Nucleic acid and protein sequence analysis: a practical approach

Book reviewed in this article:G. G. B. Klaus (ed): Lymphocytes: A Practical Approach.C. Horvath (ed): High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography—Advances and Perspectives, Vol. 4.F. W. Doane and N. Anderson: Electron Microscopy in Diagnostic Virology. A Practical Guide and Atlas.N. R. Rose, H. Friedman and J. L. Fahey (eds): Manual of Clinical Immunology, 3rd edn.M. J. Bishop and C. J. Rawlings (eds): Nucleic Acid and Protein Sequence Analysis: A Practical Approach.

Nucleic acid and protein sequence analysis: A practical approach: edited by M. J. Bishop and C. J. Rawlings, IRL Press, 1987. £30/$54 hbk, £19/$34 pbk (xviii + 417 pages) ISBN 1 85221 006 0

The enhanced graphic matrix procedure analyzes nucleic acid and amino acid sequences for features of possible biological interest and reveals the spatial patterns of such features. When a sequence is compared to itself the technique shows regions of self-complementarity, direct repeats, and palindromic subsequences. Comparison of two different sequences, exemplified by immunoglobulin kappa light chain genes, by using colored graphic matrices showed domains of similarity, regions of divergence, and features explainable by transpositions. Analysis of mouse constant domain immunoglobulin sequences revealed self-complementary regions that can be used to fold the molecule into a structure consistent with electron microscopic observations. Computer translation of nucleic acid sequences into all possible amino acid sequences followed by graphic matrix analysis provides a way to detect the most likely protein encoding regions and can predict the correct reading frames in sequences in which splicing patterns are not defined. Application of this technique to regions of simian virus 40 and polyoma virus demonstrates the frames of translation and shows the agreement of sequences determined in separate laboratories with different virus isolates. The graphic matrix technique can also be used to assemble fragmentary sequences during determination, to display local variations in base composition, to detect distant evolutionary relationships, and to display intragenic variation in rates of evolution.

The World Wide Web server of the PBIL (Pôle Bioinformatique Lyonnais) provides on-line access to sequence databanks and to many tools of nucleic acid and protein sequence analyses. This server allows to query nucleotide sequence banks in the EMBL and GenBank formats and protein sequence banks in the SWISS-PROT and PIR formats. The query engine on which our data bank access is based is the ACNUC system. It allows the possibility to build complex queries to access functional zones of biological interest and to retrieve large sequence sets. Of special interest are the unique features provided by this system to query the data banks of gene families developed at the PBIL. The server also provides access to a wide range of sequence analysis methods: similarity search programs, multiple alignments, protein structure prediction and multivariate statistics. An originality of this server is the integration of these two aspects: sequence retrieval and sequence analysis. Indeed, thanks to the introduction of re-usable lists, it is possible to perform treatments on large sets of data. The PBIL server can be reached at: http://pbil.univ-lyon1.fr.

Retrieval and analysis of nucleic acid and protein sequence

We have developed a versatile program for the analysis of nucleic acid and protein sequences on the IBM Personal Computer. The program is interactive and self-instructing. It contains all the features generally found in sequence analysis programs on large computers, including extensive homology routines, as well as new procedures for the entry of sequence data. The program contains facilities to store and utilize the entire Nucleic Acid Sequence Data Bank. We have devised a new algorithm to find restriction enzyme sites, which allows our microcomputer program to find all sites on a small plasmid for 100 different enzymes in 1 to 2 minutes.

We describe a computer program designed to facilitate the analysis of nucleic acid sequences. The program can search several nucleic acid sequences for oligonucleotides common to all of them. It can examine a DNA or RNA sequence for two kinds of homologous regions--repetitions and dyad symmetries. The homologies need not be perfect: mismatches and "looping out" of nucleotides are allowed. The program also finds (A+T)- and (G+C)-rich regions, locates restriction enzyme recognition sites, determines the distribution of di- and trinucleotides, and performs various other functions. We include two representative applications of the program. All published prokaryotic transcription termination sequences (June 1977) were found to share the following features: (i) a string of at least five T residues, (ii) the sequence CGGGC or a close analog immediately preceding the T cluster, (iii) a region of strong dyad symmetry preceding the Ts and including the CGGGC sequence. A sequence of 221 nucleotides consisting of the Escherichia coli trp promoter, operator, and leader was found to contain two strong dyad symmetries. These homologies both occur at known regulatory sites; no comparable homologies occur in regions without regulatory significance.

Asparagine residues in proteins undergo spontaneous deamidation, a post-translational modification that may act as a molecular clock for the regulation of protein function and turnover. Asparagine deamidation is modulated by protein local sequence, secondary structure and hydrogen bonding. We present NGOME, an algorithm able to predict non-enzymatic deamidation of internal asparagine residues in proteins in the absence of structural data, using sequence-based predictions of secondary structure and intrinsic disorder. Compared to previous algorithms, NGOME does not require three-dimensional structures yet yields better predictions than available sequence-only methods. Four case studies of specific proteins show how NGOME may help the user identify deamidation-prone asparagine residues, often related to protein gain of function, protein degradation or protein misfolding in pathological processes. A fifth case study applies NGOME at a proteomic scale and unveils a correlation between asparagine deamidation and protein degradation in yeast. NGOME is freely available as a webserver at the National EMBnet node Argentina, URL: http://www.embnet.qb.fcen.uba.ar/ in the subpage “Protein and nucleic acid structure and sequence analysis”.

Molecular characterization of the Japanese encephalitis virus representative immunotype strain JaGAr 01

The primary structures of proteins can be determined by two distinct methods: directly by sequence analysis of the protein or indirectly by DNA sequence analysis of the corresponding gene or c-DNA. The direct protein sequence analysis methods are strongly influenced by the nature of the protein. They have been largely developed to accommodate water-soluble globular proteins, and methods for isolation and sequence analysis of hydrophobic proteins are relatively deficient and underdeveloped. The indirect sequence analysis by DNA sequence analysis is not influenced by the nature of the protein.

A review of algorithms for molecular sequence comparison

The alpha replicons of the multi-replicon plasmids pGSH500 and pLV1402 have been characterized by DNA sequence analysis. Analysis of the DNA sequence of a 3672 bp HIN:dIII fragment from pFDT100, which contains the pGSH500 alpha replicon, revealed similarity to a number of replicons belonging to, or related to, those of the IncFII family. The replicon region contains copA, tapA, repA and oriR, and replication initiation and termination sites are related to those from the IncFII replicon of R1. A copB gene was found to lie upstream of the HIN:dIII site in the parental plasmid pGSH500. Downstream of oriR, a 707 bp region shows 72.6% identity to a region of the Escherichia coli chromosome at 43.3', suggesting this region of pGSH500 may have been incorporated into the plasmid during a past chromosomal recombination event. Oligonucleotide primers homologous to consensus regions in the copB and repA genes, and the oriR regions from a number of IncFII-related replicons were used to amplify replication regions from pLV1402. Analysis of the amplified regions has shown the presence of copB, copA, tapA and repA genes. Phylogenetic analysis of Rep protein sequences from the RepFIIA family of antisense-control-regulated replicons revealed the presence of three distinct subgroups of Rep proteins. Comparative analysis of DNA and protein sequences from members of the RepFIIA family provides evidence supporting the roles of both non-selective divergence in co-integrate (multi-replicon) plasmids and Chi-mediated-recombination in replicon evolution, and in particular, that such processes may have been widespread in the evolution of the RepFIIA family.

The method of parsimony: an experimental test and theoretical analysis of the adequacy of molecular restoration studies

BackgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) report stated that Acinetobacter baumannii had been classified as one of the most important pathogenic bacteria causing nosocomial infection in hospital patients due to multi-drug resistance (MDR). It is vital to find out new bacterial drug targets and annotated their structure and function for the exploration of new anti-bacterial agents. The present study utilized a systematic route to prioritize the potential drug targets that belong to Mur family of Acinetobacter baumannii and identify their homologous proteins using a computational approach such as sequence similarity search, multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetic analysis, protein sequence, and protein structure analysis. ResultsFrom the results of protein sequence analysis of eight Mur family proteins, they divided into three main enzymatic classes namely transferases (MurG, MurA and MraY), ligases (MurC, MurD, MurE, and MurF), and oxidoreductase (MurB). Based on the results of intra-comparative protein sequence analysis and enzymatic classification, we have chosen MurB, MurE, and MurG as the prioritized drug targets from A. baumannii and subjected them for further detailed studies of inter-species comparison. This inter-species comparison help us to explore the sequential and structural properties of homologous proteins in other species and hence, opens a gateway for new target identification and using common inhibitor for different bacterial species caused by various diseases. The pairwise sequence alignment results between A. baumannii’s MurB with A. calcoaceticus’s MurB, A. baumannii’s MurE with A. seifertii’s MurE, and A. baumannii’s MurG with A. pittii’s MurG showed that every group of the proteins are highly similar with each other and they showed sequence identity of 95.7% and sequence similarity of 97.2%. ConclusionTogether with the results of secondary and three-dimensional structure predictions explained that three selected proteins (MurB, MurE, and MurG) from A. baumannii and their related proteins (AcMurB, AsMurE, and ApMurG) belong to mixed αβ class and they are very similar.

Electrophoresis forms the basis of routine separation and analysis of nucleic acid and protein molecules. It is difficult to scan the biological literature without some form of electrophoresis being used in the methods and results for critical preparation and analysis. The applications of nucleic acid electrophoresis include purification, genetic analysis, DNA probe preparation, and DNA and RNA sequence determination. Protein electrophoresis is used for purification, size estimation, subunit composition, protein expression, and identification of posttranslational modifications, in addition to forming the basis for the first step in immunoblotting. While the analysis of proteins and nucleic acids is described in detail, the future applications of microelectrophoresis and microfluidics are also discussed. The bibliography contains both historically significant references and current references outlining established protocols, providing the bench user a guide to the use of electrophoretic techniques in their research.