle hypertrophy and neuronal activity. Significant correlations between the methylation levels of 13 DMPs associated with three genes (miR886, PLEC1, and ICAM5) and the CT of the right postcentral gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus were identified. Specifically, 10 DMPs associated with the CpG island in the upstream region of the miR886 gene showed negative correlations with the right postcentral gyrus CT, implicating miR886-associated CpG-island methylation in regional cortical thinning. CONCLUSION: Epigenetic changes might play an important role in brain structural changes in BD. These multimodal findings nominate miR886-related methylation as a candidate molecular correlate of cortical thinning and warrant replication and mechanistic follow-up in larger, state-diverse cohorts.
Three erythromyxin-resistant Swedish isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes, representing different T-types, were studied. Two of the strains showed constitutive high-level (MIC > 200 micrograms/ml) and one showed moderate (MIC 6.4 micrograms/ml) resistance; the latter strain was sensitive to lincosamide and clindamycin, and resistance was not induced by erythromycin. In each of the strains, a plasmid with an estimated Mw of 17.6 +/- 0.9 x 10(6) was isolated in addition to smaller cryptic plasmids. The three plasmids pSE701, pSE702, and pSE703 had very similar restriction enzyme cleavage patterns. Novobiocin curing of the high-level resistance strain ER559 showed the resistance to be linked to its 17.6 x 10(6) plasmid, pSE703. Furthermore, by electroporation this rather large plasmid was reintroduced into an erythromycin-sensitive cured derivative, acquiring resistance, and the plasmid was again recovered from the transconjugant. One of the plasmids, pSE702, was shown by filter mating to be conjugative within S. pyogenes. DNA-DNA hybridization showed that the resistance determinant of the present three isolates was related to the erm gene on plasmid pAM beta 1 of Enterococcus faecalis but not to that of plasmid pE194 of Staphylococcus aureus. The copy numbers of pSE702 and pSE703, derived from the two high-level resistant strains, were 11 +/- 3 and 17 +/- 5 compared to 2 +/- 1 for pSE701, derived from the moderately resistant strain, possibly accounting for the phenotypic variation observed. The plasmids pSE702 and pAM beta 1 showed about 80% homology in DNA-DNA hybridization tests and high similarity in their restriction maps.
AIM: Development of a specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for detection of the pre-core, stop codon, mutant of hepatitis B virus (HBV). METHODS: PCR primers, specific at the 3'-end for nucleotide 1896 of either the pre-core, stop codon, mutant or wild type HBV, were synthesised using published sequence data. Positive control templates for both types of virus were synthesised by the PCR, incorporating sequences specific for each virus type at the appropriate position. These templates were used to optimise the specificity of the procedure. Formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded human tissue from acute or fulminant HBV hepatitis from Hong Kong or Oxford was then investigated for presence of mutant or wild type virus. The HBV DNA was amplified from this tissue using a two step procedure, with an initial amplification phase followed by a second diagnostic phase on optimally diluted target DNA. RESULTS: Specific detection of mutant or wild type HBV was achieved. An important factor in determining specificity was the temperature of annealing, 70 degrees C proving to be highly specific. To overcome the inherent variation of target copy number in clinical samples and to provide an intrinsic positive control, it was important to generate and standardise the amount of target HBV used for the specific PCR. Two cases of fulminant hepatitis and four cases of acute hepatitis from Hong Kong, and one case of fulminant hepatitis from Oxford, contained only wild type HBV, with no evidence of a mutant virus. CONCLUSION: This method can be applied to FFPE tissues. It is rapid, non-radioactive, and specific for the stop codon mutation at nucleotide 1896 of HBV. Preliminary investigation of a small number of cases of fulminant hepatitis from Oxford and Hong Kong showed only wild type virus. The result differs from results published from Japan and Israel.
The VH26 germline gene occupies two different loci, due to gene duplication, and is one of the most frequently expressed human immunoglobulin VH genes. This report identifies the alleles of each VH26 locus and describes distinct patterns of VH26 polymorphism in three ethnic groups. Oligonucleotide probes targeting VH26 were used in sequence-specific RFLP analysis of DNA from 72 Caucasians, 52 Asians, 35 American Blacks, and members of six families. The A locus, on a 7.0-kb TaqI band, was detected in 89% of Caucasians, 75% of Asians, and 26% of Blacks (chi2 = P < 0.0005). The B locus, detected on a 5.0-kb band in nearly all subjects, was found to have additional alleles occurring at 6.8 kb in 10% of Asians and 3% of Blacks (chi2 = 7.8, P < 0.02) and at 3.7 kb in 1.4% of Caucasians, 21% of Asians, and (9% of Blacks (chi2 = 13.8, P < 0.001). In Asians, only, the 3.7-kb hybridization band represented a multiple-duplication unit containing three or four gene copies. Duplications of other VH26 alleles, and mull alleles of the B locus, were also seen. An exact VH26 sequence was cloned from the 5.0-kb allele and likely exists in the 7.0- and 6.8-kb alleles. A novel sequence cloned from the 3.7-kb allele differed from VH26 by nine nucleotides and appears to have evolved by gene conversion in CDR2. The total diploid gene dose of the A and B loci ranged from one to as many as six copies of VH26-containing genes, and from zero to as many as six to eight copies of the 3.7-kb allele. We conclude that ethnic differences in polymorphism exist at both VH26 loci. These differences could influence VH26 expression because they involve variations in gene copy number and coding region sequence.
The pseudoautosomal region of the Mov15 mouse strain is marked by a Moloney murine leukemia provirus. The sequences flanking the Mov15 provirus were molecularly cloned and shown to consist of a tandemly repeated sequence of 31 nucleotides. Copy number variation of this repeat most likely accounts for the polymorphism in the mouse pseudoautosomal region detected with a probe from the flanking sequences. In situ hybridization to metaphase chromosomes showed heavy labeling of the pairing region of the X and Y chromosomes. The repetitive sequence was also found at the subtelomeric region of three autosomes. A similar level of amplification as the one seen on the sex chromosomes seems to be present on chromosomes 9 and 13. Lower copy number appear to be present on chromosome 4.
Genomic DNA from 40 unrelated healthy individuals and 16 families affected with 21-hydroxylase deficiency were digested with restriction enzyme Taq I followed by Southern blot and hybridization using a 21-hydroxylase (21-OH) gene cDNA probe. In healthy individuals the number of copies of 21-OHB gene was constant while that of 21-OHA gene was variable including deletion and duplication. In addition, we found an extra 5.6 kb band in one normal person and in one CAH family. Among the 16 affected families, 19% of 21-OHB gene were deleted. No homologous deletion was found. The frequency of deletion is lower than that reported in the literature. There was variation in the copy-number of 21-OHA gene among patients with CAH, yet no difference was found between the patients and normal persons. The information on prenatal diagnosis of CAH is briefly discussed.
A strain variation of varicella-zoster virus that maps to the UL region of the genome was found to be due to different copy numbers of a high GC 42-base-pair repeat. DNA sequence analysis of this variable region showed the sequence to be 5-GCGGGATCGGGCTTTCGGG(A/T)AGCGGCCGAGGTGGGCGCGACG-3. Strains Scott and Webster both contain 7 and 32/42 copies of the repeat, whereas strain Oka has exactly 4 copies less. Microheterogeneity exists within the repeated sequences, depending on the strain and the repeat number. Sequencing of the entire EcoRI P fragment (which contains the repeated sequences) and part of the adjacent EcoRI M and EcoRI Q fragments from strain Scott showed that the repeats are part of a large open reading frame that could code for a polypeptide core with a molecular weight of 66,000. Several potential TATA boxes exist upstream and two polyadenylation signals are found downstream of the open reading frame. The predicted protein bears several characteristics of a glycoprotein. The region is transcriptionally active in varicella-zoster virus-infected cells, specifying at least three RNA species of 1.7, 1.95, and 2.5 kilobases, which are transcribed from the same DNA strand. Part of the predicted protein has a high degree of homology to the herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein gC.
We have cloned and sequenced the displacement-loop (D-loop) region of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax (Dl). This sequencing revealed the presence of four tandemly repeated elements (R1, R2, R3 and R4); the individual variation in mtDNA total length is entirely accounted for by their variable number. The individuals examined also possessed an imperfect copy of one of the tandem repeats (psi R2). At least one termination-associated sequence (TAS) is present in each of the repeats and in two copies 5' upstream from the tandem array as well. The alignment of the Dl D-loop region with D-loop sequences from four other Teleosts and one Chondrosteus showed the Dl sequence to be larger than that of other fish. The extraordinary length of the Dl D-loop sequence is also due to the 5' and 3' regions that are flanking the tandem array, the largest ones to date analyzed in fish. In this study, we also report the unique organization and localization of putative TAS and conserved-sequence block (CSB) elements, and the presence of a conserved 218-bp sequence in the Dl D-loop region.
A search for variable restriction sites has been carried out for equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) in an attempt to develop markers which can be used to group epidemiologically related viruses into groups, and to learn more about the dynamics of EHV-1 disease. Crude viral DNA extracts of EHV-1, prepared by Hirt extraction, were digested with AluI, HaeIII, or RsaI, and Southern blotted following electrophoresis. DNA fingerprints, produced by probing the Southern blots with the EHV-1 EcoR1-I fragment, separated 56 isolates into 16 groups. The variable sites within the EcoR1-I fragment were mapped approximately using fragments from within EcoR1-I, and the precise location of the variable sites determined from the DNA sequence of this fragment. Oligonucleotide primers flanking the variable sites were synthesized, and used in PCR assays to detect variable fragments. The AluI variable fragment was found to result from the presence or absence of a single AluI site. In contrast, the variable bands seen with HaeIII and RsaI, resulted from variation in the copy number of two tandemly repeated sequences, one of which had not previously been recognized. In addition, HaeIII digests of EHV-1 isolates probed with the glycoprotein B (gB) gene of EHV-1 also separated isolates into two groups. The variable HaeIII site was mapped towards the 5'-end of the gB gene and a PCR assay established. The distribution of the variable AluI site within the EcoR1-I fragment and the HaeIII site within the gB gene were estimated on a large number of clinical isolates using PCR on unpurified viral tissue culture medium. Both sites had a good distribution and together with additional variable sites should provide the basis for the rapid DNA fingerprinting of EHV-1 isolates.