genomic DNA

About: genomic DNA is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 15046 publications have been published within this topic receiving 663636 citations. The topic is also known as: genomic deoxyribonucleic acid & gDNA.

Optimizing DOP-PCR for universal amplification of small DNA samples in comparative genomic hybridization.

Abstract: The standard comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) protocol relies on availability of macroscopic tumor samples, which do not contain too much interfering normal cells. Recently, CGH after universal amplification of genomic DNA with degenerate oligonucleotide primed PCR (DOP-PCR) has been used to detect genetic aberrations in microdissected tumor specimens. However, owing to the technical difficulties, CGH results of only few microdissected samples have so far been published. We have developed an improved protocol for DOP-PCR, which includes direct incorporation of fluorochrome-conjugated nucleotides into the PCR product. Among the four polymerase enzymes tested, ThermoSequenase gave the best yield, with PCR products ranging from 100–4,000 bp. A two-step PCR-procedure was used, consisting of a preamplification with low stringency conditions followed by amplification in more stringent conditions. The method was first validated by hybridizing DOP-PCR-amplified normal DNA against nick-translated reference DNA, which showed uniform and even hybridization result for all chromosomes. Comparison of DOP-PCR CGH to conventional CGH in MCF-7 breast cancer cell line further indicated that genetic aberrations can be reliably detected after DOP-PCR amplification. The sensitivity of the DOP-PCR-CGH was tested by serial dilution of MCF-7 DNA. Fifty picograms of sample DNA (corresponding roughly to two MCF-7 cells) was sufficient for high quality CGH. Experiments with cells microdissected from intraductal breast cancer demonstrated that carcinoma cells from 1 to 2 ducts were sufficient for a successful DOP-PCR CGH analysis. We conclude that the improved DOP-PCR-CGH protocol provides a powerful tool to study genetic aberrations in different histological subpopulations of malignant as well as precancerous lesions. DOP-PCR also improves the success rate of conventional paraffin-block CGH, because a poor quality or a too low yield of extracted DNA can be compensated by universal DNA amplification by DOP-PCR. Genes Chromosom. Cancer 18:94–101, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Screening of a fosmid library of marine environmental genomic DNA fragments reveals four clones related to members of the order Planctomycetales.

Abstract: A fosmid library with inserts containing approximately 40 kb of marine bacterial DNA (J. L. Stein, T. L. Marsh, K. Y. Wu, H. Shizuya, and E. F. DeLong, J. Bacteriol. 178:591-599, 1996) yielded four clones with 16S rRNA genes from the order Planctomycetales. Three of the clones belong to the Pirellula group and one clone belongs to the Planctomyces group, based on phylogenetic and signature nucleotide analyses of full-length 16S rRNA genes. Sequence analysis of the ends of the genes revealed a consistent mismatch in a widely used bacterium-specific 16S rRNA PCR amplification priming site (27F), which has also been reported in some thermophiles and spirochetes.

Isolation and characterization of full-length cDNA clones coding for cholinesterase from fetal human tissues.

Abstract: To study the primary structure and regulation of human cholinesterases, oligodeoxynucleotide probes were prepared according to a consensus peptide sequence present in the active site of both human serum pseudocholinesterase (BtChoEase; EC 3.1.1.8) and Torpedo electric organ "true" acetylcholinesterase (AcChoEase; EC 3.1.1.7). Using these probes, we isolated several cDNA clones from lambda gt10 libraries of fetal brain and liver origins. These include 2.4-kilobase cDNA clones that code for a polypeptide containing a putative signal peptide and the N-terminal, active site, and C-terminal peptides of human BtChoEase, suggesting that they code either for BtChoEase itself or for a very similar but distinct fetal form of cholinesterase. In RNA blots of poly(A)+ RNA from the cholinesterase-producing fetal brain and liver, these cDNAs hybridized with a single 2.5-kilobase band. Blot hybridization to human genomic DNA revealed that these fetal BtChoEase cDNA clones hybridize with DNA fragments of the total length of 17.5 kilobases, and signal intensities indicated that these sequences are not present in many copies. Both the cDNA-encoded protein and its nucleotide sequence display striking homology to parallel sequences published for Torpedo AcChoEase. These findings demonstrate extensive homologies between the fetal BtChoEase encoded by these clones and other cholinesterases of various forms and species.

Long-range restriction site mapping of mammalian genomic DNA.

Abstract: Molecular analysis of many problems in genetics would be facilitated by the ability to construct restriction site maps of long stretches of genomic DNA and to directly place genes on these maps. Pulsed-field gradient gel electrophoresis allows measurement of the size of DNA fragments up to at least 2,000 kilobase pairs (kb) long and we have used this technique here to map sites for one class of infrequently cutting restriction enzyme over a total of 1,500 kb of mouse genomic DNA. The sites for these enzymes tend to be clustered in the genome. These clusters may correspond to the short stretches of C + G-rich unmethylated DNA often associated with mammalian genes.