Discovery and population genomics of structural variation in a songbird genus.

Structural variation (SV) constitutes an important type of genetic mutations providing the raw material for evolution. Here, we uncover the genome-wide spectrum of intra- and interspecific SV segregating in natural populations of seven songbird species in the genus Corvus. Combining short-read (N = 127) and long-read re-sequencing (N = 31), as well as optical mapping (N = 16), we apply both assembly- and read mapping approaches to detect SV and characterize a total of 220,452 insertions, deletions and inversions. We exploit sampling across wide phylogenetic timescales to validate SV genotypes and assess the contribution of SV to evolutionary processes in an avian model of incipient speciation. We reveal an evolutionary young (~530,000 years) cis-acting 2.25-kb LTR retrotransposon insertion reducing expression of the NDP gene with consequences for premating isolation. Our results attest to the wealth and evolutionary significance of SV segregating in natural populations and highlight the need for reliable SV genotyping.

SMRT long reads and Direct Label and Stain optical maps allow the generation of a high-quality genome assembly for the European barn swallow (Hirundo rustica rustica).

Background: The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is a migratory bird that has been the focus of a large number of ecological, behavioral, and genetic studies. To facilitate further population genetics and genomic studies, we present a reference genome assembly for the European subspecies (H. r. rustica). Findings: As part of the Genome10K effort on generating high-quality vertebrate genomes (Vertebrate Genomes Project), we have assembled a highly contiguous genome assembly using single molecule real-time (SMRT) DNA sequencing and several Bionano optical map technologies. We compared and integrated optical maps derived from both the Nick, Label, Repair, and Stain technology and from the Direct Label and Stain (DLS) technology. As proposed by Bionano, DLS more than doubled the scaffold N50 with respect to the nickase. The dual enzyme hybrid scaffold led to a further marginal increase in scaffold N50 and an overall increase of confidence in the scaffolds. After removal of haplotigs, the final assembly is approximately 1.21 Gbp in size, with a scaffold N50 value of more than 25.95 Mbp. Conclusions: This high-quality genome assembly represents a valuable resource for future studies of population genetics and genomics in the barn swallow and for studies concerning the evolution of avian genomes. It also represents one of the very first genomes assembled by combining SMRT long-read sequencing with the new Bionano DLS technology for scaffolding. The quality of this assembly demonstrates the potential of this methodology to substantially increase the contiguity of genome assemblies.

The genome of the tegu lizard Salvator merianae: combining Illumina, PacBio, and optical mapping data to generate a highly contiguous assembly.

Background: Reptiles are a species-rich group with great phenotypic and life history diversity but are highly underrepresented among the vertebrate species with sequenced genomes. Results: Here, we report a high-quality genome assembly of the tegu lizard, Salvator merianae, the first lacertoid with a sequenced genome. We combined 74X Illumina short-read, 29.8X Pacific Biosciences long-read, and optical mapping data to generate a high-quality assembly with a scaffold N50 value of 55.4 Mb. The contig N50 value of this assembly is 521 Kb, making it the most contiguous reptile assembly so far. We show that the tegu assembly has the highest completeness of coding genes and conserved non-exonic elements (CNEs) compared to other reptiles. Furthermore, the tegu assembly has the highest number of evolutionarily conserved CNE pairs, corroborating a high assembly contiguity in intergenic regions. As in other reptiles, long interspersed nuclear elements comprise the most abundant transposon class. We used transcriptomic data, homology- and de novo gene predictions to annotate 22,413 coding genes, of which 16,995 (76%) likely have human orthologs as inferred by CESAR-derived gene mappings. Finally, we generated a multiple genome alignment comprising 10 squamates and 7 other amniote species and identified conserved regions that are under evolutionary constraint. CNEs cover 38 Mb (1.8%) of the tegu genome, with 3.3 Mb in these elements being squamate specific. In contrast to placental mammal-specific CNEs, very few of these squamate-specific CNEs (<20 Kb) overlap transposons, highlighting a difference in how lineage-specific CNEs originated in these two clades. Conclusions: The tegu lizard genome together with the multiple genome alignment and comprehensive conserved element datasets provide a valuable resource for comparative genomic studies of reptiles and other amniotes.

Multiple hybrid de novo genome assembly of finger millet, an orphan allotetraploid crop.

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn) is an important crop for food security because of its tolerance to drought, which is expected to be exacerbated by global climate changes. Nevertheless, it is often classified as an orphan/underutilized crop because of the paucity of scientific attention. Among several small millets, finger millet is considered as an excellent source of essential nutrient elements, such as iron and zinc; hence, it has potential as an alternate coarse cereal. However, high-quality genome sequence data of finger millet are currently not available. One of the major problems encountered in the genome assembly of this species was its polyploidy, which hampers genome assembly compared with a diploid genome. To overcome this problem, we sequenced its genome using diverse technologies with sufficient coverage and assembled it via a novel multiple hybrid assembly workflow that combines next-generation with single-molecule sequencing, followed by whole-genome optical mapping using the Bionano Irys® system. The total number of scaffolds was 1,897 with an N50 length >2.6 Mb and detection of 96% of the universal single-copy orthologs. The majority of the homeologs were assembled separately. This indicates that the proposed workflow is applicable to the assembly of other allotetraploid genomes.

Context-selective death of acute myeloid leukemia cells triggered by the novel hybrid retinoid-HDAC inhibitor MC2392.

HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) are widely used in the clinic to sensitize tumorigenic cells for treatment with other anticancer compounds. The major drawback of HDACi is the broad inhibition of the plethora of HDAC-containing complexes. In acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), repression by the PML-RARα oncofusion protein is mediated by an HDAC-containing complex that can be dissociated by pharmacologic doses of all trans retinoic acid (ATRA) inducing differentiation and cell death at the expense of side effects and recurrence. We hypothesized that the context-specific close physical proximity of a retinoid and HDACi-binding protein in the repressive PML-RARα-HDAC complex may permit selective targeting by a hybrid molecule of ATRA with a 2-aminoanilide tail of the HDAC inhibitor MS-275, yielding MC2392. We show that MC2392 elicits weak ATRA and essentially no HDACi activity in vitro or in vivo. Genome-wide epigenetic analyses revealed that in NB4 cells expressing PML-RARα, MC2392 induces changes in H3 acetylation at a small subset of PML-RARα-binding sites. RNA-seq reveals that MC2392 alters expression of a number of stress-responsive and apoptotic genes. Concordantly, MC2392 induced rapid and massive, caspase-8-dependent cell death accompanied by RIP1 induction and ROS production. Solid and leukemic tumors are not affected by MC2392, but expression of PML-RARα conveys efficient MC2392-induced cell death. Our data suggest a model in which MC2392 binds to the RARα moiety and selectively inhibits the HDACs resident in the repressive complex responsible for the transcriptional impairment in APLs. Our findings provide proof-of-principle of the concept of a context-dependent targeted therapy.

Streptococcus pneumoniae folate biosynthesis responds to environmental CO2 levels.

Although carbon dioxide (CO2) is known to be essential for Streptococcus pneumoniae growth, it is poorly understood how this respiratory tract pathogen adapts to the large changes in environmental CO2 levels it encounters during transmission, host colonization, and disease. To identify the molecular mechanisms that facilitate pneumococcal growth under CO2-poor conditions, we generated a random S. pneumoniae R6 mariner transposon mutant library representing mutations in 1,538 different genes and exposed it to CO2-poor ambient air. With Tn-seq, we found mutations in two genes that were involved in S. pneumoniae adaptation to changes in CO2 availability. The gene pca, encoding pneumococcal carbonic anhydrase (PCA), was absolutely essential for S. pneumoniae growth under CO2-poor conditions. PCA catalyzes the reversible hydration of endogenous CO2 to bicarbonate (HCO3(-)) and was previously demonstrated to facilitate HCO3(-)-dependent fatty acid biosynthesis. The gene folC that encodes the dihydrofolate/folylpolyglutamate synthase was required at the initial phase of bacterial growth under CO2-poor culture conditions. FolC compensated for the growth-phase-dependent decrease in S. pneumoniae intracellular long-chain (n > 3) polyglutamyl folate levels, which was most pronounced under CO2-poor growth conditions. In conclusion, S. pneumoniae adaptation to changes in CO2 availability involves the retention of endogenous CO2 and the preservation of intracellular long-chain polyglutamyl folate pools.

H2A.Z/H2B.Z double-variant nucleosomes inhabit the AT-rich promoter regions of the Plasmodium falciparum genome.

Histone variants are key components of the epigenetic code and evolved to perform specific functions in transcriptional regulation, DNA repair, chromosome segregation and other fundamental processes. Although variants for histone H2A and H3 are found throughout the eukaryotic kingdom, variants of histone H2B and H4 are rarely encountered. H2B.Z is one of those rare H2B variants and is apicomplexan-specific. Here we show that in Plasmodium falciparum H2B.Z localizes to euchromatic intergenic regions throughout intraerythrocytic development and together with H2A.Z forms a double-variant nucleosome subtype. These nucleosomes are enriched in promoters over 3' intergenic regions and their occupancy generally correlates with the strength of the promoter, but not with its temporal activity. Remarkably, H2B.Z occupancy levels exhibit a clear correlation with the base-composition of the underlying DNA, raising the intriguing possibility that the extreme AT content of the intergenic regions within the Plasmodium genome might be instructive for histone variant deposition. In summary, our data show that the H2A.Z/H2B.Z double-variant nucleosome demarcates putative regulatory regions of the P. falciparum epigenome and likely provides a scaffold for dynamic regulation of gene expression in this deadly human pathogen.

The metagenome of the marine anammox bacterium 'Candidatus Scalindua profunda' illustrates the versatility of this globally important nitrogen cycle bacterium.

Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria are responsible for a significant portion of the loss of fixed nitrogen from the oceans, making them important players in the global nitrogen cycle. To date, marine anammox bacteria found in marine water columns and sediments worldwide belong almost exclusively to the 'Candidatus Scalindua' species, but the molecular basis of their metabolism and competitive fitness is presently unknown. We applied community sequencing of a marine anammox enrichment culture dominated by 'Candidatus Scalindua profunda' to construct a genome assembly, which was subsequently used to analyse the most abundant gene transcripts and proteins. In the S. profunda assembly, 4756 genes were annotated, and only about half of them showed the highest identity to the only other anammox bacterium of which a metagenome assembly had been constructed so far, the freshwater 'Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis'. In total, 2016 genes of S. profunda could not be matched to the K. stuttgartiensis metagenome assembly at all, and a similar number of genes in K.stuttgartiensis could not be found in S. profunda. Most of these genes did not have a known function but 98 expressed genes could be attributed to oligopeptide transport, amino acid metabolism, use of organic acids and electron transport. On the basis of the S. profunda metagenome, and environmental metagenome data, we observed pronounced differences in the gene organization and expression of important anammox enzymes, such as hydrazine synthase (HzsAB), nitrite reductase (NirS) and inorganic nitrogen transport proteins. Adaptations of Scalindua to the substrate limitation of the ocean may include highly expressed ammonium, nitrite and oligopeptide transport systems and pathways for the transport, oxidation, and assimilation of small organic compounds that may allow a more versatile lifestyle contributing to the competitive fitness of Scalindua in the marine realm.

Metagenome Analysis of a Complex Community Reveals the Metabolic Blueprint of Anammox Bacterium "Candidatus Jettenia asiatica".

Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria are key players in the global nitrogen cycle and responsible for significant global nitrogen loss. Moreover, the anammox process is widely implemented for nitrogen removal from wastewaters as a cost-effective and environment-friendly alternative to conventional nitrification-denitrification systems. Currently, five genera of anammox bacteria have been identified, together forming a deep-branching order in the Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobium-Chlamydiae superphylum. Members of all genera have been detected in wastewater treatment plants and have been enriched in lab-scale bioreactors, but genome information is not yet available for all genera. Here we report the metagenomic analysis of a granular sludge anammox reactor dominated (∼50%) by "Candidatus Jettenia asiatica." The metagenome was sequenced using both Illumina and 454 pyrosequencing. After de novo assembly 37,432 contigs with an average length of 571 nt were obtained. The contigs were then analyzed by BLASTx searches against the protein sequences of "Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis" and a set of 25 genes essential in anammox metabolism were detected. Additionally all reads were mapped to the genome of an anammox strain KSU-1 and de novo assembly was performed again using the reads that could be mapped on KSU-1. Using this approach, a gene encoding copper-containing nitrite reductase NirK was identified in the genome, instead of cytochrome cd(1)-type nitrite reductase (NirS, present in "Ca. Kuenenia stuttgartiensis" and "Ca. Scalindua profunda"). Finally, the community composition was investigated through MetaCluster analysis, 16S rRNA gene analysis and read mapping, which showed the presence of other important community members such as aerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria, methanogens, and the denitrifying methanotroph "Ca. Methylomirabilis oxyfera", indicating a possible active methane and nitrogen cycle in the bioreactor under the prevailing operational conditions.

Chromatin accessibility, p300, and histone acetylation define PML-RARα and AML1-ETO binding sites in acute myeloid leukemia.

Chromatin accessibility plays a key role in regulating cell type specific gene expression during hematopoiesis but has also been suggested to be aberrantly regulated during leukemogenesis. To understand the leukemogenic chromatin signature, we analyzed acute promyelocytic leukemia, a subtype of leukemia characterized by the expression of RARα-fusion proteins, such as PML-RARα. We used nuclease accessibility sequencing in cell lines as well as patient blasts to identify accessible DNA elements and identified > 100 000 accessible regions in each case. Using ChIP-seq, we identified H2A.Z as a histone modification generally associated with these accessible regions, whereas unsupervised clustering analysis of other chromatin features, including DNA methylation, H2A.Zac, H3ac, H3K9me3, H3K27me3, and the regulatory factor p300, distinguished 6 distinct clusters of accessible sites, each with a characteristic functional makeup. Of these, PML-RARα binding was found specifically at accessible chromatin regions characterized by p300 binding and hypoacetylated histones. Identifying regions with a similar epigenetic make up in t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells, another subtype of AMLs, revealed that these regions are occupied by the oncofusion protein AML1-ETO. Together, our results suggest that oncofusion proteins localize to accessible regions and that chromatin accessibility together with p300 binding and histone acetylation characterize AML1-ETO and PML-RARα binding sites.

Draft genome sequence of the volcano-inhabiting thermoacidophilic methanotroph Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum strain SolV.

The draft genome of Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum SolV, a thermoacidophilic methanotroph of the phylum Verrucomicrobia, is presented. Annotation revealed pathways for one-carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen catabolism and respiration together with central metabolic pathways. The genome encodes three orthologues of particulate methane monooxygenases. Sequencing of this genome will help in the understanding of methane cycling in volcanic environments.

Effects of nitrogen dioxide and anoxia on global gene and protein expression in long-term continuous cultures of Nitrosomonas eutropha C91.

Nitrosomonas eutropha is an ammonia-oxidizing betaproteobacterium found in environments with high ammonium levels, such as wastewater treatment plants. The effects of NO(2) on gene and protein expression under oxic and anoxic conditions were determined by maintaining N. eutropha strain C91 in a chemostat fed with ammonium under oxic, oxic-plus-NO(2), and anoxic-plus-NO(2) culture conditions. Cells remained viable but ceased growing under anoxia; hence, the chemostat was switched from continuous to batch cultivation to retain biomass. After several weeks under each condition, biomass was harvested for total mRNA and protein isolation. Exposure of N. eutropha C91 to NO(2) under either oxic or anoxic conditions led to a decrease in proteins involved in N and C assimilation and storage and an increase in proteins involved in energy conservation, including ammonia monooxygenase (AmoCAB). Exposure to anoxia plus NO(2) resulted in increased representation of proteins and transcripts reflective of an energy-deprived state. Several proteins implicated in N-oxide metabolism were expressed and remained unchanged throughout the experiment, except for NorCB nitric oxide reductase, which was not detected in the proteome. Rather, NorY nitric oxide reductase was expressed under oxic-plus-NO(2) and anoxic-plus-NO(2) conditions. The results indicate that exposure to NO(2) results in an energy-deprived state of N. eutropha C91 and that anaerobic growth could not be supported with NO(2) as an oxidant.

Plasmodium falciparum centromeres display a unique epigenetic makeup and cluster prior to and during schizogony.

Centromeres are essential for the faithful transmission of chromosomes to the next generation, therefore being essential in all eukaryotic organisms. The centromeres of Plasmodium falciparum, the causative agent of the most severe form of malaria, have been broadly mapped on most chromosomes, but their epigenetic composition remained undefined. Here, we reveal that the centromeric histone variant PfCENH3 occupies a 4-4.5 kb region on each P. falciparum chromosome, which is devoid of pericentric heterochromatin but harbours another histone variant, PfH2A.Z. These CENH3 covered regions pinpoint the exact position of the centromere on all chromosomes and revealed that all centromeric regions have similar size and sequence composition. Immunofluorescence assay of PfCENH3 strongly suggests that P. falciparum centromeres cluster to a single nuclear location prior to and during mitosis and cytokinesis but dissociate soon after invasion. In summary, we reveal a dynamic association of Plasmodium centromeres, which bear a unique epigenetic signature and conform to a strict structure. These findings suggest that DNA-associated and epigenetic elements play an important role in centromere establishment in this important human pathogen.

Effect of oxygen on the anaerobic methanotroph 'Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera': kinetic and transcriptional analysis.

'Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera' is a denitrifying methanotroph that performs nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation through a newly discovered intra-aerobic pathway. In this study, we investigated the response of a M. oxyfera enrichment culture to oxygen. Addition of either 2% or 8% oxygen resulted in an instant decrease of methane and nitrite conversion rates. Oxygen exposure also led to a deviation in the nitrite to methane oxidation stoichiometry. Oxygen-uptake and inhibition studies with cell-free extracts displayed a change from cytochrome c to quinol as electron donor after exposure to oxygen. The change in global gene expression was monitored by deep sequencing of cDNA using Illumina technology. After 24 h of oxygen exposure, transcription levels of 1109 (out of 2303) genes changed significantly when compared with the anoxic period. Most of the genes encoding enzymes of the methane oxidation pathway were constitutively expressed. Genes from the denitrification pathway, with exception of one of the putative nitric oxide reductases, norZ2, were severely downregulated. The majority of known genes involved in the vital cellular functions, such as nucleic acid and protein biosynthesis and cell division processes, were downregulated. The alkyl hydroperoxide reductase, ahpC, and genes involved in the synthesis/repair of the iron-sulfur clusters were among the few upregulated genes. Further, transcription of the pmoCAB genes of aerobic methanotrophs present in the non-M. oxyfera community were triggered by the presence of oxygen. Our results show that oxygen-exposed cells of M. oxyfera were under oxidative stress and that in spite of its oxygenic capacity, exposure to microoxic conditions has an overall detrimental effect.

Molecular mechanism of anaerobic ammonium oxidation.

Two distinct microbial processes, denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox), are responsible for the release of fixed nitrogen as dinitrogen gas (N(2)) to the atmosphere. Denitrification has been studied for over 100 years and its intermediates and enzymes are well known. Even though anammox is a key biogeochemical process of equal importance, its molecular mechanism is unknown, but it was proposed to proceed through hydrazine (N(2)H(4)). Here we show that N(2)H(4) is produced from the anammox substrates ammonium and nitrite and that nitric oxide (NO) is the direct precursor of N(2)H(4). We resolved the genes and proteins central to anammox metabolism and purified the key enzymes that catalyse N(2)H(4) synthesis and its oxidation to N(2). These results present a new biochemical reaction forging an N-N bond and fill a lacuna in our understanding of the biochemical synthesis of the N(2) in the atmosphere. Furthermore, they reinforce the role of nitric oxide in the evolution of the nitrogen cycle.

Linear amplification for deep sequencing.

Linear amplification for deep sequencing (LADS) is an amplification method that produces representative libraries for Illumina next-generation sequencing within 2 d. The method relies on attaching two different sequencing adapters to blunt-end repaired and A-tailed DNA fragments, wherein one of the adapters is extended with the sequence for the T7 RNA polymerase promoter. Ligated and size-selected DNA fragments are transcribed in vitro with high RNA yields. Subsequent cDNA synthesis is initiated from a primer complementary to the first adapter, ensuring that the library will only contain full-length fragments with two distinct adapters. Contrary to the severely biased representation of AT- or GC-rich fragments in standard PCR-amplified libraries, the sequence coverage in T7-amplified libraries is indistinguishable from that of nonamplified libraries. Moreover, in contrast to amplification-free methods, LADS can generate sequencing libraries from a few nanograms of DNA, which is essential for all applications in which the starting material is limited.

Coactivation of GR and NFKB alters the repertoire of their binding sites and target genes.

Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) exerts anti-inflammatory action in part by antagonizing proinflammatory transcription factors such as the nuclear factor kappa-b (NFKB). Here, we assess the crosstalk of activated GR and RELA (p65, major NFKB component) by global identification of their binding sites and target genes. We show that coactivation of GR and p65 alters the repertoire of regulated genes and results in their association with novel sites in a mutually dependent manner. These novel sites predominantly cluster with p65 target genes that are antagonized by activated GR and vice versa. Our data show that coactivation of GR and NFKB alters signaling pathways that are regulated by each factor separately and provide insight into the networks underlying the GR and NFKB crosstalk.

Autotrophic methanotrophy in verrucomicrobia: Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum SolV uses the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle for carbon dioxide fixation.

Genome data of the extreme acidophilic verrucomicrobial methanotroph Methylacidiphilum fumariolicumstrain SolV indicated the ability of autotrophic growth. This was further validated by transcriptome analysis, which showed that all genes required for a functional Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle were transcribed. Experiments with (13)CH(4) or (13)CO(2) in batch and chemostat cultures demonstrated that CO(2) is the sole carbon source for growth of strain SolV. In the presence of CH(4), CO(2) concentrations in the headspace below 1% (vol/vol) were growth limiting, and no growth was observed when CO(2)concentrations were below 0.3% (vol/vol). The activity of the key enzyme of the CBB cycle, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO), measured with a (13)C stable-isotope method was about 70 nmol CO(2) fixed · min(-1)· mg of protein(-1). An immune reaction with antibody against the large subunit of RuBisCO on Western blots was found only in the supernatant fractions of cell extracts. The apparent native mass of the RuBisCO complex in strain SolV was about 482 kDa, probably consisting of 8 large (53-kDa) and 8 small (16-kDa) subunits. Based on phylogenetic analysis of the corresponding RuBisCO gene, we postulate that RuBisCO of the verrucomicrobial methanotrophs represents a new type of form I RuBisCO.

FACIL: Fast and Accurate Genetic Code Inference and Logo.

MOTIVATION: The intensification of DNA sequencing will increasingly unveil uncharacterized species with potential alternative genetic codes. A total of 0.65% of the DNA sequences currently in Genbank encode their proteins with a variant genetic code, and these exceptions occur in many unrelated taxa. RESULTS: We introduce FACIL (Fast and Accurate genetic Code Inference and Logo), a fast and reliable tool to evaluate nucleic acid sequences for their genetic code that detects alternative codes even in species distantly related to known organisms. To illustrate this, we apply FACIL to a set of mitochondrial genomic contigs of Globobulimina pseudospinescens. This foraminifer does not have any sequenced close relative in the databases, yet we infer its alternative genetic code with high confidence values. Results are intuitively visualized in a Genetic Code Logo. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: FACIL is available as a web-based service at http://www.cmbi.ru.nl/FACIL/ and as a stand-alone program.