Duplication Patterns Research Articles

Duplicate Testing: Enhancing Transitions in Care Communication in the Infusion Center and Emergency Department Settings.

Two objectives of the American Board of Internal Medicine's Choosing Wisely® initiative include avoiding duplicate testing and choosing care that is free from harm. Oncology nurses in an academic comprehensive cancer center observed a pattern of testing duplication and related dissatisfaction among providers and patients. A quality improvement project was initiated to quantify the problem and reduce duplication by implementing collaborative solutions to improve interdepartmental communication during handoffs. Postimplementation data revealed a 35% decrease of testing duplication in the patient population.

Genome-wide identification and expression pattern analysis of the ribonuclease T2 family in Eucommia ulmoides

The 2′,3′-cycling ribonuclease (RNase) genes are catalysts of RNA cleavage and include the RNase T2 gene family. RNase T2 genes perform important roles in plants and have been conserved in the genome of eukaryotic organisms. In this study we identified 21 EURNS genes in Eucommia ulmoides Oliver (E. ulmoides) and analyzed their structure, chromosomal location, phylogenetic tree, gene duplication, stress-related cis-elements, and expression patterns in different tissues. The length of 21 predicted EURNS proteins ranged from 143 to 374 amino acids (aa), their molecular weight (MW) ranged from 16.21 to 42.38 kDa, and their isoelectric point (PI) value ranged from 5.08 to 9.09. Two classifications (class I and class III) were obtained from the conserved domains analysis and phylogenetic tree. EURNS proteins contained a total of 15 motifs. Motif 1, motif 2, motif 3, and motif 7 were distributed in multiple sequences and were similar to the conserved domain of RNase T2. EURNS genes with similar structure and the predicted EURNS proteins with conserved motif compositions are in the same group in the phylogenetic tree. The results of RT-PCR and transcription data showed that EURNS genes have tissue-specific expression and exhibited obvious trends in different developmental stages. Gene duplication analysis results indicated that segment duplication may be the dominant duplication mode in this gene family. This study provides a theoretical basis for research on the RNase T2 gene family and lays a foundation for the further study of EURNS genes.

Genome-wide characterization of PEBP family genes in nine Rosaceae tree species and their expression analysis in P. mume

BackgroundPhosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins (PEBPs) constitute a common gene family found among animals, plants and microbes. Plant PEBP proteins play an important role in regulating flowering time, plant architecture as well as seed dormancy. Though PEBP family genes have been well studied in Arabidopsis and other model species, less is known about these genes in perennial trees.ResultsTo understand the evolution of PEBP genes and their functional roles in flowering control, we identified 56 PEBP members belonging to three gene clades (MFT-like, FT-like, and TFL1-like) and five lineages (FT, BFT, CEN, TFL1, and MFT) across nine Rosaceae perennial species. Structural analysis revealed highly conserved gene structure and protein motifs among Rosaceae PEBP proteins. Codon usage analysis showed slightly biased codon usage across five gene lineages. With selection pressure analysis, we detected strong purifying selection constraining divergence within most lineages, while positive selection driving the divergence of FT-like and TFL1-like genes from the MFT-like gene clade. Spatial and temporal expression analyses revealed the essential role of FT in regulating floral bud breaking and blooming in P. mume. By employing a weighted gene co-expression network approach, we inferred a putative FT regulatory module required for dormancy release and blooming in P. mume.ConclusionsWe have characterized the PEBP family genes in nine Rosaceae species and examined their phylogeny, genomic syntenic relationship, duplication pattern, and expression profiles during flowering process. These results revealed the evolutionary history of PEBP genes and their functions in regulating floral bud development and blooming among Rosaceae tree species.

Comprehensive Analysis of Evolutionary Characterization and Expression for Monosaccharide Transporter Family Genes in Nelumbo nucifera

Sugar transporters, an important class of transporters for sugar function, regulate many processes associated with growth, maturation, and senescence processes in plants. In this study, a total of 35 NuMSTs were identified in the Nelumbo nucifera genome and grouped by conserved domains and phylogenetic analysis. Additionally, we identified 316 MST genes in 10 other representative plants and performed a comparative analysis with Nelumbo nucifera genes, including evolutionary trajectory, gene duplication, and expression pattern. A large number of analyses across plants and algae indicated that the MST family could have originated from STP and Glct, expanding to form STP and SFP by dispersed duplication. Finally, a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and cis-element analysis showed that some of them may be regulated by plant hormones (e.g., abscisic acid), biotic stress factors, and abiotic factors (e.g., drought, excessive cold, and light). We found that under the four abiotic stress conditions, only NuSTP5 expression was upregulated, generating a stress response, and ARBE and LTR were present in NuSTP5. In summary, our findings are significant for understanding and exploring the molecular evolution and mechanisms of NuMSTs in plants.

Adaptive evolution driving the young duplications in six Rosaceae species

BackgroundIn plant genomes, high proportions of duplicate copies reveals that gene duplications play an important role in the evolutionary processes of plant species. A series of gene families under positive selection after recent duplication events in plant genomes indicated the evolution of duplicates driven by adaptive evolution. However, the genome-wide evolutionary features of young duplicate genes among closely related species are rarely reported.ResultsIn this study, we conducted a systematic survey of young duplicate genes at genome-wide levels among six Rosaceae species, whose whole-genome sequencing data were successively released in recent years. A total of 35,936 gene families were detected among the six species, in which 60.25% were generated by young duplications. The 21,650 young duplicate gene families could be divided into two expansion types based on their duplication patterns, species-specific and lineage-specific expansions. Our results showed the species-specific expansions advantaging over the lineage-specific expansions. In the two types of expansions, high-frequency duplicate domains exhibited functional preference in response to environmental stresses.ConclusionsThe functional preference of the young duplicate genes in both the expansion types showed that they were inclined to respond to abiotic or biotic stimuli. Moreover, young duplicate genes under positive selection in both species-specific and lineage-specific expansions suggested that they were generated to adapt to the environmental factors in Rosaceae species.

Genome-wide identification, evolution, and transcriptome-based expression profiling analysis of suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

Suppressors of cytokine signaling (SOCS) are a crucial negative regulation family that control a variety of signal transduction pathways in immunity, growth, and development. However, they have not been systematically studied in the important economic fish grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). The accumulation of genomic and transcriptomic resources makes it feasible to conduct a systematic analysis of these genes. In the present study, comprehensive analyses, including genome-wide identification, phylogeny, conserved domain/motif, gene structure, chromosomal location, subcellular localization, gene duplication, and expression patterns of the SOCS gene family in grass carp, were performed, based on genomic and transcriptomic data. Here we identified and characterized 14 SOCS genes (CISH, SOCS1a, SOCS1b, SOCS2, SOCS3a, SOCS3b, SOCS4, SOCS5a, SOCS5b, SOCS6a, SOCS6b, SOCS7, SOCS8, and SOCS9) in grass carp. Phylogenetic analysis of deduced protein sequences suggested that all SOCS members were divided into two main types (Type I and Type II). Multiple sequence alignment and domain analyses showed that some CiSOCS members possess Pfam-SOCS, KIR, and ESS structures, in addition to the typical conserved SOCS-box and SH2 region. Gene structure analysis revealed the presence of 1–3 exons among the majority of SOCS genes. The motifs of CiSOCS proteins in the same subfamily were highly conserved. Most SOCS members are predicted to be located in the nucleus. Insights into gene duplication analysis revealed the important role of segmental duplications for the expansion of SOCS genes in grass carp. Purifying selection seemed to be operated during the evolution and expansion of paralogous SOCS genes. mRNA expression analyses indicated that many members were differentially expressed in multiple tissues after grass carp reovirus or Aeromonas hydrophila infection. Taken together, the present comprehensive and systematic studies of the SOCS family members lay a solid foundation for further functional researches of SOCS genes in grass carp.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of COMT gene family during the development of blueberry fruit

BackgroundCaffeic acid O-methyltransferases (COMTs) play an important role in the diversification of natural products, especially in the phenylalanine metabolic pathway of plant. The content of COMT genes in blueberry and relationship between their expression patterns and the lignin content during fruit development have not clearly investigated by now.ResultsNinety-two VcCOMTs were identified in Vaccinium corymbosum. According to phylogenetic analyses, the 92 VcCOMTs were divided into 2 groups. The gene structure and conserved motifs within groups were similar which supported the reliability of the phylogenetic structure groupings. Dispersed duplication (DSD) and whole-genome duplication (WGD) were determined to be the major forces in VcCOMTs evolution. The results showed that the results of qRT-PCR and lignin content for 22 VcCOMTs, VcCOMT40 and VcCOMT92 were related to lignin content at different stages of fruit development of blueberry.ConclusionWe identified COMT gene family in blueberry, and performed comparative analyses of the phylogenetic relationships in the 15 species of land plant, and gene duplication patterns of COMT genes in 5 of the 15 species. We found 2 VcCOMTs were highly expressed and their relative contents were similar to the variation trend of lignin content during the development of blueberry fruit. These results provide a clue for further study on the roles of VcCOMTs in the development of blueberry fruit and could promisingly be foundations for breeding blueberry clutivals with higher fruit firmness and longer shelf life.

Contrasting Patterns of Gene Duplication, Relocation, and Selection Among Human Taste Genes.

In humans, taste genes are responsible for perceiving at least 5 different taste qualities. Human taste genes’ evolutionary mechanisms need to be explored. We compiled a list of 69 human taste-related genes and divided them into 7 functional groups. We carried out comparative genomic and evolutionary analyses for these taste genes based on 8 vertebrate species. We found that relative to other groups of human taste genes, human TAS2R genes have a higher proportion of tandem duplicates, suggesting that tandem duplications have contributed significantly to the expansion of the human TAS2R gene family. Human TAS2R genes tend to have fewer collinear genes in outgroup species and evolve faster, suggesting that human TAS2R genes have experienced more gene relocations. Moreover, human TAS2R genes tend to be under more relaxed purifying selection than other genes. Our study sheds new insights into diverse and contrasting evolutionary patterns among human taste genes.

Long-Read Genome Assemblies Reveal Extraordinary Variation in the Number and Structure of MHC Loci in Birds.

Our knowledge of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) in birds is limited because it often consists of numerous duplicated genes within individuals that are difficult to assemble with short read sequencing technology. Long-read sequencing provides an opportunity to overcome this limitation because it allows the assembly of long regions with repetitive elements. In this study, we used genomes based on long-read sequencing to predict the number and location of MHC loci in a broad range of bird taxa. From the long-read-based genomes of 34 species, we found that there was extremely large variation in the number of MHC loci between species. Overall, there were greater numbers of both class I and II loci in passerines than nonpasserines. The highest numbers of loci (up to 193 class II loci) were found in manakins (Pipridae), which had previously not been studied at the MHC. Our results provide the first direct evidence from passerine genomes of this high level of duplication. We also found different duplication patterns between species. In some species, both MHC class I and II genes were duplicated together, whereas in most species they were duplicated independently. Our study shows that the analysis of long-read-based genomes can dramatically improve our knowledge of MHC structure, although further improvements in chromosome level assembly are needed to understand the evolutionary mechanisms producing the extraordinary interspecific variation in the architecture of the MHC region.

Identification, genomic organization, and expression profiles of single C2H2 zinc finger transcription factors in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum).

C2H2 zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) play essential roles in leaf morphogenesis and floral development, as well as heat stress response and trichome formation, which activate or inhibit gene transcription mainly through interactions with nucleic acids, such as single-strand DNA, RNA binding or RNA/DNA bidirectional binding, and protein interaction. Single C2H2 ZFPs is the subfamily of ZFPs, but little of single C2H2 ZFP family is known in tomato. In this study, we identified 30 single ZFP genes in tomato using bioinformatics-based methods. Gene structures, phylogeny, conserved motifs, cis-element of promoter, chromosomal localization, gene duplication, and expression patterns of these single C2H2 ZFP genes were analyzed. Sequence analysis showed that most single C2H2 ZFP genes possessed only one exon, except for SlC1-liZFP1 and SlC1-liZFP2. These single C2H2 ZFP genes were asymmetrically distributed on 10 chromosomes, excluding 2 and 12 chromosomes. In addition, 24 of these genes were predicated to have experienced segmental duplication. Cis-element prediction indicated that many important elements were located in the putative promoter regions, like light and gibberellic acid (GA)-responsive elements. The expression profiles of these genes in different tissues and various hormones and stress treatment were further analyzed. Many genes were lowly expressed in all tissues, whereas some were specifically expressed in certain tissues, like SlC1-liZFP2 in young leaves, and SlC1-liZFP15 in fruits. Furthermore, these genes could also be induced by several hormones and stresses, including IAA, ETH, GA, cold, and drought. This study sets a good foundation for further characterizing the biological roles of single C2H2 ZFP genes in tomato.

Genome-Wide Analysis of Chemosensory Protein Genes (CSPs) Family in Fig Wasps (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea).

Chemosensory proteins (CSP) are a class of acidic soluble proteins which have various functions in chemoreception, resistance and immunity, but we still have very little knowledge on this gene family in fig wasps, a peculiar insects group (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) that shelter in the fig syconia of Ficus trees. Here, we made the first comprehensive analysis of CSP gene family in the 11 fig wasps at whole-genome level. We manually annotated 104 CSP genes in the genomes of the 11 fig wasps, comprehensively analyzed them in gene characteristics, conserved cysteine patterns, motif orders, phylogeny, genome distribution, gene tandem duplication, and expansion and contraction patterns of the gene family. We also approximately predicted the gene expression by codon adaptation index analysis. Our study shows that the CSP gene family is conserved in the 11 fig wasps; the CSP gene numbers in pollinating fig wasps are less than in non-pollinating fig wasps, which may be due to their longer history of adaptation to fig syconia; the expansion of CSP gene in two non-pollinating fig wasps, Philotrypesis tridentata and Sycophaga agraensis, may be a species-specific phenomenon. These results provide us with useful information for understanding the evolution of the CSP gene family of insects in diverse living environments.

PacBio genome sequencing reveals new insights into the genomic organisation of the multi-copy ToxB gene of the wheat fungal pathogen Pyrenophora tritici-repentis

BackgroundNecrotrophic effector proteins secreted by fungal pathogens are important virulence factors that mediate the development of disease in wheat. Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr), the causal agent of wheat tan spot, has a race structure dependent on the combination of effectors. In Ptr, ToxA and ToxB are known proteinaceous effectors responsible for necrosis and chlorosis respectively. While Ptr ToxA is encoded by the single gene ToxA, ToxB has multiple loci in the Ptr genome, which is postulated to be directly related to the level of ToxB production and leaf chlorosis. Although previous analysis has indicated that the majority of the ToxB loci lie on a single chromosome, the exact number and chromosomal locations for all the ToxB loci have not been fully identified.ResultsIn this study, we have sequenced the genome of a race 5 ToxB-producing isolate (DW5), using PacBio long read technology, and found that ToxB duplications are nested in the complex subtelomeric chromosomal regions. A total of ten identical ToxB gene copies were identified and based on flanking sequence identity, nine loci appeared associated with chromosome 11 and a single copy with chromosome 5. Chromosome 11 multiple ToxB gene loci were separated by large sequence regions between 31 and 66 kb within larger segmental duplications in an alternating pattern related to loci strand, and flanked by transposable elements.ConclusionThis work provides for the first time the full accompaniment of ToxB loci and surrounding regions, and identifies the organization and distribution of ten ToxB loci to subtelomeric regions. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an interwoven strand-related duplication pattern event. This study further highlights the importance of resolving the highly complex distal chromosomal regions, that remain difficult to assemble, and can harbour important effectors and virulence factors.

The GATA Gene Family in Chickpea: Structure Analysis and Transcriptional Responses to Abscisic Acid and Dehydration Treatments Revealed Potential Genes Involved in Drought Adaptation

The GATA transcription factors are important transcriptional regulators of plant growth and responses to environmental stimuli. Here, a total of 25 CaGATA genes was identified in chickpea (Cicer arietinum), and their basic characteristics, including gene structure, duplication patterns, conserved domains and various physical and chemical parameters were subsequently determined. Of our interest, the enrichment of the hormone- and stress-responsive cis-regulatory elements in the promoters of CaGATA genes has been analyzed to predict the CaGATA members with potential hormone-mediated functions in stress tolerance. Furthermore, the tissue-specific expression patterns of the CaGATA genes were assessed using the available transcriptome data. More importantly, transcript levels of the identified CaGATA genes were quantified in roots and leaves of chickpea seedlings exposed to ABA (abscisic acid) or dehydration treatment using real-time quantitative PCR. Expression levels of a total of 12 CaGATA genes were significantly altered in roots and/or leaves by both ABA and dehydration treatments, suggesting that these genes might play roles in regulation of chickpea response to water stress in an ABA-dependent manner. Out of these genes, only CaGATA04 was induced in both roots and leaves by ABA and dehydration treatments. Furthermore, CaGATA05 and 21 were the most highly induced in roots (8.55-fold) and leaves (4.90-fold), respectively, by dehydration. Findings of this study have provided important insights into the CaGATA family of chickpea, as well as useful information for selection of CaGATA genes of interest for in-depth functional characterizations that might lead to development of chickpea cultivars with improved performance under water-deficit conditions.

PbrPOE21 inhibits pear pollen tube growth in vitro by altering apical reactive oxygen species content.

Genome-wide identification, tissue-specific expression analysis and functional characterization of selected genes containing the pear Pollen Olea europaea I domain reveal their roles in pollen tube growth. Genes containing the Pollen Olea europaea I (POE) domain play crucial roles in diverse growth and developmental processes. Nevertheless, the specific functions of POE family members in progression of pollen tube growth (PTG) remain uncharacterized. We identified 45 PbrPOE genes in the pear (Pyrus bretschneideri) genome, clustered into seven subclasses. PbrPOE genes contained 1 to 11 exons and 0 to 10 introns, with exon/intron structure mostly conserved within each subclass. Whole-genome duplication has mainly contributed to the duplication pattern of PbrPOE genes in pear. Expression profiles of 45 PbrPOE genes in 12 different pear tissues revealed that six PbrPOE genes (PbrPOE6, 12, 21, 29, 35 and 41) of subclass B were highly expressed during the growth of the pear pollen tube in vitro. PbrPOE21 was selected for further functional analysis on the basis of its high and differential expression pattern in pollen. Antisense oligodeoxynucleotide assays demonstrated that PTG was augmented in vitro when PbrPOE21 expression was significantly inhibited. Moreover, pollen tube length in vitro was reduced when PbrPOE21 was transitorily over-expressed using particle bombardment technology. Exogenous PbrPOE21 recombinant protein inhibited PTG in vitro at an optimum concentration of 1.8µM. PbrPOE21 also affected reactive oxygen species content in the pear pollen tube apex. We suggest that PbrPOE21 inhibits PTG in vitro by altering apical reactive oxygen species content.

Comparative analysis, distribution, and characterization of microsatellites in Orf virus genome

Genome-wide in-silico identification of microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in the Orf virus (ORFV), the causative agent of contagious ecthyma has been carried out to investigate the type, distribution and its potential role in the genome evolution. We have investigated eleven ORFV strains, which resulted in the presence of 1,036–1,181 microsatellites per strain. The further screening revealed the presence of 83–107 compound SSRs (cSSRs) per genome. Our analysis indicates the dinucleotide (76.9%) repeats to be the most abundant, followed by trinucleotide (17.7%), mononucleotide (4.9%), tetranucleotide (0.4%) and hexanucleotide (0.2%) repeats. The Relative Abundance (RA) and Relative Density (RD) of these SSRs varied between 7.6–8.4 and 53.0–59.5 bp/kb, respectively. While in the case of cSSRs, the RA and RD ranged from 0.6–0.8 and 12.1–17.0 bp/kb, respectively. Regression analysis of all parameters like the incident of SSRs, RA, and RD significantly correlated with the GC content. But in a case of genome size, except incident SSRs, all other parameters were non-significantly correlated. Nearly all cSSRs were composed of two microsatellites, which showed no biasedness to a particular motif. Motif duplication pattern, such as, (C)-x-(C), (TG)-x-(TG), (AT)-x-(AT), (TC)- x-(TC) and self-complementary motifs, such as (GC)-x-(CG), (TC)-x-(AG), (GT)-x-(CA) and (TC)-x-(AG) were observed in the cSSRs. Finally, in-silico polymorphism was assessed, followed by in-vitro validation using PCR analysis and sequencing. The thirteen polymorphic SSR markers developed in this study were further characterized by mapping with the sequence present in the database. The results of the present study indicate that these SSRs could be a useful tool for identification, analysis of genetic diversity, and understanding the evolutionary status of the virus.

An evolutionary driver of interspersed segmental duplications in primates

BackgroundThe complex interspersed pattern of segmental duplications in humans is responsible for rearrangements associated with neurodevelopmental disease, including the emergence of novel genes important in human brain evolution. We investigate the evolution of LCR16a, a putative driver of this phenomenon that encodes one of the most rapidly evolving human–ape gene families, nuclear pore interacting protein (NPIP).ResultsComparative analysis shows that LCR16a has independently expanded in five primate lineages over the last 35 million years of primate evolution. The expansions are associated with independent lineage-specific segmental duplications flanking LCR16a leading to the emergence of large interspersed duplication blocks at non-orthologous chromosomal locations in each primate lineage. The intron-exon structure of the NPIP gene family has changed dramatically throughout primate evolution with different branches showing characteristic gene models yet maintaining an open reading frame. In the African ape lineage, we detect signatures of positive selection that occurred after a transition to more ubiquitous expression among great ape tissues when compared to Old World and New World monkeys. Mouse transgenic experiments from baboon and human genomic loci confirm these expression differences and suggest that the broader ape expression pattern arose due to mutational changes that emerged in cis.ConclusionsLCR16a promotes serial interspersed duplications and creates hotspots of genomic instability that appear to be an ancient property of primate genomes. Dramatic changes to NPIP gene structure and altered tissue expression preceded major bouts of positive selection in the African ape lineage, suggestive of a gene undergoing strong adaptive evolution.

Pattern and Dynamics of FLT3 Duplications.

FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) is mutated in ∼30% of patients that suffer from acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In about 25% of all AML patients, in-frame insertions are observed in the sequence. Most of those insertions are internal tandem duplications (ITDs) of a sequence from the protein. The characteristics of such mutations in terms of length, sequence, and location were hitherto studied in different populations, but not in a comprehensive mutation database. Here, in-frame insertions into the FLT3 gene were extracted from the Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database. These were analyzed with respect to the length, location, and sequence of the mutations. Furthermore, characteristic strings (sequences) of different lengths were identified. Mutations were shown to occur most often in the juxtamembrane zipper (JM-Z) domain of FLT3, followed by the hinge domain and first tyrosine kinase domain (TKD1), upstream of the phosphate-binding loop (P-loop). Interestingly, there are specific hot spot residues where insertions are more likely to occur. The insertions vary in length between one and 67 amino acids, with the largest insertions spanning the phosphate binding loop. Insertions that occur downstream of the P-loop are shorter. Our analysis further shows that acidic and aromatic residues are enriched in the insertions. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations were run for FLT3 with ITD insertions in the hinge and tyrosine kinase domains. On the basis of the findings, a mechanism is proposed for activation by ITDs, according to which there is no direct coupling between the length of the insertion and the activity of the mutated protein. The effect of insertions on the sensitivity of FLT3 to kinase inhibitors is discussed based on our findings.

Genome-wide identification and transcriptome-based expression profiling of Wnt gene family in Ruditapes philippinarum

The Wnt genes encode a set of conserved glycoproteins regulating early development, cell proliferation and differentiation, and tissue regeneration in metazoans. In some mollusks, the knowledge of Wnt gene family has been limited because of the short of the genomic and transcriptomic resources. Ruditapes philippinarum is an economically important bivalve with a variety of shell coloration patterns and ability to regenerate its siphon. To gain a greater understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of Wnt gene family, we carried out a genome-wide identification and phylogenetic analysis of Wnt gene family in R. philippinarum and other four mollusks. A total of 12 Wnt genes were identified in the genome of R. philippinarum, and the dynamic patterns of gene conservation, loss and duplication of Wnt genes were analyzed in mollusks and model organisms. Furthermore, the transcriptome analyses demonstrated the expression profiles of the Wnt genes at different developmental stage, in adult tissues, during siphon regeneration, in four different shell color strains, and at uncolored and colored developmental stages in two different shell color strains. These findings suggest that the expansion of Wnt genes may play vital roles in the larval development, the formation of shell color pattern and siphon regeneration in R. philippinarum. This study provides a valuable insight into Wnt function and evolution in mollusks.

A New Paradigm for Identifying Reconciliation-Scenario Altering Mutations Conferring Environmental Adaptation.

An important goal in microbial computational genomics is to identify crucial events in the evolution of a gene that severely alter the duplication, loss, and mobilization patterns of the gene within the genomes in which it disseminates. In this article, we formalize this microbiological goal as a new pattern-matching problem in the domain of gene tree and species tree reconciliation, denoted "Reconciliation-Scenario Altering Mutation (RSAM) Discovery." We propose an [Formula: see text] time algorithm to solve this new problem, wheremandnare the number of vertices of the input gene tree and species tree, respectively, andkis a user-specified parameter that bounds from above the number of optimal solutions of interest. The algorithm first constructs a hypergraph representing thekhighest scoring reconciliation scenarios between the given gene tree and species tree, and then interrogates this hypergraph for subtrees matching a prespecified RSAM pattern. Our algorithm is optimal in the sense that the number of hypernodes in the hypergraph can be lower bounded by [Formula: see text]. We implement the new algorithm as a tool, called RSAM-finder, and demonstrate its application to the identification of RSAMs in toxins and drug resistance elements across a data set spanning hundreds of species.

Acquisition of social behavior in mammalian lineages is related with duplication events of FPR genes

Formyl peptide receptors (FPRs) were firstly detected in immune cells where they act as key mediators of leukocyte chemotaxis, promoting the host defense against pathogens. Recently, three paralogs were reported in Homo sapiens (FPR1–3) and seven paralogs in Mus musculus (FPR1, FPRrs1–4, FPRrs6 and FPRrs7), but information from other mammalian lineages is scarce, including ambiguities in the current nomenclature system (e.g. absence of an orthologous relation between human and mouse FPR3). Here, we explored the FPR gene repertoire across 175 mammalian genomes using integrative phylogenetic and synteny analyses to describe the evolutionary history of FPRs in all mammalian orders. FPRs present a well conserved synteny but showed dynamic episodes of duplication events specific to several mammalian orders (Chiroptera, Perissodactyla, Primates and Rodentia), with up to 11 paralogs in some cases. Despite FPRs could be expressed in a panoply of tissues, there is a suggestion that they maintain an exclusive immunological function. However, we observed that species with social behavior have higher repertoire of FPRs in contrast with species with solitary lifestyle. Such evidence suggests a strict relationship between the optimization of the immunological system (by FPR duplication patterns) and the mammalian social behavior.