HGV&TB: a comprehensive online resource on human genes and genetic variants associated with tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by fastidious pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB has emerged as one of the major causes of mortality in the developing world. Role of host genetic factors that modulate disease susceptibility have not been studied widely.

Insights into structural variations and genome rearrangements in prokaryotic genomes.

Structural variations (SVs) are genomic rearrangements that affect fairly large fragments of DNA. Most of the SVs such as inversions, deletions and translocations have been largely studied in context of genetic diseases in eukaryotes. However, recent studies demonstrate that genome rearrangements can also have profound impact on prokaryotic genomes, leading to altered cell phenotype.

tbvar: A comprehensive genome variation resource for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, along with closely related species, commonly known as M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC), causes tuberculosis in humans and other organisms. Tuberculosis is a disease with high morbidity and mortality, especially in the third world.

Time for the zebrafish ENCODE.

Genomics research in recent years, especially the human ENCODE project, have made great strides in understanding the genomic and epigenomic structure and organization of humans. These advances promise a new era of precision medicine, through a better understanding of the genomic correlates of human physiology and promise to offer precise and personalized preventive and therapeutic options. The translation of genome-scale maps of genomic and epigenomic markers to clinically relevant information and further to medical practice await functional validation of the genomic features identified through these large-scale efforts.

Integration host factor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mIHF, compacts DNA by a bending mechanism.

The bacterial chromosomal DNA is folded into a compact structure called as 'nucleoid' so that the bacterial genome can be accommodated inside the cell. The shape and size of the nucleoid are determined by several factors including DNA supercoiling, macromolecular crowding and nucleoid associated proteins (NAPs). NAPs bind to different sites of the genome in sequence specific or non-sequence specific manner and play an important role in DNA compaction as well as regulation.

Systematic transcriptome wide analysis of lncRNA-miRNA interactions.

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a recently discovered class of non-protein coding RNAs, which have now increasingly been shown to be involved in a wide variety of biological processes as regulatory molecules. The functional role of many of the members of this class has been an enigma, except a few of them like Malat and HOTAIR. Little is known regarding the regulatory interactions between noncoding RNA classes.

Common variant in FUT2 gene is associated with levels of vitamin B(12) in Indian population.

Vitamin B(12) is an essential micronutrient synthesized by microorganisms. Mammals including humans have evolved ways for transport and absorption of this vitamin. Deficiency of vitamin B(12) (either due to low intake or polymorphism in genes involved in absorption and intracellular transport of this vitamin) has been associated with various complex diseases.

Computational analysis and predictive modeling of small molecule modulators of microRNA.

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small endogenously transcribed regulatory RNA which modulates gene expression at a post transcriptional level. These small RNAs have now been shown to be critical regulators in a number of biological processes in the cell including pathophysiology of diseases like cancers. The increasingly evident roles of microRNA in disease processes have also motivated attempts to target them therapeutically.

De novo identification of viral pathogens from cell culture hologenomes.

Background: Fast, specific identification and surveillance of pathogens is the cornerstone of any outbreak response system, especially in the case of emerging infectious diseases and viral epidemics. This process is generally tedious and time-consuming thus making it ineffective in traditional settings. The added complexity in these situations is the non-availability of pure isolates of pathogens as they are present as mixed genomes or hologenomes.

Predictive models for anti-tubercular molecules using machine learning on high-throughput biological screening datasets.

Background: Tuberculosis is a contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), affecting more than two billion people around the globe and is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Recent reports suggest that Mtb has been developing resistance to the widely used anti-tubercular drugs resulting in the emergence and spread of multi drug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains throughout the world. In view of this global epidemic, there is an urgent need to facilitate fast and efficient lead identification methodologies.