Project description:Osteosarcomas (OS) have highly chaotic genomes, yet their cancer drivers are poorly defined. Given that cancer genes are conserved among mammals, cross-species genomics of naturally arising cancers opens a powerful approach to identifying oncogenic drivers to broaden the therapeutic opportunities for aggressive cancers. Here, we utilized a dog-to-human cross-species genomics combined with gain- and loss-of-function analysis to uncover novel OS driver genes.
Project description:Aspergillus flavus and A. oryzae represent two unique species predicted to have spent centuries in vastly different environments. A. flavus is an important opportunistic plant pathogen known for contaminating crops with the carcinogenic mycotoxin, aflatoxin and A. oryzae is a domesticated fungus used in food fermentations. Remarkably, the genomes of these two species are still nearly identical. We have used the recently sequenced genomes of A. oryzae RIB40 and A. flavus NRRL3357 along with array based comparative genome hybridization (CGH) as a tool to compare genomes across several strains of these two species. A comparison of three strains from each species by CGH revealed only 42 and 129 genes unique to A. flavus and A. oryzae, respectively. Further, only 709 genes were identified as being polymorphic between the species. Despite the high degree of similarity between these two species, correlation analysis among all data from the CGH arrays for all strains used in this study reveals a species split. However, this view of species demarcation becomes muddled when focused on only those genes for secondary metabolism.
Project description:Deep sequencing of small RNAs from three Phytophthora species, P. infestans, P. ramorum and P. sojae, was done to systematically analyze small RNA-generating components of Phytophthora genomes. We found that each species produces two distinct small RNA populations that are predominantly 21- or 25-nucleotides long. We present evidence that 25-nucleotide small RNAs are short-interfering RNAs that silence repetitive genetic elements. In contrast, 21-nucleotide small RNAs are associated with inverted repeats, including a novel microRNA family, and may function at the post-transcriptional level.
Project description:Deep sequencing of small RNAs from three Phytophthora species, P. infestans, P. ramorum and P. sojae, was done to systematically analyze small RNA-generating components of Phytophthora genomes. We found that each species produces two distinct small RNA populations that are predominantly 21- or 25-nucleotides long. We present evidence that 25-nucleotide small RNAs are short-interfering RNAs that silence repetitive genetic elements. In contrast, 21-nucleotide small RNAs are associated with inverted repeats, including a novel microRNA family, and may function at the post-transcriptional level.
Project description:Deep sequencing of small RNAs from three Phytophthora species, P. infestans, P. ramorum and P. sojae, was done to systematically analyze small RNA-generating components of Phytophthora genomes. We found that each species produces two distinct small RNA populations that are predominantly 21- or 25-nucleotides long. We present evidence that 25-nucleotide small RNAs are short-interfering RNAs that silence repetitive genetic elements. In contrast, 21-nucleotide small RNAs are associated with inverted repeats, including a novel microRNA family, and may function at the post-transcriptional level.
Project description:Purpose: Saccharomyceatacea yeast are intron-poor species and they contain on average 300 introns in their genomes. We designed RNAseq experiment to investigate if splicing patterns in related yeast species are similar. Methods: Total RNA was extracted from wild type cells and processed by the RiboMinus Transcriptome Isolation Kit for Yeast and Bacteria (Invitrogen) to deplete the rRNA. cDNA libraries were prepared according to manufacturer's protocol and sequenced by SOLiD. Sequence reads were filtered and processed by TopHat. Results: We found 216, 163, 200 and 155 predicted introns with canonical splice signals in S. cerevisiae, S. kudriavzevii, S. bayanus and N. castellii respectively. Three introns in S. cerevisiae, four in S. bayanus and ten in S. castellii are novel compared to Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD) annotations. The expression of introns and splicing shows very high correlation between species. Conclusion: Transcripts with introns in yeast species tested show similar levels of expression and splicing. We found few novel introns, which are conserved in yeast genomes.