Most molecular phylogenetic studies of vertebrates have been based on DNA sequences of mitochondrial-encoded genes. MtDNA evolves rapidly and is thus particularly useful for resolving relationships among recently evolved groups. However, it has the disadvantage that all of the mitochondrial genes are inherited as a single linkage group so that only one independent gene tree can be inferred regardless of the number of genes sequenced. Introns of nuclear genes are attractive candidates for independent sources of rapidly evolving DNA: they are pervasive, most of their nucleotides appear to be unconstrained by selection, and PCR primers can be designed for sequences in adjacent exons where nucleotide sequences are conserved. We sequenced intron 7 of the beta-fibrinogen gene (beta-fibint7) for a diversity of woodpeckers and compared the phylogenetic signal and nucleotide substitution properties of this DNA sequence with that of mitochondrial-encoded cytochrome b (cyt b) from a previous study. A few indels (insertions and deletions) were found in the beta-fibint7 sequences, but alignment was not difficult, and the indels were phylogentically informative. The beta-fibint7 and cyt b gene trees were nearly identical to each other but differed in significant ways from the traditional woodpecker classification. Cyt b evolves 2.8 times as fast as beta-fibint7 (14. 0 times as fast at third codon positions). Despite its relatively slow substitution rate, the phylogenetic signal in beta-fibint7 is comparable to that in cyt b for woodpeckers, because beta-fibint7 has less base composition bias and more uniform nucleotide substitution probabilities. As a consequence, compared with cyt b, beta-fibint7 nucleotide sites are expected to enter more distinct character states over the course of evolution and have fewer multiple substitutions and lower levels of homoplasy. Moreover, in contrast to cyt b, in which nearly two thirds of nucleotide sites rarely vary among closely related taxa, virtually all beta-fibint7 nucleotide sites appear free of selective constraints, which increases informative sites per unit sequenced. However, the estimated gamma distribution used to model rate variation among sites suggests constraints on some beta-fibint7 sites. This study suggests that introns will be useful for phylogenetic studies of recently evolved groups.
Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1/redox factor-1 (APE1/Ref-1) is the redox regulator of multiple stress-inducible transcription factors, such as NF-κB, and the major 5'-endonuclease in base excision repair (BER). We utilized mice containing heterozygous gene-targeted deletion of APE1/Ref-1 (Apex +/-) to determine the impact of APE1/Ref-1 haploinsufficiency on the processing of oxidative DNA damage induced by 2-nitropropane (2-NP) in the liver tissue of mice. APE1/Ref-1 haploinsufficiency results in a significant decline in NF-κB DNA binding activity in response to oxidative stress in liver. In addition, loss of APE1/Ref-1 increases the apoptotic response to oxidative stress where a significant increase in GADD45g expression, p53 protein stability and caspase activity are observed. Oxidative stress displays a differential impact on monofunctional (UDG) and bifunctional (OGG1) DNA glycosylase initiated BER in liver of Apex +/-mice. APE1/Ref-1 haploinsufficiency results in a significant decline in the repair of oxidized bases (e.g., 8-OHdG), while removal of uracil is increased in liver nuclear extracts of mice using an in vitro BER assay. Apex +/-mice exposed to 2-NP displayed a significant decline in 3'-OH-containing single-strand breaks and an increase in aldehydic lesions in their liver DNA suggesting an accumulation of repair intermediates of failed bifunctional DNA glycosylase initiated BER.
Direct cycle sequencing of double-stranded polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products using thermostable polymerases produces fragments that are shorter than expected when the enzyme prematurely detaches as it approaches the 5'-end of the DNA template. These premature terminations result in a substantially reduced reading length of the DNA sequence. Since some DNA templates spontaneously fold and form stable secondary structures at temperatures that are typically used for primer annealing, one factor that may cause premature terminations to occur is the formation of secondary structures in the template during the annealing step of the cycle sequencing reaction. We describe a simple and effective method for reducing premature terminations in DNA sequences. We demonstrate that maintaining the annealing temperature of the cycle sequencing reaction above a critical temperature reduces premature terminations in DNA sequences that regularly contain premature terminations when the temperature of the annealing step is 60 degrees C. In the method described, annealing and extension of the primer along the template take place at the same temperature (72 degrees C). This procedure for reducing premature terminations can be applied when sequencing with primers that are relatively long (at least 27 mer) and have high optimal annealing temperatures.
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