Abstract:
BACKGROUND:Loss of photosynthesis has occurred independently in several plant and algal lineages, and represents a major metabolic shift with potential consequences for the content and structure of plastid genomes. To investigate such changes, we sequenced the complete plastid genome of the parasitic, non-photosynthetic green alga, Helicosporidium. RESULTS:The Helicosporidium plastid genome is among the smallest known (37.5 kb), and like other plastids from non-photosynthetic organisms it lacks all genes for proteins that function in photosynthesis. Its reduced size results from more than just loss of genes, however; it has little non-coding DNA, with only one intron and tiny intergenic spaces, and no inverted repeat (no duplicated genes at all). It encodes precisely the minimal complement of tRNAs needed to translate the universal genetic code, and has eliminated all redundant isoacceptors. The Helicosporidium plastid genome is also highly structured, with each half of the circular genome containing nearly all genes on one strand. Helicosporidium is known to be related to trebouxiophyte green algae, but the genome is structured and compacted in a manner more reminiscent of the non-photosynthetic plastids of apicomplexan parasites. CONCLUSION:Helicosporidium contributes significantly to our understanding of the evolution of plastid DNA because it illustrates the highly ordered reduction that occurred following the loss of a major metabolic function. The convergence of plastid genome structure in Helicosporidium and the Apicomplexa raises the interesting possibility that there are common forces that shape plastid genomes, subsequent to the loss of photosynthesis in an organism.
journal_name
BMC Bioljournal_title
BMC biologyauthors
de Koning AP,Keeling PJdoi
10.1186/1741-7007-4-12subject
Has Abstractpub_date
2006-04-21 00:00:00pages
12issn
1741-7007pii
1741-7007-4-12journal_volume
4pub_type
杂志文章相关文献
BMC BIOLOGY文献大全abstract:BACKGROUND:The most commonly occurring cancer mutations, including oncogenes such as MYC, Ras and PIK3C, are found in signal transductions pathways feeding into the translational machinery. A broad range of translation initiation factors are also commonly found to be either amplified or mis-regulated in tumours, includ...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-019-0658-0
更新日期:2019-05-22 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Many Caenorhabditis elegans mutations increase longevity and much evidence suggests that they do so at least partly via changes in metabolism. However, up until now there has been no systematic investigation of how the metabolic networks of long-lived mutants differ from those of normal worms. Metabolomic te...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-8-14
更新日期:2010-02-10 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:One hundred years ago, marine organisms were the dominant systems for the study of developmental biology. The challenges in rearing these organisms outside of a marine setting ultimately contributed to a shift towards work on a smaller number of so-called model systems. Those animals are typically non-marine...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-020-00772-w
更新日期:2020-05-04 00:00:00
abstract::Cells are highly complex and orderly machines, with defined shapes and a startling variety of internal organizations. Complex geometry is a feature of both free-living unicellular organisms and cells inside multicellular animals. Where does the geometry of a cell come from? Many of the same questions that arise in dev...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-9-57
更新日期:2011-08-31 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes have become popular tools for tracing maternal ancestry, and several companies offer this service to the general public. Numerous studies have demonstrated that human mtDNA haplotypes can be used with confidence to identify the continent where the haplotype originated. Id...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-4-34
更新日期:2006-10-12 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Seed plants are composed of angiosperms and gymnosperms, which diverged from each other around 300 million years ago. While much light has been shed on the mechanisms and rate of genome evolution in flowering plants, such knowledge remains conspicuously meagre for the gymnosperms. Conifers are key representa...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-10-84
更新日期:2012-10-26 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Although native to North America, the invasion of the aphid-like grape phylloxera Daktulosphaira vitifoliae across the globe altered the course of grape cultivation. For the past 150 years, viticulture relied on grafting-resistant North American Vitis species as rootstocks, thereby limiting genetic stocks to...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-020-00820-5
更新日期:2020-07-23 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:CRISPR gene drive systems allow the rapid spread of a genetic construct throughout a population. Such systems promise novel strategies for the management of vector-borne diseases and invasive species by suppressing a target population or modifying it with a desired trait. However, current homing-type drives ...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-020-0761-2
更新日期:2020-03-12 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Many pathogens secrete toxins that target key host processes resulting in the activation of immune pathways. The secreted Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxin Exotoxin A (ToxA) disrupts intestinal protein synthesis, which triggers the induction of a subset of P. aeruginosa-response genes in the nematode Caenorhabdit...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-016-0334-6
更新日期:2016-12-07 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Many proteins of the mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS) contain structural disulfide bonds formed by the mitochondrial disulfide relay. In fungi and animals, the sulfhydryl oxidase Erv1 'generates' disulfide bonds that are passed on to the oxidoreductase Mia40, which oxidizes substrate proteins. A diffe...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-017-0445-8
更新日期:2017-11-08 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Nucleostemin is a nucleolus residing GTPase that is considered to be an important cancer stem/progenitor cell marker protein due to its high expression levels in breast cancer stem cells and its role in tumor-initiation of human mammary tumor cells. It has been proposed that nucleostemin may represent a valu...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-014-0072-6
更新日期:2014-09-12 00:00:00
abstract::Few would argue that science is better done in silos, with no transparency or sharing of methods and resources. Yet scientists and scientific stakeholders (e.g., academic institutions, funding agencies, journals) alike continue to find themselves at a relative impasse in the implementation of open science practices, s...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-019-0647-3
更新日期:2019-03-27 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Sexual reproduction entails the encounter of the sexes and the multiplicity of rituals is parallel to the diversity of mating systems. Evolutionary mechanisms such as sexual selection and sexual conflict have led to the elaboration of traits to gain attention and favours from potential partners. A paradox ex...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-7-10
更新日期:2009-03-03 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:The study of microbial communities has been revolutionised in recent years by the widespread adoption of culture independent analytical techniques such as 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomics. One potential confounder of these sequence-based approaches is the presence of contamination in DNA extraction ...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-014-0087-z
更新日期:2014-11-12 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Cell migration is essential for development and tissue repair, but it also contributes to disease. Rho GTPases regulate cell migration, but a comprehensive analysis of how each Rho signalling component affects migration has not been carried out. RESULTS:Through an RNA interference screen, and using a prosta...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-018-0489-4
更新日期:2018-03-06 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Functional characterisation of the compact genome of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans remains incomplete despite its sequencing 20 years ago. The last decade of research has seen a tremendous increase in the number of non-coding RNAs identified in various organisms. While we have mechanistic underst...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-019-0635-7
更新日期:2019-02-18 00:00:00
abstract::The five most pervasive anthropogenic threats to biodiversity are over-exploitation, habitat changes, climate change, invasive species, and pollution. Since all of these threats can affect intraspecific biodiversity-including genetic variation within populations-humans have the potential to induce contemporary microev...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章,评审
doi:10.1186/s12915-017-0476-1
更新日期:2018-01-15 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Drosophila melanogaster has served as a powerful model system for genetic studies of courtship songs. To accelerate research on the genetic and neural mechanisms underlying courtship song, we have developed a sensitive recording system to simultaneously capture the acoustic signals from 32 separate pairs of ...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-11-11
更新日期:2013-01-31 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Archaeological studies have revealed a series of cultural changes around the Last Glacial Maximum in East Asia; whether these changes left any signatures in the gene pool of East Asians remains poorly indicated. To achieve deeper insights into the demographic history of modern humans in East Asia around the ...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-9-2
更新日期:2011-01-10 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Rickettsia are intracellular symbionts of eukaryotes that are best known for infecting and causing serious diseases in humans and other mammals. All known vertebrate-associated Rickettsia are vectored by arthropods as part of their life-cycle, and many other Rickettsia are found exclusively in arthropods wit...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-7-6
更新日期:2009-02-02 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Kinases mTORC1 and AMPK act as energy sensors, controlling nutrient responses and cellular growth. Changes in nutrient levels affect diverse transcriptional networks, making it challenging to identify downstream paths that regulate cellular growth or a switch to development via nutrient variation. The life c...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-019-0673-1
更新日期:2019-07-18 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle is associated with metabolic flexibility, including a high capacity to increase fatty acid (FA) oxidation in response to increased lipid supply. Lipid overload, however, can result in incomplete FA oxidation and accumulation of potentially harmful intermediates where mi...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-015-0221-6
更新日期:2015-12-22 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Root and tuber crops are a major food source in tropical Africa. Among these crops are several species in the monocotyledonous genus Dioscorea collectively known as yam, a staple tuber crop that contributes enormously to the subsistence and socio-cultural lives of millions of people, principally in West and ...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-017-0419-x
更新日期:2017-09-19 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Reciprocal interactions between lung mesenchymal and epithelial cells play essential roles in lung organogenesis and homeostasis. Although the molecular markers and related animal models that target lung epithelial cells are relatively well studied, molecular markers of lung mesenchymal cells and the genetic...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-11-111
更新日期:2013-11-13 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Early developmental patterns of flatworms are extremely diverse and difficult to compare between distant groups. In parasitic flatworms, such as tapeworms, this is confounded by highly derived life cycles involving indirect development, and even the true orientation of the tapeworm antero-posterior (AP) axis...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-016-0233-x
更新日期:2016-03-04 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:ESCRT-III is a membrane remodelling filament with the unique ability to cut membranes from the inside of the membrane neck. It is essential for the final stage of cell division, the formation of vesicles, the release of viruses, and membrane repair. Distinct from other cytoskeletal filaments, ESCRT-III filam...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/s12915-019-0700-2
更新日期:2019-10-22 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:The next big challenge in human genetics is understanding the 98% of the genome that comprises non-coding DNA. Hidden in this DNA are sequences critical for gene regulation, and new experimental strategies are needed to understand the functional role of gene-regulation sequences in health and disease. In thi...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-11-106
更新日期:2013-10-14 00:00:00
abstract::The visual pathway is tasked with processing incoming signals from the retina and converting this information into adaptive behavior. Recent studies of the larval zebrafish tectum have begun to clarify how the 'micro-circuitry' of this highly organized midbrain structure filters visual input, which arrives in the supe...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章,评审
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-8-126
更新日期:2010-09-28 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:O-fucosyltransferase1 (OFUT1) is a conserved ER protein essential for Notch signaling. OFUT1 glycosylates EGF domains, which can then be further modified by the N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase Fringe. OFUT1 also possesses a chaperone activity that promotes the folding and secretion of Notch. Here, we investi...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-6-1
更新日期:2008-01-14 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Signaling by the Wnt family of secreted glycoproteins through their receptors, the frizzled (Fz) family of seven-pass transmembrane proteins, is critical for numerous cell fate and tissue polarity decisions during development. RESULTS:We report a novel role of Wnt signaling in organogenesis using the format...
journal_title:BMC biology
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1186/1741-7007-3-23
更新日期:2005-10-24 00:00:00