Multiple rare alleles contribute to low plasma levels of HDL cholesterol

Heritable variation in complex traits is generally considered to be conferred by common DNA sequence polymorphisms. We tested whether rare DNA sequence variants collectively contribute to variation in plasma levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). We sequenced three candidate genes (ABCA1, APOA1, and LCAT) that cause Mendelian forms of low HDL-C levels in individuals from a population-based study. Nonsynonymous sequence variants were significantly more common (16% versus 2%) in individuals with low HDL-C (95th percentile). Similar findings were obtained in an independent population, and biochemical studies indicated that most sequence variants in the low HDL-C group were functionally important. Thus, rare alleles with major phenotypic effects contribute significantly to low plasma HDL-C levels in the general population.     

Evolution and functional impact of rare coding variation from deep sequencing of human exomes

As a first step toward understanding how rare variants contribute to risk for complex diseases, we sequenced 15,585 human protein-coding genes to an average median depth of 111× in 2440 individuals of European (n = 1351) and African (n = 1088) ancestry. We identified over 500,000 single-nucleotide variants (SNVs), the majority of which were rare (86% with a minor allele frequency less than 0.5%), previously unknown (82%), and population-specific (82%). On average, 2.3% of the 13,595 SNVs each person carried were predicted to affect protein function of ~313 genes per genome, and ~95.7% of SNVs predicted to be functionally important were rare. This excess of rare functional variants is due to the combined effects of explosive, recent accelerated population growth and weak purifying selection. Furthermore, we show that large sample sizes will be required to associate rare variants with complex traits.     

An abundance of rare functional variants in 202 drug target genes sequenced in 14,002 people

Rare genetic variants contribute to complex disease risk; however, the abundance of rare variants in human populations remains unknown. We explored this spectrum of variation by sequencing 202 genes encoding drug targets in 14,002 individuals. We find rare variants are abundant (1 every 17 bases) and geographically localized, so that even with large sample sizes, rare variant catalogs will be largely incomplete. We used the observed patterns of variation to estimate population growth parameters, the proportion of variants in a given frequency class that are putatively deleterious, and mutation rates for each gene. We conclude that because of rapid population growth and weak purifying selection, human populations harbor an abundance of rare variants, many of which are deleterious and have relevance to understanding disease risk.     

Strong association of de novo copy number mutations with autism

We tested the hypothesis that de novo copy number variation (CNV) is associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). We performed comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) on the genomic DNA of patients and unaffected subjects to detect copy number variants not present in their respective parents. Candidate genomic regions were validated by higher-resolution CGH, paternity testing, cytogenetics, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and microsatellite genotyping. Confirmed de novo CNVs were significantly associated with autism (P = 0.0005). Such CNVs were identified in 12 out of 118 (10%) of patients with sporadic autism, in 2 out of 77 (3%) of patients with an affected first-degree relative, and in 2 out of 196 (1%) of controls. Most de novo CNVs were smaller than microscopic resolution. Affected genomic regions were highly heterogeneous and included mutations of single genes. These findings establish de novo germline mutation as a more significant risk factor for ASD than previously recognized.     

A genome-wide association study of type 2 diabetes in Finns detects multiple susceptibility variants

Identifying the genetic variants that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in humans has been a formidable challenge. Adopting a genome-wide association strategy, we genotyped 1161 Finnish T2D cases and 1174 Finnish normal glucose-tolerant (NGT) controls with >315,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and imputed genotypes for an additional >2 million autosomal SNPs. We carried out association analysis with these SNPs to identify genetic variants that predispose to T2D, compared our T2D association results with the results of two similar studies, and genotyped 80 SNPs in an additional 1215 Finnish T2D cases and 1258 Finnish NGT controls. We identify T2D-associated variants in an intergenic region of chromosome 11p12, contribute to the identification of T2D-associated variants near the genes IGF2BP2 and CDKAL1 and the region of CDKN2A and CDKN2B, and confirm that variants near TCF7L2, SLC30A8, HHEX, FTO, PPARG, and KCNJ11 are associated with T2D risk. This brings the number of T2D loci now confidently identified to at least 10.     

Replication of genome-wide association signals in UK samples reveals risk loci for type 2 diabetes

The molecular mechanisms involved in the development of type 2 diabetes are poorly understood. Starting from genome-wide genotype data for 1924 diabetic cases and 2938 population controls generated by the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium, we set out to detect replicated diabetes association signals through analysis of 3757 additional cases and 5346 controls and by integration of our findings with equivalent data from other international consortia. We detected diabetes susceptibility loci in and around the genes CDKAL1, CDKN2A/CDKN2B, and IGF2BP2 and confirmed the recently described associations at HHEX/IDE and SLC30A8. Our findings provide insight into the genetic architecture of type 2 diabetes, emphasizing the contribution of multiple variants of modest effect. The regions identified underscore the importance of pathways influencing pancreatic beta cell development and function in the etiology of type 2 diabetes.     

A systematic survey of loss-of-function variants in human protein-coding genes

Genome-sequencing studies indicate that all humans carry many genetic variants predicted to cause loss of function (LoF) of protein-coding genes, suggesting unexpected redundancy in the human genome. Here we apply stringent filters to 2951 putative LoF variants obtained from 185 human genomes to determine their true prevalence and properties. We estimate that human genomes typically contain ~100 genuine LoF variants with ~20 genes completely inactivated. We identify rare and likely deleterious LoF alleles, including 26 known and 21 predicted severe disease-causing variants, as well as common LoF variants in nonessential genes. We describe functional and evolutionary differences between LoF-tolerant and recessive disease genes and a method for using these differences to prioritize candidate genes found in clinical sequencing studies.     

Genes and social behavior

What genes and regulatory sequences contribute to the organization and functioning of neural circuits and molecular pathways in the brain that support social behavior? How does social experience interact with information in the genome to modulate brain activity? Here, we address these questions by highlighting progress that has been made in identifying and understanding two key "vectors of influence" that link genes, the brain, and social behavior: (i) Social information alters gene expression in the brain to influence behavior, and (ii) genetic variation influences brain function and social behavior. We also discuss how evolutionary changes in genomic elements influence social behavior and outline prospects for a systems biology of social behavior.     

外遗传分子生物学研究进展

该文综述了外遗传 (Epigenetics)这一新的分子生物学研究领域的提出、发展和最新研究进展 .指出外遗传是DNA碱基序列之外的遗传系统 .阐述了DNA甲基化、RNA介导的基因沉默、基因组印记和组蛋白密码等外遗传相关因素在生物体生长发育过程中对基因表达的重要调控作用 ,以及这些因素与生物体的防御机制和生物遗传信息的传递间存在的密切联系 ,并提出了从外遗传角度探索物种进化和生物适应逆境的新途径 .     

牛和山羊基因组共同加速进化区域与角形成的潜在关系

对14个物种的全基因组序列进行比对，识别其基因组中的同源区域，进而鉴定牛和山羊基因组的共同加速进化区域(以下简称加速区域)，并对加速区域进行注释及组蛋白修饰位点的富集分析；运用生物信息学方法，筛选编码区出现加速进化的基因，并对其进行GO和KEGG通路分析。结果表明：在牛和山羊基因组中共检测到44 794个加速区域；加速区域在基因区与非基因区均有分布，分别占总数的54.80%与45.20%；加速区域显著富集了25个不同的组蛋白标记；鉴定出2703个候选基因的编码区出现了加速区域；GO条目分析发现，候选基因主要富集的生物过程包括轴突形成、腺体发育、肌肉组织发育等，细胞组成包括突触膜、轴突部分、突触后致密等；KEGG通路分析发现，这些候选基因参与了cAMP信号通路、轴突导向、钙离子信号通路、Rap1信号通路、神经活性配体–受体互作等信号通路。这揭示在牛角形成过程中，突触和轴突的产生可能发生了独特的变化，影响信号传递与神经结构组成并导致转录调控和基因表达发生变化，从而导致牛科动物出现形态特异的洞角。     

正常猪外周血淋巴细胞cDNA文库构建及EST初步分析

【目的】构建猪淋巴细胞基因文库,初步绘制正常猪外周血淋巴细胞的基因表达谱,为进一步筛选免疫相关基因提供平台。【方法】以mRNA为模板,经反转录酶催化,在体外反转录成cDNA,与质粒载体连接后转化大肠杆菌,进一步扩增后,获得猪外周血淋巴细胞全部mRNA信息的cDNA克隆集合,并进行序列分析和注释。【结果】构建了正常猪外周血淋巴细胞cDNA文库,获得库容量为1．2×10^6PFU／mL、重组率为93．3％、85％插入片段处于750～2000bp的高质量文库;随机测定1100条ESTs,经拼接和聚类,获得152条高表达的基因重叠群（Contigs）和619条低表达基因——单拷贝的EST（Singletons）;经序列比对分析,发现23．3％ESTs为与任何物种都没有匹配的新基因,75．9％ESTs为与猪没有匹配的新基因。用GO数据库对获得的EST进行基因功能分类和KEGG路径图分析,发现丝裂原活化蛋白激酶途径（Mitogenn—activated protein kinase,MAPK）、钙信号通路、胰岛素信号通路、脂肪细胞因子信号通路、Toll—like受体信号通路、B细胞受体信号通路和T细胞受体信号通路的基因均有较高表达。【结论】大部分的猪外周血淋巴细胞基因尚未被分离和鉴定出来,但这些基因mRNA转录和表达丰度均较高,且在猪外周血淋巴细胞中起着非常重要的作用。     

Large-scale copy number polymorphism in the human genome

The extent to which large duplications and deletions contribute to human genetic variation and diversity is unknown. Here, we show that large-scale copy number polymorphisms (CNPs) (about 100 kilobases and greater) contribute substantially to genomic variation between normal humans. Representational oligonucleotide microarray analysis of 20 individuals revealed a total of 221 copy number differences representing 76 unique CNPs. On average, individuals differed by 11 CNPs, and the average length of a CNP interval was 465 kilobases. We observed copy number variation of 70 different genes within CNP intervals, including genes involved in neurological function, regulation of cell growth, regulation of metabolism, and several genes known to be associated with disease.     

Schizophrenia: diverse approaches to a complex disease

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental illness that affects 1% of the population. Despite intensive study, its molecular etiology remains enigmatic. Like many common diseases, schizophrenia is multifactorial in origin, with both genetic and environmental contributions likely playing an important role in the manifestation of symptoms. Recent advances based on pharmacological studies, brain imaging analyses, and genetic research are now converging on tantalizing leads that point to a central role for several neurotransmitters, including dopamine, glutamate, and serotonin, that may interface with neurodevelopmental defects reflecting disease-related genetic aberrations. Here, we provide a brief overview of the parallel approaches being used to identify the molecular causes of schizophrenia and discuss possible directions for future research.     

No major schizophrenia locus detected on chromosome 1q in a large multicenter sample

Reports of substantial evidence for genetic linkage of schizophrenia to chromosome 1q were evaluated by genotyping 16 DNA markers across 107 centimorgans of this chromosome in a multicenter sample of 779 informative schizophrenia pedigrees. No significant evidence was observed for such linkage, nor for heterogeneity in allele sharing among the eight individual samples. Separate analyses of European-origin families, recessive models of inheritance, and families with larger numbers of affected cases also failed to produce significant evidence for linkage. If schizophrenia susceptibility genes are present on chromosome 1q, their population-wide genetic effects are likely to be small.     

正常猪外周血淋巴细胞cDNA文库构建及EST初步分析

【目的】构建猪淋巴细胞基因文库,初步绘制正常猪外周血淋巴细胞的基因表达谱,为进一步筛选免疫相关基因提供平台。【方法】以mRNA为模板,经反转录酶催化,在体外反转录成cDNA,与质粒载体连接后转化大肠杆菌,进一步扩增后,获得猪外周血淋巴细胞全部mRNA信息的cDNA克隆集合,并进行序列分析和注释。【结果】构建了正常猪外周血淋巴细胞cDNA文库,获得库容量为1.2×106 PFU/mL、重组率为93.3%、85%插入片段处于750～2000 bp的高质量文库;随机测定1100条ESTs,经拼接和聚类,获得152条高表达的基因重叠群（Contigs）和619条低表达基因——单拷贝的EST（Singletons）;经序列比对分析,发现23.3% ESTs为与任何物种都没有匹配的新基因,75.9% ESTs为与猪没有匹配的新基因。用GO数据库对获得的EST进行基因功能分类和KEGG路径图分析,发现丝裂原活化蛋白激酶途径（Mitogen-activated protein kinase,MAPK）、钙信号通路、胰岛素信号通路、脂肪细胞因子信号通路、Toll-like受体信号通路、B细胞受体信号通路和T细胞受体信号通路的基因均有较高表达。【结论】大部分的猪外周血淋巴细胞基因尚未被分离和鉴定出来,但这些基因mRNA转录和表达丰度均较高,且在猪外周血淋巴细胞中起着非常重要的作用。     

基于基因组原位杂交快速构建黄瓜变种间核型

【目的】利用基因组荧光原位杂交（genomic in situ hybridization,GISH）技术,对黄瓜（Cucumis sativus L.,2n=2x=14）种内两个变种（栽培黄瓜C. sativus var. sativus和野生黄瓜C. sativus var hardwickii）进行中期染色体分析,建立黄瓜变种染色体核型的快速分析方法,为黄瓜细胞分子遗传学研究提供基础。【方法】以栽培黄瓜‘9930’和野生黄瓜C. sativus var. hardwickii为材料,利用CTAB法提取栽培黄瓜‘9930’的基因组总DNA,采用缺刻平移法,将栽培黄瓜‘9930’基因组DNA和45S rDNA分别利用地高辛和生物素标记为探针,与栽培黄瓜‘9930’和野生变种C.sativus var. hardwickii的中期染色体进行荧光原位杂交,根据杂交结果显示的栽培黄瓜与野生变种每条染色体GISH荧光带型的不同,结合45S rDNA位点信号特征,区分栽培黄瓜与野生变种的每条染色体,并进行核型分析。【结果】荧光原位杂交结果显示,GISH信号并非平均分布于所有染色体上,而是在不同染色体的特定部位产生独特的信号,且两个变种间中期染色体的GISH信号模式差异显著。在栽培黄瓜‘9930’有丝分裂中期染色体上,除了6号染色体仅在短臂末端和近着丝粒处产生GISH信号外,其他染色体上的GISH信号集中分布于染色体的两端和近着丝粒的一侧或两侧,且每条染色体的信号特征差异明显;45S rDNA信号主要分布于‘9930’的第1、2、3、4和7号染色体的近着丝粒处,有3对强信号和2对弱信号。在野生黄瓜C. sativus var. hardwickii有丝分裂中期染色体上,杂交信号的位置及强弱与栽培黄瓜‘9930’表现明显不同,近着丝粒处均有GISH信号,但仅在第1、2、4和5号染色体的一端产生GISH信号,45S rDNA信号仅出现在第1、2和3号染色体上,表现为第1号染色体上信号极强,第2和3号染色体上信号极微弱。这些结果显示,以栽培黄瓜基因组DNA为探针的荧光原位杂交能反应出两个变种中期染色体独特的信号分布模式,通过信号的分布模式和强弱,结合45S rDNA位点信号的特异分布,可对每条染色体进行清晰地鉴别,并据此建立了两个变种的核型模式。比较前人发表的黄瓜已有重复序列的分布图,发现GISH揭示的信号分布主要位于黄瓜染色体串联重复序列区域。【结论】黄瓜基因组原位杂交能一次性快速显示基因组串联重复序列的分布图,能有效地用于不同黄瓜变种的快速核型分析;同时发现染色体上串联重复序列的分布及强弱在黄瓜变种间表现出明显的分化。     

Identifying the complex genetic architecture of growth and fatness traits in a Duroc pig population

In modern pig breeding programs, growth and fatness are vital economic traits that significantly influence porcine production. To identify underlying variants and candidate genes associated with growth and fatness traits, a total of 1 067 genotyped Duroc pigs with de-regressed estimated breeding values(DEBV) records were analyzed in a genome wide association study(GWAS) by using a single marker regression model. In total, 28 potential single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) were associated with these traits of interest. Moreover, VPS4 B, PHLPP1, and some other genes were highlighted as functionally plausible candidate genes that compose the underlying genetic architecture of porcine growth and fatness traits. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the genetic architectures underlying swine growth and fatness traits that can be potentially used in pig breeding programs.     

Climate Change Impact and Its Contribution Share to Paddy Rice Production in Jiangxi,China

In the study, an improved approach was proposed to identify the contribution shares of three group factors that are climate, technology and input, social economic factors by which the grain production is shaped. In order to calibrate the method, Jiangxi Province, one of the main paddy rice producers in China was taken as an example. Based on 50 years (1961–2010) meteorological and statistic data, using GIS and statistical analysis tools, the three group factors that in certain extent impact China's paddy rice production have been analyzed quantitatively. The individual and interactive contribution shares of each factor group have been identified via eta square (η²). In the paper, two group ordinary leasr square (OLS) models, paddy models and climate models, have been constructed for further analysis. Each model group consists of seven models, one full model and six partial models. The results of paddy models show that climate factors individually and interactively contribute 11.42–15.25% explanatory power to the variation of paddy rice production in the studied province. Technology and input factors contribute 16.17% individually and another 8.46% interactively together with climate factors, totally contributing about 25%. Social economic factors contribute about 7% of which 4.65% is individual contribution and 2.49% is interactive contribution together with climate factors. The three factor groups individually contribute about 23% and interactively contribute additional 41% to paddy rice production. In addition every two of the three factor groups also function interactively and contribute about 22%. Among the three factor groups, technology and input are the most important factors to paddy rice production. The results of climate models support the results of paddy models, and display that solar radiation (indicated by sunshine hour variable) is the dominate climate factor for paddy rice production.     

Isolation and Analysis of Drought-Induced Genes in Maize Roots

Maize roots are important component for plant adaptation to soil water deficits because they are supposed to take up water and necessary solutes from the soil. In the present study, the drought-induced genes were isolated in maize roots. A suppression subtractive hybridization protocol was applied to construct a forward subtractive cDNA library from CN165 for drought-stressed maize roots and a number of drought-induced genes were isolated. Totally, 126 uniESTs （containing 82 singlets and 44 contigs） were obtained from 503 available ESTs sequences after macroarray hybridization. UniESTs were analyzed using BLASTN and BLASTX and the results showed that 92% of the uniESTs had homolgous sequences in maize nr database by BLASTN. About 89% of uniESTs appeared the homlogous amino acid sequences in rice protein database but not in maize protein database by BLASTX, implying that those genes are likely new functional genes in maize. Function analysis showed that those genes were involved in a broad spectrum of biological pathways, mainly in signaling and regulatory pathways related to stress tolerance.     

Embryo-mediated genome editing for accelerated genetic improvement of livestock

Selecting beneficial DNA variants is the main goal of animal breeding. However, this process is inherently inefficient because each animal only carries a fraction of all desirable variants. Genome editing technology with its ability to directly introduce beneficial sequence variants offers new opportunities to modernize animal breeding by overcoming this biological limitation and accelerating genetic gains. To realize rapid genetic gain, precise edits need to be introduced into genomically-selected embryos, which minimizes the genetic lag. However, embryo-mediated precision editing by homology-directed repair (HDR) mechanisms is currently an inefficient process that often produces mosaic embryos and greatly limits the numbers of available edited embryos. This review provides a summary of genome editing in bovine embryos and proposes an embryo-mediated accelerated breeding scheme that overcomes the present efficiency limitations of HDR editing in bovine embryos. It integrates embryo-based genomic selection with precise multi-editing and uses embryonic cloning with elite edited blastomeres or embryonic pluripotent stem cells to resolve mosaicism, enable multiplex editing and multiply rare elite genotypes. Such a breeding strategy would enable a more targeted, accelerated approach for livestock improvement that allows stacking of beneficial variants, even including novel traits from outside the breeding population, in the most recent elite genetic background, essentially within a single generation.