Metaxa : a software tool for automated detection and discrimination among ribosomal small subunit (12S/16S/18S) sequences of archaea, bacteria, eukaryotes, mitochondria, and chloroplasts in metagenomes and environmental sequencing datasets

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The tmRDB and SRPDB resources

Maintained at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Texas, the tmRNA database (tmRDB) is accessible at the URL with mirror sites located at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama () and the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark (). The signal recognition particle database (SRPDB) at is mirrored at and the University of Goteborg (). The databases assist in investigations of the tmRNP (a ribonucleoprotein complex which liberates stalled bacterial ribosomes) and the SRP (a particle which recognizes signal sequences and directs secretory proteins to cell membranes). The curated tmRNA and SRP RNA alignments consider base pairs supported by comparative sequence analysis. Also shown are alignments of the tmRNA-associated proteins SmpB, ribosomal protein S1, alanyl-tRNA synthetase and Elongation Factor Tu, as well as the SRP proteins SRP9, SRP14, SRP19, SRP21, SRP54 (Ffh), SRP68, SRP72, cpSRP43, Flhf, SRP receptor (alpha) and SRP receptor (beta). All alignments can be easily examined using a new exploratory browser. The databases provide links to high-resolution structures and serve as depositories for structures obtained by molecular modeling

From tides to nucleotides: Genomic signatures of adaptation to environmental heterogeneity in barnacles

The northern acorn barnacle (Semibalanus balanoides) is a robust system to study the genetic basis of adaptations to highly heterogeneous environments. Adult barnacles may be exposed to highly dissimilar levels of thermal stress depending on where they settle in the intertidal (i.e., closer to the upper or lower tidal boundary). For instance, barnacles near the upper tidal limit experience episodic summer temperatures above recorded heat coma levels. This differential stress at the microhabitat level is also dependent on the aspect of sun exposure. In the present study, we used pool-seq approaches to conduct a genome wide screen for loci responding to intertidal zonation across the North Atlantic basin (Maine, Rhode Island, and Norway). Our analysis discovered 382 genomic regions containing SNPs which are consistently zonated (i.e., SNPs whose frequencies vary depending on their position in the rocky intertidal) across all surveyed habitats. Notably, most zonated SNPs are young and private to the North Atlantic. These regions show high levels of genetic differentiation across ecologically extreme microhabitats concomitant with elevated levels of genetic variation and Tajima's D, suggesting the action of non-neutral processes. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that spatially heterogeneous selection is a general and repeatable feature for this species, and that natural selection can maintain functional genetic variation in heterogeneous environments.publishedVersio

The round goby genome provides insights into mechanisms that may facilitate biological invasions

Background: The invasive benthic round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is the most successful temperate invasive fish and has spread in aquatic ecosystems on both sides of the Atlantic. Invasive species constitute powerful in situ experimental systems to study fast adaptation and directional selection on short ecological timescales and present promising case studies to understand factors involved the impressive ability of some species to colonize novel environments. We seize the unique opportunity presented by the round goby invasion to study genomic substrates potentially involved in colonization success. Results We report a highly contiguous long-read-based genome and analyze gene families that we hypothesize to relate to the ability of these fish to deal with novel environments. The analyses provide novel insights from the large evolutionary scale to the small species-specific scale. We describe expansions in specific cytochrome P450 enzymes, a remarkably diverse innate immune system, an ancient duplication in red light vision accompanied by red skin fluorescence, evolutionary patterns of epigenetic regulators, and the presence of osmoregulatory genes that may have contributed to the round goby's capacity to invade cold and salty waters. A recurring theme across all analyzed gene families is gene expansions. Conclusions: The expanded innate immune system of round goby may potentially contribute to its ability to colonize novel areas. Since other gene families also feature copy number expansions in the round goby, and since other Gobiidae also feature fascinating environmental adaptations and are excellent colonizers, further long-read genome approaches across the goby family may reveal whether gene copy number expansions are more generally related to the ability to conquer new habitats in Gobiidae or in fish

Computational screen for spliceosomal RNA genes aids in defining the phylogenetic distribution of major and minor spliceosomal components

The RNA molecules of the spliceosome are critical for specificity and catalysis during splicing of eukaryotic pre-mRNA. In order to examine the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of these RNAs, we analyzed 149 eukaryotic genomes representing a broad range of phylogenetic groups. RNAs were predicted using high-sensitivity local alignment methods and profile HMMs in combination with covariance models. The results provide the most comprehensive view so far of the phylogenetic distribution of spliceosomal RNAs. RNAs were predicted in many phylogenetic groups where these RNA were not previously reported. Examples are RNAs of the major (U2-type) spliceosome in all fungal lineages, in lower metazoa and many protozoa. We also identified the minor (U12-type) spliceosomal U11 and U6atac RNAs in Acanthamoeba castellanii, where U12 spliceosomal RNA as well as minor introns were reported recently. In addition, minor-spliceosome-specific RNAs were identified in a number of phylogenetic groups where previously such RNAs were not observed, including the nematode Trichinella spiralis, the slime mold Physarum polycephalum and the fungal lineages Zygomycota and Chytridiomycota. The detailed map of the distribution of the U12-type RNA genes supports an early origin of the minor spliceosome and points to a number of occasions during evolution where it was lost

Computational identification of RNA and protein components from the Signal Recognition Particle

Problem. The signal recognition particle (SRP) is a ribonucleoprotein particle that targets proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum in eukaryotes, to the plasma membrane in Archaea and Bacteria and to the thylakoid membrane in chloroplasts of photosynthetic organisms. It has one RNA component and 1 6 proteins. The eukaryotic particle is composed of one S domain responsible for signal recognition and one Alu domain responsible for translation elongation arrest. In many phylogenetic groups the SRP is not characterized. Therefore, we aim to identify SRP component genes by computational screening of a large number of organisms where genomic information is available. Methods. For the protein gene identification, we relied on methods based on primary sequence alignments (BLAST, FASTA), profile searches (PSI-BLAST, HMMER, Profilescan), and secondary structure prediction (PSI-Pred). The main focus in this work is the identification of SRP RNA. It is highly diverse in its structure and has a low primary sequence conservation between different phylogenetic groups. As a consequence, standard sequence analysis tools, such as BLAST, are not useful. We have developed a tool for the identification of SRP RNA (SRPscan) using algorithms for pattern matching and covariance analysis of secondary structures.Results. We have carried out an extensive inventory of SRP components by screening available genomic sequences. As a result we have identified a large number of novel genes. The protein and RNA sequences are presented in the SRP database (SRPDB). We have identified full or partial SRP RNA genes in virtually all organisms where genomic sequences of nearly full genome coverage are available, and the findings have led to a proposal of a new nomenclature for SRP RNA.In an analysis of bacterial RNAs we found species with an unusual URRC tetraloop and we identified an RNA from deeply branching gram-negative bacterium Thermotoga that is of the gram-positive Bacillus type. It was previously believed that chloroplasts do not have an SRP RNA. However, we have shown that chloroplast genomes of red algae or red algal origin, as well as some green algae, encode a bacterial type SRP RNA.Eukaryotic SRP RNAs are highly divergent in their structures, mainly in the Alu domain. Based on an analysis of fungal RNAs we were able to present a novel secondary structure model of these RNAs. Analysis of eukaryotic RNAs includes a number of unexpected findings. In the fungal groups Basidiomycota and Zygomycota the SRP RNA has an Alu domain that conforms to the standard mammalian SRP RNA structure. The external loop of helix 8 is a tetraloop as a rule, but in several protists this sequence is a pentaloop. Finally, we suggest that some eukaryal species like Microsporidia might lack an SRP Alu domain.Conclusion. By computational screening of genomic sequences we have identified a large number of novel SRP RNA and proteins components. The results of these studies provide significant insights into the structure, function and phylogeny of the SRP