PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Discovering the bigger picture in chromosomes

Research team finds similarities in genomes across multiple species; platypus still out of place

2011-07-07
(Press-News.org) MANHATTAN, Kan. -- By mapping various genomes onto an X-Y axis, a team comprised mostly of Kansas State University researchers has found that Charles Darwin and a fruit fly -- among other organisms -- have a lot in common genetically.

Their discovery, "Chromosome Size in Diploid Eukaryotic Species Centers on the Average Length with a Conserved Boundary," was recently published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. It details a project that compared 886 chromosomes in 68 random species of eukaryotes -- organisms whose cells contain a nucleus and are enclosed by cellular membranes. The researchers found that the chromosome sizes within each eukaryotic species are actually similar rather than drastically different as previously believed. They also found that the chromosomes of these different organisms share a similar distribution pattern.

Because chromosomes are the genetic building blocks for an organism and its traits, the information will be beneficial to understanding the core components of biological evolution -- especially in genetics and genome evolution, said Jianming Yu, associate professor of agronomy at Kansas State University. With this data, scientists can now better predict the evolutionary adaptations of an organism.

"Basically what this all means is that if the chromosome number of a species can be given, the relative sizes of all the chromosomes can instantly be known," Yu said. "Also, if you tell me the genome size in the chromosome base pair, I can tell you the base pair length of each chromosome."

According to Yu, the most surprising finding is the extremely consistent distribution pattern of the chromosomes, a result from comparing the full sets of chromosomes -- called genomes -- of the 68 random eukaryotes. The team found that nearly every genome perfectly formed an S-curve of ascending chromosomal lengths when placed on a standardized X-Y axis. That meant the genome from a species of rice expressed the same pattern as the genome from a species of maize, sorghum, fruit fly, dog, chimpanzee, etc.

In order to reach these findings, though, the team started by comparing various genomes of species from multiple organisms, looking for similarities. The genomes selected were from eukaryotes; prokaryotes -- organisms like bacteria that contain no cell nucleus; vertebrates -- organisms with a spine; invertebrates -- organisms without a spine, such as insects; vascular plants -- plants that can transport food and material throughout their tissue; and unicellular organisms.

From there the team looked specifically at the chromosomes of 68 random eukaryote genomes. This amounted to observing 886 chromosomes, 22 of which were human autosomes -- any chromosome other than a sex chromosome. The sex chromosomes of each species were omitted because of their vastly different evolutionary history from other chromosomes, Yu said.

The researchers placed each fully sequenced eukaryote genome onto an X-Y axis, hoping to find similarities between the various organisms. To help generalize the vast amount of information, the X-Y axis graph was standardized with each species.

"It eliminated a scale effect and made it possible to compare a species with several dozen chromosomes to a species with much fewer chromosomes," said Xianran Li, research associate in agronomy.

That's when the team noticed the shockingly consistent distribution pattern.

"We could not believe this the first time the plot was generated," said Chengsong Zhu, research associate in agronomy.

The only genomes that deviated from forming an S-curve were that of the platypus -- an organism that contains characteristics of birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians and fish -- and those of birds. Birds are unique because in addition to their usual chromosome sequences, they contain one additional set of minichromosome sequences, according to Zhongwei Lin, research associate in agronomy.

By finding normal distribution in nearly all of the genomes they used, geneticists can now say that if a species has a particular number of chromosomes, the chromosomes have to be distributed in this order because it's dictated by the laws of mitosis, meiosis and cell division, according to Guihua Bai, adjunct professor of agronomy at Kansas State University and research geneticist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service.

"The integration of biology and statistics holds enormous promises to gain insights from genomic data and life processes," said Min Zhang, associate professor of statistics from Purdue University and a co-author of the paper.

"We're in the genomic age, where sequencers and computers are constantly running and completing new genome sequences every day," Yu said. "We're expecting this information can help when it comes to finding similarities in those genomes. This type of broad analysis across species, taxonomic and disciplinary boundaries is really exciting in terms of discovering fundamental principles out of teeming genomic data."

INFORMATION:

The project was supported with funding from Kansas State University's Targeted Excellence Program, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Defense and a seed grant through Purdue University's Discovery Park.

Other Kansas State University researchers include Yun Wu, research assistant in agronomy, and Weixing Song, assistant professor of statistics. Also collaborating on the study were four other biologists and statisticians from Purdue University, University of Minnesota and Cornell University.

The team's study can be read at http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/28/6/1901.abstract.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Eye of Gaia: Billion-pixel camera to map Milky Way

Eye of Gaia: Billion-pixel camera to map Milky Way
2011-07-07
The largest digital camera ever built for a space mission has been painstakingly mosaicked together from 106 separate electronic detectors. The resulting "billion-pixel array" will serve as the super-sensitive 'eye' of ESA's Galaxy-mapping Gaia mission. While the naked human eye can see several thousand stars on a clear night, Gaia will map a billion stars within our own Milky Way Galaxy and its neighbours over the course of its five-year mission from 2013, charting their brightness and spectral characteristics along with their three-dimensional positions and motions. In ...

Ohio Woman Reaches Lawsuit Settlement of Post-Surgical Complications Resulting from Alleged Hospital Negligence

2011-07-07
An Ohio women and her husband recently settled a lawsuit against a Toledo area hospital for injuries suffered in a post-surgery fall soon after undergoing a knee arthroplasty procedure at said hospital. The fall led to an array of physical complications for the woman, who almost needed to amputate her leg to survive post-surgery complications stemming from the accident. According to the complaint filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Lucas County, Ohio, the patient was left unattended, out of her hospital bed, less than two hours after her reconstructive knee surgery; ...

Steps needed to reduce likelihood that pilot commuting practices could pose safety risk, but too little data now to support regulation

2011-07-07
WASHINGTON -- Commuting practices among airline pilots could potentially contribute to their fatigue, and because fatigue can reduce performance, pilots, airlines, and the Federal Aviation Administration should take steps to reduce the likelihood that commuting will pose a safety risk, says a new report from the National Research Council. However, there are currently too little data to determine the extent to which it poses a safety risk or whether commuting should be regulated. The FAA should support a study to gather data on how commuting practices are related to risk ...

Newberry SC Hotel Offers Special Discount for Senior Guests to Enjoy

Newberry SC Hotel Offers Special Discount for Senior Guests to Enjoy
2011-07-07
The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Newberry South Carolina Hotel offers a special Senior Discount for guests age 62 and older. The Senior Discount is available to qualifying guests with a valid ID or membership card to a retired person's organization. Seniors, and other guests, are sure to enjoy this Newberry SC Hotel's safe, comfortable and convenient atmosphere. Newberry is a charming city located approximately 40 miles north-west of Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Newberry is conveniently situated near historic downtown ...

Can gulls smell out a good partner?

2011-07-07
Male and female kittiwakes smell different from each other, according to research by Sarah Leclaire from the Centre national de la recherche scientifique at the Université Paul Sabatier in France and her team. Their work also suggests that the birds' body odors might signal the genetic makeup of individual birds, and could be used in mate choice to assess the genetic compatibility of potential partners. The study is published in the July issue of Springer's journal Naturwissenschaften – The Science of Nature. Birds protect their feathers by preening them with the secretions ...

Socioeconomic status as child dictates response to stress as adult

2011-07-07
When faced with threat, people who grew up poor are more likely to make risky financial choices in search of a quick windfall, according to new research from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. Published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, "The Influence of Mortality and Socioeconomic Status on Risk and Delayed Rewards: A Life History Approach" by Carlson School assistant professor of marketing Vladas Griskevicius found that people respond to feeling threatened differently depending on whether people grew up in relatively resource-scarce ...

Berkeley Lab researchers apply NMR/MRI to microfluidic chromatography

Berkeley Lab researchers apply NMR/MRI to microfluidic chromatography
2011-07-07
By pairing an award-winning remote-detection version of NMR/MRI technology with a unique version of chromatography specifically designed for microfluidic chips, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have opened the door to a portable system for highly sensitive multi-dimensional chemical analysis that would be impractical if not impossible with conventional technologies. Alexander Pines, a faculty senior scientist in Berkeley Lab's Materials Sciences Division and the Glenn T. Seaborg Professor of Chemistry ...

Atlanta SEO Company Cardinal Web Solutions Publishes Article Explaining Google +1 Button

Atlanta SEO Company Cardinal Web Solutions Publishes Article Explaining Google +1 Button
2011-07-07
Atlanta SEO company Cardinal Web Solutions has published an original article on the Google +1 button, and its potential effect on search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising. This most recent article is part of an ongoing effort by Cardinal Web Solutions to keep business owners informed on changes in the industry that could affect their Internet marketing campaigns. The +1 button, which Google has explained will be used to connect users with more relevant content, is viewed by the industry as Google's response to Facebook's "Like" button. The +1 ...

Climate change forces early spring

2011-07-07
Spring is hailed as the season of rebirth, but if it comes too early, it can threaten the plants it is meant to welcome. A University of Alberta study shows that climate change over the past 70 years has pushed some of the province's native wildflowers and trees into earlier blooming times, making them more vulnerable to damaging frosts, and ultimately, threatening reproduction. U of A PhD candidate Elisabeth Beaubien and her supervisor, professor Andreas Hamann of the Department of Renewable Resources, studied the life cycle of central Alberta spring blooms, spanning ...

A mother's salt intake could be key to prenatal kidney development

2011-07-07
Bethesda, Md. (July 6, 2011) – A new animal study from Europe has drawn an association between pregnant mothers' sodium intake and their newborn's kidney development. Among the most significant aspects of the study's findings is that either too much or too little salt during pregnancy had an adverse effect on the prenatal development of the offspring's kidneys. The consequence of such disruption can lead to high blood pressure in later years. These are the conclusions reached in the study, "Both High and Low Maternal Salt Intake in Pregnancy Alters Kidney Development ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people

Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance

Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors

Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep

Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots

NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma

Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits

Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products

Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV

Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolus in Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

[Press-News.org] Discovering the bigger picture in chromosomes
Research team finds similarities in genomes across multiple species; platypus still out of place