BOL: Related items

Meta-Transcriptomics: Dynamic World of RNA in Diverse Environments

Abhi — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 02:40:49 -0500

Meta-transcriptomics combines high-throughput sequencing technologies with computational biology to profile the RNA content of a sample. This technique allows researchers to capture a snapshot of gene expression and metabolic activities across diverse microbial communities, such as those found in soil, water, and the human gut.

Key Components

Sample Collection: Meta-transcriptomics begins with the collection of environmental samples. These samples are often complex, containing a wide range of microorganisms.
RNA Extraction: RNA is extracted from the sample, which includes mRNA, rRNA, tRNA, and other non-coding RNAs. This step is crucial as it determines the quality and representativeness of the data.
Sequencing: High-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technologies are used to obtain sequences of the RNA transcripts. This step provides a vast amount of data on the RNA molecules present in the sample.
Data Analysis: Computational tools and bioinformatics methods are employed to process and analyze the sequencing data. This involves mapping RNA sequences to reference genomes or transcriptomes, identifying expressed genes, and quantifying their abundance.
Functional Annotation: The functional roles of identified transcripts are inferred based on known gene functions, allowing researchers to understand the metabolic and ecological functions of the microbial community.

Applications

Environmental Monitoring: Meta-transcriptomics can be used to monitor the health and functional status of ecosystems. For example, it can help assess the impact of pollution on microbial communities by revealing changes in gene expression related to stress response and degradation processes.
Microbiome Research: In human health, meta-transcriptomics offers insights into the gut microbiome’s functional state. It helps in understanding how microbial communities interact with their host, how they respond to dietary changes, and their role in health and disease.
Biotechnology: The technique can aid in the discovery of novel enzymes and bioactive compounds by profiling microbial communities in extreme environments or industrial processes.
Disease Pathogenesis: By analyzing RNA profiles from disease-associated environments, researchers can uncover pathogen-host interactions and identify potential targets for therapeutic interventions.

Challenges

Complexity of Data: The sheer volume and complexity of data generated by meta-transcriptomics can be overwhelming. Effective data management and advanced computational tools are required to extract meaningful insights.
Sampling Bias: Environmental samples can be heterogeneous, and RNA extraction methods may introduce biases, potentially affecting the accuracy of the results.
Reference Databases: Incomplete or biased reference databases can hinder the accurate functional annotation of transcripts, especially when studying novel or poorly characterized organisms.

Future Directions

Meta-transcriptomics is a rapidly evolving field, with ongoing advancements in sequencing technologies and bioinformatics. Future research may focus on improving data integration, developing more comprehensive reference databases, and enhancing our understanding of microbial community dynamics in various environments. As these challenges are addressed, meta-transcriptomics will continue to provide valuable insights into the functional roles of microorganisms and their interactions within ecosystems.

Conclusion

Meta-transcriptomics represents a powerful tool for exploring the functional aspects of microbial communities in their natural environments. By capturing a snapshot of gene expression and metabolic activities, this approach offers a deeper understanding of ecological interactions, health implications, and biotechnological potentials. As technology and methodologies advance, meta-transcriptomics is poised to make significant contributions to our knowledge of the microbial world.

swgis v2.0 : a seqword genomic island sniffer

Abhimanyu Singh — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 12:35:52 -0500

swgis v2.0 is the modified version of the seqword genomic island sniffer. this version is specifically optimized for predicting genomic islands in eukaryotic genomes. swgis v2.0 was tested on several eukaryotic species of different lineages. all identified genomic islands were deposited in the eugi database.

download swgis v2.0

Address of the bookmark: http://eugi.bi.up.ac.za/eugi_download_swgis.php

https://youtube.com/devicesupport

Thu, 28 May 2015 07:39:19 -0500

https://youtube.com/devicesupport http://m.youtube.com

animated 3d cells in the body

Mon, 21 Oct 2013 06:28:18 -0500

cutting edge medical animation of cells

Immune response to cancer cells! AWESOME

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 06:20:47 -0500

Awesome viddeo explaining the way in which the antibody, HuLuc 63, appears to induce anti-tumor effects by binding to a protein that is only expressed on the surface of myeloma cells. This initiates antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity that kills myeloma cells and leaves healthy cells intact.

Microbiome - Making better use of bacteria

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 16:22:42 -0500

Bacterial cells outnumber human cells 10-to-1 in the average person. Bacterial genes outnumber human genes 100-to-1. Mayo Clinic and the Center for Individualized Medicine are working to understand these diverse populations and design better diagnoses and therapies that can be individualized to the patient. Diseases, such as clostridium difficile, celiac disease, and gluten sensitivities, are being studied. We're also gaining more insight in the many connections between digestive bacteria and autoimmune disorders, like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

Drew Berry: Animations of unseeable biology

Mon, 10 Mar 2014 06:44:59 -0500

http://www.ted.com We have no ways to directly observe molecules and what they do -- Drew Berry wants to change that. At TEDxSydney he shows his scientifically accurate (and entertaining!) animations that help researchers see unseeable processes within our own cells. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate If you have questions or comments about this or other TED videos, please go to http://support.ted.com

Amino Acid Flash Tutorial

Jit — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 08:58:17 -0500

Protein is a part of every cell in your body, and no other nutrient plays as many different roles in keeping you alive and healthy. Protein is the building block of our body, and amino acids are the main areas of interest. We have emphasized on all 20 amino acids in this documentary movie. This documentary has been developed that emphasize on chemical structure, chemical formula, IUPAC name and other detail information of all 20 amino acids with the voice, picture with interactive button. This will be helpful for the entire biology and bioinformatics student.

How to run?

You need to install flash player or open it with web browser ( I guess you have installed flash plugin) to play.

Comment below if you like it. Thanks

Bioinformatics approach to Boar Taint

Rahul Agarwal — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 15:50:37 -0500

Meat products obtained from intact male pigs often produce offensive smell or odour which is recognized as a complex genetic trait called boar taint.Androstenone and Skatole in the fat primarily cause boar taint. Metabolism of androstenone and sex steroids share a common pathway which makes removal of boar taint a very challenging task. Castration is a traditional solution to remove boar taint but it also results in bad quality of meat due to low level of steroids which is objectionable to many consumers. Detected functional variant(s) underlying boar taint compounds can be used as genetic markers in selection of male pigs with reduced boar taint levels. Resequencing of a total of 47 samples belong to Norwegian Landrace (NL) and Duroc (D) pigs with varied boar taint levels were done in Illumina HiSeq2000 to >10X average coverage. Short reads generated from these samples mapped to Sus Scrofa version 10.2 reference assembly using Bowtie2. Alignment file then used for calling SNPs and InDels inside previousy identified QTL regions on SSC5,13, and 7 with the aid of FreeBayes , a variant caller tool. A final list of SNPs was prepared after filtering SNPs on the basis of SNP quality, coverage of SNP allele, functional and structural annotation, and repeats, etc. Selected SNPs will be genotyped in sample population for validation and then used for constructing SNPs haplotypes in close linkage disequilibrium with QTLs and fine mapping of QTLs through association mapping of genotyped SNPs.

Genome Browsers

Rahul Agarwal — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:04:47 -0500

Genome Browser is the platform/database used for searching and retreiving sequences and annotation of genomes belong to various eukaryotes, prokaryotes, etc.

Following are the weblink for different available browsers:

http://www.ensembl.org/index.html

http://ensemblgenomes.org/

http://genome.ucsc.edu/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome

http://www.ebi.ac.uk/genomes/

http://flybase.org/

http://cmr.jcvi.org/tigr-scripts/CMR/CmrHomePage.cgi

http://www.sanger.ac.uk/resources/databases/