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The INSIG2 rs7566605 genetic variant does not play a major role in obesity in a sample of 24,722 individuals from four cohorts

BACKGROUND: In a genome-wide association study performed in the Framingham Offspring Cohort, individuals homozygous for the rs7566605 C allele located upstream of insulin-induced gene 2 (INSIG2) were reported to incur an increased risk of obesity. This finding was later replicated in four out of five populations examined. The goal of the study reported here was… [Read More]

Spirochaeta cellobiosiphila sp. nov., a facultatively anaerobic, marine spirochaete

A facultatively anaerobic, marine spirochaete, designated strain SIP1(T), was isolated from interstitial water from a cyanobacteria-containing microbial mat. Cells of strain SIP1(T) were 0.3-0.4×10-12 mum in size, helical with a body pitch of approximately 1.4 mum and motile by means of two to four periplasmic flagella (one, or occasionally two, being inserted near each end… [Read More]

Extensive Reorganization of the Plastid Genome of Trifolium subterraneum (Fabaceae) Is Associated with Numerous Repeated Sequences and Novel DNA Insertions

The plastid genome of Trifolium subterraneum is 144,763 bp, about 20 kb longer than those of closely related legumes, which also lost one copy of the large inverted repeat (IR). The genome has undergone extensive genomic reconfiguration, including the loss of six genes (accD, infA, rpl22, rpsl6; rpsl8, and ycfl) and two introns (clpP and… [Read More]

Association of functionally significant Melanocortin-4 but not Melanocortin-3 receptor mutations with severe adult obesity in a large North American case-control study

Functionally significant heterozygous mutations in the Melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) have been implicated in 2.5% of early onset obesity cases in European cohorts. The role of mutations in this gene in severely obese adults, particularly in smaller North American patient cohorts, has been less convincing. More recently, it has been proposed that mutations in a phylogenetically… [Read More]

Adaptations to submarine hydrothermal environments exemplified by the genome of Nautilia profundicola

Submarine hydrothermal vents are model systems for the Archaean Earth environment, and some sites maintain conditions that may have favored the formation and evolution of cellular life. Vents are typified by rapid fluctuations in temperature and redox potential that impose a strong selective pressure on resident microbial communities. Nautilia profundicola strain Am-H is a moderately… [Read More]

AmiGO: online access to ontology and annotation data

AmiGO is a web application that allows users to query, browse and visualize ontologies and related gene product annotation (association) data. AmiGO can be used online at the Gene Ontology (GO) website to access the data provided by the GO Consortium; it can also be downloaded and installed to browse local ontologies and annotations. AmiGO… [Read More]

Environmental genomics reveals a single-species ecosystem deep within earth

DNA from low-biodiversity fracture water collected at 2.8-kilometer depth in a South African gold mine was sequenced and assembled into a single, complete genome. This bacterium, Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator, composes > 99.9% of the microorganisms inhabiting the fluid phase of this particular fracture. Its genome indicates a motile, sporulating, sulfate-reducing, chemoautotrophic thermophile that can fix… [Read More]

Complete genome sequence of Thermanaerovibrio acidaminovorans type strain (Su883(T))

Thermanaerovibrio acidaminovorans (Guangsheng et al. 1997) Baena et al. 1999 is the type species of the genus Thermanaerovibrio and is of phylogenetic interest because of the very isolated location of the novel phylum Synergistetes. T. acidaminovorans Su883(T) is a Gram-negative, motile, non-spore-forming bacterium isolated from an anaerobic reactor of a sugar refinery in The Netherlands…. [Read More]

Comparative genomics reveals mechanism for short-term and long-term clonal transitions in pandemic Vibrio cholerae

Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, is a bacterium autochthonous to the aquatic environment, and a serious public health threat. V. cholerae serogroup O1 is responsible for the previous two cholera pandemics, in which classical and El Tor biotypes were dominant in the sixth and the current seventh pandemics, respectively. Cholera researchers continually face… [Read More]