Journal of Genetics最新文献

The Brownstripe Snapper, Lutjanus vitta (Quoy and Gaimard, 1824) is a commercially important snapper extensively caught in Malaysia. We examined genetic diversity, population connectivity, and historical demographics of the L. vitta, off the eastern coast of peninsular Malaysia based on an 817 bp region of the mtDNA control region sequences. Maximum likelihood gene trees demonstrated that the populations under study had limited structuring and formed a single panmictic population that lacks support for internal clades. AMOVA and population pairwise Φ_ST values indicated high genetic exchange between the study areas. A high level of haplotype diversity (0.956-1.000) with low nucleotide diversity (0.008-0.014) indicates a recent expansion of L. vitta populations. However, both neutrality and goodness of fit tests revealed nonsignificant values. These data reflect a recent demographic expansion, which the Bayesian skyline plot estimates population expansion at 44 Kya. The absence of genetic differentiation can be attributed to spawning patterns, dispersal of egg and planktonic larvae, and the absence of physical barriers, which are typical of other Lutjanus species. The current findings could initiate efficient management strategies for L. vitta along Malaysia and other nearby nations that share the same waterways.

In China, medicinal Paeonia lactiflora with double flowers (DFs) does not produce seeds, yet it possesses significantly higher paeoniflorin content compared with its single-flowered counterpart. The propagation of medicinal P. lactiflora with DFs relies solely on rhizomes. However, due to economic motivations, the rhizomes of medicinal P. lactiflora with single flowers (SFs) are often mixed with those of medicinal P. lactiflora with DFs. This practice results in a mixed population and a subsequent decline in quality. To ensure the quality of medicinal P. lactiflora with DFs, it is essential to develop specific molecular markers for its identification and breeding. The genetic diversity of 30 populations from six species in sect. Paeonia was studied using inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analysis. Specific bands in medicinal P. lactiflora with DFs and medicinal P. lactiflora with SFs were cloned and utilized as distinctive molecular markers for their identification. A total of 244 polymorphic bands were identified from 18 primers. Among these primers, UBC844 displayed the highest genetic diversity (N_e = 1.37, h = 0.23, I = 0.36). Based on the UPGMA and PCA analyses, all species were classified into three clusters. Medicinal P. lactiflora with SFs showed closer proximity to the wild-type species of Paeonia, while it was further apart from medicinal P. lactiflora with DFs. The specific band amplified by UBC836-3 (~431 bp) was exclusive to medicinal P. lactiflora with DFs, while the band amplified by UBC842-7 (~341 bp) was specific to medicinal P. lactiflora with SFs. There are significant genomic disparities between medicinal P. lactiflora with SFs and DFs. Consequently, stable and specific sequence characterized amplified region markers (UBC836-3 and UBC842-7) have been established to effectively differentiate between the two types. This development will substantially enhance the quality and efficiency of medicinal P. lactiflora, thus supporting the growth of the industry. By utilizing these specific molecular markers, breeding experts can select parent plants and shorten the cultivation cycle for new medicinal peony varieties.

Inborn errors of immunity may present with autoimmunity and autoinflammation as hallmark clinical manifestations. We aimed to identify the potential monogenic causes of autoimmune disorders in 26 patients from a pediatric reference hospital in Mexico through whole-exome sequencing. We specifically selected patients with a family history of autoimmune diseases, early-onset symptoms, and difficult-to-control autoimmune disorders or autoimmunity associated with infection predisposition. We identified the genetic variants that were compatible with the patients' phenotype in 54% of the patients. Autoimmune diseases are often caused by a combination of genetic factors, but cases that appear at a young age are resistant to treatment or occur in clusters, as well as the presence of autoimmune symptoms alongside infectious diseases should raise suspicion for an underlying inborn error of immunity.

Volunteer wheat is a kind of wheat with weed characteristics, distributed widely in the main wheat-producing areas of China. It seriously damages the yield and quality of cultivated wheat. To study the genetic diversity and population structure within and between volunteer wheat and cultivated wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), 195 volunteer wheat seeds and 29 cultivated wheat seeds were analysed based on 16 pairs of highly-polymorphic microsatellite simple sequence repeats (SSR) primers and a microchip capillary electrophoresis (MCE) detection system. A total of 110 polymorphic alleles were detected by MCE with each pair of primers identifying 2–15 alleles with an average of 6.875 alleles. The polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.1089 to 0.7843, with an average of 0.5613. Genetic diversity arguments from 224 samples showed that the volunteer wheat was more varied than cultivated wheat. Based on the SSR information, the 224 samples were classified into seven groups, which corresponded to the volunteer wheats and cultivated wheats through principal coordinates analysis (PCA). We propose that the volunteer wheat and cultivated wheat have rather distant phylogenetic relationships. Hence, it is important for wheat breeding to study the genetic relationship between volunteer wheat and cultivated wheat.

Olf413 gene annotated as CG12673 in the genome of Drosophila melanogaster has been predicted to code for a protein with putative function in octopamine biosynthesis. The expression pattern and the biological function of the gene awaits investigation. The present study is the first report where we describe its expression in the late pupal brain as depicted by enhancer-driven green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression. With experiments using loss of function olf413 mutant flies, we have demonstrated that olf413 function is essential for motor activity, gravity sensing and spatial balancing of the body against gravity during climbing.

Geography shapes the structure and function of human gut microbiomes. In this study, we have explored the available human gut microbiome 16S rRNA sequence datasets of cohorts representing large geographical gradients. The 16S rRNA sequences representing V3-V4 as well as V4 regions generated using Illumina sequencing chemistry in the MiSeq platform encompassing the United States of America, Chile, South Africa, Kuwait, and Malaysia were subjected to in-depth computational biology analyses. Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the most dominant phyla present in all studied cohorts but Actinobacteria was exclusively present in high abundance in cohorts from Malaysia (15.99%). The relative abundance of five families, namely Bacteroidaceae, Ruminococcaceae, Prevotellaceae, Clostridiaceae, and Eubacteriaceae were highest representing the studied cohorts. The permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) showed that the dissimilarity in the gut microbiome structure of cohorts representing studied countries was significant (R² = 0.28, P < 0.001). The calculated Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (F : B) ratio was found to be lowest in cohorts from South Africa (1.11) and Chile (0.95). The cohorts from South Africa exhibited the highest alpha diversity based on Hill numbers at q=0, whereas at q=1 and 2, cohorts from Malaysia had the highest alpha diversity. The beta diversity analysis revealed that cohorts from Chile formed a distinct cluster among all the studied geographical locations. For the first time, the study also showed that cohorts from Malaysia representing short geographical distances exhibited distinct intrapopulation differences in the gut microbiome and may not be influenced by cultural and genetic factors.