January 2011

Different species of entomopathogenic fungi are being developed as environmentally friendly insect biocontrol agents. The genus Metarhizium includes the well-studied species M. anisopliae, which is capable of killing more than 200 insect species including cockroaches (left) and the locust-specific pathogen M. acridum that only infects locusts (right) or grasshoppers. In this issue of PLoS Genetics, Gao et al. report the comparative genomic studies of these two fungal species and find extensive gene expansions in M. anisopliae that may facilitate its ability to cope with a diverse range of insect hosts.

Image Credit: Chengshu Wang and Yuxian Xia.

Perspective

Rnf12—A Jack of All Trades in X Inactivation?

Edda G. Schulz, Elphège P. Nora, Edith Heard

PLOS Genetics: published January 27, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002002

Research Articles

Bub1-Mediated Adaptation of the Spindle Checkpoint

Greicy H. Goto, Ashutosh Mishra, Rashid Abdulle, Clive A. Slaughter, Katsumi Kitagawa

PLOS Genetics: published January 27, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001282

A Meta-Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Scans Identifies IL18RAP, PTPN2, TAGAP, and PUS10 As Shared Risk Loci for Crohn's Disease and Celiac Disease

Eleonora A. M. Festen, Philippe Goyette, Todd Green, Gabrielle Boucher, Claudine Beauchamp, Gosia Trynka, Patrick C. Dubois, Caroline Lagacé, Pieter C. F. Stokkers, Daan W. Hommes, Donatella Barisani, Orazio Palmieri, Vito Annese, David A. van Heel, Rinse K. Weersma, Mark J. Daly, Cisca Wijmenga, John D. Rioux

PLOS Genetics: published January 27, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001283

Horizontal Transfer, Not Duplication, Drives the Expansion of Protein Families in Prokaryotes

Todd J. Treangen, Eduardo P. C. Rocha

PLOS Genetics: published January 27, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001284

Evolutionary Conserved Regulation of HIF-1β by NF-κB

Patrick van Uden, Niall S. Kenneth, Ryan Webster, H. Arno Müller, Sharon Mudie, Sonia Rocha

PLOS Genetics: published January 27, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001285

RNF12 Activates Xist and Is Essential for X Chromosome Inactivation

Tahsin Stefan Barakat, Nilhan Gunhanlar, Cristina Gontan Pardo, Eskeatnaf Mulugeta Achame, Mehrnaz Ghazvini, Ruben Boers, Annegien Kenter, Eveline Rentmeester, J. Anton Grootegoed, Joost Gribnau

PLOS Genetics: published January 27, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002001

Joint Genetic Analysis of Gene Expression Data with Inferred Cellular Phenotypes

Leopold Parts, Oliver Stegle, John Winn, Richard Durbin

PLOS Genetics: published January 20, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001276

The Transposon-Like Correia Elements Encode Numerous Strong Promoters and Provide a Potential New Mechanism for Phase Variation in the Meningococcus

Azeem Siddique, Nicolas Buisine, Ronald Chalmers

PLOS Genetics: published January 20, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001277

Comparative Study between Transcriptionally- and Translationally-Acting Adenine Riboswitches Reveals Key Differences in Riboswitch Regulatory Mechanisms

Jean-François Lemay, Guillaume Desnoyers, Simon Blouin, Benoit Heppell, Laurène Bastet, Patrick St-Pierre, Eric Massé, Daniel A. Lafontaine

PLOS Genetics: published January 20, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001278

Global Analysis of the Impact of Environmental Perturbation on cis-Regulation of Gene Expression

Elin Grundberg, Veronique Adoue, Tony Kwan, Bing Ge, Qing Ling Duan, Kevin C. L. Lam, Vonda Koka, Andreas Kindmark, Scott T. Weiss, Kelan Tantisira, Hans Mallmin, Benjamin A. Raby, Olle Nilsson, Tomi Pastinen

PLOS Genetics: published January 20, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001279

Segregating Variation in the Polycomb Group Gene cramped Alters the Effect of Temperature on Multiple Traits

Jean-Michel Gibert, François Karch, Christian Schlötterer

PLOS Genetics: published January 20, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001280

Application of a New Method for GWAS in a Related Case/Control Sample with Known Pedigree Structure: Identification of New Loci for Nephrolithiasis

Silvia Tore, Stefania Casula, Giuseppina Casu, Maria Pina Concas, Paola Pistidda, Ivana Persico, Alessandro Sassu, Giovanni Battista Maestrale, Caterina Mele, Maria Rosa Caruso, Bibiana Bonerba, Paolo Usai, Ivo Deiana, Timothy Thornton, Mario Pirastu, Paola Forabosco

PLOS Genetics: published January 20, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001281

Friedreich's Ataxia (GAA)_n•(TTC)_n Repeats Strongly Stimulate Mitotic Crossovers in Saccharomyces cerevisae

Wei Tang, Margaret Dominska, Patricia W. Greenwell, Zachary Harvanek, Kirill S. Lobachev, Hyun-Min Kim, Vidhya Narayanan, Sergei M. Mirkin, Thomas D. Petes

PLOS Genetics: published January 13, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001270

Zebrafish usp39 Mutation Leads to rb1 mRNA Splicing Defect and Pituitary Lineage Expansion

Yesenia Ríos, Shlomo Melmed, Shuo Lin, Ning-Ai Liu

PLOS Genetics: published January 13, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001271

Histone H4 Lysine 12 Acetylation Regulates Telomeric Heterochromatin Plasticity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Bo O. Zhou, Shan-Shan Wang, Yang Zhang, Xiao-Hong Fu, Wei Dang, Brian A. Lenzmeier, Jin-Qiu Zhou

PLOS Genetics: published January 13, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001272

Proteins Encoded in Genomic Regions Associated with Immune-Mediated Disease Physically Interact and Suggest Underlying Biology

Elizabeth J. Rossin, Kasper Lage, Soumya Raychaudhuri, Ramnik J. Xavier, Diana Tatar, Yair Benita, International Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics Constortium, Chris Cotsapas, Mark J. Daly

PLOS Genetics: published January 13, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001273

Transcription Initiation Patterns Indicate Divergent Strategies for Gene Regulation at the Chromatin Level

Elizabeth A. Rach, Deborah R. Winter, Ashlee M. Benjamin, David L. Corcoran, Ting Ni, Jun Zhu, Uwe Ohler

PLOS Genetics: published January 13, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001274

Composite Effects of Polymorphisms near Multiple Regulatory Elements Create a Major-Effect QTL

Ryan D. Bickel, Artyom Kopp, Sergey V. Nuzhdin

PLOS Genetics: published January 13, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001275

A Mutation in the Gene Encoding Mitochondrial Mg²⁺ Channel MRS2 Results in Demyelination in the Rat

Takashi Kuramoto, Mitsuru Kuwamura, Satoko Tokuda, Takeshi Izawa, Yoshifumi Nakane, Kazuhiro Kitada, Masaharu Akao, Jean-Louis Guénet, Tadao Serikawa

PLOS Genetics: published January 6, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001262

Signaling Role of Fructose Mediated by FINS1/FBP in Arabidopsis thaliana

Young-Hee Cho, Sang-Dong Yoo

PLOS Genetics: published January 6, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001263

Genome Sequencing and Comparative Transcriptomics of the Model Entomopathogenic Fungi Metarhizium anisopliae and M. acridum

Qiang Gao, Kai Jin, Sheng-Hua Ying, Yongjun Zhang, Guohua Xiao, Yanfang Shang, Zhibing Duan, Xiao Hu, Xue-Qin Xie, Gang Zhou, Guoxiong Peng, Zhibing Luo, Wei Huang, Bing Wang, Weiguo Fang, Sibao Wang, Yi Zhong, Li-Jun Ma, Raymond J. St. Leger, Guo-Ping Zhao, Yan Pei, Ming-Guang Feng, Yuxian Xia, Chengshu Wang

PLOS Genetics: published January 6, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001264

A Novel RNA-Recognition-Motif Protein Is Required for Premeiotic G₁/S-Phase Transition in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Ken-Ichi Nonomura, Mitsugu Eiguchi, Mutsuko Nakano, Kazuya Takashima, Norio Komeda, Satoshi Fukuchi, Saori Miyazaki, Akio Miyao, Hirohiko Hirochika, Nori Kurata

PLOS Genetics: published January 6, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001265

Genome-Wide Association Study SNPs in the Human Genome Diversity Project Populations: Does Selection Affect Unlinked SNPs with Shared Trait Associations?

Amanda M. Casto, Marcus W. Feldman

PLOS Genetics: published January 6, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001266

The Caenorhabditis elegans Mucin-Like Protein OSM-8 Negatively Regulates Osmosensitive Physiology Via the Transmembrane Protein PTR-23

Anne-Katrin Rohlfing, Yana Miteva, Lorenza Moronetti, Liping He, Todd Lamitina

PLOS Genetics: published January 6, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001267

H3K9me-Independent Gene Silencing in Fission Yeast Heterochromatin by Clr5 and Histone Deacetylases

Klavs R. Hansen, Idit Hazan, Sreenath Shanker, Stephen Watt, Janne Verhein-Hansen, Jürg Bähler, Robert A. Martienssen, Janet F. Partridge, Amikam Cohen, Geneviève Thon

PLOS Genetics: published January 6, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001268

Quaking Regulates Hnrnpa1 Expression through Its 3′ UTR in Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

N. Ruth Zearfoss, Carina C. Clingman, Brian M. Farley, Lisa M. McCoig, Sean P. Ryder

PLOS Genetics: published January 6, 2011 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001269

Cover

Mycosed insect cadavers.