Anchor polymerase chain reaction display: a high-throughput method to resolve, score, and isolate dimorphic genetic markers based on interspersed repetitive DNA elements

PRISE2: software for designing sequence-selective PCR primers and probes

BACKGROUND

PRISE2 is a new software tool for designing sequence-selective PCR primers and probes. To achieve high level of selectivity, PRISE2 allows the user to specify a collection of target sequences that the primers are supposed to amplify, as well as non-target sequences that should not be amplified. The program emphasizes primer selectivity on the 3' end, which is crucial for selective amplification of conserved sequences such as rRNA genes. In PRISE2, users can specify desired properties of primers, including length, GC content, and others. They can interactively manipulate the list of candidate primers, to choose primer pairs that are best suited for their needs. A similar process is used to add probes to selected primer pairs. More advanced features include, for example, the capability to define a custom mismatch penalty function. PRISE2 is equipped with a graphical, user-friendly interface, and it runs on Windows, Macintosh or Linux machines.

RESULTS

PRISE2 has been tested on two very similar strains of the fungus Dactylella oviparasitica, and it was able to create highly selective primers and probes for each of them, demonstrating the ability to create useful sequence-selective assays.

CONCLUSIONS

PRISE2 is a user-friendly, interactive software package that can be used to design high-quality selective primers for PCR experiments. In addition to choosing primers, users have an option to add a probe to any selected primer pair, enabling design of Taqman and other primer-probe based assays. PRISE2 can also be used to design probes for FISH and other hybridization-based assays.

Caenorhabditis elegans as a platform for molecular quantitative genetics and the systems biology of natural variation

Over the past 30 years, the characteristics that have made the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans one of the premier animal model systems have also allowed it to emerge as a powerful model system for determining the genetic basis of quantitative traits, particularly for the identification of naturally segregating and/or lab-adapted alleles with large phenotypic effects. To better understand the genetic underpinnings of natural variation in other complex phenotypes, C. elegans is uniquely poised in the emerging field of quantitative systems biology because of the extensive knowledge of cellular and neural bases to such traits. However, perturbations in standing genetic variation and patterns of linkage disequilibrium among loci are likely to limit our ability to tie understanding of molecular function to a broader evolutionary context. Coupling the experimental strengths of the C. elegans system with the ecological advantages of closely related nematodes should provide a powerful means of understanding both the molecular and evolutionary genetics of quantitative traits.

PRISE (PRImer SElector): software for designing sequence-selective PCR primers

This report presents PRImer Selector (PRISE), a new software package that implements several features that improve and streamline the design of sequence-selective PCR primers. The PRISE design process involves two main steps. In the first step, target and non-target DNA sequences are identified. In the second step, primers are designed to amplify target (but not non-target) sequences. One important feature of PRISE is that it automates the task of placing primer-template mismatches at the 3' end of the primers - a property that is crucial for sequence selectivity. Once a list of candidate primers has been produced, sorting tools in PRISE speed up the selection process by allowing a user to sort the primers by properties such as amplicon length, GC content and sequence selectivity. PRISE can be used to design primers with a range of specificities, targeting individual sequences as well as diverse assemblages of genes. PRISE also allows user-defined primers to be analyzed, enabling their properties to be examined in relation to target and non-target sequences. The utility of PRISE was demonstrated by using it to design sequence-selective PCR primers for an rRNA gene from the fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia.

Quantitative trait loci define genes and pathways underlying genetic variation in longevity

Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping provides a means to discover and roughly position regions of the genome that harbor genes responsible for natural variation in a complex trait. QTL mapping has been utilized extensively in the pursuit of genes contributing to longevity, chiefly in two animal models, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the dipteran insect Drosophila melanogaster. Research on both species has demonstrated that a relatively small set of loci accounts for most of their genetic variance in lifespan. QTL mapping complements the discovery of longevity genes by mutagenesis screens, because the two procedures are predicted to unveil overlapping but distinct types of genes. We argue that information gained from animal models, even invertebrates, can greatly facilitate the process of gene identification and testing of homologous genes in humans.

Molecular marker systems in insects: current trends and future avenues

Insects comprise the largest species composition in the entire animal kingdom and possess a vast undiscovered genetic diversity and gene pool that can be better explored using molecular marker techniques. Current trends of application of DNA marker techniques in diverse domains of insect ecological studies show that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), microsatellites, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), expressed sequence tags (EST) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers have contributed significantly for progresses towards understanding genetic basis of insect diversity and for mapping medically and agriculturally important genes and quantitative trait loci in insect pests. Apart from these popular marker systems, other novel approaches including transposon display, sequence-specific amplification polymorphism (S-SAP), repeat-associated polymerase chain reaction (PCR) markers have been identified as alternate marker systems in insect studies. Besides, whole genome microarray and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assays are becoming more popular to screen genome-wide polymorphisms in fast and cost effective manner. However, use of such methodologies has not gained widespread popularity in entomological studies. The current study highlights the recent trends of applications of molecular markers in insect studies and explores the technological advancements in molecular marker tools and modern high throughput genotyping methodologies that may be applied in entomological researches for better understanding of insect ecology at molecular level.

Genetic loci modulating fitness and life span in Caenorhabditis elegans: categorical trait interval mapping in CL2a x Bergerac-BO recombinant-inbred worms

Quantitative trait loci (QTL) can implicate an unbiased sampling of genes underlying a complex, polygenic phenotype. QTL affecting longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans were mapped using a CL2a x Bergerac-BO recombinant-inbred population. Genotypes were compared at 30 transposon-specific markers for two paired sample sets totaling 171 young controls and 172 longevity-selected worms (the last-surviving 1%) from a synchronously aged population. A third sample set, totaling 161 worms from an independent culture, was analyzed for confirmation of loci. At least six highly significant QTL affecting life span were detected both by single-marker (chi(2)) analysis and by two interval-mapping procedures--one intended for nonparametric traits and another developed specifically for mapping of categorical traits. These life-span QTL were located on chromosomes I (near the hP4 locus), III (near stP127), IV (near stP44), V (a cluster of three peaks, near stP192, stP23, and stP6), and X (two distinct peaks, near stP129 and stP2). Epistatic effects on longevity were also analyzed by Fisher's exact test, which indicated a significant life-span interaction between markers on chromosomes V (stP128) and III (stP127). Several further interactions were significant in the initial unselected population; two of these, between distal loci on chromosome V, were completely eliminated in the long-lived subset. Allelic longevity effects for two QTL, on chromosomes IV and V, were confirmed in backcrossed congenic lines and were highly significant in two very different environments-growth on solid agar medium and in liquid suspension culture.

Genetic mapping of quantitative trait loci governing longevity of Caenorhabditis elegans in recombinant-inbred progeny of a Bergerac-BO x RC301 interstrain cross

Recombinant-inbred populations, generated from a cross between Caenorhabditis elegans strains Bergerac-BO and RC301, were used to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting nematode longevity. Genotypes of young controls and longevity-selected worms (the last-surviving 1% from a synchronously aged population) were assessed at dimorphic transposon-specific markers by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. The power of genetic mapping was enhanced, in a novel experimental design, through map expansion by accrual of recombinations over several generations, internally controlled longevity selection from a genetically heterogeneous, homozygous population, and selective genotyping of extremely long-lived worms. Analysis of individual markers indicated seven life-span QTL, situated near markers on chromosomes I (tcbn2), III (stP127), IV (stP13), V (stP6, stP23, and stP128), and X (stP41). These loci were corroborated, and mapped with increased precision, by nonparametric interval mapping-which supported all loci implicated by single-marker analysis. In addition, a life-span QTL on chromosome II (stP100-stP196), was significant only by interval mapping. Congenic lines were constructed for the longevity QTL on chromosomes III and X, by backcrossing the Bergerac-BO QTL allele into an RC301 background with selection for flanking markers. Survival data for these lines demonstrated consistent and significant effects of each QTL on life span.