Comparison of mouse and human genomic sequences reveals an unidentified apolipoprotein-like gene.

The initiation of chromosome replication is exquisitely regulated in both time and location. It has been estimated that there are 200-400 autosomal replication sequence elements (ARSs) in the yeast genome that act as replication origins. Although they share some common sequence features, origins are difficult to predict from genomic sequence. In the October 5 Science, Raghuraman et al., from the University of Washington in Seattle, describe a microarray-based approach to investigate the kinetics

Protein nitration at tyrosine is associated with dozens of pathologies, including transplant rejection, cancer and Parkinson's disease. In the October 9 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Kulzant Aulak and colleagues at The Cleveland Clinic describe the use of proteomics to explore protein nitration events during inflammatory challenge (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001, 98:12056-12061).They used a well-characterized monoclonal antibody recognizing nitrotyrosine to detect nitrated protei

Several studies have suggested that there may be a genetic component to developmental disorders of speech and language, but no specific genes have been identified. In the October 4 Nature, Cecilia Lai and colleagues at the University of Oxford report mutations in a gene that correlates with such language disorders (Nature 2001, 413:519-522).Study of a family (called KE) with speech-language disorder led to the mapping of the SPCH1 locus on chromosome 7. Lai et al. performed fluorescence in-situ

Yersinia pestis is a Gram-positive bacterium that has wreaked havoc for centuries by causing plague pandemics such as the Black Death. Threats that Y. pestis could be used as a biological warfare agent suggest that it will continue to provide a healthcare challenge in the future. In the October 4 Nature, Parkhill et al. from The Sanger Centre report the complete genome sequence of the Y. pestis strain CO92 (Nature 2001, 413:523-527).The killer genome consists of a 4.65 megabase chromosome and th

plays a critical role during transcription by RNA polymerase II.

Patients with dyskeratosis congenita suffer from defects in skin, nails, hair and gut, and usually die from bone-marrow failure. An X-linked form of the disease is due to mutations in the DKC1 gene that encodes dyskerin, a protein associated with small nucleolar RNAs and telomerase RNA (hTR). In the September 27 Nature, Tom Vulliamy and researchers at Imperial College and the Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK, identify mutations that cause autosomal dominant dyskeratosis congenita (Nature 2001, 4

Different skeletal myofibre types are known to express distinct muscle myosin isoforms. In the Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Porter et al., from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA, describe a genomics approach to exploring the molecular signatures underlying skeletal muscle biology (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001, 10.1073/pnas.211257298).They used high-density oligonucleotide arrays (from Affymetrix) to measure gene expression profiles in the ext

We are far from understanding all the rules that govern the process of RNA splicing and defining the sequence information that governs intron definition. In the September 25 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Lee Lim and Christopher Burge at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, describe a computational approach for investigating intron splicing (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001, 98:11193-11198).They chose transcripts from five eukaryote genomes (Saccharomyces cerev

The isolation of novel viral genomes from serum or plasma samples presents a significant technical challenge. In the September 25 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Tobias Allander and colleagues at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, USA, describe a sensitive method for identifying viruses in serum samples (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001, 98:11609-11614).The method is based on the fact that viral genomes are generally protected from DNase degradation

Analysis of a mouse model for DiGeorge syndrome suggests that genetic modifiers affect the disease phenotype.

Transposon-based technology for insertional mutagenesis of the genome has been widely used in Drosophila and could be adapted for genomic analysis in mammals. Minos is a mobile element of the Tc1/mariner superfamily isolated from Drosophila hydrei. In the September 25 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Zagoraiou et al. report the use of Minos transposons in mouse tissues (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001, 98:11474-11478).They generated two transgenic mouse lines: one expressing the Mino