@article {91, title = {Rapid, Paralog-Sensitive CNV Analysis of 2457 Human Genomes Using QuicK-mer2.}, journal = {Genes (Basel)}, volume = {11}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 01 29}, abstract = {

Gene duplication is a major mechanism for the evolution of gene novelty, and copy-number variation makes a major contribution to inter-individual genetic diversity. However, most approaches for studying copy-number variation rely upon uniquely mapping reads to a genome reference and are unable to distinguish among duplicated sequences. Specialized approaches to interrogate specific paralogs are comparatively slow and have a high degree of computational complexity, limiting their effective application to emerging population-scale data sets. We present QuicK-mer2, a self-contained, mapping-free approach that enables the rapid construction of paralog-specific copy-number maps from short-read sequence data. This approach is based on the tabulation of unique k-mer sequences from short-read data sets, and is able to analyze a 20X coverage human genome in approximately 20 min. We applied our approach to newly released sequence data from the 1000 Genomes Project, constructed paralog-specific copy-number maps from 2457 unrelated individuals, and uncovered copy-number variation of paralogous genes. We identify nine genes where none of the analyzed samples have a copy number of two, 92 genes where the majority of samples have a copy number other than two, and describe rare copy number variation effecting multiple genes at the APOBEC3 locus.

}, keywords = {Algorithms, Computational Biology, DNA Copy Number Variations, Evolution, Molecular, Gene Duplication, Genome, Human, Humans, Sequence Analysis, DNA}, issn = {2073-4425}, doi = {10.3390/genes11020141}, author = {Shen, Feichen and Kidd, Jeffrey M} } @article {109, title = {RNA Identification of PRIME Cells Predicting Rheumatoid Arthritis Flares.}, journal = {N Engl J Med}, volume = {383}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 07 16}, pages = {218-228}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis, like many inflammatory diseases, is characterized by episodes of quiescence and exacerbation (flares). The molecular events leading to flares are unknown.

METHODS: We established a clinical and technical protocol for repeated home collection of blood in patients with rheumatoid arthritis to allow for longitudinal RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Specimens were obtained from 364 time points during eight flares over a period of 4 years in our index patient, as well as from 235 time points during flares in three additional patients. We identified transcripts that were differentially expressed before flares and compared these with data from synovial single-cell RNA-seq. Flow cytometry and sorted-blood-cell RNA-seq in additional patients were used to validate the findings.

RESULTS: Consistent changes were observed in blood transcriptional profiles 1 to 2 weeks before a rheumatoid arthritis flare. B-cell activation was followed by expansion of circulating CD45-CD31-PDPN+ preinflammatory mesenchymal, or PRIME, cells in the blood from patients with rheumatoid arthritis; these cells shared features of inflammatory synovial fibroblasts. Levels of circulating PRIME cells decreased during flares in all 4 patients, and flow cytometry and sorted-cell RNA-seq confirmed the presence of PRIME cells in 19 additional patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

CONCLUSIONS: Longitudinal genomic analysis of rheumatoid arthritis flares revealed PRIME cells in the blood during the period before a flare and suggested a model in which these cells become activated by B cells in the weeks before a flare and subsequently migrate out of the blood into the synovium. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.).

}, keywords = {Adult, Arthritis, Rheumatoid, B-Lymphocytes, Female, Fibroblasts, Flow Cytometry, Gene Expression, Humans, Male, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Middle Aged, Patient Acuity, Sequence Analysis, RNA, Surveys and Questionnaires, Symptom Flare Up, Synovial Fluid}, issn = {1533-4406}, doi = {10.1056/NEJMoa2004114}, author = {Orange, Dana E and Yao, Vicky and Sawicka, Kirsty and Fak, John and Frank, Mayu O and Parveen, Salina and Blach{\`e}re, Nathalie E and Hale, Caryn and Zhang, Fan and Raychaudhuri, Soumya and Troyanskaya, Olga G and Darnell, Robert B} } @article {82, title = {RaGOO: fast and accurate reference-guided scaffolding of draft genomes.}, journal = {Genome Biol}, volume = {20}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Oct 28}, pages = {224}, abstract = {

We present RaGOO, a reference-guided contig ordering and orienting tool that leverages the speed and sensitivity of Minimap2 to accurately achieve chromosome-scale assemblies in minutes. After the pseudomolecules are constructed, RaGOO identifies structural variants, including those spanning sequencing gaps. We show that RaGOO accurately orders and orients 3 de novo tomato genome assemblies, including the widely used M82 reference cultivar. We then demonstrate the scalability and utility of RaGOO with a pan-genome analysis of 103 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions by examining the structural variants detected in the newly assembled pseudomolecules. RaGOO is available open source at https://github.com/malonge/RaGOO .

}, issn = {1474-760X}, doi = {10.1186/s13059-019-1829-6}, author = {Alonge, Michael and Soyk, Sebastian and Ramakrishnan, Srividya and Wang, Xingang and Goodwin, Sara and Sedlazeck, Fritz J and Lippman, Zachary B and Schatz, Michael C} } @article {70, title = {Redefining the Etiologic Landscape of Cerebellar Malformations.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {105}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Sep 05}, pages = {606-615}, abstract = {

Cerebellar malformations are diverse congenital anomalies frequently associated with developmental disability. Although genetic and prenatal non-genetic causes have been described, no systematic analysis has been performed. Here, we present a large-exome sequencing study of Dandy-Walker malformation (DWM) and cerebellar hypoplasia (CBLH). We performed exome sequencing in 282 individuals from 100 families with DWM or CBLH, and we established a molecular diagnosis in 36 of 100 families, with a significantly higher yield for CBLH (51\%) than for DWM (16\%). The 41 variants impact 27 neurodevelopmental-disorder-associated genes, thus demonstrating that CBLH and DWM are often features of monogenic neurodevelopmental disorders. Though only seven monogenic causes (19\%) were identified in more than one individual, neuroimaging review of 131 additional individuals confirmed cerebellar abnormalities in 23 of 27 genetic disorders (85\%). Prenatal risk factors were frequently found among individuals without a genetic diagnosis (30 of 64 individuals [47\%]). Single-cell RNA sequencing of prenatal human cerebellar tissue revealed gene enrichment in neuronal and vascular cell types; this suggests that defective vasculogenesis may disrupt cerebellar development. Further, de novo gain-of-function variants in PDGFRB, a tyrosine kinase receptor essential for vascular progenitor signaling, were associated with CBLH, and this discovery links genetic and non-genetic etiologies. Our results suggest that genetic defects impact specific cerebellar cell types and implicate abnormal vascular development as a mechanism for cerebellar malformations. We also confirmed a major contribution for non-genetic prenatal factors in individuals with cerebellar abnormalities, substantially influencing diagnostic evaluation and counseling regarding recurrence risk and prognosis.

}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2019.07.019}, author = {Aldinger, Kimberly A and Timms, Andrew E and Thomson, Zachary and Mirzaa, Ghayda M and Bennett, James T and Rosenberg, Alexander B and Roco, Charles M and Hirano, Matthew and Abidi, Fatima and Haldipur, Parthiv and Cheng, Chi V and Collins, Sarah and Park, Kaylee and Zeiger, Jordan and Overmann, Lynne M and Alkuraya, Fowzan S and Biesecker, Leslie G and Braddock, Stephen R and Cathey, Sara and Cho, Megan T and Chung, Brian H Y and Everman, David B and Zarate, Yuri A and Jones, Julie R and Schwartz, Charles E and Goldstein, Amy and Hopkin, Robert J and Krantz, Ian D and Ladda, Roger L and Leppig, Kathleen A and McGillivray, Barbara C and Sell, Susan and Wusik, Katherine and Gleeson, Joseph G and Nickerson, Deborah A and Bamshad, Michael J and Gerrelli, Dianne and Lisgo, Steven N and Seelig, Georg and Ishak, Gisele E and Barkovich, A James and Curry, Cynthia J and Glass, Ian A and Millen, Kathleen J and Doherty, Dan and Dobyns, William B} } @article {9, title = {Resolution of Disease Phenotypes Resulting from Multilocus Genomic Variation.}, journal = {N Engl J Med}, volume = {376}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Jan 05}, pages = {21-31}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Whole-exome sequencing can provide insight into the relationship between observed clinical phenotypes and underlying genotypes.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of data from a series of 7374 consecutive unrelated patients who had been referred to a clinical diagnostic laboratory for whole-exome sequencing; our goal was to determine the frequency and clinical characteristics of patients for whom more than one molecular diagnosis was reported. The phenotypic similarity between molecularly diagnosed pairs of diseases was calculated with the use of terms from the Human Phenotype Ontology.

RESULTS: A molecular diagnosis was rendered for 2076 of 7374 patients (28.2\%); among these patients, 101 (4.9\%) had diagnoses that involved two or more disease loci. We also analyzed parental samples, when available, and found that de novo variants accounted for 67.8\% (61 of 90) of pathogenic variants in autosomal dominant disease genes and 51.7\% (15 of 29) of pathogenic variants in X-linked disease genes; both variants were de novo in 44.7\% (17 of 38) of patients with two monoallelic variants. Causal copy-number variants were found in 12 patients (11.9\%) with multiple diagnoses. Phenotypic similarity scores were significantly lower among patients in whom the phenotype resulted from two distinct mendelian disorders that affected different organ systems (50 patients) than among patients with disorders that had overlapping phenotypic features (30 patients) (median score, 0.21 vs. 0.36; P=1.77{\texttimes}10).

CONCLUSIONS: In our study, we found multiple molecular diagnoses in 4.9\% of cases in which whole-exome sequencing was informative. Our results show that structured clinical ontologies can be used to determine the degree of overlap between two mendelian diseases in the same patient; the diseases can be distinct or overlapping. Distinct disease phenotypes affect different organ systems, whereas overlapping disease phenotypes are more likely to be caused by two genes encoding proteins that interact within the same pathway. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation.).

}, keywords = {Exome, Genetic Diseases, Inborn, Genetic Variation, Genotyping Techniques, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Humans, Phenotype, Retrospective Studies, Sequence Analysis, DNA}, issn = {1533-4406}, doi = {10.1056/NEJMoa1516767}, author = {Posey, Jennifer E and Harel, Tamar and Liu, Pengfei and Rosenfeld, Jill A and James, Regis A and Coban Akdemir, Zeynep H and Walkiewicz, Magdalena and Bi, Weimin and Xiao, Rui and Ding, Yan and Xia, Fan and Beaudet, Arthur L and Muzny, Donna M and Gibbs, Richard A and Boerwinkle, Eric and Eng, Christine M and Sutton, V Reid and Shaw, Chad A and Plon, Sharon E and Yang, Yaping and Lupski, James R} }