Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Dimerization of A82846B, vancomycin and ristocetin: Influence on antibiotic complexation with cell wall model peptides

Abstract The thermodynamics of glycopeptide antibiotic dimerization have been studied by means of sedimentation equilibrium, using A82846B, vancomycin, ristocetin and complexes formed with several cell wall model pep tides. These results indicate that vancomycin dimerization can be strongly promoted in two ways: i) stabilization of the antibiotic conformation in which the carbonyl group of residue three is on the back face of the molecule and ii) preferential interaction of the dimer with the lysine residue of N, N'-diacetyl-lysyl-D-alanyl-D-alanine. This effect was not found in ristocetin. A82846B forms stable dimers at very low antibiotic concentration. Two conformational forms have been found for complexed A82846B by 1H NMR. However, calorimetric binding experiments have shown that all its binding sites are thermodynamically equivalent. The affinity of the A82846B dimer for the tripeptide has been estimated to be about SkJ • mol-1 higher than that of the vancomycin monomer and about -2.6kJ•mol-1 lower than that of dimeric vancomycin. The possible role of dimerization in the biological activity of glycopeptide antibiotics1) is discussed further on the basis of present thermodynamic data.This work was supported by Grant PB90-0112 from the Spanish D.G.I.C.Y.T. and H. Linsdell received a fellowship from the M.E.

Genomic reconstruction of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in England

AbstractThe evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus leads to new variants that warrant timely epidemiological characterization. Here we use the dense genomic surveillance data generated by the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium to reconstruct the dynamics of 71 different lineages in each of 315 English local authorities between September 2020 and June 2021. This analysis reveals a series of subepidemics that peaked in early autumn 2020, followed by a jump in transmissibility of the B.1.1.7/Alpha lineage. The Alpha variant grew when other lineages declined during the second national lockdown and regionally tiered restrictions between November and December 2020. A third more stringent national lockdown suppressed the Alpha variant and eliminated nearly all other lineages in early 2021. Yet a series of variants (most of which contained the spike E484K mutation) defied these trends and persisted at moderately increasing proportions. However, by accounting for sustained introductions, we found that the transmissibility of these variants is unlikely to have exceeded the transmissibility of the Alpha variant. Finally, B.1.617.2/Delta was repeatedly introduced in England and grew rapidly in early summer 2021, constituting approximately 98% of sampled SARS-CoV-2 genomes on 26 June 2021.</jats:p