Project description:Two major forms of equine αS2-casein arising from genomic 1.3 kb in-frame deletion involving two coding exons, one of which represents an equid specific duplication. Findings at the DNA-level have been verified by cDNA sequencing from horse milk of mares with different genotypes. At the protein-level, we were able to show by SDS-page and in-gel digestion with subsequent LC-MS analysis that both proteins are actually expressed
Project description:Transposable elements (TEs) are self-mobilizing elements that make up a large fraction of mammalian genomes. PIWI proteins and PIWI interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are a part of a system aimed at controlling and preventing TE proliferation. We examined the TE landscape and piRNA repertoires from three non-model Laurasiatherian mammals (dog, horse and big brown bat) with differing TE complements and proliferation patterns to address questions about the evolutionary relationships between piRNAs and TEs. We found that the genomic abundance of new TEs may not match TE transcription. We speculate that a higher rate of SINE targeting by piRNAs in the horse genome contributed to the reduced SINE insertion rate.
Project description:Comparative genomic hybridisation of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from a single clonal complex, in order to determine genomic diversity. Isolates were selected from a range of tissue types and serotypes in order to cover the full diversity of the clone, and also in order to try and identify tissue-specific genes