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Rossier V, Train C, Nevers Y, Robinson-Rechavi M, Dessimoz C. Matreex: Compact and Interactive Visualization for Scalable Studies of Large Gene Families. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae100. [PMID: 38742690 PMCID: PMC11149776 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Revised: 04/17/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Studying gene family evolution strongly benefits from insightful visualizations. However, the ever-growing number of sequenced genomes is leading to increasingly larger gene families, which challenges existing gene tree visualizations. Indeed, most of them present users with a dilemma: display complete but intractable gene trees, or collapse subtrees, thereby hiding their children's information. Here, we introduce Matreex, a new dynamic tool to scale up the visualization of gene families. Matreex's key idea is to use "phylogenetic" profiles, which are dense representations of gene repertoires, to minimize the information loss when collapsing subtrees. We illustrate Matreex's usefulness with three biological applications. First, we demonstrate on the MutS family the power of combining gene trees and phylogenetic profiles to delve into precise evolutionary analyses of large multicopy gene families. Second, by displaying 22 intraflagellar transport gene families across 622 species cumulating 5,500 representatives, we show how Matreex can be used to automate large-scale analyses of gene presence-absence. Notably, we report for the first time the complete loss of intraflagellar transport in the myxozoan Thelohanellus kitauei. Finally, using the textbook example of visual opsins, we show Matreex's potential to create easily interpretable figures for teaching and outreach. Matreex is available from the Python Package Index (pip install Matreex) with the source code and documentation available at https://github.com/DessimozLab/matreex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Rossier
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Comparative Genomics, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Clement Train
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Yannis Nevers
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Comparative Genomics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marc Robinson-Rechavi
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Comparative Genomics, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Christophe Dessimoz
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Comparative Genomics, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Zhang F, Bechara S, Nowacki M. Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) proteins are required for DNA elimination in Paramecium. Life Sci Alliance 2024; 7:e202302281. [PMID: 38056908 PMCID: PMC10700549 DOI: 10.26508/lsa.202302281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Chromosome (SMC) proteins are a large family of ATPases that play important roles in the organization and dynamics of chromatin. They are central regulators of chromosome dynamics and the core component of condensin. DNA elimination during zygotic somatic genome development is a characteristic feature of ciliated protozoa such as Paramecium This process occurs after meiosis, mitosis, karyogamy, and another mitosis, which result in the formation of a new germline and somatic nuclei. The series of nuclear divisions implies an important role of SMC proteins in Paramecium sexual development. The relationship between DNA elimination and SMC has not yet been described. Here, we applied RNA interference, genome sequencing, mRNA sequencing, immunofluorescence, and mass spectrometry to investigate the roles of SMC components in DNA elimination. Our results show that SMC4-2 is required for genome rearrangement, whereas SMC4-1 is not. Functional diversification of SMC4 in Paramecium led to a formation of two paralogues where SMC4-2 acquired a novel, development-specific function and differs from SMC4-1. Moreover, our study suggests a competitive relationship between these two proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fukai Zhang
- https://ror.org/02k7v4d05 Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian Bechara
- https://ror.org/02k7v4d05 Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Mariusz Nowacki
- https://ror.org/02k7v4d05 Institute of Cell Biology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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Bazin-Gélis M, Eleftheriou E, Zangarelli C, Lelandais G, Sperling L, Arnaiz O, Bétermier M. Inter-generational nuclear crosstalk links the control of gene expression to programmed genome rearrangement during the Paramecium sexual cycle. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:12337-12351. [PMID: 37953377 PMCID: PMC10711438 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad1006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Revised: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Multinucleate cells are found in many eukaryotes, but how multiple nuclei coordinate their functions is still poorly understood. In the cytoplasm of the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia, two micronuclei (MIC) serving sexual reproduction coexist with a somatic macronucleus (MAC) dedicated to gene expression. During sexual processes, the MAC is progressively destroyed while still ensuring transcription, and new MACs develop from copies of the zygotic MIC. Several gene clusters are successively induced and switched off before vegetative growth resumes. Concomitantly, programmed genome rearrangement (PGR) removes transposons and their relics from the new MACs. Development of the new MACs is controlled by the old MAC, since the latter expresses genes involved in PGR, including the PGM gene encoding the essential PiggyMac endonuclease that cleaves the ends of eliminated sequences. Using RNA deep sequencing and transcriptome analysis, we show that impairing PGR upregulates key known PGR genes, together with ∼600 other genes possibly also involved in PGR. Among these genes, 42% are no longer induced when no new MACs are formed, including 180 genes that are co-expressed with PGM under all tested conditions. We propose that bi-directional crosstalk between the two coexisting generations of MACs links gene expression to the progression of MAC development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mélanie Bazin-Gélis
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Evangelia Eleftheriou
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Inserm U1223, Innate Immunity Unit, Paris, France
| | - Coralie Zangarelli
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Gaëlle Lelandais
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Linda Sperling
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Olivier Arnaiz
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Mireille Bétermier
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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Ding X, Gong X, Fan Y, Cao J, Zhao J, Zhang Y, Wang X, Meng K. DNA double-strand break genetic variants in patients with premature ovarian insufficiency. J Ovarian Res 2023; 16:135. [PMID: 37430352 DOI: 10.1186/s13048-023-01221-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a clinically heterogeneous disease that may seriously affect the physical and mental health of women of reproductive age. POI primarily manifests as ovarian function decline and endocrine disorders in women prior to age 40 and is an established cause of female infertility. It is crucial to elucidate the causative factors of POI, not only to expand the understanding of ovarian physiology, but also to provide genetic counselling and fertility guidance to affected patients. Factors leading to POI are multifaceted with genetic factors accounting for 7% to 30%. In recent years, an increasing number of DNA damage-repair-related genes have been linked with the occurrence of POI. Among them, DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), one of the most damaging to DNA, and its main repair methods including homologous recombination (HR) and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) are of particular interest. Numerous genes are known to be involved in the regulation of programmed DSB formation and damage repair. The abnormal expression of several genes have been shown to trigger defects in the overall repair pathway and induce POI and other diseases. This review summarises the DSB-related genes that may contribute to the development of POI and their potential regulatory mechanisms, which will help to further establish role of DSB in the pathogenesis of POI and provide theoretical guidance for the study of the pathogenesis and clinical treatment of this disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuechun Ding
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Birth Defect Research and Transformation of Shandong Province, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
- College of Second Clinical Medical, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
| | - Xiaowei Gong
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Birth Defect Research and Transformation of Shandong Province, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
- College of Second Clinical Medical, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
| | - Yingying Fan
- Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining, China
| | - Jinghe Cao
- Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining, China
| | - Jingyu Zhao
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Birth Defect Research and Transformation of Shandong Province, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
- College of Second Clinical Medical, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
| | - Yixin Zhang
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Birth Defect Research and Transformation of Shandong Province, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
- College of Second Clinical Medical, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
| | - Xiaomei Wang
- College of Basic Medicine, Jining Medical University, Jining, China.
| | - Kai Meng
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Birth Defect Research and Transformation of Shandong Province, Jining Medical University, Jining, China.
- Lin He's Academician Workstation of New Medicine and Clinical Translation, Jining Medical University, Jining, China.
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