The suboptimal structures find the optimal RNAs: homology search for bacterial non-coding RNAs using suboptimal RNA structures

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are regulatory molecules encoded in the intergenic or intragenic regions of the genome. In prokaryotes, biocomputational identification of homologs of known ncRNAs in other species often fails due to weakly evolutionarily conserved sequences, structures, synteny and genome localization, except in the case of evolutionarily closely related species. To eliminate results from weak conservation, we focused on RNA structure, which is the most conserved ncRNA property. Analysis of the structure of one of the few well-studied bacterial ncRNAs, 6S RNA, demonstrated that unlike optimal and consensus structures, suboptimal structures are capable of capturing RNA homology even in divergent bacterial species. A computational procedure for the identification of homologous ncRNAs using suboptimal structures was created. The suggested procedure was applied to strongly divergent bacterial species and was capable of identifying homologous ncRNAs

Population genomic analyses support sympatric origins of parapatric morphs in a salamander

In numerous clades, divergent sister species have largely non-overlapping geographic ranges. This pattern presumably arises because species diverged in allopatry or parapatry, prior to a subsequent contact. Here, we provide population-genomic evidence for the opposite scenario: previously sympatric ecotypes that have spatially separated into divergent monomorphic populations over large geographic scales (reverse sympatric scenario). We analyzed a North American salamander (Plethodon cinereus) with two color morphs that are broadly sympatric: striped (redback) and unstriped (leadback). Sympatric morphs can show considerable divergence in other traits, and many Plethodon species are fixed for a single morph. Long Island (New York) is unusual in having many pure redback and leadback populations that are spatially separated, with pure redback populations in the west and pure leadbacks in the east. Previous work showed that these pure-morph populations were genetically, morphologically, and ecologically divergent. Here, we performed a coalescent-based analysis of new data from 88,696 single-nucleotide polymorphisms to address the origins of these populations. This analysis strongly supports the monophyly of Long Island populations and their subsequent divergence into pure redback and pure leadback populations. Taken together, these results suggest that the formerly sympatric mainland morphs separated into parapatric populations on Long Island, reversing the conventional speciation scenario. © 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Detection of „Hotspot Mutations in Catalytic Subunit of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase (Pik3ca) by Allele-Specific Polymerase Chain Reaction

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are a family of proteins involved in the regulation of cell survival, growth, metabolism, and glucose homeostasis. Increased PI3K activity is associated with many cancers. PIK3CA gene (encoding p110 , the catalytic subunit of PI3K) is commonly mutated in breast cancer. In our study we focused on the detection of “hotspot” mutations in exons 9 and 20 of the PIK3CA gene in paraffin-embedded tissue of patients with breast cancer. We optimized conditions of allele specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and we used direct sequencing to verify our results. Overall, three “hotspot” mutations in PIK3CA gene in paraffin-embadded tissue from breast cancer were detected by allele-specific PCR. All results were verified by direct sequencing of PCR products and we observed 100% agreement between those two methods. We confirmed that allele-specific PCR assay is low cost method usefull for accurate detection of PIK3CA mutations

Data from: Genetic consequences of post-glacial range expansion in two codistributed rodents (genus Dipodomys) depend on ecology and genetic locus

How does range expansion affect genetic diversity in species with different ecologies, and do different types of genetic markers lead to different conclusions? We addressed these questions by assessing the genetic consequences of post-glacial range expansion using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear restriction site associated DNA (RAD) sequencing in two congeneric and co-distributed rodents with different ecological characteristics: the desert kangaroo rat (Dipodomys deserti), a sand specialist, and the Merriam's kangaroo rat (D. merriami), a substrate generalist. For each species, we compared genetic variation between populations that retained stable distributions throughout glacial periods and those inferred to have expanded since the last glacial maximum. Our results suggest that expanded populations of both species experienced a loss of private mtDNA haplotypes and differentiation among populations, as well as a loss of nuclear SNP private alleles and polymorphism. However, only D. deserti experienced a loss of nucleotide diversity (both mtDNA and nuclear) and nuclear heterozygosity. For all indices of diversity and differentiation that showed reduced values in the expanded areas, D. deserti populations experienced a greater degree of loss than did D. merriami populations. Additionally, patterns of loss in genetic diversity in expanded populations were substantially less extreme (by two orders of magnitude in some cases) for nuclear SNPs in both species compared to that observed for mitochondrial data. Our results demonstrate that ecological characteristics may play a role in determining genetic variation associated with range expansions, yet mtDNA diversity loss is not necessarily accompanied by a matched magnitude of loss in nuclear diversity

README_RADseq

Readme to accompany RADseq data

Dipodomys merriami Raw Sample Reads

This compressed archive contains individual Illumina read files for each Dipodomys merriami sample. These reads were generated by first excluding PCR clones and then parsing by unique barcodes

Datafile_S1

Datafile_S1: Data matrix for RAxML analysis for single batch RADseq dat