| 1. |
- Apuli, Rami-Petteri, et al.
(författare)
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Inferring the Genomic Landscape of Recombination Rate Variation in European Aspen (Populus tremula)
- 2020
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Ingår i: G3. - : GENETICS SOCIETY AMERICA. - 2160-1836. ; 10:1, s. 299-309
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The rate of meiotic recombination is one of the central factors determining genome-wide levels of linkage disequilibrium which has important consequences for the efficiency of natural selection and for the dissection of quantitative traits. Here we present a new, high-resolution linkage map for Populus tremula that we use to anchor approximately two thirds of the P. tremula draft genome assembly on to the expected 19 chromosomes, providing us with the first chromosome-scale assembly for P. tremula (Table 2). We then use this resource to estimate variation in recombination rates across the P. tremula genome and compare these results to recombination rates based on linkage disequilibrium in a large number of unrelated individuals. We also assess how variation in recombination rates is associated with a number of genomic features, such as gene density, repeat density and methylation levels. We find that recombination rates obtained from the two methods largely agree, although the LD-based method identifies a number of genomic regions with very high recombination rates that the map-based method fails to detect. Linkage map and LD-based estimates of recombination rates are positively correlated and show similar correlations with other genomic features, showing that both methods can accurately infer recombination rate variation across the genome. Recombination rates are positively correlated with gene density and negatively correlated with repeat density and methylation levels, suggesting that recombination is largely directed toward gene regions in P. tremula.
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| 2. |
- Arefin, Badrul, et al.
(författare)
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The Immune Phenotype of Three Drosophila Leukemia Models
- 2017
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Ingår i: G3. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2160-1836. ; 7:7, s. 2139-2149
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many leukemia patients suffer from dysregulation of their immune system, making them more susceptible to infections and leading to general weakening (cachexia). Both adaptive and innate immunity are affected. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has an innate immune system, including cells of the myeloid lineage (hemocytes). To study Drosophila immunity and physiology during leukemia, we established three models by driving expression of a dominant-active version of the Ras oncogene (Ras(V12)) alone or combined with knockdowns of tumor suppressors in Drosophila hemocytes. Our results show that phagocytosis, hemocyte migration to wound sites, wound sealing, and survival upon bacterial infection of leukemic lines are similar to wild type. We find that in all leukemic models the two major immune pathways (Toll and Imd) are dysregulated. Toll-dependent signaling is activated to comparable extents as after wounding wild-type larvae, leading to a proinflammatory status. In contrast, Imd signaling is suppressed. Finally, we notice that adult tissue formation is blocked and degradation of cell masses during metamorphosis of leukemic lines, which is akin to the state of cancer-dependent cachexia. To further analyze the immune competence of leukemic lines, we used a natural infection model that involves insect-pathogenic nematodes. We identified two leukemic lines that were sensitive to nematode infections. Further characterization demonstrates that despite the absence of behavioral abnormalities at the larval stage, leukemic larvae show reduced locomotion in the presence of nematodes. Taken together, this work establishes new Drosophila models to study the physiological, immunological, and behavioral consequences of various forms of leukemia.
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| 3. |
- Arnqvist, Göran, et al.
(författare)
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A chromosome-level assembly of the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus genome with annotation of its repetitive elements
- 2024
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Ingår i: G3. - 2160-1836. ; 14:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Callosobruchus maculatus is a major agricultural pest of legume crops worldwide and an established model system in ecology and evolution. Yet, current molecular biological resources for this species are limited. Here, we employ Hi-C sequencing to generate a greatly improved genome assembly and we annotate its repetitive elements in a dedicated in-depth effort where we manually curate and classify the most abundant unclassified repeat subfamilies. We present a scaffolded chromosome-level assembly, which is 1.01 Gb in total length with 86% being contained within the 9 autosomes and the X chromosome. Repetitive sequences accounted for 70% of the total assembly. DNA transposons covered 18% of the genome, with the most abundant superfamily being Tc1-Mariner (9.75% of the genome). This new chromosome-level genome assembly of C. maculatus will enable future genetic and evolutionary studies not only of this important species but of beetles more generally.
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| 4. |
- Ausmees, Kristiina, et al.
(författare)
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A deep learning framework for characterization of genotype data
- 2022
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Ingår i: G3. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2160-1836. ; 12:3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dimensionality reduction is a data transformation technique widely used in various fields of genomics research. The application of dimensionality reduction to genotype data is known to capture genetic similarity between individuals, and is used for visualization of genetic variation, identification of population structure as well as ancestry mapping. Among frequently used methods are principal component analysis, which is a linear transform that often misses more fine-scale structures, and neighbor-graph based methods which focus on local relationships rather than large-scale patterns. Deep learning models are a type of nonlinear machine learning method in which the features used in data transformation are decided by the model in a data-driven manner, rather than by the researcher, and have been shown to present a promising alternative to traditional statistical methods for various applications in omics research. In this study, we propose a deep learning model based on a convolutional autoencoder architecture for dimensionality reduction of genotype data. Using a highly diverse cohort of human samples, we demonstrate that the model can identify population clusters and provide richer visual information in comparison to principal component analysis, while preserving global geometry to a higher extent than t-SNE and UMAP, yielding results that are comparable to an alternative deep learning approach based on variational autoencoders. We also discuss the use of the methodology for more general characterization of genotype data, showing that it preserves spatial properties in the form of decay of linkage disequilibrium with distance along the genome and demonstrating its use as a genetic clustering method, comparing results to the ADMIXTURE software frequently used in population genetic studies.
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| 5. |
- Ausmees, Kristiina, et al.
(författare)
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An empirical evaluation of genotype imputation of ancient DNA
- 2022
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Ingår i: G3. - : Oxford University Press. - 2160-1836. ; 12:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With capabilities of sequencing ancient DNA to high coverage often limited by sample quality or cost, imputation of missing genotypes presents a possibility to increase the power of inference as well as cost-effectiveness for the analysis of ancient data. However, the high degree of uncertainty often associated with ancient DNA poses several methodological challenges, and performance of imputation methods in this context has not been fully explored. To gain further insights, we performed a systematic evaluation of imputation of ancient data using Beagle v4.0 and reference data from phase 3 of the 1000 Genomes project, investigating the effects of coverage, phased reference, and study sample size. Making use of five ancient individuals with high-coverage data available, we evaluated imputed data for accuracy, reference bias, and genetic affinities as captured by principal component analysis. We obtained genotype concordance levels of over 99% for data with 1× coverage, and similar levels of accuracy and reference bias at levels as low as 0.75×. Our findings suggest that using imputed data can be a realistic option for various population genetic analyses even for data in coverage ranges below 1×. We also show that a large and varied phased reference panel as well as the inclusion of low- to moderate-coverage ancient individuals in the study sample can increase imputation performance, particularly for rare alleles. In-depth analysis of imputed data with respect to genetic variants and allele frequencies gave further insight into the nature of errors arising during imputation, and can provide practical guidelines for postprocessing and validation prior to downstream analysis.
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| 6. |
- Bachmann, Jörg A., et al.
(författare)
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Targeted Long-Read Sequencing of a Locus Under Long-Term Balancing Selection in Capsella
- 2018
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Ingår i: G3. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2160-1836. ; 8:4, s. 1327-1333
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Rapid advances in short-read DNA sequencing technologies have revolutionized population genomic studies, but there are genomic regions where this technology reaches its limits. Limitations mostly arise due to the difficulties in assembly or alignment to genomic regions of high sequence divergence and high repeat content, which are typical characteristics for loci under strong long-term balancing selection. Studying genetic diversity at such loci therefore remains challenging. Here, we investigate the feasibility and error rates associated with targeted long-read sequencing of a locus under balancing selection. For this purpose, we generated bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) containing the Brassicaceae S-locus, a region under strong negative frequency-dependent selection which has previously proven difficult to assemble in its entirety using short reads. We sequence S-locus BACs with single-molecule long-read sequencing technology and conduct de novo assembly of these S-locus haplotypes. By comparing repeated assemblies resulting from independent long-read sequencing runs on the same BAC clone we do not detect any structural errors, suggesting that reliable assemblies are generated, but we estimate an indel error rate of 5.7x10(-5). A similar error rate was estimated based on comparison of Illumina short-read sequences and BAC assemblies. Our results show that, until de novo assembly of multiple individuals using long-read sequencing becomes feasible, targeted long-read sequencing of loci under balancing selection is a viable option with low error rates for single nucleotide polymorphisms or structural variation. We further find that short-read sequencing is a valuable complement, allowing correction of the relatively high rate of indel errors that result from this approach.
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| 7. |
- Bahrampour, Shahrzad, et al.
(författare)
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Ctr9, a Key Component of the Paf1 Complex, Affects Proliferation and Terminal Differentiation in the Developing Drosophila Nervous System
- 2016
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Ingår i: G3. - : Genetics Society of America. - 2160-1836. ; 6:10, s. 3229-3239
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Paf1 protein complex (Paf1C) is increasingly recognized as a highly conserved and broadly utilized regulator of a variety of transcriptional processes. These include the promotion of H3K4 and H3K36 trimethylation, H2BK123 ubiquitination, RNA Pol II transcriptional termination, and also RNA-mediated gene silencing. Paf1C contains five canonical protein components, including Paf1 and Ctr9, which are critical for overall complex integrity, as well as Rtf1, Leo1, and Cdc73/Parafibromin(Hrpt2)/Hyrax. In spite of a growing appreciation for the importance of Paf1C from yeast and mammalian studies, there has only been limited work in Drosophila. Here, we provide the first detailed phenotypic study of Ctr9 function in Drosophila. We found that Ctr9 mutants die at late embryogenesis or early larval life, but can be partly rescued by nervous system reexpression of Ctr9. We observed a number of phenotypes in Ctr9 mutants, including increased neuroblast numbers, increased nervous system proliferation, as well as downregulation of many neuropeptide genes. Analysis of cell cycle and regulatory gene expression revealed upregulation of the E2f1 cell cycle factor, as well as changes in Antennapedia and Grainy head expression. We also found reduction of H3K4me3 modification in the embryonic nervous system. Genome-wide transcriptome analysis points to additional downstream genes that may underlie these Ctr9 phenotypes, revealing gene expression changes in Notch pathway target genes, cell cycle genes, and neuropeptide genes. In addition, we find significant effects on the gene expression of metabolic genes. These findings reveal that Ctr9 is an essential gene that is necessary at multiple stages of nervous system development, and provides a starting point for future studies of the Paf1C in Drosophila.
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| 8. |
- Bakovic, Vid, et al.
(författare)
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Genomic and gene expression associations to morphology of a sexual ornament in the chicken
- 2022
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Ingår i: G3. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2160-1836. ; 12:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- How sexual selection affects the genome ultimately relies on the strength and type of selection, and the genetic architecture of the involved traits. While associating genotype with phenotype often utilizes standard trait morphology, trait representations in morphospace using geometric morphometric approaches receive less focus in this regard. Here, we identify genetic associations to a sexual ornament, the comb, in the chicken system (Gallus gallus). Our approach combined genome-wide genotype and gene expression data (>30k genes) with different aspects of comb morphology in an advanced intercross line (F8) generated by crossing a wild-type Red Junglefowl with a domestic breed of chicken (White Leghorn). In total, 10 quantitative trait loci were found associated to various aspects of comb shape and size, while 1,184 expression QTL were found associated to gene expression patterns, among which 98 had overlapping confidence intervals with those of quantitative trait loci. Our results highlight both known genomic regions confirming previous records of a large effect quantitative trait loci associated to comb size, and novel quantitative trait loci associated to comb shape. Genes were considered candidates affecting comb morphology if they were found within both confidence intervals of the underlying quantitative trait loci and eQTL. Overlaps between quantitative trait loci and genome-wide selective sweeps identified in a previous study revealed that only loci associated to comb size may be experiencing on-going selection under domestication.
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| 9. |
- Basu, Swaraj, et al.
(författare)
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A Catalogue of Putative cis-Regulatory Interactions Between Long Non-coding RNAs and Proximal Coding Genes Based on Correlative Analysis Across Diverse Human Tumors
- 2018
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Ingår i: G3-Genes Genomes Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2160-1836. ; 8:6, s. 2019-2025
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antisense transcripts and other long non-coding RNAs are pervasive in mammalian cells, and some of these molecules have been proposed to regulate proximal protein-coding genes in cis. For example, non-coding transcription can contribute to inactivation of tumor suppressor genes in cancer, and antisense transcripts have been implicated in the epigenetic inactivation of imprinted genes. However, our knowledge is still limited and more such regulatory interactions likely await discovery. Here, we make use of available gene expression data from a large compendium of human tumors to generate hypotheses regarding non-coding-to-coding cis-regulatory relationships with emphasis on negative associations, as these are less likely to arise for reasons other than cis-regulation. We document a large number of possible regulatory interactions, including 193 coding/non-coding pairs that show expression patterns compatible with negative cis-regulation. Importantly, by this approach we capture several known cases, and many of the involved coding genes have known roles in cancer. Our study provides a large catalog of putative non-coding/coding cis-regulatory pairs that may serve as a basis for further experimental validation and characterization.
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| 10. |
- Berlin Kolm, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Polymorphism and divergence of two willow species, Salix viminalis L. and Salix schwerinii E. Wolf
- 2011
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Ingår i: G3. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 2160-1836. ; 1:5, s. 387-400
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated species divergence, present and past gene flow, levels of nucleotide polymorphism, and linkage disequilibrium in two willows from the plant genus Salix. Salix belongs together with Populus to the Salicaceae family; however, most population genetic studies of Salicaceae have been performed in Populus, the model genus in forest biology. Here we present a study on two closely related willow species Salix viminalis and S. schwerinii, in which we have resequenced 33 and 32 nuclear gene segments representing parts of 18 nuclear loci in 24 individuals for each species. We used coalescent simulations and estimated the split time to around 600,000 years ago and found that there is currently limited gene flow between the species. Mean intronic nucleotide diversity across gene segments was slightly higher in S. schwerinii (πi = 0.00849) than in S. viminalis (πi = 0.00655). Compared with other angiosperm trees, the two willows harbor intermediate levels of silent polymorphisms. The decay of linkage disequilibrium was slower in S. viminalis compared with S. schwerinii, and we speculate that this is due to different demographic histories as S. viminalis has been partly domesticated in Europe.
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