Thanks to the development of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, whole genome data can be readily obtained from a variety of samples. Since the massive increase in available sequencing data, the development of efficient assembly algorithms has become the new bottleneck. Almost every new released tool is based on the De Brujin graph method, which focuses on assembling complete datasets with mathematical models. Although the decreasing sequencing costs made whole genome sequencing (WGS) the most straightforward and least laborious approach of gathering sequencing data, many research projects are only interested in the extranuclear genomes. Unfortunately, few of the available tools are specifically designed to efficiently retrieve these extranuclear genomes from WGS datasets. We developed a seed-and-extend algorithm that assembles organelle circular genomes from WGS data, starting from a single short seed sequence. The algorithm has been tested on several new (Gonioctena intermedia and Avicennia marina) and public (Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa) whole genome Illumina datasets and always outperformed other assemblers in assembly accuracy and contiguity. In our benchmark, NOVOPlasty assembled all genomes in less than 30 minutes with a maximum RAM memory requirement of 16 GB. NOVOPlasty is the only de novo assembler that provides a fast and straightforward manner to extract the extranuclear sequences from WGS data and generates one circular high quality contig.Heteroplasmy, the existence of multiple mitochondrial haplotypes within an individual, has been researched across different fields. Mitochondrial genome polymorphisms have been linked to multiple severe disorders and are of interest to evolutionary studies and forensic science. By utilizing ultra-deep sequencing, it is now possible to uncover previously undiscovered patterns of intra-individual polymorphism. However, it remains challenging to determine its source. Current available software can detect polymorphic sites but are not capable of determining the link between them. We therefore developed a new method to not only detect intra-individual polymorphisms within mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes, but also to look for linkage among polymorphic sites by assembling the sequence around each detected polymorphic site. Our benchmark study shows that this method can detect heteroplasmy more accurately than any method previously available and is the first tool that is able to completely or partially reconstruct the origin sequences for each intra-individual polymorphism. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The development of Massively Parallel Sequencing (MPS) has enabled more accurate and less time-consuming DNA sequencing. Although MPS technologies are theoretically applicable to all samples and species, the majority of studies on microorganisms have been conducted on those able to be isolated and cultivated in laboratories. In the field of metagenomics, DNA from uncultivated environmental samples is analyzed. Whole genome sequencing of such complex samples poses difficult computational challenges due to the characteristics of metagenomic data, where one major challenge lies in determining the true origin of high similarity reads. In addition, the short-range information acquired from MPS reveals little about how reads from DNA sequencing fit together. Consequently, producing genome drafts from reads generated by MPS remains difficult. Here, the linked-read sequencing technology DB-Seq has been applied to bacterial samples in order to assess its potential in metagenomics. Specifically, its performance in retaining long-range information in de novo whole genome assembly has been tested. The results obtained in this initial study show great potential of DB-Seq in genome assembly, with significantly more contiguous results than conventional methods generate. / Utvecklingen av Massiv Parallel Sekvensering (MPS) har möjliggjort mer korrekt och mindre tidskrävande DNA sekvensering. Trots att MPS teoretiskt sett kan appliceras på alla provtyper och arter, har majoriteten av de studier som utförts på mikroorganismer varit fokuserade på de som kan isoleras och odlas i laboratorium. Inom ämnet metagenomik analyseras DNA från orörda miljöprover. Helgenomssekvensering av sådana prover ger upphov till komplicerade utmaningar för data-analys, där ett av de största problemen är att bestämma ursprunget av snarlika sekvenseringsresultat. Ytterligare komplikationer uppstår på grund av den data som erhålls från MPS, då denna ej ger information om hur sekvenseringsdata bör placeras i förhållande till varandra. Följdaktligen är det svårt att producera hopsatta genom utifrån MPS-data. I detta projekt har "linked-read"-sekvenseringsteknologin DB-Seq applicerats på bakterieprover för att undersöka metodens potential i metagenomik. Specifikt har metodens förmåga att bibehålla information om ursprungspositionen av sekvenseringsdata testats i de novo sammansättning av genom. De erhållna resultaten i denna förstagångsstudie tyder på stor potential för DB-Seq i genomsammansättning, med signifikant mer sammanhängande resultatsekvenser än vad konventionella metoder uppvisar.

Heavy metal pollutants, discharged into the ecosystem as waste by anthropogenic activities, contaminate drinking water for millions of people and animals in many regions of the world. Long term exposure to these metals, leads to several lethal diseases like cancer, keratosis, gangrene, diabetes, cardio- vascular disorders, etc. Therefore, removal of these pollutants from soil, water and environment is of great importance for human welfare. One of the possible eco-friendly solutions to this problem is the use of microorganisms that can accumulate the heavy metals from the contaminated sources, hence reducing the pollutant contents to a safe level. In this thesis an arsenic resistant bacterium Lysinibacillus sphaericus B1-CDA, a chromium resistant bacterium Enterobacter cloacae B2-DHA and a nickel resistant bacterium Lysinibacillus sp. BA2 were isolated and studied. The minimum inhibitory concentration values of these isolates are 500 mM sodium arsenate, 5.5 mM potassium chromate and 9 mM nickel chloride, respectively. The time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy analyses revealed that after 120 h of exposure, the intracellular accumulation of arsenic in B1-CDA and chromium in B2-DHA were 5.0 mg/g dwt and 320 μg/g dwt of cell biomass, respectively. However, the arsenic and chromium contents in the liquid medium were reduced to 50% and 81%, respectively. The adsorption values of BA2 when exposed to nickel for 6 h were 238.04 mg of Ni(II) per gram of dead biomass indicating BA2 can reduce nickel content in the solution to 53.89%. Scanning electron micrograph depicted the effect of these metals on cellular morphology of the isolates. The genetic composition of B1-CDA and B2-DHA were studied in detail by sequencing of whole genomes. All genes of B1-CDA and B2-DHA predicted to be associated with resistance to heavy metals were annotated. The findings in this study accentuate the significance of these bacteria in removing toxic metals from the contaminated sources. The genetic mechanisms of these isolates in absorbing and thus removing toxic metals could be used as vehicles to cope with metal toxicity of the contaminated effluents discharged to the nature by industries and other human activities.

Heavy metal pollutants, discharged into the ecosystem as waste by anthropogenic activities, contaminate drinking water for millions of people and animals in many regions of the world. Long term exposure to these metals, leads to several lethal diseases like cancer, keratosis, gangrene, diabetes, cardio- vascular disorders, etc. Therefore, removal of these pollutants from soil, water and environment is of great importance for human welfare. One of the possible eco-friendly solutions to this problem is the use of microorganisms that can accumulate the heavy metals from the contaminated sources, hence reducing the pollutant contents to a safe level. In this thesis an arsenic resistant bacterium Lysinibacillus sphaericus B1-CDA, a chromium resistant bacterium Enterobacter cloacae B2-DHA and a nickel resistant bacterium Lysinibacillus sp. BA2 were isolated and studied. The minimum inhibitory concentration values of these isolates are 500 mM sodium arsenate, 5.5 mM potassium chromate and 9 mM nickel chloride, respectively. The time of flight-secondary ion mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy analyses revealed that after 120 h of exposure, the intracellular accumulation of arsenic in B1-CDA and chromium in B2-DHA were 5.0 mg/g dwt and 320 μg/g dwt of cell biomass, respectively. However, the arsenic and chromium contents in the liquid medium were reduced to 50% and 81%, respectively. The adsorption values of BA2 when exposed to nickel for 6 h were 238.04 mg of Ni(II) per gram of dead biomass indicating BA2 can reduce nickel content in the solution to 53.89%. Scanning electron micrograph depicted the effect of these metals on cellular morphology of the isolates. The genetic composition of B1-CDA and B2-DHA were studied in detail by sequencing of whole genomes. All genes of B1-CDA and B2-DHA predicted to be associated with resistance to heavy metals were annotated. The findings in this study accentuate the significance of these bacteria in removing toxic metals from the contaminated sources. The genetic mechanisms of these isolates in absorbing and thus removing toxic metals could be used as vehicles to cope with metal toxicity of the contaminated effluents discharged to the nature by industries and other human activities.

No description available.

Lampreys are primitive jawless fishes that diverged over 550 million years ago. As adults, they are either parasitic or non-parasitic. In non-parasitic species, sexual differentiation and oocyte development generally occur earlier than in parasitic species; fecundity is reduced and sexual maturation is accelerated following metamorphosis. The genes controlling ovarian differentiation and maturation in lampreys are poorly understood. This study used RNA-Seq data in the parasitic chestnut lamprey Ichthyomyzon castaneus and non-parasitic northern brook lamprey Ichthyomyzon fossor to identify suites of genes expressed during different stages of ovarian development that show different developmental trajectories with respect to ovarian differentiation and sexual maturation. For this, reference-guided and de novo assembly pipelines were designed for studying a non-model species. To test and explore the relative advantages of the pipelines, expression of insulin superfamily genes was used. This research helps to identify genes involved in lamprey ovarian development and provides insight into evolution of the insulin superfamily in vertebrates. / May 2017

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No. of bitstreams: 1 viniciuscariusdesouza.pdf: 3785363 bytes, checksum: 7063d6c5f5cef353643903ad5f125c48 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-03 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / Lippia alba, popularmente conhecida por erva-cidreira, é uma espécie vegetal amplamente distribuída pelas Américas e encontrada praticamente em todo o território brasileiro. Esta espécie possui importante uso na medicina tradicional para o tratamento de cólicas, indigestão, náuseas, espasmos, diarreia, disenteria, doenças respiratórias, problemas hepáticos e no tratamento de sífilis e gonorreia. As folhas de L. alba, as quais são preparadas sob a forma de infusão ou decocção e ingeridas por via oral, produzem um óleo essencial rico em moléculas iso-prenóides denominadas terpenóides. Estes compostos não são apenas de interesse farmacológico, mas também industrial já que são usados na confecção de fragrâncias. A composição dos óleos essenciais pode variar em função de diferentes fatores abióticos e genotípicos, como por exemplo nível de ploidia. Neste contexto, os objetivos deste trabalho foram caracterizar o transcriptoma de folha da espécie L. alba e buscar sequencias putativas de enzimas envolvidas na produção de metabólitos secundários. O transcriptoma foi sequenciado pela plataforma Miseq (Illumina) com bibliotecas pairedend de 300 bp. O sequenciamento resultou em um total de 47.498.310 reads paired-end (23.749.155 reads para cada end sequenciado) de 35-308 bp, compreendendo 12.148.327.567 nucleotídeos (-12 Gb). A montagem de novo dos transcritos foi processada a partir do software Trinity que gerou 193.532 transcritos, sendo 128.209 unigenes, com o valor de N50 igual a 1.187 bp. Um total de 86.122 ORF (Open Read Frame) foi obtido e a seguir submetido ao algoritmo de alinhamentos BlastP, o qual encontrou 75.533 sequências com referência no banco de dados NR (Non-Redundant) de proteínas. Aproxima-damente, 78,4% dessas sequências foram anotadas funcionalmente a partir do pipeline utiliza-do pelo software Blast2GO. As análises das sequências anotadas revelaram prováveis enzimas para síntese de terpenóides como geraniol e linalol/nerolidol. Para validação da montagem e anotação, foram realizados ensaios de qPCR para amplificação de sequências de 13 genes para controles endógenos e 4 genes de terpeno sintases. Os resultados obtidos aqui corroboram outros estudos de transcriptoma de espécies não modelo usando tecnologias de sequenciamento de alto-desempenho. / Lippia alba, popularly known as erva-cidreira, is a widely distributed specie in Americas and it is found throughout Brazil. This specie has important using in popular medicine for cramp-ing, indigestion, nausea, diarrhea, dysentery, respiratory diseases, liver disorders treatment and infectious diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea. The leaves of L. alba, which are pre-pared by infusion or decoction and orally ingested, producing an essential oil rich in terpene compounds. These compounds are of pharmacological and industrial interest, due to their use in fragrance preparation. Interestingly, the composition of essential oils change according to different abiotic factors and genetic variations such as ploidy level. In this context, the aims of this work were to characterize the transcriptome of leaves of L. alba (linalool chemotype) and to search putative enzymes sequences involved in production of secondary metabolites. The transcriptome was sequenced by Miseq platform (Illumina) running pair-end libraries 300 bp. The sequencing resulted in 47,498,310 reads (23,749,155 reads for each end sequenced) of 35-308 bp, comprising 12,148,327,567 nucleotides (-12 Gb). The de novo assembly of tran-scripts was processed by Trinity software and generated 193,532 transcripts, in 128,209 uni-genes, with N50 equal to 1,187 bp. 86,122 ORFs (Open Read Frame) were obtained and sub-mitted to BlastP algorithm, finding 75,533 sequences included in NR (Non-Redundant) pro-tein database. Approximately 78.4% of these sequences were functionally annotated using Blast2Go pipeline. Analysis of annotated sequences revealed putative enzymes for synthesis of terpenoids such as geraniol and linalool/nerolidol. For assembly and annotation validation, qPCR assay were realized by amplification of 13 endogenous control genes and 4 terpene synthases genes. The results found here corroborate transcriptome studies in non-model or-ganisms using high-performance sequencing technologies.

No description available.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Phormia regina (Meigen), commonly known as the black blow fly is a dipteran that belongs to the family Calliphoridae. Calliphorids play an important role in various research fields including ecology, medical studies, veterinary and forensic sciences. P. regina, a non-model organism, is one of the most common forensically relevant insects in North America and is typically used to assist in estimating postmortem intervals (PMI). To better understand the roles P. regina plays in the numerous research fields, we re-constructed its genome using next generation sequencing technologies. The focus was on generating a reference genome through de novo assembly of high-throughput short read sequences. Following assembly, genetic markers were identified in the form of microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to aid in future population genetic surveys of P. regina. A total 530 million 100 bp paired-end reads were obtained from five pooled male and female P. regina flies using the Illumina HiSeq2000 sequencing platform. A 524 Mbp draft genome was assembled using both sexes with 11,037 predicted genes. The draft reference genome assembled from this study provides an important resource for investigating the genetic diversity that exists between and among blow fly species; and empowers the understanding of their genetic basis in terms of adaptations, population structure and evolution. The genomic tools will facilitate the analysis of genome-wide studies using modern genomic techniques to boost a refined understanding of the evolutionary processes underlying genomic evolution between blow flies and other insect species.