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SNP cherry picker: maximizing the chance of finding an association with a disease SNP.

UNLABELLED: The high cost of genotyping single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generally prohibits the systematic mapping of entire genetic linkage regions in order to find the polymorphisms associated with increased risk of disease. In practice, SNPs are selected at approximately equal spacing across the linkage region to try to locate a SNP lying in the haplotype block of the disease SNP. The size of the haplotype block may not be known, however, and SNPs taken from public domain sources may not in fact be polymorphic. Our program will choose a subset of the SNPs in a linkage region so as to maximize the expected proportion of the sequence that lies within a given distance of a real SNP. AVAILABILITY: The software is available, free of charge, for academic use on request from the authors. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: www.oxagen.co.uk

Algorithms↗

Tag SNP selection in genotype data for maximizing SNP prediction accuracy.

MOTIVATION: The search for genetic regions associated with complex diseases, such as cancer or Alzheimer's disease, is an important challenge that may lead to better diagnosis and treatment. The existence of millions of DNA variations, primarily single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), may allow the fine dissection of such associations. However, studies seeking disease association are limited by the cost of genotyping SNPs. Therefore, it is essential to find a small subset of informative SNPs (tag SNPs) that may be used as good representatives of the rest of the SNPs. RESULTS: We define a new natural measure for evaluating the prediction accuracy of a set of tag SNPs, and use it to develop a new method for tag SNPs selection. Our method is based on a novel algorithm that predicts the values of the rest of the SNPs given the tag SNPs. In contrast to most previous methods, our prediction algorithm uses the genotype information and not the haplotype information of the tag SNPs. Our method is very efficient, and it does not rely on having a block partition of the genomic region. We compared our method with two state-of-the-art tag SNP selection algorithms on 58 different genotype datasets from four different sources. Our method consistently found tag SNPs with considerably better prediction ability than the other methods. AVAILABILITY: The software is available from the authors on request.

Algorithms↗

Characterization of the Streptomyces sp. strain C5 snp locus and development of snp-derived expression vectors.

The Streptomyces sp. strain C5 snp locus is comprised of two divergently oriented genes: snpA, a metalloproteinase gene, and snpR, which encodes a LysR-like activator of snpA transcription. The transcriptional start point of snpR is immediately downstream of a strong T-N(11)-A inverted repeat motif likely to be the SnpR binding site, while the snpA transcriptional start site overlaps the ATG start codon, generating a leaderless snpA transcript. By using the aphII reporter gene of pIJ486 as a reporter, the plasmid-borne snpR-activated snpA promoter was ca. 60-fold more active than either the nonactivated snpA promoter or the melC1 promoter of pIJ702. The snpR-activated snpA promoter produced reporter protein levels comparable to those of the up-mutated ermE* promoter. The SnpR-activated snpA promoter was built into a set of transcriptional and translational fusion expression vectors which have been used for the intracellular expression of numerous daunomycin biosynthesis pathway genes from Streptomyces sp. strain C5 as well as the expression and secretion of soluble recombinant human endostatin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Assessing hematopoietic chimerism after allogeneic stem cell transplantation by multiplexed SNP genotyping using microarrays and quantitative analysis of SNP alleles.

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have the potential to be particularly useful as markers for monitoring of chimerism after stem cell transplantation (SCT) because they can be analyzed by accurate and robust methods. We used a two-phased minisequencing strategy for monitoring chimerism after SCT. First, informative SNPs with alleles differing between donor and recipient were identified using a multiplex microarray-based minisequencing system screening 51 SNPs to ensure that multiple informative SNPs were detected in each donor-recipient pair. Secondly, the development of chimerism was followed up after SCT by sensitive, quantitative analysis of individual informative SNPs by applying the minisequencing method in a microtiter plate format. Using this panel of SNPs, we identified multiple informative SNPs in nine unrelated and in 16 related donor-recipient pairs. Samples from nine of the donor-recipient pairs taken at time points ranging from 1 month to 8 years after transplantation were available for analysis. In these samples, we monitored the allelic ratios of two or three informative SNPs in individual minisequencing reactions. The results agreed well with the data obtained by microsatellite analysis. Thus, we conclude that the two-phased minisequencing strategy is a useful approach in the following up of patients after SCT.

Alleles↗

Epistatic effect of C-reactive protein (CRP) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) +1059 and interleukin-1B SNP +3954 on CRP concentration in healthy male blood donors.

Baseline C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations are indicative of persons prone to cardiovascular diseases and are about 40-50% heritable. We have previously shown that interleukin (IL)-1B +3954 allele T is associated with lower CRP concentration. In this study, we aimed to examine the effect of this polymorphism together with the CRP +1059 gene polymorphism on baseline CRP concentrations, and genotyped 336 healthy blood donors for CRP +1059 (G-->C) and IL-1B +3954 (C-->T) polymorphisms. In men, the carriers of the CRP +1059 C-allele had significantly lower CRP values than GG homozygotes (0.66 versus 0.43 mg l(-1), up to -35%, P = 0.009). No significant difference was found in women. When the data were stratified for both of these polymorphisms in men, CRP +1059 GG homozygotes had low CRP concentrations only if they were allele-T carriers of IL-1B +3954 simultaneously (0.93 versus 0.50 mg l(-1), P = 0.013). Genotype CRP +1059 GG/IL-1B +3954 CC was associated with an almost 3-fold risk of a higher baseline CRP value [odds ratio (OR) 2.84 (CI 1.03-6.07)]. Thus, both IL-1B +3954 (C-->T) and CRP +1059 (G-->C) polymorphisms influence baseline CRP values and act independently of each other in male subjects. These polymorphisms might be predictive markers of persons prone to cardiovascular diseases.

Blood Donors↗

Potentiation by forskolin of both SNP- and ANP-stimulated cyclic GMP accumulation in porcine isolated palmar lateral vein.

1. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of modulation of adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic AMP) levels (by using forskolin, a direct activator of adenylyl cyclase, or rolipram, a cyclic AMP selective phosphodiesterase inhibitor) on basal and stimulated guanosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyclic GMP) levels in the porcine isolated palmer lateral vein by use of a [3H]-guanine prelabelling technique. 2. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP; 10(-5) - 10(-3) M) and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP; 10(-8) - 10(-6) M), produced concentration-dependent increases in [3H]-cyclic GMP levels via stimulation of soluble and particulate guanylyl cyclase respectively. The SNP-stimulated [3H]-cyclic GMP response peaked after 5 min in the presence and absence of the phosphodiesterase inhibitor, 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX). 3. In the absence of IBMX, forskolin (3 x 10(-5) M) significantly increased [3H]-cyclic GMP levels to 118.5 +/- 8.7% of basal values (P < 0.05, n = 8), and significantly increased both the SNP- and ANP-stimulated [3H]-cyclic GMP accumulation at all concentrations of SNP and ANP used. For example, effects at the maximal SNP (10(-3) M) and ANP (10(-6) M) concentrations were: SNP: 154.7 +/- 15.4% of basal; SNP+forskolin: 191.3 +/- 14.8% of basal (P < 0.05, n = 4); ANP: 161.4 +/- 17.4% of basal; ANP+forskolin: 220.0 +/- 20.0% of basal (P < 0.05, n = 4). 4. The cyclic AMP-selective phosphodiesterase inhibitor, rolipram (10-5 M), had no effect on basal or SNP-stimulated [3H]-cyclic GMP levels; however, the combination of forskolin and rolipram produced an increase in the basal (158.7 +/- 27.1% of basal) and SNP-stimulated [3H]-cyclic GMP accumulation(SNP (10-3 M): 165.3 +/- 8.7% of basal; SNP + forskolin + rolipram: 510.7 +/- 64.8% of basal; P<0.05,n = 5), greater than either forskolin or rolipram alone. The phosphodiesterase inhibitor, IBMX (10-3 M)significantly raised [3H]-cyclic GMP levels, and forskolin (3 x 10- M) in the presence of IBMX had no significant effect on either basal or SNP-stimulated [3H]-cyclic GMP levels (e.g. in the presence of IBMX: SNP (10-3 M): 660 +/- 90% of basal; SNP + forskolin: 790 +/- 86% of basal, n = 3).5. The data indicate the presence of both soluble and particulate guanylyl cyclase in the porcine isolated palmar lateral vein. The ability of forskolin to potentiate SNP- and ANP-stimulated [3H]-cyclic GMP accumulation may suggest a cyclic AMP-cyclic GMP interaction at the level of the phosphodiesterases.Further, the ability of cyclic AMP to influence cyclic GMP levels may indicate that the two nucleotides, as well as having independent mechanisms to induce smooth muscle relaxation, could produce vasodilatation via a common mechanism.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗

Analysis and visualization of chromosomal abnormalities in SNP data with SNPscan.

BACKGROUND: A variety of diseases are caused by chromosomal abnormalities such as aneuploidies (having an abnormal number of chromosomes), microdeletions, microduplications, and uniparental disomy. High density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) microarrays provide information on chromosomal copy number changes, as well as genotype (heterozygosity and homozygosity). SNP array studies generate multiple types of data for each SNP site, some with more than 100,000 SNPs represented on each array. The identification of different classes of anomalies within SNP data has been challenging. RESULTS: We have developed SNPscan, a web-accessible tool to analyze and visualize high density SNP data. It enables researchers (1) to visually and quantitatively assess the quality of user-generated SNP data relative to a benchmark data set derived from a control population, (2) to display SNP intensity and allelic call data in order to detect chromosomal copy number anomalies (duplications and deletions), (3) to display uniparental isodisomy based on loss of heterozygosity (LOH) across genomic regions, (4) to compare paired samples (e.g. tumor and normal), and (5) to generate a file type for viewing SNP data in the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Human Genome Browser. SNPscan accepts data exported from Affymetrix Copy Number Analysis Tool as its input. We validated SNPscan using data generated from patients with known deletions, duplications, and uniparental disomy. We also inspected previously generated SNP data from 90 apparently normal individuals from the Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) collection, and identified three cases of uniparental isodisomy, four females having an apparently mosaic X chromosome, two mislabelled SNP data sets, and one microdeletion on chromosome 2 with mosaicism from an apparently normal female. These previously unrecognized abnormalities were all detected using SNPscan. The microdeletion was independently confirmed by fluorescence in situ hybridization, and a region of homozygosity in a UPD case was confirmed by sequencing of genomic DNA. CONCLUSION: SNPscan is useful to identify chromosomal abnormalities based on SNP intensity (such as chromosomal copy number changes) and heterozygosity data (including regions of LOH and some cases of UPD). The program and source code are available at the SNPscan website http://pevsnerlab.kennedykrieger.org/snpscan.htm.

Base Sequence↗

Silhouette scores for assessment of SNP genotype clusters.

BACKGROUND: High-throughput genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generates large amounts of data. In many SNP genotyping assays, the genotype assignment is based on scatter plots of signals corresponding to the two SNP alleles. In a robust assay the three clusters that define the genotypes are well separated and the distances between the data points within a cluster are short. "Silhouettes" is a graphical aid for interpretation and validation of data clusters that provides a measure of how well a data point was classified when it was assigned to a cluster. Thus "Silhouettes" can potentially be used as a quality measure for SNP genotyping results and for objective comparison of the performance of SNP assays at different circumstances. RESULTS: We created a program (ClusterA) for calculating "Silhouette scores", and applied it to assess the quality of SNP genotype clusters obtained by single nucleotide primer extension ("minisequencing") in the Tag-microarray format. A Silhouette score condenses the quality of the genotype assignment for each SNP assay into a single numeric value, which ranges from 1.0, when the genotype assignment is unequivocal, down to -1.0, when the genotype assignment has been arbitrary. In the present study we applied Silhouette scores to compare the performance of four DNA polymerases in our minisequencing system by analyzing 26 SNPs in both DNA polarities in 16 DNA samples. We found Silhouettes to provide a relevant measure for the quality of SNP assays at different reaction conditions, illustrated by the four DNA polymerases here. According to our result, the genotypes can be unequivocally assigned without manual inspection when the Silhouette score for a SNP assay is > 0.65. All four DNA polymerases performed satisfactorily in our Tag-array minisequencing system. CONCLUSION: "Silhouette scores" for assessing the quality of SNP genotyping clusters is convenient for evaluating the quality of SNP genotype assignment, and provides an objective, numeric measure for comparing the performance of SNP assays. The program we created for calculating Silhouette scores is freely available, and can be used for quality assessment of the results from all genotyping systems, where the genotypes are assigned by cluster analysis using scatter plots.

Alleles↗

[The effect of sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced hypotension on the sympatho-adrenal nerve activity].

The effect of SNP-induced hypotension on the sympatho-adrenal nerve activity (SANA) was studied in enflurane anesthetized rats. Anesthesia was maintained with enflurane (2.2%) in 50% O2, and the rats were ventilated to achieve an end-tidal CO2 of 40 +/- 5 mmHg after giving pancuronium bromide. A bundle of the left adrenal nerves was dissected under a microscope and placed on a pair of platinum wire electrodes during SNP-induced hypotension for measurement of SANA. SNP was administered at 33-66 micrograms.kg-1.hr-1 for 20 minutes to maintain the mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 60% of the MAP before SNP infusion. SANA was measured for 45 minutes from 5 minutes before SNP infusion to 20 minutes after cessation of SNP infusion. When MAP was lowered, SANA increased by 80.2% (P less than 0.05), 29.4% (P less than 0.05) and 0%, in control group (n = 6), baroreceptor denervated group (n = 5) and baroreceptor denervated and bilateral renal vessel ligated group (n = 5), respectively. In order to study the mechanism in which the kidney may be involved, SANA during SNP-induced hypotension was measured before and after intravenous infusion of angiotensin II competitive inhibitor, [Sar1, Ile8] angiotensin II (SI-AII), (n = 5). Before SI-AII infusion, SANA increased by 31.2% during SNP-induced hypotension, but after SI-A II infusion, SANA during SNP-induced hypotension increased by 13.6%. (P less than 0.05; vs. before SI-AII infusion). There was no evidence of acidosis due to cyanide toxicity, hypoglycemia and profound hypotension, which make SANA increase. Therefore I concluded that SANA increased by 80.2% during SNP-induced hypotension, and that the increase in SANA was mediated by baroreceptor and kidney. And among the mechanism which the kidney is involved in, angiotensin II was suggested to be responsible for SANA increase during SNP-induced hypotension.

Adrenal Medulla↗

Genome-wide SNP discovery and linkage analysis in barley based on genes responsive to abiotic stress.

More than 2,000 genome-wide barley single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were developed by resequencing unigene fragments from eight diverse accessions. The average genome-wide SNP frequency observed in 877 unigenes was 1 SNP per 200 bp. However, SNP frequency was highly variable with the least number of SNP and SNP haplotypes observed within European cultivated germplasm reflecting effects of breeding history on genetic diversity. More than 300 SNP loci were mapped genetically in three experimental mapping populations which allowed the construction of an integrated SNP map incorporating a large number of RFLP, AFLP and SSR markers (1,237 loci in total). The genes used for SNP discovery were selected based on their transcriptional response to a variety of abiotic stresses. A set of known barley abiotic stress QTL was positioned on the linkage map, while the available sequence and gene expression information facilitated the identification of genes potentially associated with these traits. Comparison of the sequenced SNP loci to the rice genome sequence identified several regions of highly conserved gene order providing a framework for marker saturation in barley genomic regions of interest. The integration of genome-wide SNP and expression data with available genetic and phenotypic information will facilitate the identification of gene function in barley and other non-model organisms.

Expressed Sequence Tags↗

SSCP-SNP in pearl millet--a new marker system for comparative genetics.

A considerable array of genomic resources are in place in pearl millet, and marker-aided selection is already in use in the public breeding programme at ICRISAT. This paper describes experiments to extend these publicly available resources to a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based marker system. A new marker system, single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP)-SNP, was developed using annotated rice genomic sequences to initially predict the intron-exon borders in millet expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and then to design primers that would amplify across the introns. An adequate supply of millet ESTs was available for us to identify 299 homologues of single-copy rice genes in which the intron positions could be precisely predicted. PCR primers were then designed to amplify approximately 500-bp genomic fragments containing introns. Analysis of these fragments on SSCP gels revealed considerable polymorphism. A detailed DNA sequence analysis of variation at four of the SSCP-SNP loci over a panel of eight inbred genotypes showed complex patterns of variation, with about one SNP or indel (insertion-deletion) every 59 bp in the introns, but considerably fewer in the exons. About two-thirds of the variation was derived from SNPs and one-third from indels. Most haplotypes were detected by SSCP. As a marker system, SSCP-SNP has lower development costs than simple sequence repeats (SSRs), because much of the work is in silico, and similar deployment costs and through-put potential. The rates of polymorphism were lower but useable, with a mean PIC of 0.49 relative to 0.72 for SSRs in our eight inbred genotype panel screen. The major advantage of the system is in comparative applications. Syntenic information can be used to target SSCP-SNP markers to specific chromosomal regions or, conversely, SSCP-SNP markers can be used to unravel detailed syntenic relationships in specific parts of the genome. Finally, a preliminary analysis showed that the millet SSCP-SNP primers amplified in other cereals with a success rate of about 50%. There is also considerable potential to promote SSCP-SNP to a COS (conserved orthologous set) marker system for application across species by more specifically designing primers to precisely match the model genome sequence.

Base Sequence↗

Antioxidant effect of diphenyl diselenide against sodium nitroprusside (SNP) induced lipid peroxidation in human platelets and erythrocyte membranes: an in vitro evaluation.

An in vitro evaluation on the antioxidant effect of diphenyl diselenide (PhSe)(2), an organochalcogenide, against sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced lipid peroxidation (LPO) was conduced. Human platelets and erythrocyte membranes (ghosts), as well as rat brain homogenates (S(1)), were pre-incubated with different concentrations of SNP (0-10 microM). All SNP concentrations tested significantly increased LPO in human platelets and S(1). Platelets were more sensitive to SNP-induced peroxidative damage when compared to S(1). SNP 10 microM decreased glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity and did not affect glutathione reductase (GR) and catalase (CAT) activities in human platelets. However, ghosts were insensitive to SNP-induced LPO and no changes on GPx, GR and CAT activities were observed. Diphenyl diselenide significantly protected human platelets against SNP-induced LPO and recovered GPx inactivation. This effect was more evident at (PhSe)(2) concentrations above 2 microM. The presented results indicate that (PhSe)(2) exerts protective effects on SNP-induced oxidative damage in human blood components and in rat brain. These phenomena seem to be related to its thiol peroxidase-like activity and to a possible direct interaction with SNP and derivatives. Based on our results and on literature, diphenyl diselenide can be pointed as a promising antioxidant molecule.

Animals↗

Application of machine learning in SNP discovery.

BACKGROUND: Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) constitute more than 90% of the genetic variation, and hence can account for most trait differences among individuals in a given species. Polymorphism detection software PolyBayes and PolyPhred give high false positive SNP predictions even with stringent parameter values. We developed a machine learning (ML) method to augment PolyBayes to improve its prediction accuracy. ML methods have also been successfully applied to other bioinformatics problems in predicting genes, promoters, transcription factor binding sites and protein structures. RESULTS: The ML program C4.5 was applied to a set of features in order to build a SNP classifier from training data based on human expert decisions (True/False). The training data were 27,275 candidate SNP generated by sequencing 1973 STS (sequence tag sites) (12 Mb) in both directions from 6 diverse homozygous soybean cultivars and PolyBayes analysis. Test data of 18,390 candidate SNP were generated similarly from 1359 additional STS (8 Mb). SNP from both sets were classified by experts. After training the ML classifier, it agreed with the experts on 97.3% of test data compared with 7.8% agreement between PolyBayes and experts. The PolyBayes positive predictive values (PPV) (i.e., fraction of candidate SNP being real) were 7.8% for all predictions and 16.7% for those with 100% posterior probability of being real. Using ML improved the PPV to 84.8%, a 5- to 10-fold increase. While both ML and PolyBayes produced a similar number of true positives, the ML program generated only 249 false positives as compared to 16,955 for PolyBayes. The complexity of the soybean genome may have contributed to high false SNP predictions by PolyBayes and hence results may differ for other genomes. CONCLUSION: A machine learning (ML) method was developed as a supplementary feature to the polymorphism detection software for improving prediction accuracies. The results from this study indicate that a trained ML classifier can significantly reduce human intervention and in this case achieved a 5-10 fold enhanced productivity. The optimized feature set and ML framework can also be applied to all polymorphism discovery software. ML support software is written in Perl and can be easily integrated into an existing SNP discovery pipeline.

Algorithms↗

Different sensitivity to ethanol in alcohol-preferring sP and -nonpreferring sNP rats.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Clinical research has proposed that initial sensitivity to ethanol may be negatively correlated with levels of subsequent ethanol intake; consistently, alcohol-preferring P rats were found to be less sensitive to the ataxic and sedative/hypnotic effects of ethanol than -nonpreferring NP rats. The present study investigated the initial sensitivity to the ataxic and sedative/hypnotic effects of ethanol and to the sedative/hypnotic effects of pentobarbital and diazepam in selectively bred Sardinian alcohol-preferring sP and -nonpreferring sNP rats. METHODS: In experiment 1, time to lose (onset) and regain (sleep time) the righting reflex after the acute intraperitoneal (ip) administration of 3.0 and 3.5 g/kg ethanol were measured in sP and sNP rats. In experiment 2, sP and sNP rats were required to perform a motor coordination task on a Rota-Rod after the acute intragastric administration of 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 g/kg ethanol. Experiment 3 assessed onset and sleep time in sP and sNP rats after the acute injection of pentobarbital (40 mg/kg; ip) and diazepam (15 and 20 mg/kg; ip). RESULTS: In experiment 1, sP rats took shorter times to lose the righting reflex and regained this reflex over longer periods of time and at lower blood ethanol levels than sNP rats. In experiment 2, ethanol affected motor coordination to a greater extent in sP than sNP rats. In contrast, results from experiment 3 showed that sP and sNP rats were not differentially sensitive to the sedative/hypnotic effects of pentobarbital and diazepam. CONCLUSIONS: The results of experiments 1 and 2 suggest that sP rats possess a genetically determined, greater sensitivity to the motor impairing and sedative/hypnotic effects of ethanol than sNP rats. Although caution should be adopted before hypothesizing any comparison to humans, these results may feature sP rats as an experimental model of those subsets of human alcoholics with initial high sensitivity to ethanol challenges. Finally, the results of experiment 3 suggest a minimal involvement of the benzodiazepine and barbiturate recognition sites in the differential sensitivity to ethanol of sP and sNP rats.

Alcohol Drinking↗

A scan statistic for identifying chromosomal patterns of SNP association.

We have developed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) association scan statistic that takes into account the complex distribution of the human genome variation in the identification of chromosomal regions with significant SNP associations. This scan statistic has wide applicability for genetic analysis, whether to identify important chromosomal regions associated with common diseases based on whole-genome SNP association studies or to identify disease susceptibility genes based on dense SNP positional candidate studies. To illustrate this method, we analyzed patterns of SNP associations on chromosome 19 in a large cohort study. Among 2,944 SNPs, we found seven regions that contained clusters of significantly associated SNPs. The average width of these regions was 35 kb with a range of 10-72 kb. We compared the scan statistic results to Fisher's product method using a sliding window approach, and detected 22 regions with significant clusters of SNP associations. The average width of these regions was 131 kb with a range of 10.1-615 kb. Given that the distances between SNPs are not taken into consideration in the sliding window approach, it is likely that a large fraction of these regions represents false positives. However, all seven regions detected by the scan statistic were also detected by the sliding window approach. The linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns within the seven regions were highly variable indicating that the clusters of SNP associations were not due to LD alone. The scan statistic developed here can be used to make gene-based or region-based SNP inferences about disease association.

Chromosome Mapping↗

Automated SNP detection in expressed sequence tags: statistical considerations and application to maritime pine sequences.

We developed an automated pipeline for the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in expressed sequence tag (EST) data sets, by combining three DNA sequence analysis programs: Phred, Phrap and PolyBayes. This application requires access to the individual electrophoregram traces. First, a reference set of 65 SNPs was obtained from the sequencing of 30 gametes in 13 maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) gene fragments (6671 bp), resulting in a frequency of 1 SNP every 102.6 bp. Second, parameters of the three programs were optimized in order to retrieve as many true SNPs, while keeping the rate of false positive as low as possible. Overall, the efficiency of detection of true SNPs was 83.1%. However, this rate varied largely as a function of the rare SNP allele frequency: down to 41% for rare SNP alleles (frequency < 10%), up to 98% for allele frequencies above 10%. Third, the detection method was applied to the 18498 assembled maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) ESTs, allowing to identify a total of 1400 candidate SNPs, in contigs containing between 4 and 20 sequence reads. These genetic resources, described for the first time in a forest tree species, were made available at http://www.pierroton.inra/genetics/Pinesnps. We also derived an analytical expression for the SNP detection probability as a function of the SNP allele frequency, the number of haploid genomes used to generate the EST sequence database, and the sample size of the contigs considered for SNP detection. The frequency of the SNP allele was shown to be the main factor influencing the probability of SNP detection.

Algorithms↗

Mechanisms involved in SNP-induced relaxation and [Ca+]i reduction in piglet pulmonary and systemic arteries.

1. We have compared the mechanisms involved in sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced relaxation and [Ca2+]i reduction in isolated piglet pulmonary (PA) and mesenteric (MA) arteries. 2. SNP (10(-8) M-3x10(-5) M) evoked a concentration-dependent relaxation of PA and MA (pD2=6.66+/-0.06 and 6.74+/-0.14, respectively) stimulated by noradrenaline, which was markedly reduced by the guanylate cyclase inhibitor ODQ. In fura 2-incubated PA and MA, SNP produced a parallel reduction in contractile force and in [Ca2+]i, expressed as the ratio of emitted fluorescence at 340 and 380 nm (F340/F380). 3. The inhibition of the Na+/K+-ATPase after the incubation in a K+-free medium or the exposure to ouabain (10(-6) M) inhibited SNP-induced relaxation in MA but not in PA. SNP-induced relaxation was not attenuated by 80 mM KCl plus nifedipine (10(-6) M) but was inhibited by thapsigargin (2x10(-6) M; pD2=5.69+/-0.19 and 5.89+/-0.19 for PA and MA, respectively). 4. Pretreatment of PA with thapsigargin and MA with thapsigargin plus ouabain induced a stronger inhibition on the reduction in [Ca2+]i than on the relaxation induced by SNP, indicating the existence of Ca2+-independent mechanisms. 5. The activation of the Na+/K+-ATPase by the addition of KCl after the incubation in a K+-free medium similarly reduced [Ca2+]i in PA and MA, whereas it relaxed with much less efficacy PA than MA. 6. We conclude that SNP reduces [Ca2+]i and causes relaxation through the activation of SERCA in PA and SERCA and Na+/K+-ATPase in MA. However, Ca2+-independent mechanisms also contribute to SNP-induced effects.

Animals↗