Publications by authors named "Russell F Watkins"
A regulatory toolbox of MiniPromoters to drive selective expression in the brain.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2010
The Pleiades Promoter Project integrates genomewide bioinformatics with large-scale knockin mouse production and histological examination of expression patterns to develop MiniPromoters and related tools designed to study and treat the brain by directed gene expression. Genes with brain expression patterns of interest are subjected to bioinformatic analysis to delineate candidate regulatory regions, which are then incorporated into a panel of compact human MiniPromoters to drive expression to brain regions and cell types of interest. Using single-copy, homologous-recombination "knockins" in embryonic stem cells, each MiniPromoter reporter is integrated immediately 5' of the Hprt locus in the mouse genome.
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- A comparative analysis of EST data from five diverse amoebozoan species sheds light on the evolution and biosynthetic abilities of this group, revealing unique genetic traits.
- The study identifies genes related to cell communication and differentiation, highlighting the genetic diversity within Amoebozoa compared to simpler comparisons between just a few species.
- The findings also underscore significant lateral gene transfer events affecting genome evolution, with variations in influence across different amoebozoan taxa.
Article Synopsis
- Lateral gene transfer (LGT) is often used to explain conflicting phylogenetic results in eukaryotes, particularly when a bacterial gene appears in a eukaryotic genome without clear mitochondrial or plastid origins.
- Research reveals that instances of lateral transfers may involve multiple distantly related eukaryotic groups sharing the same bacterial gene, complicating the perceived simplicity of such transfers.
- The findings highlight the importance of sampling in understanding gene distribution complexity, showing that what seems straightforward may actually involve intricate evolutionary histories.
Single-celled bacterivorous eukaryotes offer excellent test cases for evaluation of the frequency of prey-to-predator lateral gene transfer (LGT). Here we use analysis of expressed sequence tag (EST) data sets to quantify the extent of LGT from eubacteria to two amoebae, Acanthamoeba castellanii and Hartmannella vermiformis. Stringent screening for LGT proceeded in several steps intended to enrich for authentic events while at the same time minimizing the incidence of false positives due to factors such as limitations in database coverage and ancient paralogy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcanthamoeba castellanii is a free-living amoeba found in soil, freshwater, and marine environments and an important predator of bacteria. Acanthamoeba castellanii is also an opportunistic pathogen of clinical interest, responsible for several distinct diseases in humans. In order to provide a genomic platform for the study of this ubiquitous and important protist, we generated a sequence survey of approximately 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Only one spliceosomal-type intron has previously been identified in the unicellular eukaryotic parasite, Giardia lamblia (a diplomonad). This intron is only 35 nucleotides in length and is unusual in possessing a non-canonical 5' intron boundary sequence, CT, instead of GT.
Results: We have identified a second spliceosomal-type intron in G.