Characterization of accessory genes in coronavirus genomes.

BACKGROUND: The Covid19 infection is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a novel member of the coronavirus (CoV) family. CoV genomes code for a ORF1a / ORF1ab polyprotein and four structural proteins widely studied as major drug targets. The genomes also contain a variable number of open reading frames (ORFs) coding for accessory proteins that are not essential for virus replication, but appear to have a role in pathogenesis. The accessory proteins have been less well characterized and are difficult to predict by classical bioinformatics methods. METHODS: We propose a computational tool GOFIX to characterize potential ORFs in virus genomes. In particular, ORF coding potential is estimated by searching for enrichment in motifs of the X circular code, that is known to be over-represented in the reading frames of viral genes. RESULTS: We applied GOFIX to study the SARS-CoV-2 and related genomes including SARS-CoV and SARS-like viruses from bat, civet and pangolin hosts, focusing on the accessory proteins. Our analysis provides evidence supporting the presence of overlapping ORFs 7b, 9b and 9c in all the genomes and thus helps to resolve some differences in current genome annotations. In contrast, we predict that ORF3b is not functional in all genomes. Novel putative ORFs were also predicted, including a truncated form of the ORF10 previously identified in SARS-CoV-2 and a little known ORF overlapping the Spike protein in Civet-CoV and SARS-CoV. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings contribute to characterizing sequence properties of accessory genes of SARS coronaviruses, and especially the newly acquired genes making use of overlapping reading frames.

Circular code motifs in genomes of eukaryotes.

A set X of 20 trinucleotides was identified in genes of bacteria, eukaryotes, plasmids and viruses, which has in average the highest occurrence in reading frame compared to its two shifted frames (Michel, 2015; Arquès and Michel, 1996). This set X has an interesting mathematical property as X is a circular code (Arquès and Michel, 1996). Thus, the motifs from this circular code X, called X motifs, have the property to always retrieve, synchronize and maintain the reading frame in genes. In this paper, we develop several statistical analyzes of X motifs in 138 available complete genomes of eukaryotes in which genes as well as non-gene regions are examined. Large X motifs (with lengths of at least 15 consecutive trinucleotides of X and compositions of at least 10 different trinucleotides of X among 20) have the highest occurrence in genomes of eukaryotes compared to its 23 large bijective motifs, its two large permuted motifs and large random motifs. The largest X motifs identified in eukaryotic genomes are presented, e.g. an X motif in a non-gene region of the genome Solanum pennellii with a length of 155 trinucleotides (465 nucleotides) and an expectation E=10(-71). In the human genome, the largest X motif occurs in a non-gene region of the chromosome 13 with a length of 36 trinucleotides and an expectation E=10(-11). X motifs in non-gene regions of genomes could be evolutionary relics of primitive genes using the circular code for translation. However, the proportion of X motifs (with lengths of at least 10 consecutive trinucleotides of X and compositions of at least 5 different trinucleotides of X among 20) in genes/non-genes of the 138 complete eukaryotic genomes is about 8. Thus, the X motifs occur preferentially in genes, as expected from the previous works of 20 years.

Evolutionary conservation and functional implications of circular code motifs in eukaryotic genomes.

A set X of 20 trinucleotides has been found to have the highest average occurrence in the reading frame, compared to the two shifted frames, of genes of bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes, plasmids and viruses (Michel, 2015, 2017; Arquès and Michel, 1996). This set X has an interesting mathematical property, since X is a maximal C3 self-complementary trinucleotide circular code (Arquès and Michel, 1996). Furthermore, any motif obtained from this circular code X has the capacity to retrieve, maintain and synchronize the reading frame in genes. In a recent study of the X motifs in the complete genome of the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, it was shown that they are significantly enriched in the reading frame of the genes (protein-coding regions) of the genome (Michel et al., 2017). It was suggested that these X motifs may be evolutionary relics of a primitive code originally used for gene translation. The aim of this paper is to address two questions: are X motifs conserved during evolution? and do they continue to play a functional role in the processes of genome decoding and protein production? In a large scale analysis involving complete genomes from four mammals and nine different yeast species, we highlight specific evolutionary pressures on the X motifs in the genes of all the genomes, and identify important new properties of X motif conservation at the level of the encoded amino acids. We then compare the occurrence of X motifs with existing experimental data concerning protein expression and protein production, and report a significant correlation between the number of X motifs in a gene and increased protein abundance. In a general way, this work suggests that motifs from circular codes, i.e. motifs having the property of reading frame retrieval, may represent functional elements located within the coding regions of extant genomes.

Enrichment of Circular Code Motifs in the Genes of the Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A set X of 20 trinucleotides has been found to have the highest average occurrence in the reading frame, compared to the two shifted frames, of genes of bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes, plasmids and viruses. This set X has an interesting mathematical property, since X is a maximal C3 self-complementary trinucleotide circular code. Furthermore, any motif obtained from this circular code X has the capacity to retrieve, maintain and synchronize the original (reading) frame. Since 1996, the theory of circular codes in genes has mainly been developed by analysing the properties of the 20 trinucleotides of X, using combinatorics and statistical approaches. For the first time, we test this theory by analysing the X motifs, i.e., motifs from the circular code X, in the complete genome of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Several properties of X motifs are identified by basic statistics (at the frequency level), and evaluated by comparison to R motifs, i.e., random motifs generated from 30 different random codes R. We first show that the frequency of X motifs is significantly greater than that of R motifs in the genome of S. cerevisiae. We then verify that no significant difference is observed between the frequencies of X and R motifs in the non-coding regions of S. cerevisiae, but that the occurrence number of X motifs is significantly higher than R motifs in the genes (protein-coding regions). This property is true for all cardinalities of X motifs (from 4 to 20) and for all 16 chromosomes. We further investigate the distribution of X motifs in the three frames of S. cerevisiae genes and show that they occur more frequently in the reading frame, regardless of their cardinality or their length. Finally, the ratio of X genes, i.e., genes with at least one X motif, to non-X genes, in the set of verified genes is significantly different to that observed in the set of putative or dubious genes with no experimental evidence. These results, taken together, represent the first evidence for a significant enrichment of X motifs in the genes of an extant organism. They raise two hypotheses: the X motifs may be evolutionary relics of the primitive codes used for translation, or they may continue to play a functional role in the complex processes of genome decoding and protein synthesis.