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Genome discovery will help combat disease and lead to new drugs
December 22, 2005An international consortium of researchers led by the University of Manchester has cracked the gene code behind a key family of fungi, which includes both the leading cause of death in leukaemia and bone marrow transplant patients and an essential ingredient of soy sauce.
The 'genome sequences' or genetic maps for the fungi Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus oryzae are published on 22 December in Nature magazine. Despite being from the same fungal family, they have been found to be as genetically different as fish and man.
Aspergillus is a very common air-borne fungus, carried all over the world as spores. Although usually harmless, the species Aspergillus fumigatus was identified as a cause of infection as long ago as 1848 and is now the leading infectious cause of death in vulnerable leukaemia and bone marrow transplant patients. Aspergillus nidulans has been a leading experimental system helping to unravel many fundamental cellular processes for the last 50 years, whilst Aspergillus oryzae has been used in the Far East for 2000 years to produce sake (rice wine), miso (soybean paste) and shoyu (soy sauce).
The researchers have found that the three species only display around 68% of the same proteins, a similar percentage to that shared by mammals and fish which diverged 450 million years ago. They also differ considerably in genome size, with Aspergillus oryzae being 31% bigger than Aspergillus fumigatus and 24% bigger than Aspergillus nidulans. Intriguingly, over 30% of the 9,500-14,000 genes identified are new to science and of unknown function and structure.
These results are being reported in three different papers in Nature, and reflect the efforts of an international collaboration of scientists and sequencing centres. The University's Professor David Denning, who coordinated the project, said: "Fungi (including Aspergillus) play a critical role in the earth's ecosystem, being responsible for almost all degradation of plant material as well as recycling nitrogen. Aspergillus fumigatus is a major constituent of compost, and mould fungi have been important sources of drugs including penicillin and ciclosporin (for transplantation).
"However, they are something of a Jekyll and Hyde and also produce toxins known as mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin which can cause liver cancer. Aspergillus causes a life-threatening infection for transplant and leukaemic patients, as well as being a major allergen for asthmatics.
"Identifying these genome sequences will transform scientific understanding of why this group of fungi is so lethal and allergenic. The importance of the project in helping develop new drugs and diagnostic tests, and understand and prevent allergies and diseases like pneumonia and sinusitis, cannot be overestimated. The information revealed will also develop our understanding of the biology of composting and mycotoxin production, and provide benefits for many other areas of science and medicine."
University of Manchester
The researchers have found that the three species only display around 68% of the same proteins, a similar percentage to that shared by mammals and fish which diverged 450 million years ago. They also differ considerably in genome size, with Aspergillus oryzae being 31% bigger than Aspergillus fumigatus and 24% bigger than Aspergillus nidulans. Intriguingly, over 30% of the 9,500-14,000 genes identified are new to science and of unknown function and structure.
These results are being reported in three different papers in Nature, and reflect the efforts of an international collaboration of scientists and sequencing centres. The University's Professor David Denning, who coordinated the project, said: "Fungi (including Aspergillus) play a critical role in the earth's ecosystem, being responsible for almost all degradation of plant material as well as recycling nitrogen. Aspergillus fumigatus is a major constituent of compost, and mould fungi have been important sources of drugs including penicillin and ciclosporin (for transplantation).
"However, they are something of a Jekyll and Hyde and also produce toxins known as mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin which can cause liver cancer. Aspergillus causes a life-threatening infection for transplant and leukaemic patients, as well as being a major allergen for asthmatics.
"Identifying these genome sequences will transform scientific understanding of why this group of fungi is so lethal and allergenic. The importance of the project in helping develop new drugs and diagnostic tests, and understand and prevent allergies and diseases like pneumonia and sinusitis, cannot be overestimated. The information revealed will also develop our understanding of the biology of composting and mycotoxin production, and provide benefits for many other areas of science and medicine."
University of Manchester
Genome Current Events and Genome News RSSTime of day matters to thirsty trees, U of T researcher discovers
The time of day matters to forest trees dealing with drought, according to a new paper produced by a research team led by Professor Malcolm Campbell, University of Toronto Scarborough's vice-principal for research and colleagues in the department of cell and systems biology at the St. George campus.
Genetic analysis helps dissect molecular basis of cardiovascular disease
Using highly precise measurements of plasma lipoprotein concentrations determined by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), researchers led by Daniel Chasman at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, the Framingham Heart Study in Framingham, and the PROCARDIS consortium in Stockholm, Sweden and Oxford, England performed genetic association analysis across the whole genome among 17,296 women of European ancestry from the Women's Genome Health Study.
Gene mismatch influences success of bone marrow transplants
A commonly inherited gene deletion can increase the likelihood of immune complications following bone marrow transplantation, an international team of researchers reports in the November 22 advance online issue of Nature Genetics.
Scientists at UA, collaborating institutions decode maize genome
Scientists from the University of Arizona led by Arizona Genomics Institute director Rod A. Wing and from collaborating institutions have deciphered the complete genetic code of the maize plant for the first time.
Ancestry attracts, but love is blind
People preferentially marry those with similar ancestry, but their decisions are not necessarily based on hair, eye or skin colour.
WPI Researchers Take Aim at Hard-to-Treat Fungal Infections
A team of researchers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park has developed a new model system to study fungal infections.
Technique finds gene regulatory sites without knowledge of regulators
A new statistical technique developed by researchers at the University of Illinois allows scientists to scan a genome for specific gene-regulatory regions without requiring prior knowledge of the relevant transcription factors.
Causative gene of a rare disorder discovered by sequencing only protein-coding regions of genome
For the first time, scientists have successfully used a method called exome sequencing to quickly discover a previously unknown gene responsible for a mendelian disorder.
New research into the mechanisms of gene regulation
A team led by Penn State's Ross Hardison, T. Ming Chu Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, has taken a large step toward unraveling how regulatory proteins control the production of gene products during development and growth.
Maize cell wall genes identified, giving boost to biofuel research
Purdue University scientists have helped identify and group the genes thought to be responsible for cell wall development in maize, an effort that expands their ability to discover ways to produce the biomass best suited for biofuels production.
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