The study of organelle DNA variability in alloplasmic barley lines in the NGS era

Alloplasmic lines are a suitable model for studying molecular coevolution and interrelations between genetic systems of plant cells. Whole chloroplast (cp) and mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences were obtained by the MiSeq System (Illumina). Organelle DNA samples were prepared from a set of 12 alloplasmic barley lines with different cytoplasms of Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum and H. vulgare ssp. vulgare, as well as from their paternal varieties. A bioinformatic approach for analysis of NGS data obtained on an organellar DNA mix has been developed and verified. A comparative study of Hordeum organelle genomes' variability and disposition of polymorphic loci was conducted. Eight types of chloroplast DNA and 5 types of mitochondrial DNA were distinguished for the barley sample set examined. These results were compared with the previous data of a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) study of organelle DNAs for the same material. Formerly established data about a field evaluation of alloplasmic barley lines were revised in the light of information about organelle genomes gained after NGS. Totally 17 polymorphic loci were found at exons of chloroplast genomes. Seven of the SNPs were located in the genes of the Ndh complex. The nonsynonymous changes of nucleotides were detected in the matK, rpoCI, ndhK, ndhG and infA genes. Some of the SNPs detected are very similar in codon position and in the type of amino acid substitution to the places where RNA editing can occur. Thus, these results outline new perspectives for the future study of nuclear-cytoplasmic interactions in alloplasmic lines

Restrictive cardiomyopathy: difficulties desminopathy diagnostics

The article provides a brief overview of the problems of diagnostics and etiological verification of restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCMP). Multiple causes lead to the restrictive phenotype of intracardiac hemodynamics and diastolic dysfunction of the heart: infiltrative (amyloidosis, sarcoidosis, elastoma, metabolic syndrome, tumor metastasis to the myocardium); endomyocardial (tropical endomyocardial fibrosis, hypereosinophilic syndrome, carcinoid, radiation damage); accumulation diseases (hemochromatosis, Pompe and Gaucher diseases, Fabry disease). RKMP is also characteristic for desminopathy — so-called desmin storage disease. This is a disease caused by mutations in the desmin gene (DES) that determine the development of cardiomyopathy or myofibrillar myopathy, and in some cases cause a combined phenotype of the disease. Desmin belongs to the group of intermediate filaments that maintain the structural and functional integrity of myofibrils. Mutations in DES lead to disruption of the assembly of filaments and a change in the myofibrillar cell lattice, which contributes to an increased vulnerability of myocytes to mechanical stress. The article presents a clinical case of familial desminopathy associated with a new missense R118P mutation of DES gene, characterized by dominant cardiac RCMP phenotype and subclinical manifestations of myofibrillar myopathy