Orientador: Maricilda Palandi de Mello / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Insituto de Campinas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-13T00:56:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Coeli_FernandaBorchers_D.pdf: 7777269 bytes, checksum: 053a66d2bc3df6ad0d5de7c2038f3246 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: A hiperplasia congênita da adrenal é causada pela deficiência de uma das cinco enzimas responsáveis pela síntese do cortisol na esteroidogênese, sendo que mais de 90% dos casos ocorrem devido à deficiência de 21-hidroxilase (21-OH). O genoma haplóide humano possui duas cópias em tandem do gene que codifica para a 21-OH, denominados CYP21A2 e o CYP21A1P. Embora as duas cópias, CYP21A1P e CYP21A2, tenham aproximadamente 98% de homologia, CYP21A1P é classificado como um pseudogene, devido a algumas alterações deletérias em sua seqüência. Foram mapeados no braço curto do cromossomo 6, assim como os genes RP, C4 e TNX também duplicados em tandem. Este loco é denominado modulo RCCX, onde cada letra representa um gene. Uma conseqüência esperada deste tipo de organização é que esta favorece eventos de crossingover desigual, produzindo cromátides irmãs assimétricas e pares de gametas com um número variável de unidades completas. O crossover desigual não gera somente um tipo definido de deleção (alelos monomodulares), de duplicação (alelo trimodular) ou de conversão (alelo bimodular), mas pode, dependendo da sua exata localização, produzir um grande número de alelos diferentes, com significados funcionais variáveis. O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a variabilidade dos genes híbridos CYP21A21P/CYP21A2 quanto à região de recombinação nos alelos monomodulares, bimodulares e trimodulares de indivíduos com deficiência de 21- hidroxilase. Foram incluídos 55 pacientes com deficiência de 21 - hidroxilase, que foram avaliados por Southern blot, Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA), PCR - Alelo especifico (ASO-PCR) e seqüenciamento. Na triagem por Southern blot foram identificados 26 alelos mono-, 26 bi- e 5 trimodulares com prováveis genes híbridos. Foi identificado um alelo monomodular novo portador da variante C4A [6,4 kb] que se mostrou único inclusive quanto à formação híbrida CYP21A21P/CYP21A2. Com a técnica de MLPA foi possível mapear três regiões principais de recombinação dos genes híbridos CYP21A21P/CYP21A2 nas três configurações alélicas. Além disso, foram identificados possíveis híbridos dos genes C4A e B, tanto nas configurações mono quanto nas bimodulares. Assim, ficaram definidos 5 haplótipos monomodulares, 7 bimodulares e 3 trimodulares. As técnicas de ASO-PCR e sequenciamento para análise dos híbridos CYP21A21P/CYP21A2 e dos CYP21A21P nos alelos bi e trimodulares refinaram a caracterização subdividindo estes haplótipos em 10 mono, 15 bi e 5 trimodulares. Dado o alto grau de variabilidade encontrado não foi possível se identificar efeito fundador de nenhum haplótipo específico para a deficiência de 21-hidroxilase. Por outro lado, um haplótipo novo correspondendo a cerca de 15% dos monomodulares foi caracterizado como portador das mutações p.P34L e p.H62L e um haplótipo igualmente não descrito portador da p.H62L foi encontrado entre os bimodulares. SNPs no terminal 5'UTR, no íntron 2 e no éxon 7 responderam pela diferenciação principal entre os híbridos tanto nos haplótipos de mesmo grupo como na comparação entre os de grupos diferentes. Este trabalho indica que a combinação de quatro técnicas e o estudo de segregação nas famílias foram fundamentais para o esclarecimento dos genótipos dos pacientes. Os genes híbridos podem estar relacionados às formas clínicas perdedora de sal, não perdedora de sal e não clássica dependendo da região onde ocorre a recombinação para sua formação. / Abstract: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is caused by deficiency of one of the five enzymes responsible for cortisol synthesis in the steroidogenesis. More than 90% of the cases occur due to deficiency of 21-hidroxilase (21-OH). The haploid human genome bears two copies in tandem of 21-OH coding gene, CYP21A2 and CYP21A1P. Although the two copies are approximately 98% homologous, CYP21A1P is a pseudogene, due to some deleterious mutations. They map to the short arm of chromosome 6, as well as RP, C4 and TNX genes which are also duplicated in tandem. This locus is called RCCX module, each letter representing one gene. An expected consequence of such organization is that it favors events of unequal crossing-overs, producing pairs of gametes with different number of complete units. The aim of this investigation was to estimate the variability of CYP21A21P/CYP21A2 chimeric genes based on the region of recombination in the monomodular, bimodular and trimodular alleles in patients with 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Fifty-five patients were included for Southern blot, Multiplex ligationdependent probe amplification (MLPA), Allele-specific PCR (ASO-PCR) and sequencing analyses. Southern blot identified alleles which were: mono (n = 26), bi (n = 26) and trimodular (n = 5) with chimeric genes. A novel monomodular allele was identified that carry C4A [6,4 kb] variant and also bore an unique CYP21A21P/CYP21A2 formation. MLPA technique mapped three main recombination regions in CYP21A21P/CYP21A2 chimerical genes in the three RCCX configurations. Moreover, it indicated possible chimeric C4A and B genes in both mono- and bimodular configurations. Therefore, five mono-, seven bi- and three trimodular haplotypes had been defined. Both ASO-PCR and sequencing techniques for CYP21A21P/CYP21A2 and CYP21A21P analysis had refined the characterization subdividing these haplotypes in ten mono-, fifteen bi- and five trimodular. Considering the high degree of variability observed it was not possible to identify a founder effect of any specific haplotype for the deficiency of 21-hidroxilase. Conversely, a novel haplotype corresponding to about 15% of the monomodular alleles was characterized as carrying the mutations p.P34L and p.H62L and, similarly one haplotype carrying the p.H62L was found among bimodular alleles. SNPs in the 5 ' UTR, intron 2 and exon 7 were responsible for the main differentiation among chimerical genes within a group as well as upon comparison between different groups. The results presented here indicate that the combination of four different techniques and the study of segregation in the families had been essential for defining the genotypes of the patients. It is also shown that CYP21A21P/CYP21A2 chimeric genes can be related to different clinical forms: salt losing, non-salt losing and non-classical depending on the region where the recombination for its formation occurs. / Doutorado / Genetica Animal e Evolução / Doutor em Genetica e Biologia Molecular

Orientadores: Wanderley Dias da Silveira, Marcelo Brocchi / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T05:13:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paiva_JacquelineBoldrinde_D.pdf: 5619127 bytes, checksum: 79177e4233fdbb891e6530eb0f3438bd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Escherichia coli patogênica para aves (APEC) é responsável por inúmeras perdas no setor avícola mundial, por causar uma série de doenças nas aves que se apresentam de forma sistêmica ou localizada as quais são, coletivamente, denominadas colibacilose. Os mecanismos de virulência destas linhagens patogênicas para aves e, possivelmente, patogênicas para seres humanos ainda não foram totalmente elucidados. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido com o intuito de estudar genes possivelmente envolvidos com a patogenicidade de uma linhagem APEC causadora de Síndrome da Cabeça Inchada (SCI-07) ONT:H31, a partir de resultados obtidos em um microarranjo realizado in vitro, o qual comparou a linhagem em estudo à linhagem padrão E. coli EHEC 8624 (linhagem enterohemorrágica). Nove genes, detectados como sendo super-expressos no microarranjo, nas condições estudadas, foram selecionados para construção de mutantes nulos e de seus complementos [feoA (transporte de ferro), nirC (transportador de nitrito), flgE ( gancho flagelar), tyrR (regulador de transcrição da síntese de aminoácidos aromáticos), potF (subunidade periplasmática do transportador putrescina), yehD (possível fimbria), bfr (bacterioferrina), csgA ( subunidade principal da curlina) e entD (enteroquelina)]. Os mutantes construídos foram avaliados quanto as suas capacidades de adesão e invasão em cultivos celulares, e quanto ao seu potencial patogênico em aves de um dia de idade em comparação à cepa selvagem. As linhagens ?bfr, ?csgA e ?nirC apresentaram diminuição da capacidade de adesão em fibroblastos de aves (linhagem FEG) em comparação à linhagem selvagem em ambos os modelos adotados: na presença e ausência de alpha-D-mannopyranoside; a linhagem ?potF apresentou diminuição da adesão apenas na ausência de alpha-D-mannopyranoside. Os mutantes ?csgA e ?tyrR apresentaram redução na capacidade de invadir linhagem de células de trato respiratório humano (linhagem Hep-2). Nenhum mutante avaliado mostrou alteração na capacidade de invadir fibroblastos de aves (linhagem CEC-32). Os mutantes ?flgE e ?tyrR mostraram diminuição na capacidade de invadir e sobreviver em macrófagos de aves (linhagem HD11). A motilidade das linhagens mutantes ?csgA, ?bfr, ?yehD, ?potF, ?entD, ?nirC e ?feoA foi aumentada enquanto o mutante ?tyrR mostrou redução de motilidade e o mutante ?flgE tornou-se imóvel. Nenhuma linhagem mutante obtida mostrou a mesma capacidade da linhagem selvagem em causar mortalidade em aves de um dia; ?feoA tornou-se hipervirulenta e todos os demais mutantes apresentaram atenuação em diferentes graus, sendo a linhagem ?entD totalmente atenuada e, portanto, promissora quanto ao seu uso como linhagem vacinal.para o combate à colibacilose em aves, ou como linhagem carreadoras de epítopos presentes em outras linhagens APEC / Abstract: Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is responsible for significant economic loses in the poultry industry worldwide, by cause a range of systemic or localized diseases in poultry collectively termed colibacillosis. The virulence mechanisms of these pathogenic strains for poultry and possibly pathogenic for humans have not been fully elucidated. This work was developed in order to study genes potentially involved in the pathogenicity of an APEC strain isolated from a Swollen Head Syndrome case (SCI- 07) ONT:H31; since the results obtained in a microarray performed in vitro, which compared the SCI-07 strain to the standard strain E. coli 8624 EHEC (enterohemorrhagic strain). Nine overexpressed genes in microarray under the conditions studied were selected for construction of null mutants and their complements [feoA (iron transport), nirC (nitrite transporter), flgE (flagellar hook), tyrR (transcriptional regulator of the aromatic amino acids biosynthesis), potF (periplasmic putrescine transporter subunit), yehD (putative adhesin), bfr (bacterioferritin), csgA (major curling subunit) and entD (enterochelin)]. The mutants constructed were evaluated for their capacity for adhesion and invasion in cell cultures, and for its pathogenic potential in one-day-old chickens in comparison to the wild type strain (WT). The ?bfr, ?csgA and ?nirC strains showed decreased adhesion capacity on avian fibroblasts (CEF cells) compared to the WT in both models adopted: in the presence and absence of alpha-D-mannopyranoside, the ?potF strain showed decrease on adhesion only in the absence of alpha-D-mannopyranoside. The ?csgA and ?tyrR mutants had reduced ability to invade human larynx cell line (Hep-2 cells). No mutant showed changes in the capacity of invade avian fibroblasts birds (CEC-32cells). The ?flgE and ?tyrR mutants showed decreased ability to invade and survive into avian macrophages (HD11 cells). The motility of mutant strains ?csgA, ?bfr, ?yehD, ?potF, ?entD, ?nirC and ?feoA was increased while the ?tyrR mutant showed reduced motility and the mutant ?flgE became nonmotile. No mutant strain showed the same capacity of the WT in cause mortality in one-day-old chickes; ?feoA became hipervirulenta and all other mutants showed attenuation in different degrees, including the ?entD that was completely attenuated and a promising vaccine candidate strain to combat colibacillosis in poultry, or as a carrier strain of epitopes present in other APEC strains / Doutorado / Genetica de Microorganismos / Doutora em Genética e Biologia Molecular

Orientador: Marcelo Brocchi / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T20:40:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ota_MeirePriscilla_M.pdf: 2076382 bytes, checksum: 656fb21011c6e51639a88741d801237c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: S. enterica provoca desde enterocolítes até infecções sistêmicas sendo S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- (flagelar monofásica) responsável por diversos surtos de salmonelose em diversas partes do mundo. Sua incidência tem aumentado consideravelmente nas últimas décadas e ela é caracterizada pela ausência da variação de fase flagelar, processo no qual dois tipos de flagelinas são expressos. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar a estabilidade do operon fljBA, responsável pela variação de fase flagelar, sob diferentes condições de cultivo. Para isso, o gene cat (resistência ao cloranfenicol) foi inserido próximo ao operon fljBA em linhagens de S. enterica Typhimurium uma vez que este sorovar deu origem a S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- por deleção de fljBA. A estabilidade do operon foi verificada in vitro e in vivo e após tratamento da cultura com mitomicina C, antibiótico indutor de profagos. Este último tratamento foi utilizado em virtude da presença do fago Fels-2 próximo ao operon fljBA, uma vez que dados da literatura sugerem que a deleção do operon foi em decorrência da excisão/recombinação imprecisa de profagos. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que a deleção do operon parece ser um evento raro, dado que em nenhuma condição testada houve a reversão da resistência frente ao cloranfenicol. Essas observações abrem discussões sobre a essencialidade da variação de fase flagelar na patogenicidade de S. enterica. É possível que os clones que deram origem a S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- apresentem características genotípicas e fenotípicas compensatórias a perda de variação de fase. Ainda neste trabalho a ausência dos genes fljA e fljB foram confirmadas em amostras clínicas de S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- isoladas no Brasil, mas a análise de isolados provenientes de granjas sugerem a existência de um novo padrão de deleção do operon fljBA, dados estes que precisam ser melhor investigados. Além disso, foi desenvolvida uma reação de PCR-Duplex para detecção de S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- (Clone Americano) e diferenciação deste de outros sorovares, particularmente Typhimurium. Este PCR se mostrou eficiente na identificação e diferenciação de S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- (clone Americano) podendo ser utilizado como técnica complementar as técnicas tradicionais de sorotipagem, visto ser um método rápido, preciso e acurado. Os testes sorológicos são laboriosos e devido ao fato do flagelo de fase II nem sempre ser expresso, amostras do sorovar Typhimurium podem ser erroneamente identificadas como S. enterica I 4,5,12:i: / Abstract: S. enterica causes from enterocolitis to systemic infections with S. enterica serovar I 4,5,12:i:- (monophasic flagelar) responsible for multiple salmonellosis outbreaks worldwide. Its incidence increased considerable in recent years and it is characterized by absence of flagellar phase variation, a process in which normally two flagellins are expressed. This work aimed to study the instability of fljBA operon, responsible for flagellar phase variation under different conditions growth. For this goal, cat gene (resistant for chloramphenicol) was inserted next to fljBA operon in S. enterica Typhimurium strains once this serovar originated S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- by fljBA deletion. Stability of operon was verified "in vitro", "in vivo" and culture treatment with Mitomycin C, prophages antibiotic inductor. This last treatment was used due the presence of Fels-2 prophage next to fljBA operon since previous works suggest that the deletion of operon is a result of imprecise excision/recombination of prophages. Results from this work suggest that the deletion of operon appear to be a rare event, since in none of condition tested were observed reversion of resistance mark to chloramphenicol. This observation leads to discussions about the essentiality of flagellar phase variation in pathogenicity of S. enterica. It is possible that clones whom originated S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- presented compensatory genotypic and phenotypic features to the loss of phase variation. Absence of fljA and fljB genes was confirmed in clinic samples of S. enterica serovar I 4,5,12:i:- isolated in Brazil, but poultry samples suggest the presence of a new deletion pattern of fljBA operon, data that needs to be better investigated. Furthermore a Duplex-PCR were designed aiming S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- (American Clone) and differentiation of it along others serovars, specially Typhimurium. This PCR showed efficient to identification and differentiation of S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- (American Clone) technique that can be used as a complementary assay to traditional serotyping, since it is a fast, precise and accurate test. Serological tests are laborious and due phase flagellar II not always be expressed, samples of serovar Typhimurium can be misidentified as S. enterica I 4,5,12:i:- / Mestrado / Clinica Medica / Mestra em Clínica Médica

No / The molecular identity of ion channels which confer PCO(2)/pH sensitivity in the brain is unclear. Heteromeric Kir4.1/Kir5.1 channels are highly sensitive to inhibition by intracellular pH and are widely expressed in several brainstem nuclei involved in cardiorespiratory control, including the locus coeruleus. This has therefore led to a proposed role for these channels in neuronal CO(2) chemosensitivity. To examine this, we generated mutant mice lacking the Kir5.1 (Kcnj16) gene. We show that although locus coeruleus neurons from Kcnj16((+/+)) mice rapidly respond to cytoplasmic alkalinization and acidification, those from Kcnj16((-/-)) mice display a dramatically reduced and delayed response. These results identify Kir5.1 as an important determinant of PCO(2)/pH sensitivity in locus coeruleus neurons and suggest that Kir5.1 may be involved in the response to hypercapnic acidosis.

No / BACKGROUND: The tumor suppressors p14(ARF) (ARF) and p16(INK4A) (p16) are encoded by overlapping reading frames at the CDKN2A/INK4A locus on chromosome 9p21. In human melanoma, the accumulated evidence has suggested that the predominant tumor suppressor at 9p21 is p16, not ARF. However, recent observations from melanoma-prone families and murine melanoma models suggest a p16-independent tumor suppressor role for ARF. We analyzed a group of melanoma metastases and cell lines to investigate directly whether somatic alterations to the ARF gene support its role as a p16-independent tumor suppressor in human melanoma, assuming that two alterations (genetic and/or epigenetic) would be required to inactivate a gene. METHODS: We examined the p16/ARF locus in 60 melanoma metastases from 58 patients and in 9 human melanoma cell lines using multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect deletions, methylation-specific PCR to detect promoter methylation, direct sequencing to detect mutations affecting ARF and p16, and, in a subset of 20 tumors, immunohistochemistry to determine the effect of these alterations on p16 protein expression. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: We observed two or more alterations to the ARF gene in 26/60 (43%) metastases. The p16 gene sustained two or more alterations in 13/60 (22%) metastases (P = .03). Inactivation of ARF in the presence of wild-type p16 was seen in 18/60 (30%) metastases. CONCLUSION: Genetic and epigenetic analyses of the human 9p21 locus indicate that modifications of ARF occur independently of p16 inactivation in human melanoma and suggest that ARF is more frequently inactivated than p16.

No / The Rho family GTPases Cdc42 and Rac1 are critical regulators of the actin cytoskeleton and are essential for skin and hair function. Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome family proteins act downstream of these GTPases, controlling actin assembly and cytoskeletal reorganization, but their role in epithelial cells has not been characterized in vivo. Here, we used a conditional knockout approach to assess the role of neural Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (N-WASP), the ubiquitously expressed Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome-like (WASL) protein, in mouse skin. We found that N-WASP deficiency in mouse skin led to severe alopecia, epidermal hyperproliferation, and ulceration, without obvious effects on epidermal differentiation and wound healing. Further analysis revealed that the observed alopecia was likely the result of a progressive and ultimately nearly complete block in hair follicle (HF) cycling by 5 months of age. N-WASP deficiency also led to abnormal proliferation of skin progenitor cells, resulting in their depletion over time. Furthermore, N-WASP deficiency in vitro and in vivo correlated with decreased GSK-3beta phosphorylation, decreased nuclear localization of beta-catenin in follicular keratinocytes, and decreased Wnt-dependent transcription. Our results indicate a critical role for N-WASP in skin function and HF cycling and identify a link between N-WASP and Wnt signaling. We therefore propose that N-WASP acts as a positive regulator of beta-catenin-dependent transcription, modulating differentiation of HF progenitor cells.

A síndrome de Li-Fraumeni (LFS) e sua variante like (LFL) são associadas a mutações germinativas no gene TP53 e predispõe ao alto risco para múltiplos tumores em idade jovem. Analisamos 91 famílias LFS/LFL do sul/sudeste do Brasil para mutações germinativas e haplótipos de TP53 (PIN2, PIN3 e PEX4) e MDM2 (309T-G). A mutação R337H ocorreu em 44,4% das famílias avaliadas. Em 750 controles da região a freqüência populacional da mutação foi 0,3%. A genotipagem de oito indivíduos não relacionados R337H-positivos para 29 TAG SNPs intragênicos demonstrou o mesmo haplótipo raro estabelecendo efeito fundador para R337H. O alelo duplicado no PIN3 apresenta impacto modificador e retardo de 17,1 anos na ocorrência de tumores em famílias com mutação no TP53, enquanto o SNP309 MDM2 modula a idade dos sarcomas de partes moles. / Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) and its variant like (LFL) are associated with germline mutations in the TP53 gene and predispose to a variety of cancers at an earlier age. We analyzed 91 LFS/LFL families from southern Brazil for germline mutations in TP53 and polymorphisms in TP53 (PIN2, PIN3, PEX4) and MDM2 (309T-G). The germline TP53 mutation R337H was found in 44.4% of all families included. In 750 controls from the same region, mutation prevalence was 0.3%. Genotyping of eight unrelated R337H-positive individuals for 29 intragenic TAG SNPs showed that they all shared the same rare haplotype confirming the founder effect for the mutation. Duplication of PIN3 had a modifier effect on the age of tumor onset (delay of 17.1 years) in TP53 mutation carriers whereas MDM2 SNP309 modulated age of onset for soft-tissue sarcomas.

A síndrome de Li-Fraumeni (LFS) e sua variante like (LFL) são associadas a mutações germinativas no gene TP53 e predispõe ao alto risco para múltiplos tumores em idade jovem. Analisamos 91 famílias LFS/LFL do sul/sudeste do Brasil para mutações germinativas e haplótipos de TP53 (PIN2, PIN3 e PEX4) e MDM2 (309T-G). A mutação R337H ocorreu em 44,4% das famílias avaliadas. Em 750 controles da região a freqüência populacional da mutação foi 0,3%. A genotipagem de oito indivíduos não relacionados R337H-positivos para 29 TAG SNPs intragênicos demonstrou o mesmo haplótipo raro estabelecendo efeito fundador para R337H. O alelo duplicado no PIN3 apresenta impacto modificador e retardo de 17,1 anos na ocorrência de tumores em famílias com mutação no TP53, enquanto o SNP309 MDM2 modula a idade dos sarcomas de partes moles. / Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) and its variant like (LFL) are associated with germline mutations in the TP53 gene and predispose to a variety of cancers at an earlier age. We analyzed 91 LFS/LFL families from southern Brazil for germline mutations in TP53 and polymorphisms in TP53 (PIN2, PIN3, PEX4) and MDM2 (309T-G). The germline TP53 mutation R337H was found in 44.4% of all families included. In 750 controls from the same region, mutation prevalence was 0.3%. Genotyping of eight unrelated R337H-positive individuals for 29 intragenic TAG SNPs showed that they all shared the same rare haplotype confirming the founder effect for the mutation. Duplication of PIN3 had a modifier effect on the age of tumor onset (delay of 17.1 years) in TP53 mutation carriers whereas MDM2 SNP309 modulated age of onset for soft-tissue sarcomas.

The development of new high throughput technologies able to multiplex disease biomarkers as well as advances in medical treatments has lead to the recent expansion of the newborn screening panel to include DNA-based targets. Four rare disorders; deletion 22q11.2 syndrome and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) and Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV), are potential candidates for inclusion to the newborn screening panel within the next few years. The major focus of this study was to determine whether 5’-hydrolysis assays developed for the four distinct disorders with specific detection needs and analytical ranges could be combined on the OpenArray system and in multiplexed qPCR reactions. SNP detection of homozygous SMN1 deletions in SMA, CNV detection in the 22q11.2 critical region, and quantification of the SCID biomarker, T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) and CMV were all required for disease confirmation. SMA and 22q11.2 gene deletions were accurately detected using the OpenArray system, a first for the technology. The medium density deletion 22q11.2 multiplex successfully identified deletion carriers having either the larger 3 Mb deletion or the smaller 1.5 Mb deletions. Both TREC and CMV targets were detected but with a decrease in sensitivity when compared to their singleplex counterparts. Lastly, copy number detection of the TBX1 was performed when multiplexed with the TREC assay, without a decrease in detection limit of either assay. Here, we provide proof of principal that qPCR multiplexing technologies are amenable to implementation with a newborn screening laboratory.

The proven ability to ferment Saccharomyces cerevisiae on a large scale presents an attractive target for producing chemicals and fuels from sustainable sources. Efficient and predominant carbon flux through to ethanol is a significant engineering issue in the development of this yeast as a multi-product cell chassis used in biorefineries. In order to evaluate diversion of carbon flux away from ethanol, combinatorial deletions were investigated in genes encoding the six isozymes of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), which catalyse the terminal step in ethanol production. The scarless, dominant and counter- selectable amdSYM gene deletion method was optimised for generation of a combinatorial ADH knockout library in an industrially relevant strain of S. cerevisiae. Current understanding of the individual ADH genes fails to fully evaluate genotype-by-genotype and genotype-by-environment interactions: rather, further research of such a complex biological process requires a multivariate mathematical modelling approach. Application of such an approach using the Design of Experiments (DoE) methodology is appraised here as essential for detailed empirical evaluation of complex systems. DoE provided empirical evidence that in S. cerevisiae: i) the ADH2 gene is not associated with producing ethanol under anaerobic culture conditions in combination with 25 g l-1 glucose substrate concentrations; ii) ADH4 is associated with increased ethanol production when the cell is confronted with a zinc-limited [1 μM] environment; and iii) ADH5 is linked with the production of ethanol, predominantly at pH 4.5. A successful metabolic engineering strategy is detailed which increases the product portfolio of S. cerevisiae, currently used for large-scale production of bioethanol. Heterologous expression of the cytochrome P450 fatty acid peroxygenase from Jeotgalicoccus sp., OleTJE, fused to the RhFRED reductase from Rhodococcus sp. NCIMB 978 converted free fatty acid precursors to C13, C15 and C17 alkenes (3.81 ng μl-1 total alkene concentration).