A virophage at the origin of large DNA transposons

DNA transposons are mobile genetic elements that have shaped the genomes of eukaryotes for millions of years, yet their origins remain obscure. We discovered a virophage that, on the basis of genetic homology, likely represents an evolutionary link between double-stranded DNA viruses and Maverick/Polinton eukaryotic DNA transposons. The Mavirus virophage parasitizes the giant Cafeteria roenbergensis virus and encodes 20 predicted proteins, including a retroviral integrase and a protein-primed DNA polymerase B. On the basis of our data, we conclude that Maverick/Polinton transposons may have originated from ancient relatives of Mavirus, and thereby influenced the evolution of eukaryotic genomes, although we cannot rule out alternative evolutionary scenarios.     

Ancient DNA evidence for Old World origin of New World dogs

Mitochondrial DNA sequences isolated from ancient dog remains from Latin America and Alaska showed that native American dogs originated from multiple Old World lineages of dogs that accompanied late Pleistocene humans across the Bering Strait. One clade of dog sequences was unique to the New World, which is consistent with a period of geographic isolation. This unique clade was absent from a large sample of modern dogs, which implies that European colonists systematically discouraged the breeding of native American dogs.     

蒙古马mtDNA D-loop区遗传多样性与多重母系起源

【目的】对蒙古马mtDNA D-loop区247bp序列进行遗传多样性分析,探讨蒙古马的起源。【方法】采用PCR方法、测序技术及生物信息学方法,将本试验所测得的21匹蒙古马的mtDNA D-loop区序列,与GenBank中公布的43条蒙古马的对应序列,及世界范围内家马、普氏野马和内蒙古地区古马的mtDNA D-loop区序列一起进行系统发育分析。【结果】蒙古马具有39种单倍型,37个多态位点,核苷酸多样度(π)为0.02756±0.00967,单倍型多样度(h)为0.979±0.007,表明蒙古马mtDNA遗传多样性非常丰富。引用世界家马、古马、普氏野马和蒙古马共1074条mtDNA D-loop序列及本研究中21条mtDNA D-loop序列,共同进行系统发育分析,结果显示,蒙古马分布于A、B、C、D、E和F支系。【结论】蒙古马为多重母系起源,且与国内古马的母系起源几乎一致,推测蒙古马可能是中国北方家马的重要母系来源。     

Ancient DNA from the first European farmers in 7500-year-old Neolithic sites

The ancestry of modern Europeans is a subject of debate among geneticists, archaeologists, and anthropologists. A crucial question is the extent to which Europeans are descended from the first European farmers in the Neolithic Age 7500 years ago or from Paleolithic hunter-gatherers who were present in Europe since 40,000 years ago. Here we present an analysis of ancient DNA from early European farmers. We successfully extracted and sequenced intact stretches of maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 24 out of 57 Neolithic skeletons from various locations in Germany, Austria, and Hungary. We found that 25% of the Neolithic farmers had one characteristic mtDNA type and that this type formerly was widespread among Neolithic farmers in Central Europe. Europeans today have a 150-times lower frequency (0.2%) of this mtDNA type, revealing that these first Neolithic farmers did not have a strong genetic influence on modern European female lineages. Our finding lends weight to a proposed Paleolithic ancestry for modern Europeans.     

Comment on "Ancient DNA from the first European farmers in 7500-year-old Neolithic sites"

On the basis of analysis of ancient DNA from early European farmers, Haak et al. (Reports, 11 November 2005, p. 1016) argued for the Paleolithic ancestry of modern Europeans. We stress that the study is more limited in scope than the authors claim, in part because not all of the skeletal samples date to the time of the Neolithic transition in a given area of Europe.     

Genomic sequencing of Pleistocene cave bears

Despite the greater information content of genomic DNA, ancient DNA studies have largely been limited to the amplification of mitochondrial sequences. Here we describe metagenomic libraries constructed with unamplified DNA extracted from skeletal remains of two 40,000-year-old extinct cave bears. Analysis of approximately 1 megabase of sequence from each library showed that despite significant microbial contamination, 5.8 and 1.1% of clones contained cave bear inserts, yielding 26,861 base pairs of cave bear genome sequence. Comparison of cave bear and modern bear sequences revealed the evolutionary relationship of these lineages. The metagenomic approach used here establishes the feasibility of ancient DNA genome sequencing programs.     

重金属铅镉对濒危植物中华水韭(Isoetes sinensis)DNA甲基化的影响

为研究古老植物对重金属胁迫的分子水平的响应,探究重金属对濒危植物DNA甲基化影响的特点,选择两种重金属Pb和Cd对濒危植物中华水韭进行胁迫处理,每种重金属设置3个处理浓度,胁迫处理至第28 d选取叶片,采用MSAP(甲基化敏感扩增多态性)技术测定DNA甲基化程度。试验结果表明:重金属铅和镉均能够对中华水韭DNA甲基化产生影响,甲基化总体水平基本一致(对照、Pb处理和Cd处理分别为46.96%、48.23%和48.1%),但全甲基化水平(Pb处理是28.34%,Cd处理是20.25%)均低于对照(33.91%),而半甲基化水平(Pb处理是19.89%,Cd处理是27.85%)均高于对照(13.04%)。甲基化增强的变化,以无甲基化或内外侧胞嘧啶半甲基化向内外侧胞嘧啶全甲基化变化的模式为主。去甲基化的变化,以内外侧胞嘧啶全甲基化向无甲基化或内侧胞嘧啶半甲基化或全甲基化变化的模式为主。铅和镉胁迫在导致中华水韭DNA甲基化增强所占比率方面几乎相等(39.04%和39.71%),而在去甲基化所占比率方面镉(46.86%)高于铅(33.92%)。     

Chloroplast DNA evidence on the ancient evolutionary split in vascular land plants

Two groups of extant plants, lycopsids and psilopsids, alternatively have been suggested to be the living representatives of the earliest diverging lineage in vascular plant evolution. The chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) gene order is known to contain an inversion in bryophytes and tracheophytes relative to one another. Characterization of tracheophyte cpDNAs shows that lycopsids share the gene order with bryophytes, whereas all other vascular plants share the inverted gene order. The distribution of this character provides strong support for the fundamental nature of the phylogenetic separation of lycopsids and marks the ancient evolutionary split in early vascular land plants.     

Sequencing and analysis of Neanderthal genomic DNA

Our knowledge of Neanderthals is based on a limited number of remains and artifacts from which we must make inferences about their biology, behavior, and relationship to ourselves. Here, we describe the characterization of these extinct hominids from a new perspective, based on the development of a Neanderthal metagenomic library and its high-throughput sequencing and analysis. Several lines of evidence indicate that the 65,250 base pairs of hominid sequence so far identified in the library are of Neanderthal origin, the strongest being the ascertainment of sequence identities between Neanderthal and chimpanzee at sites where the human genomic sequence is different. These results enabled us to calculate the human-Neanderthal divergence time based on multiple randomly distributed autosomal loci. Our analyses suggest that on average the Neanderthal genomic sequence we obtained and the reference human genome sequence share a most recent common ancestor approximately 706,000 years ago, and that the human and Neanderthal ancestral populations split approximately 370,000 years ago, before the emergence of anatomically modern humans. Our finding that the Neanderthal and human genomes are at least 99.5% identical led us to develop and successfully implement a targeted method for recovering specific ancient DNA sequences from metagenomic libraries. This initial analysis of the Neanderthal genome advances our understanding of the evolutionary relationship of Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis and signifies the dawn of Neanderthal genomics.     

DNA gyrase and the supercoiling of DNA

Negative supercoiling of bacterial DNA by DNA gyrase influences all metabolic processes involving DNA and is essential for replication. Gyrase supercoils DNA by a mechanism called sign inversion, whereby a positive supercoil is directly inverted to a negative one by passing a DNA segment through a transient double-strand break. Reversal of this scheme relaxes DNA, and this mechanism also accounts for the ability of gyrase to catenate and uncatenate DNA rings. Each round of supercoiling is driven by a conformational change induced by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding: ATP hydrolysis permits fresh cycles. The inhibition of gyrase by two classes of antimicrobials reflects its composition from two reversibly associated subunits. The A subunit is particularly associated with the concerted breakage-and-rejoining of DNA and the B subunit mediates energy transduction. Gyrase is a prototype for a growing class of prokaryotic and eukaryotic topoisomerases that interconvert complex forms by way of transient double-strand breaks.     

福建若干荔枝古树资源的RAPD分析

利用随机扩增多态性DNA(RAPD)技术,从104个十聚体随机引物筛选出13个引物对福建荔枝著名的古树以及相关品种等12份材料的基因组DNA进行扩增,共得到78条扩增谱带,其中2条为共同带,多态性程度达97.44%,平均每条引物扩增的谱带数目为6条.采用遗传标记计算遗传资源相似性系数,进行聚类分析,并构建树状分析图.结果表明:现在栽培的陈紫品种与宋家香的亲缘很近,可能来源于宋家香;而元红与西禅寺“宋荔”亲缘关系较远.应用RAPD技术为荔枝古树遗传资源的鉴定和分类提供了新的途径.     

景天属植物叶绿体DNA与核DNA分步提取方法研究

[目的]研究景天属植物叶绿体DNA与核DNA分步提取方法.[方法]以景天属植物佛甲草、八宝景天、华北景天、费菜和垂盆草为研究材料,进行叶绿体DNA和核DNA的分步提取,通过琼脂糖凝胶电泳和PCR扩增进行检测.[结果]改进后的方法提取的核DNA和叶绿体DNA的质量好,纯度高.以叶绿体DNA和核DNA为模板进行PCR扩增均得到理想的条带,扩增率为100％,重复性好.[结论]该研究为叶绿素DNA和核DNA的提取提供了新的思路.     

玉米DNA纤维的制备及端粒DNA的Fiber-FISH

[目的]建立了一种快速制备DNA纤维的方法,用端粒DNA在玉米纤维上进行物理定位。[方法]采用刀切法从玉米嫩叶中提取细胞核。以端粒DNA为探针,在玉米DNA纤维上进行伸展DNA纤维的荧光原位杂交(Fiber-FISH),研究端粒DNA重复序列在玉米染色体上的拷贝数。[结果]用刀切法提取玉米细胞核,提高了核的完整性,并改善了DNA纤维的制备效果。玉米细胞核裂解的最佳时间为8~9 min。玉米的Fiber-FISH试验结果表明,杂交信号为伸展的念珠状长链,玉米各条染色体端粒DNA的长度为7~103μm,各染色体端粒重复序列的拷贝数存在显著差异(为15~230 kb)。[结论]玉米各染色体中端粒的长度可能不同,而且随着玉米生长及环境的变化,各条染色体端粒DNA长度的变化也不一致。     

Microsome-associated DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid has been isolated from the microsomes of mouse liver homogenates under conditions designed to prevent or greatly reduce mitochondrial and nuclear contamination. The DNA rapidly incorporates tritiated thymidine, and this, together with its reannealing characteristics after thermal denaturation, shows that it is not mitochondrial or typically nuclear DNA.     

石榴DNA提取方法的比较及抗氧化剂对DNA质量的影响*

 比较了SDS-CTAB微量提取法和改进的SDS微量提取法提取的石榴叶片DNA质量，结果认为两种方法提取的DNA均可用于RAPD分析，但SDS微量提取法较适合于石榴叶片DNA的提取。试验中还研究了抗氧化剂PVP,α-巯基乙醇和抗坏血酸3种试剂单独使用及PVP与α-巯基乙醇混合使用对SDS-CTAB微量提取法的影响，发现与对照相比，单独加抗坏血酸及PVP与α-巯基乙醇混合使用能很好地防止DNA在提取过程中的褐化。     

大豆不同组织材料的DNA提取

以大豆叶片、愈伤组织和干种子为材料进行大豆基因组DNA提取的比较试验.结果表明:从以上3种组织材料中均能提取到较高质量的DNA,利用愈伤组织为材料提取的DNA质量比叶片和种子略好,从愈伤组织中可以提取到质量较高的模板DNA.     

Primer-directed enzymatic amplification of DNA with a thermostable DNA polymerase

A thermostable DNA polymerase was used in an in vitro DNA amplification procedure, the polymerase chain reaction. The enzyme, isolated from Thermus aquaticus, greatly simplifies the procedure and, by enabling the amplification reaction to be performed at higher temperatures, significantly improves the specificity, yield, sensitivity, and length of products that can be amplified. Single-copy genomic sequences were amplified by a factor of more than 10 million with very high specificity, and DNA segments up to 2000 base pairs were readily amplified. In addition, the method was used to amplify and detect a target DNA molecule present only once in a sample of 10(5) cells.     

Human DNA repair genes

Cellular DNA is subjected to continual attack, both by reactive species inside cells and by environmental agents. Toxic and mutagenic consequences are minimized by distinct pathways of repair, and 130 known human DNA repair genes are described here. Notable features presently include four enzymes that can remove uracil from DNA, seven recombination genes related to RAD51, and many recently discovered DNA polymerases that bypass damage, but only one system to remove the main DNA lesions induced by ultraviolet light. More human DNA repair genes will be found by comparison with model organisms and as common folds in three-dimensional protein structures are determined. Modulation of DNA repair should lead to clinical applications including improvement of radiotherapy and treatment with anticancer drugs and an advanced understanding of the cellular aging process.     

Protein sequences from mastodon and Tyrannosaurus rex revealed by mass spectrometry

Fossilized bones from extinct taxa harbor the potential for obtaining protein or DNA sequences that could reveal evolutionary links to extant species. We used mass spectrometry to obtain protein sequences from bones of a 160,000- to 600,000-year-old extinct mastodon (Mammut americanum) and a 68-million-year-old dinosaur (Tyrannosaurus rex). The presence of T. rex sequences indicates that their peptide bonds were remarkably stable. Mass spectrometry can thus be used to determine unique sequences from ancient organisms from peptide fragmentation patterns, a valuable tool to study the evolution and adaptation of ancient taxa from which genomic sequences are unlikely to be obtained.     

DNA amplification for direct detection of HIV-1 in DNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells

By means of a selective DNA amplification technique called polymerase chain reaction, proviral sequences of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) were identified directly in DNA isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of persons seropositive but not in DNA isolated from PBMCs of persons seronegative for the virus. Primer pairs from multiple regions of the HIV-1 genome were used to achieve maximum sensitivity of provirus detection. HIV-1 sequences were detected in 100% of DNA specimens from seropositive, homosexual men from whom the virus was isolated by coculture, but in none of the DNA specimens from a control group of seronegative, virus culture-negative persons. However, HIV-1 sequences were detected in 64% of DNA specimens from seropositive, virus culture-negative homosexual men. This method of DNA amplification made it possible to obtain results within 3 days, whereas virus isolation takes up to 3 to 4 weeks. The method may therefore be used to complement or replace virus isolation as a routine means of determining HIV-1 infection.