Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

Punctuated Evolution Within A Eurythermic Genus (Mesenchytraeus) Of Segmented Worms: Genetic Modification Of The Glacier Ice Worm F1f0 Atp Synthase, Shirley A. Lang

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Segmented worms (Annelida) are among the most successful animal inhabitants of extreme environments worldwide. An unusual group of Mesenchytraeus worms endemic to the Pacific Northwest of North America occupy geographically proximal ecozones ranging from low elevation temperate rainforests to high altitude glaciers. Along this altitudinal transect, Mesenchytraeus representatives from disparate habitat types were collected and subjected to deep mitochondrial and nuclear phylogenetic analyses. Evidence presented here employing modern bioinformatic analyses (i.e., maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference, multi-species coalescent) supports a Mesenchytraeus “explosion” in the upper Miocene (5-10 million years ago) that gave rise to ice, snow and terrestrial worms, derived from …

Development Of An In Silico Kir Genotyping Algorithm And Its Application To Population And Cancer Immunogenetic Analyses, Howard Rosoff

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Gene content determination and variant calling in the complex KIR genomic region are useful for immune system function analysis, pathogenesis and disease risk factor elucidation, immunotherapy development, evolutionary investigations, and human migration modeling. Sequence-specific oligonucleotide and sequence-specific primer PCR methods are the de facto standards for KIR presence/absence identification, but the current platforms are unsuitable for SNP calling, impractical for KIR typing large cohorts of DNA samples, and inapplicable for typing repositories in which sequence data, but not cells or cell analytes, are available. Alternative typing methods, such as in silico sequence-based typing, can address the problems associated with amplicon-based …

Ten Simple Rules For Taking Advantage Of Git And Github, Yasset Perez-Riverol, Laurent Gatto, Rui Wang, Timo Sachsenberg, Julian Uszkoreit, Felipe Da Veiga Leprevost, Christian Fufezan, Tobias Ternent, Stephen J. Eglen, Daniel S. Katz, Tom J. Pollard, Alexander Konovalov, Robert M. Flight, Kai Blin, Juan Antonio Vizcaíno

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Diversity And Distribution Of Diatom Endosymbionts In Amphistegina Spp. (Foraminifera) Based On Molecular And Morphological Techniques, Kwasi H. Barnes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diatoms associated with foraminifers of the genus Amphistegina were assessed using a combination of morphological and molecular techniques. These included: 1) microscopic identification of diatoms cultured from the host, 2) sequencing of portions of the small subunit of the ribosomal RNA gene (18S) and the large subunit of the ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase [i.e., RubisCO] gene (rbcL) from DNA extracted directly from the Amphistegina hosts and also from diatoms cultured from these hosts, and 3) denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles of rbcL and internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) PCR amplicons from DNA extracted directly from …

Confirmation Of The Function Of Mrub1080 As Γ-Glutamyl Kinase (Prob) In Meiothermus Ruber, Cale J. Mccormick, Dr. Lori Scott

Celebration of Learning

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses wet lab procedures and computational analysis to gather evidence of orthologous genes between Escherichia coli and Meiothermus ruber. In previous work, bioinformatics evidence supported the hypothesis that the gene Mrub1080 was an ortholog of E. coli proB. We investigated the biological function of Meiothermus ruber genes proB and proBA using the complementation assay. However, functional analysis proved inconclusive. For this particular research project, we confirmed that weakly complementing E. coli proB- null strains actually contained the desired M. ruber proB and proBA genes (inserted into a pKt1 …

Fastpop: A Rapid Principal Component Derived Method To Infer Intercontinental Ancestry Using Genetic Data, Yafang Li, Jinyoung Byun, Guoshuai Cai, Xiangjun Xiao, Younghun Han, Olivier Cornelis, James E. Dinulos, Joe Dennis, Douglas Easton, Ivan Gorlov, Michael F. Seldin, Christopher I. Amos

Dartmouth Scholarship

Identifying subpopulations within a study and inferring intercontinental ancestry of the samples are important steps in genome wide association studies. Two software packages are widely used in analysis of substructure: Structure and Eigenstrat. Structure assigns each individual to a population by using a Bayesian method with multiple tuning parameters. It requires considerable computational time when dealing with thousands of samples and lacks the ability to create scores that could be used as covariates. Eigenstrat uses a principal component analysis method to model all sources of sampling variation. However, it does not readily provide information directly relevant to ancestral origin; the …

Bioinformatics Comparison Of M. Ruber Mrub_2507 To E. Coli Pdxk/B1636 And M. Ruber Mrub_2888 To E. Coli Pdxh/B1638 To Determine The Orthologous Nature, Adam Bernardi, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation – Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_2507 and Mrub_2888. We predict that Mrub_2507 encodes the enzyme pyridoxal kinase (DNA coordinates 2555521..2556402), which is in the Vitamin B₆ Metabolism pathway (KEGG map number 00750). It catalyzes the conversion of pyridoxine, pyridoxamine, or pyridoxal to pyridoxine 5’-phosphate, pyridoxamine 5’-phosphate, or pyridoxal 5’-phosphate respectively. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b1636, which has …

Genomic Analysis Of Meiothermus Ruber Mrub_1907 And Meiothermus Ruber Mrub_1844 With Potential Ortholog Escherichia Coli B3774 Ilvc And Escherichia Coli B3771 Ilvc Gene Through Bioinformatics, Felipe A. Hernandez, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation – Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_1907 and Mrub_1844. We predict that Mrub__1907 encodes the enzyme ketol-acid reductoisomerase (DNA coordinates 1966630..1967649 on the reverse strand), which is the fourth step of the L-isoleucine pathway (from threonine) (KEGG map number 00290). It catalyzes the conversion of (R)-3- Hydroxy-3-methyl-2-oxopentanoate to (R)-2-3 Dihydroxy-3-methylpentanoate. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b3774, which has the gene …

Comparison Of Genes In Meiothermus Ruber And Escherichia Coli In The Thiamine Biosynthesis Pathway, Erin E. Frye, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation – Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_2046 and Mrub_2041.We predict that Mrub_2046 encodes the enzyme phosphomethylpyrimidine kinase (DNA coordinates 2082772..2083572 on the reverse strand), which is the second step of the Thiamine Metabolism pathway (KEGG map number mrb00730). It catalyzes the conversion of 4-Amino-2-methyl-5-phosphomethylpyrimidine to 4-Amino-2-methyl-5-hydroxymethyl diphosphate The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b2103, which has the gene identifier thiD. We …

Meiothermus Ruber Mrub_0976 And Mrub_1641 Share The Same Functions As Escherichia Coli B3940 And B3433 In The Biosynthesis Of Homoserine, Cody Stephans, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation –Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_0976 and Mrub_1641. We predict that Mrub_0976 encodes the enzyme aspartate kinase (DNA coordinates 964404..965630) which is the 1^st step of the homoserine biosynthesispathway (KEGG map number M00018). It catalyzes the conversion L-aspartate to L-asparyl-4-phospate. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b3940, which has the gene identifier ‘thrA’. We …

Possible Orthologs Of Trpa And Trpb Genes Between E. Coli (B1260 And B1261) And M. Ruber (Mrub_1512 And Mrub_1511), John J. Stenger, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

Mrub_1512 encodes the enzyme tryptophan A (DNA coordinates 1544300..1545091), which is the 6th step of the Tryptophan Biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00400). It catalyzes the conversion of Chorismate to L-Tryptophan. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b1260, which has the gene identifier trpA. We predict that Mrub_1512 (DNA coordinates 1544300..1545091) is a alpha subunit of the Tryptophan Synthase (KEGG map number 00400). Mrub_1511 encodes the enzyme tryptophan B (DNA coordinates 1543083..1544303), which is the 7th step of the Tryptophan Biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00400). It catalyzes the conversion of Chorismate to L-Tryptophan. The E. …

Mrub_2765 Is The Version Of E. Coli Fabz In Meiothermus Ruber, While Mrub_0266 Is The Version Of E. Coli Fabi In Meiothermus Ruber, Amanda M. Narkis, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation – Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_2765 and Mrub_0266. We predict that Mrub_2765 encodes the enzyme β-hydroxyacyl-Acyl carrier protein (ACP) dehydratase (DNA coordinates 2805770..2806213 on the reverse strand), which is the 3^rd step of the fatty acid elongation pathway (KEGG map number 00780). It catalyzes the conversion of (3R)-3-hydroxyacyl-[ACP] to trans-2-enoyl-[ACP]. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be …

Pyruvate Metabolism In M. Ruber When Compared To E. Coli, Amanda M. Johnson, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation –Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_0476, Mrub_1516, Mrub_1517, Mrub_0477, and Mrub_2322. We predict that Mrub_0476, Mrub_1516, and Mrub_1517 (DNA coordinates 461643..464366, 1548957..1549955, 1549952..1550986, respectively) are a paralogous a subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex E1(KEGG map number 00620). We predict that Mrub_0477 and Mrub_2322 (DNA coordinates 464402..465697 and 2371690..2373090, respectively) are a paralogous subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex …

A Bioinformatics Study On Whether Or Not Mrub_2763 Gene In M. Ruber Is Similar To The Lpxb Gene In E. Coli And If Mrub_2768 Is Similar To The Lpxd Gene In E. Coli., Frank J. Habura, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation –Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the gene Mrub_2768 and Mrub_2763. We predict that Mrub_2768 (DNA coordinates 2808186..2809178 on the reverse strand) encodes the enzyme UDP-3-O-(3-hydroxymyristoyl)glucosamine N-acyltransferase (LpxD), which is the third step of the Lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00540). It catalyzes the conversion of UDP-3-O-(3-hydroxymyristoyl)-α-D-glucosamine + a(3R)-3-hydroxymyristoyl-[acp] → a holo-[acyl-carrier protein] + UDP-2-N,3-O-bis[(3R)-3-hydroxytetradecanoyl]-α-D-glucosamine. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b0179, which …

Comparing Meiothermus Ruber And Myxococcus Xanthus In The Purine Metabolism Pathway, Linnea J. Ritchie, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation – Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. I investigated the biological functions of Mrub_1053 Mrub_2281 and Mrub_2299. I predicted that Mrub_1053 and Mrub_2281 (DNA coordinates 1053364..1054359 on the forward strand and 2333172..2334113 on the forward strand respectively) encodes the enzyme phosphoribose-1-pyrophosphate synthetase (PRS) which is the first step of the purine synthesis pathway (KEGG). I also predicted that Mrub_2299 (DNA coordinates: 2352378..2353775 on the forward strand) encodes for Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) amidotransferase, which is …

Valine Biosynthesis: Mrub_2994 Is Orthologous To E. Coli B3770 And Mrub_1844 Is Orthologous To E. Coli B3771, Bennett A. Hartmann, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation – Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_2994 and Mrub_1844. We predict that Mrub_1884 encodes the enzyme dihydroxy-acid dehydratase (DNA coordinates 1901362..1903026 on the forward strand), which is the third step of the valine biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00290). It catalyzes the conversion of 2,3-dihydroxy-3methylbutanoate to 3-methyl-2-oxobutanoate. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b3771, which has the gene identifier ilvD. …

Bioinformatic Comparison Of Genes In The Leucine Biosynthesis Pathway Of Escherichia Coli To Meiothermus Ruber, Isaac D. Schmied, Benjamin T. Ryan, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

We predict that Mrub_1905 and Mrub_1906 encode the enzyme 2-isopropylmalate synthase (Mrub_1906 DNA coordinates complement(1965044..1966603) Mrub_1905 DNA coordinates complement(1963455..1965041)), which is the first step of the leucine biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00290). It catalyzes the conversion of (2S)-2-isopropylmalate to 2-isopropylmaleate. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b0074, which has the gene identifier leuA. We predict that Mrub_1846 encodes the enzyme 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase (DNA coordinates complement(1903909..1904961)), which is the third step of the leucine biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00290). It catalyzes the conversion of (2R,3S)-3-isopropylmalate to (2S)-2-isopropyl-3-oxosuccinate. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted …

Riboflavin Metabolism: A Study To See If Mrub_1256 Is Orthologous To E. Coli B0415, And If Mrub_1254 Is Orthologous To E. Coli B1662, Anish Sora Reddy, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation –Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_1256 and Mrub_1254. We predict that Mrub_1256 encodes the enzyme 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine synthase (Dna Coordinates 1282509..1282982 forward strand), which is part of the Riboflavin Metabolism pathway (KEGG map number 00740). It catalyzes the conversion of 3,4-Dihydroxy-2-butanone-4-phosphate or 5-amino-6-ribityl-aminouracil to Quinone. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be E. coli b0415, which has the gene identifier …

The Meiothermus Ruber Mrub_2572 Gene Is An Ortholog Of The Escherichia Coli Pyre B3642 Gene And The Meiothermus Ruber Mrub_2071 Gene Is An Ortholog Of The Escherichia Coli Pyrf B1281 Gene, Cale J. Mccormick, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation –Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_2572 and Mrub_2071. We predict that Mrub_2572 encodes the enzyme orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (DNA coordinates 2617545..2618096 on the forward strand), which is the 5^th step of the UMP biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00240). It catalyzes the conversion of orotate + PRPP to orotidine 5’-phosphate. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b3642, which has the gene …

Bioinformatics Indicates That Meiothermus Ruber Genes Mrub_1710 And Mrub_1712 Are Homologs Of The Escherichia Coli Genes B2903 (P-Protein; Glycine Dehydrogenase) And B2905 (T-Protein; Aminomethyltransferase), Respectively, Malory J. Groen, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation – Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_1710 and Mrub_1712. We predict that Mrub_1710 encodes the enzyme glycine dehydrogenase (DNA coordinates 3046168.. 3049041 on the reverse strand), which is the first step of the glycine degradation pathway (KEGG map number 00260). It catalyzes the conversion of glycine to S-Amino-methyldihydro-lipoylprotein. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted to be b2903, which has the gene identifier gcvP. …

E. Coli B3639 And B3634 Are Orthologs Of Mrub_2047 And Mrub_1372, Rong Zheng, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation –Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_2047 and Mrub_1372. We predict that Mrub_2047 encodes the enzyme fused 4'-phosphopantothenoylcysteine decarboxylase/phosphopantothenoylcysteine synthetase, FMN-binding (DNA coordinates 2083590..2084816 on the forward strand), which is the first and the second steps of the CoA biosynthesis pathway (KEGG map number 00770). It catalyzes the conversion of (R)-4’-phosphopantothenate to (R)-4’-phosphopantothenoyl-L-cysteine and the conversion of (R)-4’-phosphopantothenoyl-L-cysteine to 4’-phosphopantetheine. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog …

Mrub_0258 Gene Is An Ortholog Of The B4226 Gene (Ppa) Found In Escherichia Coli; Mrub_1198 Gene Is An Ortholog Of The B2501 Gene (Ppk) Found In Escherichia Coli;, Brandon M. Wills, Dr. Lori Scott

Meiothermus ruber Genome Analysis Project

This project is part of the Meiothermus ruber genome analysis project, which uses the bioinformatics tools associated with the Guiding Education through Novel Investigation –Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (GENI-ACT) to predict gene function. We investigated the biological function of the genes Mrub_0258 and Mrub_1198. We predict that Mrub_0258 encodes the enzyme inorganic pyrophosphatase (226403..226942), which is indirectly involved with the oxidative phosphorylation pathway (KEGG map number 00190). It catalyzes the conversion of the diphosphate ions made by Mrub_1198 into two orthophosphate ions, which can then be used by ATP synthase to produce energy. The E. coli K12 MG1655 ortholog is predicted …

Hpcnmf: A High-Performance Toolbox For Non-Negative Matrix Factorization, Karthik Devarajan, Guoli Wang

COBRA Preprint Series

Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) is a widely used machine learning algorithm for dimension reduction of large-scale data. It has found successful applications in a variety of fields such as computational biology, neuroscience, natural language processing, information retrieval, image processing and speech recognition. In bioinformatics, for example, it has been used to extract patterns and profiles from genomic and text-mining data as well as in protein sequence and structure analysis. While the scientific performance of NMF is very promising in dealing with high dimensional data sets and complex data structures, its computational cost is high and sometimes could be critical for …

Expression Of Zinc Fingers And Homeoboxes 2 (Zhx2) And Zhx2 Target Genes In Multiple Tissues Of Wild-Type And Zhx2 Knockout Mice, Minen Al-Kafajy

Theses and Dissertations--Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics

The Spear lab has had a long-standing interest in gene regulation in the liver during development and disease. Several years ago, these studies identified a novel transcriptional regulator called Zinc fingers and homeoboxes 2 (Zhx2), which is a member of a small family that includes Zhx1 and Zhx3. All Zhx proteins contain two amino-terminal C2-H2 zinc fingers and four or five carboxy-terminal homeodomains. Previous studies indicate that Zhx proteins can form homodimers and heterodimers with each other.

Zhx2 regulates numerous hepatic genes, including alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and H19. Genes controlling lipid and cholesterol homeostasis are also regulated by …

A Pipeline For Creation Of Genome-Scale Metabolic Reconstructions, Shaun W. Norris

Theses and Dissertations

The decreasing costs of next generation sequencing technologies and the increasing speeds at which they work have lead to an abundance of 'omic datasets. The need for tools and methods to analyze, annotate, and model these datasets to better understand biological systems is growing. Here we present a novel software pipeline to reconstruct the metabolic model of an organism in silico starting from its genome sequence and a novel compilation of biological databases to better serve the generation of metabolic models. We validate these methods using five Gardnerella vaginalis strains and compare the gene annotation results to NCBI and the …

The Importance Of Physicochemical Characteristics And Nonlinear Classifiers In Determining Hiv-1 Protease Specificity, Timmy Manning, Paul Walsh

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

This paper reviews recent research relating to the application of bioinformatics approaches to determining HIV-1 protease specificity, outlines outstanding issues, and presents a new approach to addressing these issues. Leading machine learning theory for the problem currently suggests that the direct encoding of the physicochemical properties of the amino acid substrates is not required for optimal performance. A number of amino acid encoding approaches which incorporate potentially relevant physicochemical properties of the substrate are identified, and are evaluated using a nonlinear task decomposition based neuroevolution algorithm. The results are evaluated, and compared against a recent benchmark set on a nonlinear …

Obtaining Genomic Sequence Practice, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll

Introduction to NCBI

No abstract provided.

3: Genomics: Past & Future Bibliography, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll

Genomics: Past & Future

No abstract provided.

Future Of Genomics: Presentations, Sarah O'Leary-Driscoll

Genomics: Past & Future

In his testimony to a House of Representatives sub-committee on health, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, Francis S. Collins, said that the future of genomics had three main focal points:

"Genomics to Biology: The human genome sequence provides foundational information that now will allow development of a comprehensive catalog of all of the genome's components, determination of the function of all human genes, and deciphering of how genes and proteins work together in pathways and networks.

Genomics to Health: Completion of the human genome sequence offers a unique opportunity to understand the role of genetic factors in …

An Exploration Of The Phylogenetic Placement Of Recently Discovered Ultrasmall Archaeal Lineages, Jeffrey M. O'Brien

Honors Scholar Theses

In recent years, several new clades within the domain Achaea have been discovered. This is due in part to microbiological sampling of novel environments, and the increasing ability to detect and sequence uncultivable organisms through metagenomic analysis. These organisms share certain features, such as small cell size and streamlined genomes. Reduction in genome size can present difficulties to phylogenetic reconstruction programs. Since there is less genetic data to work with, these organisms often have missing genes in concatenated multiple sequence alignments. Evolutionary Biologists have not reached a consensus on the placement of these lineages in the archaeal evolutionary tree. There …