Approximately 11% of the Indian rice varieties notified from 1969 to 2012 have IR-8 in their parentage. More than 30% notified varieties during this period are derived from germplasm with ‘IR’ in their parentage. India is one of the centers of diversity in rice and broadening of genetic base of cultivated rice can be successfully performed using indigenous germplasms. Genetic diversity among 42 Indian rice varieties (Oryza sativa L.), including landraces, aus cultivars and modern varieties of India were investigated for phenotype as well as genotype diversity. Genetic diversity analysis using genome-wide SNP panel suggested that aus cultivars, landraces and indica rice germplasm are genetically very close. The SNP panel was based on single copy genes thereby reflecting functional diversity of the germplasm set. The dendrogram based on molecular marker analysis grouped the 42 rice cultivars into 4 diverse groups. Further, population structure analysis also resulted to 4 sub populations. These sub population differentiated aus germplasm set from other accessions. Further, principal component analysis based on phenotype also suggested the closeness of aus cultivars, landraces and indica rice germplasm sets. Information generated through genetic, phenotypic and comprehensive diversity profiles in the present study can be efficiently utilized in breeding high yielding rice varieties.
Mutations in PLA2G6 were identified in patients with a spectrum of neurodegenerative conditions, such as infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy (INAD), atypical late-onset neuroaxonal dystrophy (ANAD) and dystonia parkinsonism complex (DPC). However, there is no report on the genetic analysis of families with members affected with INAD, ANAD and DPC from India. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to perform genetic analysis of 22 Indian families with INAD, ANAD and DPC. DNA sequence analysis of the entire coding region of PLA2G6 identified 13 different mutations, including five novel ones (p.Leu224Pro, p.Asp283Asn, p.Arg329Cys, p.Leu491Phe, and p.Arg649His), in 12/22 (54.55%) families with INAD and ANAD. Interestingly, one patient with INAD was homozygous for two different mutations, p.Leu491Phe and p.Ala516Val, and thus harboured four mutant alleles. With these mutations, the total number of mutations in this gene reaches 129. The absence of mutations in 10/22 (45.45%) families suggests that the mutations could be in deep intronic or promoter regions of this gene or these families could have mutations in a yet to be identified gene. The present study increases the mutation landscape of PLA2G6. The present finding will be useful for genetic diagnosis, carrier detection and genetic counselling to families included in this study and other families with similar disease condition.
We have generated a high-resolution Hi-C map of developing human retinal organoids to elucidate spatiotemporal dynamics of genomic architecture and its relationship with gene expression patterns. We demonstrate progressive stage-specific alterations in DNA topology and correlate these changes with transcription of cell-type-restricted gene markers during retinal differentiation. Temporal Hi-C reveals a shift toward A compartment for protein-coding genes and B compartment for non-coding RNAs, displaying high and low expression, respectively. Notably, retina-enriched genes are clustered near lost boundaries of topologically associated domains (TADs), and higher-order assemblages (i.e., TAD cliques) localize in active chromatin regions with binding sites for eye-field transcription factors. These genes gain chromatin contacts at their transcription start site as organoid differentiation proceeds. Our study provides a global view of chromatin architecture dynamics associated with diversification of cell types during retinal development and serves as a foundational resource for in-depth functional investigations of retinal developmental traits.
The North-Eastern region (NER) of India, comprising of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, is a hot spot for genetic diversity and the most probable origin of rice. North-east rice collections are known to possess various agronomically important traits like biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, unique grain and cooking quality. The genetic diversity and associated population structure of 6,984 rice accessions, originating from NER, were assessed using 36 genome wide unlinked single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers distributed across the 12 rice chromosomes. All of the 36 SNP loci were polymorphic and bi-allelic, contained five types of base substitutions and together produced nine types of alleles. The polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.004 for Tripura to 0.375 for Manipur and major allele frequency ranged from 0.50 for Assam to 0.99 for Tripura. Heterozygosity ranged from 0.002 in Nagaland to 0.42 in Mizoram and gene diversity ranged from 0.006 in Arunachal Pradesh to 0.50 in Manipur. The genetic relatedness among the rice accessions was evaluated using an unrooted phylogenetic tree analysis, which grouped all accessions into three major clusters. For determining population structure, populations K = 1 to K = 20 were tested and population K = 3 was present in all the states, with the exception of Meghalaya and Manipur where, K = 5 and K = 4 populations were present, respectively. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) showed that accessions were distributed according to their population structure. AMOVA analysis showed that, maximum diversity was partitioned at the individual accession level (73% for Nagaland, 58% for Arunachal Pradesh and 57% for Tripura). Using POWERCORE software, a core set of 701 accessions was obtained, which accounted for approximately 10% of the total NE India collections, representing 99.9% of the allelic diversity. The rice core set developed will be a valuable resource for future genomic studies and crop improvement strategies.
Multifaceted and divergent manifestations across tissues and cell types have curtailed advances in deciphering the cellular events that accompany advanced age and contribute to morbidities and mortalities. Increase in human lifespan during the past century has heightened awareness of the need to prevent age-associated frailty of neuronal and sensory systems to allow a healthy and productive life. In this review, we discuss molecular and physiological attributes of aging of the retina, with a goal of understanding age-related impairment of visual function. We highlight the epigenome–metabolism nexus and proteostasis as key contributors to retinal aging and discuss lifestyle changes as potential modulators of retinal function. Finally, we deliberate promising intervention strategies for promoting healthy aging of the retina for improved vision.
We have generated high-resolution Hi-C map of developing human retinal organoids to elucidate spatiotemporal dynamics of genomic architecture and its relationship with gene expression patterns. We demonstrate progressive and developmental stage-specific alterations in DNA topology that correlates to transcription of cell-type restricted genes during retinal differentiation. Temporal Hi-C reveals a shift towards A compartment for protein-coding genes and B compartment for non-coding RNAs, displaying high and low expression respectively. Notably, retina-enriched genes are clustered near lost boundaries of topologically associated domains (TADs), and higher-order assemblages of TADs (i.e., TAD cliques) tend to localize in the active chromatin regions with binding sites for eye-field transcription factors. These genes show a gain of chromatin contacts at their transcription start site as organoid differentiation proceeds. Our study implicates dynamics of genome topology as an influencer of neighborhoods containing transcription factors and cell state-determining genes and should facilitate investigations of retinal developmental traits.
Epigenetic silencing through methylation is one of the major mechanisms for downregulation of tumor suppressor miRNAs in various malignancies. The aim of this study was to identify novel tumor suppressor miRNAs which are silenced by DNA hypermethylation and investigate the role of at least one of these in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) pathogenesis. We treated cells from an OSCC cell line SCC131 with 5-Azacytidine, a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor, to reactivate tumor suppressor miRNA genes silenced/downregulated due to DNA methylation. At 5-day post-treatment, total RNA was isolated from the 5-Azacytidine and vehicle control-treated cells. The expression of 2,459 mature miRNAs was analysed between 5-Azacytidine and control-treated OSCC cells by the microRNA microarray analysis. Of the 50 miRNAs which were found to be upregulated following 5-Azacytidine treatment, we decided to work with miR-6741-3p in details for further analysis, as it showed a mean fold expression of >4.0. The results of qRT-PCR, Western blotting, and dual-luciferase reporter assay indicated that miR-6741-3p directly targets the oncogene SRSF3 at the translational level only. The tumor-suppressive role of miR-6741-3p was established by various in vitro assays and in vivo study in NU/J athymic nude mice. Our results revealed that miR-6741-3p plays a tumor-suppressive role in OSCC pathogenesis, in part, by directly regulating SRSF3 . Based on our observations, we propose that miR-6741-3p may serve as a potential biological target in tumor diagnostics, prognostic evaluation, and treatment of OSCC and perhaps other malignancies.
Abstract Three-dimensional (3D) conformation of the chromatin is crucial to stringently regulate gene expression patterns and DNA replication in a cell-type specific manner. HiC is a key technique for measuring 3D chromatin interactions genome wide. Estimating and predicting the resolution of a library is an essential step in any HiC experimental design. Here, we present the mathematical concepts to estimate the resolution of a library and predict whether deeper sequencing would enhance the resolution. We have developed HiCRes, a docker pipeline, by applying these concepts to human and mouse HiC libraries.