Streptomyces niveus NCIMB 11891 is the producer of the gyrase inhibitor novobiocin, which belongs to the aminocoumarin class of antibiotics. The genome sequence of this strain was found to contain, besides the gene cluster for novobiocin, a putative gene cluster for the macrolactam antibiotic BE-14106 and further secondary metabolite gene clusters.

We report on the cloning and sequencing of the vanA gene cluster present in the glycopeptide-resistant clinical isolate Bacillus circulans VR0709 (R. Fontana, M. Ligozzi, C. Pedrotti, E. M. Padovani, and G. Cornaglia, Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 16:473-474, 1997). The presence of a vanA-related gene in VR0709 was demonstrated in a PCR assay which permitted the specific amplification o...

Aflatoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by a 70-kb cluster of genes in Aspergillus flavus. The cluster genes are coordinately regulated and reside as a single copy within the genome. Diploids between a wild-type strain and a mutant (649) lacking the aflatoxin gene cluster fail to produce aflatoxin or transcripts of the aflatoxin pathway genes. This dominant phenotype is rescued in d...

Small-subunit (SSU) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene clusters are phylogenetically related sets of SSU rRNA genes, commonly encountered in genes amplified from natural populations. Genetic variability in gene clusters could result from artifacts (polymerase error or PCR chimera formation), microevolution (variation among rrn copies within strains), or macroevolution (genetic divergence correlated with...

Comparative genome analysis revealed seven uncharacterized genes, sven0909 to sven0915, adjacent to the previously identified chloramphenicol biosynthetic gene cluster (sven0916-sven0928) of Streptomyces venezuelae strain ATCC 10712 that was absent in a closely related Streptomyces strain that does not produce chloramphenicol. Transcriptional analysis suggested that three of these genes might b...

  Avian metapneumovirus (aMPV) represents one of the most prevalent diseases of poultry mainly in combination with other pathogens, and it is increasing among chickens.  In the present study, the detection and characterization of an aMPV subtype B strain circulating in broiler flocks based on fusion (F) gene. In phylogenetic analysis, the isolates are located in B subtype cl...

Computational analysis methods for gene expression data gathered in microarray experiments can be used to identify the functions of previously unstudied genes. While obtaining the expression data is not a difficult task, interpreting and extracting the information from the datasets is challenging. In this study, a knowledge-based approach which identifies and saves important functional genes be...

MOTIVATION An important goal of microarray studies is to discover genes that are associated with clinical outcomes, such as disease status and patient survival. While a typical experiment surveys gene expressions on a global scale, there may be only a small number of genes that have significant influence on a clinical outcome. Moreover, expression data have cluster structures and the genes with...

In mammals, perception of pheromones is based on the expression in each vomeronasal sensory neuron of a limited set of receptor genes, chosen among a large repertoire. Here, we report an extremely tight control of the monogenic and monoallelic transcription of the V1rb2 receptor gene. Combining genetic and electrophysiological approaches, we show that the transcription of a non-functional V1r a...

The genes involved in the biosynthesis of sterigmatocystin (ST), a toxic secondary metabolite produced by Aspergillus nidulans and an aflatoxin (AF) precursor in other Aspergillus spp., are clustered on chromosome IV of A. nidulans. The sterigmatocystin gene cluster (stc gene cluster) is regulated by the pathway-specific transcription factor aflR. The function of aflR appears to be conserved be...