Transposable elements （TEs） are self-replicating, mobile DNA sequences which constitute a significant fraction of eukaryotic genomes. They are generally considered selfish DNA, as their replication and random insert...Transposable elements （TEs） are self-replicating, mobile DNA sequences which constitute a significant fraction of eukaryotic genomes. They are generally considered selfish DNA, as their replication and random insertion may have deleterious effects on genome functionalities, although some beneficial effects and evolutionary potential have been recognized. Short interspersed elements （SINEs） are non-autonomous TEs with a modular structure： a small RNA-related head, a body, and a long interspersed element-related tail. Despite their high turnover rate and de novo emergence, the body may retain highly conserved domains （HCDs） shared among divergent SINE families： in metazoans, at least nine HCD-SINEs have been recognized. Data mining on public molecular databases allowed the retrieval of 16 new HCD-SINE families from cnidarian, molluscs, arthropods, and vertebrates. Tracking the ancestry of HCDs on the metazoan phylogeny revealed that some of them date back to the Radiata-Bilateria split. Moreover, phylogenetic and age versus divergence analyses of the most ancient HCDs suggested that long-term vertical inheritance is the rule, with few horizontal transfer events. We suggest that the evolutionary conservation of HCDs may be linked to their potential to serve as recombination hotspots. This indirectly affects host genomes by maintaining active and diverse SINE lineages, whose insertions may impact （either positively or negatively） on the evolution of the genome.展开更多
Disease-resistant genes play an important role in defending against a variety of pathogens and insect pests in plants. Most of the disease-resistant genes encode pro- teins with conserved leucine rich repeat and nucle...Disease-resistant genes play an important role in defending against a variety of pathogens and insect pests in plants. Most of the disease-resistant genes encode pro- teins with conserved leucine rich repeat and nucleotide binding site domains. In this study, we cloned and char- acterized gene-resistant analogs （RGAs） from Eucalyptus grandis using degenerate PCR, with primers specifically targeting these two domains. The amplified fragments were cloned into the pGEM-T vector and transformed into Escherichia coli. Among the 90 clones obtained, 13 were sequenced and compared with each other and with previ- ously identified gene-resistant diseases. A BLASTX search in GenBank revealed high similarities among the con- served domains of these cloned genes with RGA genes. Some clones, however, showed no significant similarity with DNA sequences in GenBank. Southern blotting ana- lysis identified several polymorphic RFLP loci between distinct genotypes. However, none of them co-segregated with the Puccinia psidii Winter resistance gene 1 （Ppr1） in a population study.展开更多
Sequence similarities were found between protein and DNA sequences encoding certain part of conserved variable immunoglobulin domains (i.e. conserved IgV) and phosphorylation sites. Hypermutation motifs were then indi...Sequence similarities were found between protein and DNA sequences encoding certain part of conserved variable immunoglobulin domains (i.e. conserved IgV) and phosphorylation sites. Hypermutation motifs were then indicated in the majority of the corresponding non-IgV nucleotide sequences. According to database confirmations or double prediction of phosphorylation sites, 80% of the selected human and mouse IgV-related phosphorylation sites or their highly probable candidates exhibited substrate relationship to ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated kinase known as ATM. In accordance with literature data, inactivation of ATM by mutations can participate in the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, neurodegeneration and possibly also in aging. In agreement with this relationship, some of the selected IgV-/ATM-related segments formed molecules specifically involved in carcinogenesis. The selected IgV-related sequence segments were also similar to certain segments of higher plants containing immunoglobulin-like repeats and related regions. Bioinformatic analysis of some selected plant sequences then indicated the presence of catalytic domains composing serine/threonine/tyrosine receptor/receptor-like kinases, which are considered important structures for evolution of very early and part of later Ig-domain-related immunity. The analyzed conserved domain similarities also suggested certain interesting structural and phylogenic relationships, which need to be further investigated. This review in fact briefly summarizes the findings on the subject from the last twenty years.展开更多
文摘Transposable elements （TEs） are self-replicating, mobile DNA sequences which constitute a significant fraction of eukaryotic genomes. They are generally considered selfish DNA, as their replication and random insertion may have deleterious effects on genome functionalities, although some beneficial effects and evolutionary potential have been recognized. Short interspersed elements （SINEs） are non-autonomous TEs with a modular structure： a small RNA-related head, a body, and a long interspersed element-related tail. Despite their high turnover rate and de novo emergence, the body may retain highly conserved domains （HCDs） shared among divergent SINE families： in metazoans, at least nine HCD-SINEs have been recognized. Data mining on public molecular databases allowed the retrieval of 16 new HCD-SINE families from cnidarian, molluscs, arthropods, and vertebrates. Tracking the ancestry of HCDs on the metazoan phylogeny revealed that some of them date back to the Radiata-Bilateria split. Moreover, phylogenetic and age versus divergence analyses of the most ancient HCDs suggested that long-term vertical inheritance is the rule, with few horizontal transfer events. We suggest that the evolutionary conservation of HCDs may be linked to their potential to serve as recombination hotspots. This indirectly affects host genomes by maintaining active and diverse SINE lineages, whose insertions may impact （either positively or negatively） on the evolution of the genome.
基金the Suzano Celulose S/A for logistical supportthe‘‘Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico’’(CNPq)+1 种基金the‘‘Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior’’(CAPES)the‘‘Fundao de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais’’(FAPEMIG)for financial support to this study
文摘Disease-resistant genes play an important role in defending against a variety of pathogens and insect pests in plants. Most of the disease-resistant genes encode pro- teins with conserved leucine rich repeat and nucleotide binding site domains. In this study, we cloned and char- acterized gene-resistant analogs （RGAs） from Eucalyptus grandis using degenerate PCR, with primers specifically targeting these two domains. The amplified fragments were cloned into the pGEM-T vector and transformed into Escherichia coli. Among the 90 clones obtained, 13 were sequenced and compared with each other and with previ- ously identified gene-resistant diseases. A BLASTX search in GenBank revealed high similarities among the con- served domains of these cloned genes with RGA genes. Some clones, however, showed no significant similarity with DNA sequences in GenBank. Southern blotting ana- lysis identified several polymorphic RFLP loci between distinct genotypes. However, none of them co-segregated with the Puccinia psidii Winter resistance gene 1 （Ppr1） in a population study.
文摘Sequence similarities were found between protein and DNA sequences encoding certain part of conserved variable immunoglobulin domains (i.e. conserved IgV) and phosphorylation sites. Hypermutation motifs were then indicated in the majority of the corresponding non-IgV nucleotide sequences. According to database confirmations or double prediction of phosphorylation sites, 80% of the selected human and mouse IgV-related phosphorylation sites or their highly probable candidates exhibited substrate relationship to ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated kinase known as ATM. In accordance with literature data, inactivation of ATM by mutations can participate in the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, neurodegeneration and possibly also in aging. In agreement with this relationship, some of the selected IgV-/ATM-related segments formed molecules specifically involved in carcinogenesis. The selected IgV-related sequence segments were also similar to certain segments of higher plants containing immunoglobulin-like repeats and related regions. Bioinformatic analysis of some selected plant sequences then indicated the presence of catalytic domains composing serine/threonine/tyrosine receptor/receptor-like kinases, which are considered important structures for evolution of very early and part of later Ig-domain-related immunity. The analyzed conserved domain similarities also suggested certain interesting structural and phylogenic relationships, which need to be further investigated. This review in fact briefly summarizes the findings on the subject from the last twenty years.
