The vital metaphase stage of cell division, when the sister chromatids migrated to the centre and lined up in a row, and pulled apart using attached microtubules in such a way that half the DNA ends up in each daughter cell. However, before the mitotic spindle‐mediated movement gets start and pulled DNA apart, the chromosomes are free to undergo recombination which involves the exchange of genetic material either between multiple chromosomes or between different regions of the same chromosome.

During recombination, the precise breakage of each strand, exchange between the strands, and sealing of the resulting recombined molecules happens. The “chromosomal breakpoints” refers to these places where they break. Mostly, this process occurs with a high degree of accuracy at high frequency in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. But occasionally this “break and sealing/ break and reattach” process goes wrong and the reattachment happens in the wrong place which usually create disaster (with few exceptions).These chromosome disaster or abnormalities involve the gain, loss or rearrangement of visible amounts of genetic material during cell division. These abnormalities are of two type, the first one is numerical abnormalities  where severe disorders are caused by the loss or gain of whole chromosomes, which affect the copy number of hundreds or even thousands of genes. The second are structural abnormalities which can be unbalanced or balanced. The former are similar to numerical abnormalities in that genetic material is either gained or lost. The natural defects in chromosome segregation are linked to cancer and several genetic diseases (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genetic_disorders). Therefore, the enzymes involved in regulating cell division are still the attractive drug targets for many diseases.

Apart from certain chromosome abnormalities, these “crossing over” of segments of maternal and paternal chromosomes to form hybrid chromosomes have some evolutionary importance and considered as a driver of genetic variation. Moreover, the chromosome breakage in evolution is considered to be non-random in nature(http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pcbi.0020014). In addition the study of breakpoint regions and non-breakpoint (stable) regions of chromosomes indicates both the regions evolved in distinctly different ways ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2675965/). These breakage may lead to genetic diseases or participate to chromosomal rearranmgnets and contributed in development of new species.

I will try to explain the genome hotspots/Evolutionary Breakpoint Regions(EBRs)/fragile regions/weak fragments/  in my next blog.

Software for recombination detection:

RAT http://cbr.jic.ac.uk/dicks/software/RAT/

Breakpointer https://github.com/ruping/Breakpointer

DRP http://web.cbio.uct.ac.za/~darren/rdp.html

RB-finder http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18707535

LDhat2.0 http://ldhat.sourceforge.net/LDhat2.0/instructions.shtml

Reference:

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetic-recombination-514#

Image: Wikipedia , sciencelearn.org.nz

Recommended Articles:

http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2012/05/22/13-chromosomal-disorders-youve-never-heard-of/

http://web.udl.es/usuaris/e4650869/docencia/segoncicle/genclin98/recursos_classe_%28pdf%29/revisionsPDF/chromosyndromes.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775595/table/T2/

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/disorders/chromosomal/

http://www.ncert.nic.in/html/learning_basket/biology/cc&cd.pdf

Orange Bioinformatics provides access to publicly available data, like GEO data sets, Biomart, GO, KEGG, Atlas, ArrayExpress, and PIPAx database. As for the analytics, there is gene selection, quality control, scoring distances between experiments with multiple factors. All features can be combined with powerful visualization, network exploration and data mining techniques from the Orange data mining framework.

Address of the bookmark: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/Orange-Bioinformatics/2.5.34

Qualified and interested candidates can send their curriculum vitae by e-mail to hr@drils.org on or before 27th October 2014 mention in the subject line of the mail the following code: AMPK-Biology.

Selected candidates will be called for a personal interview to Dr. Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad Campus, Gachibowli, Hyderabad. The selected candidate is expected to report within two weeks from the date of selection to start work on the project.

Junior Research Fellowship (Molecular Modeling/Biology) for two years and Senior Research fellowship for one year

Junior Research Fellowship: Rs. 15,600/- (consolidated) per month for first two years.
Senior Research Fellowship: Rs. 18,200/-(consolidated) per month for the 3rd year.

Duration: The duration of the fellowship is for three years. However, the performance of the candidate will be reviewed after the completion of every year and the fellowship will be renewed only upon satisfactory performance.

Responsibilities:

1) Literature search.
2) Design, plan and execute experiments under the supervision of the scientist.
3) Provide scientific support to the scientist in his/her research activities.
4) Book keeping and maintenance of stocks and consumables.

Essential Qualifications:

Required: M.Sc. in Microbiology/Biotechnology/Bioinformatics or any other related branch of basic Sciences from a recognized university/institute with a consistent academic record of minimum 60% aggregate in all qualifying examinations. The candidate should be NET qualified for lectureship. The candidate should be motivated to work with dedication.

Desirable: expertise/experience in both Molecular Modeling and Molecular Biology.

Experience: 0-2 years in the areas of Molecular Modeling and/or Molecular Biology and cell biology and Biochemistry.

Preferable: Relevant research experience as evident from thesis/dissertation/project work.

Advertisement: http://www.ilsresearch.org/userfiles/Junior%20REsearch%20Fellowship%20-%20AMPK(Biology).pdf

Responsibilities

Lead teams of scientists in structuring, prototyping, and executing large-scale bioinformatic and other analysis.
Develop novel bioinformatics, statistical, data processing, pathway, data mining and other algorithms to identify biological signals and their clinical correlates in broad kinds of individual and population data.
Develop novel platform-level analytical tools for sequence-based assays (assembly, annotation, variant calling and interpretation, phasing, genome structure, etc.), expression assays (RNAseq and microarray), proteomics, and metabolomics.
Develop statistical models that robustly correlate complex laboratory-derived information with phenotypic and clinical information.
Create scientifically rigorous visualizations, communications, and presentations of results.

Reference @ https://www.google.com/about/careers/search#!t=jo&jid=62095001

Walk-in-Interview will be held on 04th March 2015 at 11.30 A.M. in the Bio- Informatics Centre of Bose Institute, P-1/12, C.I.T. Scheme VII-M, Kolkata- 700054 for two (02) positions of Research Associate/ Extended Senior Research Fellow in the DBT sponsored following two projects running under the CoE- Bioinformatics under the guidance of Prof. Pinakpani Chakrabarti, Bioinformatics Centre.

Position : RA/SRF
Project title : 1. "Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bioinformatics at Bose Institute”,2. Project entitled “Setting up of National Facility on Interactive Graphysics Computer System (IGCS) for Biomolecular Modeling, Molecular Dynamics & Structures”

Desired Profile : Ph.D degree in Biological or Chemical Sciences with in-depth understanding of protein structure and dynamics for R.A. position.Those who have submitted thesis can be considered for Extended SRF position
Preferred : Knowledge of computer programming and bioinformatics softwares.
Stipend : For R.A- Rs. 22,000/- p.m., plus admissible H.R.A. and Medical benefit. For Extended SRF - Rs. 20,000/- p.m., plus admissible H.R.A.and Medical benefit.
Age : For R.A- Below 35 years; For Extended SRF - Below 33 years
Interested and eligible candidates should appear before the Selection Committee with atyped application addressed to the Sr.Prof. & In-Charge, Registrar's Office, Bose Institute, P- 1/12, CIT Scheme VII-M, Kankurgachi, Kolkata-700054 along with Bio-data giving details of qualification i.e. examination passed, year, division, percentage of marks from Secondary onwards with attested copies of Certificates, Mark-Sheet and testimonials. The candidates should also bring the original mark-sheets, certificates etc. at the time of Interview.

Walk in Interview : 04.03.15

More at http://www.boseinst.ernet.in/ADVT/14/p_34.pdf

Research Associate Biotechnology /JRF / Lab. Assistant recruitment in Indian Institute of Vegetable Research

Project:
Genomics assisted selection of Solanum chilense introgression lines for enhancing drought tolerance in tomato
Post Name : Research Associate
Qualification : Ph.D in Biotechnology/ Bioinformatics/Genetics & Plant Breeding. M. Tech in Computer Science with at least one research paper in science citation indexed journal. Desirable: Experience in bioinformatics and next generation sequence data handling. Familiarity in Linux, R, Perl/Phython or other programming languages. Willingness to travel to European partner centers.

Pay Scale : Rs. 36000 for 1st and 2nd year as per rules for Research Associate. Rs. 25000/- for 1st and 2nd year and Rs. 28000 as per rules for Junior Research Fellow. Rs. 7000/- for Lab. Assistant.

Age : Not more than 35 years for Men and 40 years for Women (Relaxable for SC/ST/OBC/PH candidates as per rules) for Research Associate/ Junior Research Fellow. Minimum age will be 21 years and maximum age will be 45 years (Relaxable for SC/ST/OBC/PH candidates as per rules) for Lab.Assistant.

More at http://iivr.org.in/Job%20Oppurtunities/RA20.03.2015.pdf

Human genetic variation
Inference of human evolutionary history from genetic markers
Statistical analysis of population-genetic data
Mathematical models of gene genealogies
Theoretical population genetics
Combinatorics of evolutionary trees
The relationship between gene trees and species trees
The role of human evolutionary genetics in the search for genes that contribute to disease-susceptibility
More at https://web.stanford.edu/group/rosenberglab/index.html

Desirable : Research or teaching experience in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.
Honorarium : Rs. 1,000/- per lecture (subject to a maximum of 25,000/- per month)
How to apply

Interested eligible candidates may attend the 'walk-in' interview along with all original certificates and testimonials with a copy of their bio-data. Walk-in-interview will be held on 28.09.2015 (Monday), 03:00 P.M. at the office of the Dean, School of Life Sciences, Science Block — I, Pondicherry University, Puducherry — 605 014. Candidates reporting after 03:00 P.M. will not be entertained.

More at http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/news/walk-interview-guest-faculty-centre-bioinformatics

More at http://www.tiehh.ttu.edu/dr.-kamaleshwar-singh.html

Location where with post of Research Associate / Senior Research Fellow is available:
Bioinformatics Centre, Bose Institute in Kolkata, West Bengal

Title of the Project: "Setting up of National Facility on Interactive Graphics Computer System".

No. of the Post: 01 One

Salary: Rs. 22000/- per month plus admissible HRA and Medical Benefits for RA and Rs. 20000/- per month plus admissible HRA and Medical Benefits for SRF (Extended).

Age Limit: Max. 35 years for RA and Max. 33 years for SRF (Extended)

Required Job Profile:

Candidate must possess PhD degree in biological or chemical sciences with in depth understanding of protein structure and function; experience on protein crystallization and various modeling software will be advantages and candidate who have submitted PhD thesis can be considered as extended SRF.

The project would involve cloning, expression, crustallization of vibrio cholera toxin, Ace and modeling of its admissible HRA and medical benefits for SRF (Extended).

How to apply:

Eligible and interested candidates should need to appear before the selection committee along with typed application addressed to the above mentioned address along with biodata with complete details and attested copies of certificates on 02.03.2016 at 11:30 am. No TA or DA will be paid for attending the interview. No TA or DA will be paid for attending the interview.

Refer to http://www.boseinst.ernet.in/ADVT/15/p_30.pdf