Base Sequence

The origin of life has puzzled molecular scientists for over half a century. Yet fundamental questions remain unanswered, including which came first, the metabolic machinery or the encoding nucleic acids. In this study we take a protein-centric view and explore the ancestral origins of proteins. Protein domain structures in proteomes are highly conserved and embody molecular functions and interactions that

Background Helicoverpa armigera and H. zea are amongst the most significant polyphagous pest lepidopteran species in the Old and New Worlds respectively. Separation of H. armigera and H. zea is difficult and is usually only achieved through morphological differences in the genitalia. They are capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring. The single species status of H. armigera has been doubted, due to its wide distribution and plant host range across the Old World. This study explores the global genetic diversity of H. armigera and its evolutionary relationship to H zea. Results We obtained partial (511 bp) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Cytochrome Oxidase-I (COI) sequences for 249 individuals of H. armigera sampled from Australia, Burkina Faso, Uganda, China, India and Pakistan which were associated with various host plants. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the partial COI gene differentiated H. armigera populations into 33 mtDNA haplotypes. Shared haplotypes betw...

The reference sequence for each human chromosome provides the framework for understanding genome function, variation and evolution. Here we report the finished sequence and biological annotation of human chromosome 1. Chromosome 1 is gene-dense, with 3,141 genes and 991 pseudogenes, and many coding sequences overlap. Rearrangements and mutations of chromosome 1 are prevalent in cancer and many other diseases. Patterns of sequence variation reveal signals of recent selection in specific genes that may contribute to human fitness, and also in regions where no function is evident. Fine-scale recombination occurs in hotspots of varying intensity along the sequence, and is enriched near genes. These and other studies of human biology and disease encoded within chromosome 1 are made possible with the highly accurate annotated sequence, as part of the completed set of chromosome sequences that comprise the reference human genome.