Transmissable Dog Cancer Genome Reveals the Origin and History of an Ancient Cell Lineage

Canine transmissible venereal tumor (CTVT) is the oldest known somatic cell lineage. It is a transmissible cancer that propagates naturally in dogs. We sequenced the genomes of two CTVT tumors and found that CTVT has acquired 1.9 million somatic substitution mutations and bears evidence of exposure to ultraviolet light. CTVT is remarkably stable and lacks subclonal heterogeneity despite thousands of rearrangements, copy-number changes, and retrotransposon insertions. More than 10,000 genes carry nonsynonymous variants, and 646 genes have been lost. CTVT first arose in a dog with low genomic heterozygosity that may have lived about 11,000 years ago. The cancer spawned by this individual dispersed across continents about 500 years ago. Our results provide a genetic identikit of an ancient dog and demonstrate the robustness of mammalian somatic cells to survive for millennia despite a massive mutation burden.

The first molecular phylogeny of Chilodontidae (Teleostei: Ostariophysi: Characiformes) reveals cryptic biodiversity and taxonomic uncertainty

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Using Proteomic Strategies for Sequencing and Post-Translational Modifications Assignment of Antigen-5, a Major Allergen from the Venom of the Social Wasp Polybia paulista

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Comparative proteomic analysis reveals that T3SS, Tfp, and xanthan gum are key factors in initial stages of Citrus sinensis infection by Xanthomonas citri subsp citri

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Development and characterization of twenty-two polymorphic microsatellite markers for the leafcutter ant, Acromyrmex lundii, utilizing Illumina sequencing

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Development of twenty-one polymorphic microsatellite markers for the fungus-growing ant, Mycocepurus goeldii (Formicidae: Attini), using Illumina paired-end genomic sequencing

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The puzzle assembled: Ediacaran guide fossil Cloudina reveals an old proto-Gondwana seaway

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Isolation and characterization of microsatellites markers for two South American frogs (Leptodactylus bufonius and L. chaquensis) using next generation sequencing

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Characterization of immobilized biomass by amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) in an anaerobic sequencing-batch biofilm reactor (ASBBR) for the treatment of industrial wastewater

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

A protein kinase screen of Neurospora crassa mutant strains reveals that the SNF1 protein kinase promotes glycogen synthase phosphorylation

Glycogen functions as a carbohydrate reserve in a variety of organisms and its metabolism is highly regulated. The activities of glycogen synthase and glycogen phosphorylase, the rate-limiting enzymes of the synthesis and degradation processes, respectively, are regulated by allosteric modulation and reversible phosphorylation. To identify the protein kinases affecting glycogen metabolism in Neurospora crassa, we performed a screen of 84 serine/threonine kinase knockout strains. We identified multiple kinases that have already been described as controlling glycogen metabolism in different organisms, such as NcSNF1, NcPHO85, NcGSK3, NcPKA, PSK2 homologue and NcATG1. In addition, many hypothetical kinases have been implicated in the control of glycogen metabolism. Two kinases, NcIME-2 and NcNIMA, already functionally characterized but with no functions related to glycogen metabolism regulation, were also identified. Among the kinases identified, it is important to mention the role of NcSNF1. We showed in the present study that this kinase was implicated in glycogen synthase phosphorylation, as demonstrated by the higher levels of glycogen accumulated during growth, along with a higher glycogen synthase (GSN) ±glucose 6-phosphate activity ratio and a lesser set of phosphorylated GSN isoforms in strain Ncsnf1KO, when compared with the wild-type strain. The results led us to conclude that, in N. crassa, this kinase promotes phosphorylation of glycogen synthase either directly or indirectly, which is the opposite of what is described for Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The kinases also play a role in gene expression regulation, in that gdn, the gene encoding the debranching enzyme, was down-regulated by the proteins identified in the screen. Some kinases affected growth and development, suggesting a connection linking glycogen metabolism with cell growth and development.

Flow sorting and exome sequencing reveal the oncogenome of primary Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Comparative clinical sample preparation of DNA and RNA viral nucleic acids for a commercial deep sequencing system (Illumina MiSeq (R))

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

DNA barcoding in pencilfishes (lebiasinidae: nannostomus) reveals cryptic diversity across the brazilian Amazon

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A comparative analysis reveals weak relationships between ecological factors and beta diversity of stream insect metacommunities at two spatial levels

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)