Abstract
In our prior work by Hose et al., we performed a genome-sequencing survey and reported that aneuploidy was frequently observed in wild strains of S. cerevisiae. We also profiled transcriptome abundance in naturally aneuploid isolates compared to isogenic euploid controls and found that 10–30% of amplified genes, depending on the strain and affected chromosome, show lower-than-expected expression compared to gene copy number. In Hose et al., we argued that this gene group is enriched for genes subject to one or more modes of dosage compensation, where mRNA abundance is decreased in response to higher dosage of that gene. A recent manuscript by Torres et al. refutes our prior work. Here, we provide a response to Torres et al., along with additional analysis and controls to support our original conclusions. We maintain that aneuploidy is well tolerated in the wild strains of S. cerevisiae that we studied and that the group of genes enriched for those subject to dosage compensation show unique evolutionary signatures.
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14409.001
Cells package their DNA into structures called chromosomes. Sometimes when a cell divides, it fails to allocate the right number of chromosomes to each new cell and so they end up with too many or too few chromosomes. The extra copies of the genes on an additional chromosome can be harmful to the cells, because the levels of the proteins encoded by those genes may rise abnormally.
Some organisms counteract the harmful effect of having additional chromosomes through a process called dosage compensation. Proteins are produced using genetic information via two steps: first a gene’s DNA sequence is copied into a molecule of RNA, which is then translated into a protein. Dosage compensation can inactivate single genes or whole chromosomes via various means to ensure that the levels of RNA expressed remain normal, even in the presence of extra genes.
In 2015, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reported that dosage compensation occurs in wild strains of budding yeast and effectively protects against the harmful effects of having extra chromosomes. However, these findings conflicted with earlier studies of laboratory strains of this yeast, and earlier in 2016, other researchers re-analysed the previous study’s data and challenged its findings.
Now, Gasch et al. – who conducted the work reported in 2015 – provide additional controls and computational experiments that support their original analysis. The latest analysis confirmed that the genes identified in the first study are indeed commonly duplicated in wild yeast populations, yet the expression of these genes remains controlled. This is consistent with a model of dosage compensation, for at least some of duplicated genes.
Gasch et al. believe that part of the difference in interpretation of the data relates to perspective. The challenging researchers tested to see if there was a mechanism of dosage compensation that acted across entire chromosomes, which is known to occur in the case of sex chromosomes in mammals. Gasch et al. on the other hand took a different approach and looked to identify effects at the level of individual genes.
Together, the analyses show that, while there is no evidence for a widespread mechanism, the expression of a select set of genes in wild yeast is consistent with gene-specific dosage compensation. Future work will now undoubtedly test the mechanisms behind the gene-specific effects, and explore why wild yeast strains are more tolerant to extra chromosomes than laboratory strains.
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14409.002
Collapse