No abstract

Variable region analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences is the most common tool in bacterial taxonomic studies. Although used for distinguishing bacterial species, its use remains limited due to the presence of variable copy numbers with sequence variation in the genomes. In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequences, obtained from completely assembled whole genome and Sanger electrophoresis sequencing of cloned PCR products from Serratia fonticola GS2, were compared. Sanger sequencing produced a combination of sequences from multiple copies of 16S rRNA genes. To determine whether the variant copies of 16S rRNA genes affected Sanger sequencing, two ratios (5:5 and 8:2) with different concentrations of cloned 16S rRNA genes were used; it was observed that the greater the number of copies with similar sequences the higher its chance of amplification. Effect of multiple copies for taxonomic classification of 16S rRNA gene sequences was investigated using the strain GS2 as a model. 16S rRNA copies with the maximum variation had 99.42% minimum pairwise similarity and this did not have an effect on species identification. Thus, PCR products from genomes containing variable 16S rRNA gene copies can provide sufficient information for species identification except from species which have high similarity of sequences in their 16S rRNA gene copies like the case of Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus cereus . In silico analysis of 1,616 bacterial genomes from long-read sequencing was also done. The average minimum pairwise similarity for each phylum was reported with their average genome size and average “unique copies” of 16S rRNA genes and we found that the phyla Proteobacteria and Firmicutes showed the highest amount of variation in their copies of their 16S rRNA genes. Overall, our results shed light on how the variations in the multiple copies of the 16S rRNA genes of bacteria can aid in appropriate species identification.

Biliary atresia (BA) results in severe bile blockage and is caused by the absence of extrahepatic ducts. Even after successful hepatic portoenterostomy, a considerable number of patients are likely to show progressive deterioration in liver function. Recent studies show that mutations in protein-coding mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes and/or mitochondrial genes in nuclear DNA (nDNA) are associated with hepatocellular dysfunction. This observation led us to investigate whether hepatic dysfunctions in BA is genetically associated with mtDNA mutations. We sequenced the mtDNA protein-coding genes in 14 liver specimens from 14 patients with BA and 5 liver specimens from 5 patients with choledochal cyst using next-generation sequencing. We found 34 common non-synonymous variations in mtDNA protein-coding genes in all patients examined. A systematic 3D structural analysis revealed the presence of several single nucleotide polymorphism-like mutations in critical regions of complexes I to V, that are involved in subunit assembly, proton-pumping activity, and/or supercomplex formation. The parameters of chronic hepatic injury and liver dysfunction in BA patients were also significantly correlated with the extent of hepatic failure, suggesting that the mtDNA mutations may aggravate hepatopathy. Therefore, mitochondrial mutations may underlie the pathological mechanisms associated with BA.

Boswellia sacra (Burseraceae), a keystone endemic species, is famous for the production of fragrant oleo-gum resin. However, the genetic make-up especially the genomic information about chloroplast is still unknown. Here, we described for the first time the chloroplast (cp) genome of B. sacra. The complete cp sequence revealed a circular genome of 160,543 bp size with 37.61% GC content. The cp genome is a typical quadripartite chloroplast structure with inverted repeats (IRs 26,763 bp) separated by small single copy (SSC; 18,962 bp) and large single copy (LSC; 88,055 bp) regions. De novo assembly and annotation showed the presence of 114 unique genes with 83 protein-coding regions. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the B. sacra cp genome is closely related to the cp genome of Azadirachta indica and Citrus sinensis, while most of the syntenic differences were found in the non-coding regions. The pairwise distance among 76 shared genes of B. sacra and A. indica was highest for atpA, rpl2, rps12 and ycf1. The cp genome of B. sacra reveals a novel genome, which could be used for further studied to understand its diversity, taxonomy and phylogeny.

Eight-week-old C57BL/6L male mice were purchased from ORIENT Bio Korea (Korea) and were maintained in the specific pathogen-free animal facility at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). Mice were irradiated with a single dose of 6 Gy of gamma rays using a gammacell 40 Exactor (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Canada). All procedures were performed according to guidelines of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the KAERI. All procedures were performed according to guidelines of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. L. acidophilus Culture and Heat-Killed Bacteria Preparation L. acidophilus (no. 3171) was purchased from the Korean Collection for Type Cultures (KCTC, Korea), Biological Resource Center (BRC) and were grown anaerobically at 37 • C in de Man, Rogosa, Sharpe (MRS) broth (BD Difco, Sparks, MD). For heatkilled bacteria, cultured L. acidophilus were washed twice with PBS and heated in 1 ml PBS at 100 • C for 30 min.