An observation of circular RNAs in bacterial RNA-seq data

E-print/Working paper (2016)

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of RNA with an important role in micro RNA (miRNA) regulation recently discovered in Human and various other eukaryotes as well as in archaea. Here, we have analyzed ... [more ▼]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of RNA with an important role in micro RNA (miRNA) regulation recently discovered in Human and various other eukaryotes as well as in archaea. Here, we have analyzed RNA-seq data obtained from Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli in a way similar to previous studies performed on eukaryotes. We report observations of circRNAs in RNA-seq data that are reproducible across multiple experiments performed with different protocols or growth conditions. [less ▲]

Local search methods based on variable focusing for random K-satisfiability

in Physical Review. E. (2015), 91(1), 013305-6

We introduce variable focused local search algorithms for satisfiabiliity problems. Usual approaches focus uniformly on unsatisfied clauses. The methods described here work by focusing on random variables ... [more ▼]

We introduce variable focused local search algorithms for satisfiabiliity problems. Usual approaches focus uniformly on unsatisfied clauses. The methods described here work by focusing on random variables in unsatisfied clauses. Variants are considered where variables are selected uniformly and randomly or by introducing a bias towards picking variables participating in several unsatistified clauses. These are studied in the case of the random 3-SAT problem, together with an alternative energy definition, the number of variables in unsatisfied constraints. The variable-based focused Metropolis search (V-FMS) is found to be quite close in performance to the standard clause-based FMS at optimal noise. At infinite noise, instead, the threshold for the linearity of solution times with instance size is improved by picking preferably variables in several UNSAT clauses. Consequences for algorithmic design are discussed. [less ▲]

Transcription factor concentrations versus binding site affinities in the yeast S. cerevisiae.

in Physical Biology (2007), 4(2), 134-43

Transcription regulation is largely governed by the profile and the dynamics of transcription factors' binding to DNA. Stochastic effects are intrinsic to this dynamics, and the binding to functional ... [more ▼]

Transcription regulation is largely governed by the profile and the dynamics of transcription factors' binding to DNA. Stochastic effects are intrinsic to this dynamics, and the binding to functional sites must be controlled with a certain specificity for living organisms to be able to elicit specific cellular responses. Specificity stems here from the interplay between binding affinity and cellular abundance of transcription factor proteins, and the binding of such proteins to DNA is thus controlled by their chemical potential. We combine large-scale protein abundance data in the budding yeast with binding affinities for all transcription factors with known DNA binding site sequences to assess the behavior of their chemical potentials in an exponential growth phase. A sizable fraction of transcription factors is apparently bound non-specifically to DNA, and the observed abundances are marginally sufficient to ensure high occupations of the functional sites. We argue that a biological cause of this feature is related to its noise-filtering consequences: abundances below physiological levels do not yield significant binding of functional targets and mis-expressions of regulated genes may thus be tamed. [less ▲]