Jeffrey Tomkins

Widespread Lateral Gene Transfer from Intracellular Bacteria to Multicellular Eukaryotes

Although common among bacteria, lateral gene transfer—the movement of genes between distantly related organisms—is thought to occur only rarely between bacteria and multicellular eukaryotes. However, the presence of endosymbionts, such as Wolbachia pipientis, within some eukaryotic germlines may facilitate bacterial gene transfers to eukaryotic host genomes. We therefore examined host genomes for evidence of gene transfer events from Wolbachia bacteria to their hosts. We found and confirmed transfers into the genomes of four insect and four nematode species that range from nearly the entire Wolbachia genome (>1 megabase) to short (<500 base pairs) insertions. Potential Wolbachia-to-host transfers were also detected computationally in three additional sequenced insect genomes. We also show that some of these inserted Wolbachia genes are transcribed within eukaryotic cells lacking endosymbionts. Therefore, heritable lateral gene transfer occurs into eukaryotic hosts from their prokaryote symbionts, potentially providing a mechanism for acquisition of new genes and functions.

Complete nucleotide sequence and organization of the atrazine catabolic plasmid pADP-1 from Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP

The complete 108,845-nucleotide sequence of catabolic plasmid pADP-1 from Pseudomonas sp. strain ADP was determined. Plasmid pADP-1 was previously shown to encode AtzA, AtzB, and AtzC, which catalyze the sequential hydrolytic removal of s-triazine ring substituents from the herbicide atrazine to yield cyanuric acid. Computational analyses indicated that pADP-1 encodes 104 putative open reading frames (ORFs), which are predicted to function in catabolism, transposition, and plasmid maintenance, transfer, and replication. Regions encoding transfer and replication functions of pADP-1 had 80 to 100% amino acid sequence identity to pR751, an IncPbeta plasmid previously isolated from Enterobacter aerogenes. pADP-1 was shown to contain a functional mercury resistance operon with 99% identity to Tn5053. Complete copies of transposases with 99% amino acid sequence identity to TnpA from IS1071 and TnpA from Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes were identified and flank each of the atzA, atzB, and atzC genes, forming structures resembling nested catabolic transposons. Functional analyses identified three new catabolic genes, atzD, atzE, and atzF, which participate in atrazine catabolism. Crude extracts from Escherichia coli expressing AtzD hydrolyzed cyanuric acid to biuret. AtzD showed 58% amino acid sequence identity to TrzD, a cyanuric acid amidohydrolase, from Pseudomonas sp. strain NRRLB-12227. Two other genes encoding the further catabolism of cyanuric acid, atzE and atzF, reside in a contiguous cluster adjacent to a potential LysR-type transcriptional regulator. E. coli strains bearing atzE and atzF were shown to encode a biuret hydrolase and allophanate hydrolase, respectively. atzDEF are cotranscribed. AtzE and AtzF are members of a common amidase protein family. These data reveal the complete structure of a catabolic plasmid and show that the atrazine catabolic genes are dispersed on three disparate regions of the plasmid. These results begin to provide insight into how plasmids are structured, and thus evolve, to encode the catabolism of compounds recently added to the biosphere.

A bacterial artificial chromosome library for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and the identification of clones containing putative resistance genes

Abstract Modern cultivated barley is an important cereal crop with an estimated genome size of 5000 Mb. To develop the resources for positional cloning and structural genomic analyses in barley, we constructed a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library for the cultivar Morex using the cloning enzyme HindIII. The library contains 313344 clones (816 384-well plates). A random sampling of 504 clones indicated an average insert size of 106 kbp (range=30–195 kbp) and 3.4% empty vectors. Screening the colony filters for chloroplast DNA content indicated an exceptionally low 1.5% contamination with chloroplast DNA. Thus, the library provides 6.3 haploid genome equivalents allowing a >99% probability of recovering any specific sequence of interest. High-density filters were gridded robotically using a Genetix Q-BOT in a 4×4 double-spotted array on 22.5-cm2 filters. Each set of 17 filters allows the entire library to be screened with 18432 clones represented per filter. Screening the library with 40 single copy probes identified an average 6.4 clones per probe, with a range of 1–13 clones per probe. A set of resistance-gene analog (RGA) sequences identified 121 RGA-containing BAC clones representing 20 different regions of the genome with an average of 6.1 clones per locus. Additional screening of the library with a P-loop disease resistance primer probe identified 459 positive BAC clones. These data indicate that this library is a valuable resource for structural genomic applications in barley.

Phylogenetic analyses of Vitis (Vitaceae) based on complete chloroplast genome sequences: effects of taxon sampling and phylogenetic methods on resolving relationships among rosids

BackgroundThe Vitaceae (grape) is an economically important family of angiosperms whose phylogenetic placement is currently unresolved. Recent phylogenetic analyses based on one to several genes have suggested several alternative placements of this family, including sister to Caryophyllales, asterids, Saxifragales, Dilleniaceae or to rest of rosids, though support for these different results has been weak. There has been a recent interest in using complete chloroplast genome sequences for resolving phylogenetic relationships among angiosperms. These studies have clarified relationships among several major lineages but they have also emphasized the importance of taxon sampling and the effects of different phylogenetic methods for obtaining accurate phylogenies. We sequenced the complete chloroplast genome of Vitis vinifera and used these data to assess relationships among 27 angiosperms, including nine taxa of rosids.ResultsThe Vitis vinifera chloroplast genome is 160,928 bp in length, including a pair of inverted repeats of 26,358 bp that are separated by small and large single copy regions of 19,065 bp and 89,147 bp, respectively. The gene content and order of Vitis is identical to many other unrearranged angiosperm chloroplast genomes, including tobacco. Phylogenetic analyses using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood were performed on DNA sequences of 61 protein-coding genes for two datasets with 28 or 29 taxa, including eight or nine taxa from four of the seven currently recognized major clades of rosids. Parsimony and likelihood phylogenies of both data sets provide strong support for the placement of Vitaceae as sister to the remaining rosids. However, the position of the Myrtales and support for the monophyly of the eurosid I clade differs between the two data sets and the two methods of analysis. In parsimony analyses, the inclusion of Gossypium is necessary to obtain trees that support the monophyly of the eurosid I clade. However, maximum likelihood analyses place Cucumis as sister to the Myrtales and therefore do not support the monophyly of the eurosid I clade.ConclusionPhylogenies based on DNA sequences from complete chloroplast genome sequences provide strong support for the position of the Vitaceae as the earliest diverging lineage of rosids. Our phylogenetic analyses support recent assertions that inadequate taxon sampling and incorrect model specification for concatenated multi-gene data sets can mislead phylogenetic inferences when using whole chloroplast genomes for phylogeny reconstruction.

A bacterial artificial chromosome library for sugarcane

Abstract Modern cultivated sugarcane is a complex aneuploid polyploid with an estimated genome size of 3000 Mb. Although most traits in sugarcane show complex inheritance, a rust locus showing monogenic inheritance has been documented. In order to facilitate cloning of the rust locus, we have constructed a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library for the cultivar R570. The library contains 103,296 clones providing 4.5 sugarcane genome equivalents. A random sampling of 240 clones indicated an average insert size of 130 kb allowing a 98% probability of recovering any specific sequence of interest. High-density filters were gridded robotically using a Genetix Q-BOT in a 4 × 4 double-spotted array on 22.5-cm2 filters. Each set of five filters provides a genome coverage of 4x with 18,432 clones represented per filter. Screening of the library with three different barley chloroplast gene probes indicated an exceptionally low chloroplast DNA content of less than 1%. To demonstrate the library’s potential for map-based cloning, single-copy RFLP sugarcane mapping probes anchored to nine different linkage groups and three different gene probes were used to screen the library. The number of positive hybridization signals resulting from each probe ranged from 8 to 60. After determining addresses of the signals, clones were evaluated for insert size and HindIII-fingerprinted. The fingerprints were then used to determine clone relationships and assemble contigs. For comparison with other monocot genomes, sugarcane RFLP probes were also used to screen a Sorghum bicolor BAC library and two rice BAC libraries. The rice and sorghum BAC clones were characterized for insert size and fingerprinted, and the results compared to sugarcane. The library was screened with a rust resistance RFLP marker and candidate BAC clones were subjected to RFLP fragment matching to identify those corresponding to the same genomic region as the rust gene.

GDR (Genome Database for Rosaceae): integrated web resources for Rosaceae genomics and genetics research

BackgroundPeach is being developed as a model organism for Rosaceae, an economically important family that includes fruits and ornamental plants such as apple, pear, strawberry, cherry, almond and rose. The genomics and genetics data of peach can play a significant role in the gene discovery and the genetic understanding of related species. The effective utilization of these peach resources, however, requires the development of an integrated and centralized database with associated analysis tools.DescriptionThe Genome Database for Rosaceae (GDR) is a curated and integrated web-based relational database. GDR contains comprehensive data of the genetically anchored peach physical map, an annotated peach EST database, Rosaceae maps and markers and all publicly available Rosaceae sequences. Annotations of ESTs include contig assembly, putative function, simple sequence repeats, and anchored position to the peach physical map where applicable. Our integrated map viewer provides graphical interface to the genetic, transcriptome and physical mapping information. ESTs, BACs and markers can be queried by various categories and the search result sites are linked to the integrated map viewer or to the WebFPC physical map sites. In addition to browsing and querying the database, users can compare their sequences with the annotated GDR sequences via a dedicated sequence similarity server running either the BLAST or FASTA algorithm. To demonstrate the utility of the integrated and fully annotated database and analysis tools, we describe a case study where we anchored Rosaceae sequences to the peach physical and genetic map by sequence similarity.ConclusionsThe GDR has been initiated to meet the major deficiency in Rosaceae genomics and genetics research, namely a centralized web database and bioinformatics tools for data storage, analysis and exchange. GDR can be accessed at http://www.genome.clemson.edu/gdr/.

Evaluation of genetic variation in the daylily (Hemerocallis spp.) using AFLP markers

Abstract The daylily (Hemerocallis spp.) is one of the most economically important ornamental plant species in commerce. Interestingly, it is also one of the most heavily bred crops during the past 60 years. Since the American Hemerocallis Society began acting as the official registry of daylily cultivars in 1947, more than 40 000 registrations have been processed. In order to determine the effects of intensive breeding on cultivar development, and to study relationships among different species, genetic variation in the daylily was estimated using AFLP markers. Nineteen primary genotypes (species and early cultivars) and 100 modern cultivars from different time periods were evaluated using 152 unambiguous bands (average 79% polymorphism rate) derived from three AFLP primer combinations. Overall, pairwise similarity estimates between entries ranged between 0.618 and 0.926 (average=0.800). When comparing cultivar groups from different time periods (1940–1998), genetic similarity was initially increased, compared to the primary diploid genotypes, remained constant from 1940 to 1980, and then steadily increased as breeding efforts intensified and hybridizers began focusing on a limited tetraploid germplasm pool derived by colchicine conversion. Among modern (1991–1998) daylily cultivars, genetic similarity has increased by approximately 10% compared to the primary genotypes. These data were also used to evaluate recent taxonomic classifications among daylily species which, with a few minor exceptions, were generally supported by the AFLP data.

An integrated genetic and physical map of homoeologous chromosomes 12 and 26 in Upland cotton (G. hirsutum L.)

BackgroundUpland cotton (G. hirsutum L.) is the leading fiber crop worldwide. Genetic improvement of fiber quality and yield is facilitated by a variety of genomics tools. An integrated genetic and physical map is needed to better characterize quantitative trait loci and to allow for the positional cloning of valuable genes. However, developing integrated genomic tools for complex allotetraploid genomes, like that of cotton, is highly experimental. In this report, we describe an effective approach for developing an integrated physical framework that allows for the distinguishing between subgenomes in cotton.ResultsA physical map has been developed with 220 and 115 BAC contigs for homeologous chromosomes 12 and 26, respectively, covering 73.49 Mb and 34.23 Mb in physical length. Approximately one half of the 220 contigs were anchored to the At subgenome only, while 48 of the 115 contigs were allocated to the Dt subgenome only. Between the two chromosomes, 67 contigs were shared with an estimated overall physical similarity between the two chromosomal homeologs at 40.0 %. A total of 401 fiber unigenes plus 214 non-fiber unigenes were located to chromosome 12 while 207 fiber unigenes plus 183 non-fiber unigenes were allocated to chromosome 26. Anchoring was done through an overgo hybridization approach and all anchored ESTs were functionally annotated via blast analysis.ConclusionThis integrated genomic map describes the first pair of homoeologous chromosomes of an allotetraploid genome in which BAC contigs were identified and partially separated through the use of chromosome-specific probes and locus-specific genetic markers. The approach used in this study should prove useful in the construction of genome-wide physical maps for polyploid plant genomes including Upland cotton. The identification of Gene-rich islands in the integrated map provides a platform for positional cloning of important genes and the targeted sequencing of specific genomic regions.

Involvement of Coenzyme M during Aerobic Biodegradation of Vinyl Chloride and Ethene by Pseudomonas putida Strain AJ and Ochrobactrum sp. Strain TD

ABSTRACT The involvement of coenzyme M in aerobic biodegradation of vinyl chloride and ethene in Pseudomonas putida strain AJ and Ochrobactrum sp. strain TD was demonstrated using PCR, hybridization, and enzyme assays. The results of this study extend the range of eubacteria known to use epoxyalkane:coenzyme M transferase.

A physical map for the Amborella trichopoda genome sheds light on the evolution of angiosperm genome structure

BackgroundRecent phylogenetic analyses have identified Amborella trichopoda, an understory tree species endemic to the forests of New Caledonia, as sister to a clade including all other known flowering plant species. The Amborella genome is a unique reference for understanding the evolution of angiosperm genomes because it can serve as an outgroup to root comparative analyses. A physical map, BAC end sequences and sample shotgun sequences provide a first view of the 870 Mbp Amborella genome.ResultsAnalysis of Amborella BAC ends sequenced from each contig suggests that the density of long terminal repeat retrotransposons is negatively correlated with that of protein coding genes. Syntenic, presumably ancestral, gene blocks were identified in comparisons of the Amborella BAC contigs and the sequenced Arabidopsis thaliana, Populus trichocarpa, Vitis vinifera and Oryza sativa genomes. Parsimony mapping of the loss of synteny corroborates previous analyses suggesting that the rate of structural change has been more rapid on lineages leading to Arabidopsis and Oryza compared with lineages leading to Populus and Vitis. The gamma paleohexiploidy event identified in the Arabidopsis, Populus and Vitis genomes is shown to have occurred after the divergence of all other known angiosperms from the lineage leading to Amborella.ConclusionsWhen placed in the context of a physical map, BAC end sequences representing just 5.4% of the Amborella genome have facilitated reconstruction of gene blocks that existed in the last common ancestor of all flowering plants. The Amborella genome is an invaluable reference for inferences concerning the ancestral angiosperm and subsequent genome evolution.