Project description:Streptococcus suis is an important zoonotic pathogen that can cause meningitis and sepsis in both pigs and humans. In this study,we evaluated the genetic difference of 40 Streptococcus suis strains belonging to various sequence types by comparative genomic hybridization to identify genes associated with the variation in pathogenicity using NimbleGen’s tilling microarray platform. Application of Comparative Phylogenomics to Identify Genetic Differences Relating to Pathogenicity of Streptococcus suis
Project description:Deep sequencing of small RNA from three closely related brassicaceae A. thaliana, A. lyrata and Capsella rubella was done to systematically analyze the evolution of MIRNA genes and their targets.
Project description:Deep sequencing of small RNA from three closely related brassicaceae A. thaliana, A. lyrata and Capsella rubella was done to systematically analyze the evolution of MIRNA genes and their targets.
Project description:in Brassicaceae isothiocyanates are generated by metabolism of endogenous glucosinulates regulation of gene expression by subtoxic concentrations of isothiocyanates was investigated
Project description:Molecular phylogenomics investigates evolutionary relationships based on genomic data. However, despite genomic sequence conservation, changes in protein interactions can occur relatively rapidly and may cause strong functional diversification. To investigate such functional evolution, we here combine phylogenomics with interaction proteomics. We develop this concept by investigating the molecular evolution of the shelterin complex, which protects telomeres, across 16 vertebrate species from zebrafish to humans covering 450 million years of evolution. Our phylointeractomics screen discovers previously unknown telomere-associated proteins and reveals how homologous proteins undergo functional evolution. For instance, we show that TERF1 evolved as a telomere-binding protein in the common stem lineage of marsupial and placental mammals. Phylointeractomics is a versatile and scalable approach to investigate evolutionary changes in protein function and thus can provide experimental evidence for phylogenomic relationships.
Project description:Genome-wide landscapes of transcription factor (TF) binding sites (BSs) diverge during evolution, conferring species-specific transcriptional patterns. The rate of divergence varies in different metazoan lineages but has not been widely studied in plants. We identified the BSs and assessed the effects on transcription of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and PERPETUAL FLOWERING 1 (PEP1), two orthologous MADS-box TFs that repress flowering and confer vernalization requirement in the Brassicaceae species Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabis alpina, respectively. We found the BSs that were conserved in both species, and that these contained a CArG-box that is recognised by MADS-box TFs. The CArG-box consensus at conserved BSs was extended compared to the core motif. By contrast, species-specific BSs usually lacked the CArG-box in the other species. Flowering-time genes were highly overrepresented among conserved targets and their CArG-boxes were widely conserved among Brassicaceae species. Cold-regulated genes (COR) were also overrepresented among targets, but the cognate BSs and the identity of the regulated genes were different in each species. In cold, COR gene transcript levels were increased in flc and pep1-1 mutants compared to wild-type and this correlated with reduced growth in pep1-1. Therefore FLC orthologs regulate a set of conserved target genes mainly involved in reproductive development and were later independently recruited to modulate stress responses in different Brassicaceae lineages. Analysis of TF BSs in these lineages thus distinguishes widely conserved targets representing the core function of the TF from those that were recruited later in evolution.
Project description:Xylem sap of young cabbage plantlets was recovered from root pressure exudation and used as a growth medium for the vascular pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv campestris, the causative agent of the black rot of Brassicaceae.
Project description:Streptococcus suis is an important zoonotic pathogen that can cause meningitis and sepsis in both pigs and humans. In this study,we evaluated the genetic difference of 40 Streptococcus suis strains belonging to various sequence types by comparative genomic hybridization to identify genes associated with the variation in pathogenicity using NimbleGenM-bM-^@M-^Ys tilling microarray platform. Application of Comparative Phylogenomics to Identify Genetic Differences Relating to Pathogenicity of Streptococcus suis Comparative genomic analysis on the 40 S.suis strains of different serotypes and ST types through tilling arrays