Biology subjects

Altman, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Altman, T..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

MetaPathways v3.5: Modularity and Scalability Improvements for Pathway Inference from Environmental Genomes

Over the past decade MO_SCPLOWETAC_SCPLOWPO_SCPLOWATHWAYSC_SCPLOW has advanced as a modular pipeline for constructing environmental pathway genome databases (ePGDBs), increasing our understanding of microbial metabolism at the individual, population and community levels of biological organization. With this release, we have addressed several user experience issues related to installation, module integration, and database management. With a refactored code base, MO_SCPLOWETAC_SCPLOWPO_SCPLOWATHWAYSC_SCPLOW v3.5 enhances the user experience through streamlined installation via package indexes or containers, refined modules, and interface upgrades. It boasts updated algorithm support for sequence feature prediction, annotation, metabolic inference, and coverage metrics including genome resolved metagenomes. Tested and refined on synthetic datasets, MO_SCPLOWETAC_SCPLOWPO_SCPLOWATHWAYSC_SCPLOW v3.5 demonstrates improved performance and usability; facilitating more in-depth exploration of microbial interactions and metabolic functions in environmental genomes that scales with con-temporary sequencing throughput. Availability and ImplementationMO_SCPLOWETAC_SCPLOWPO_SCPLOWATHWAYSC_SCPLOW v3.5 is available via AO_SCPLOWNACONDAC_SCPLOW, DO_SCPLOWOCKERC_SCPLOW, and AO_SCPLOWPPTAINERC_SCPLOW. The source code is available on BO_SCPLOWITC_SCPLOWBO_SCPLOWUCKETC_SCPLOW:https://bitbucket.org/BCB2/metapathways/ The documentation is available via RO_SCPLOWEADC_SCPLOWTO_SCPLOWHEC_SCPLOWDO_SCPLOWOCSC_SCPLOW:https://metapathways.readthedocs.io Contactshallam@mail.ubc.ca

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2021

Mitochondria serve as axonal shuttle for Cox7c mRNA through mechanism that involves its mitochondrial targeting signal

Localized protein synthesis plays a key role in spatiotemporal regulation of the cellular proteome. Neurons, which extend axons over long distances, heavily depend on this process. However, the mechanisms by which axonal mRNAs are transported to protein target sites are not fully understood. Here, we describe a novel role for mitochondria in shuttling a nuclear encoded mRNA along axons. Fractionation analysis and smFISH revealed that the mRNA encoding Cox7c protein is preferentially associated with mitochondria from a neuronal cell line and from primary motor neuron axons. Live cell imaging of MS2-tagged Cox7c or Cryab control mRNA in primary motor neurons further confirmed the preferential colocalization of Cox7c mRNA with mitochondria. More importantly, Cox7c demonstrated substantial cotransport with mitochondria along axons. Intriguingly, the coding region, rather than the 3UTR, was found to be the key domain for the cotransport. Furthermore, we show that puromycin treatment as well as hindering the synthesis of the mitochondrial targeting signal (MTS) reduced the colocalization. Overall, our results reveal a novel mRNA transport mode which exploits mitochondria as a shuttle and translation of the MTS as a recognition feature. Thus, mitochondria may play a role in spatial regulation of the axonal transcriptome and self-sustain their own proteome at distant neuronal sites.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Petabase-scale sequence alignment catalyses viral discovery

Public databases contain a planetary collection of nucleic acid sequences, but their systematic exploration has been inhibited by a lack of efficient methods for searching this corpus, now exceeding multiple petabases and growing exponentially [1, 2]. We developed a cloud computing infrastructure, Serratus, to enable ultra-high throughput sequence alignment at the petabase scale. We searched 5.7 million biologically diverse samples (10.2 petabases) for the hallmark gene RNA dependent RNA polymerase, identifying well over 105 novel RNA viruses and thereby expanding the number of known species by roughly an order of magnitude. We characterised novel viruses related to coronaviruses and to hepatitis{delta} virus, respectively and explored their environmental reservoirs. To catalyse a new era of viral discovery, we established a free and comprehensive database of these data and tools. Expanding the known sequence diversity of viruses can reveal the evolutionary origins of emerging pathogens and improve pathogen surveillance for the anticipation and mitigation of future pandemics.

bioinformatics↗