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Cissé OH, Curran SJ, Folco HD, Liu Y, Bishop L, Wang H, Fischer ER, Davis AS, Combs C, Thapar S, Dekker JP, Grewal S, Cushion M, Ma L, Kovacs JA. Regional centromere configuration in the fungal pathogens of the Pneumocystis genus. mBio 2024; 15:e0318523. [PMID: 38380929 PMCID: PMC10936427 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.03185-23] [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: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Centromeres are constricted chromosomal regions that are essential for cell division. In eukaryotes, centromeres display a remarkable architectural and genetic diversity. The basis of centromere-accelerated evolution remains elusive. Here, we focused on Pneumocystis species, a group of mammalian-specific fungal pathogens that form a sister taxon with that of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe, an important genetic model for centromere biology research. Methods allowing reliable continuous culture of Pneumocystis species do not currently exist, precluding genetic manipulation. CENP-A, a variant of histone H3, is the epigenetic marker that defines centromeres in most eukaryotes. Using heterologous complementation, we show that the Pneumocystis CENP-A ortholog is functionally equivalent to CENP-ACnp1 of S. pombe. Using organisms from a short-term in vitro culture or infected animal models and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-Seq, we identified CENP-A bound regions in two Pneumocystis species that diverged ~35 million years ago. Each species has a unique short regional centromere (<10 kb) flanked by heterochromatin in 16-17 monocentric chromosomes. They span active genes and lack conserved DNA sequence motifs and repeats. These features suggest an epigenetic specification of centromere function. Analysis of centromeric DNA across multiple Pneumocystis species suggests a vertical transmission at least 100 million years ago. The common ancestry of Pneumocystis and S. pombe centromeres is untraceable at the DNA level, but the overall architectural similarity could be the result of functional constraint for successful chromosomal segregation.IMPORTANCEPneumocystis species offer a suitable genetic system to study centromere evolution in pathogens because of their phylogenetic proximity with the non-pathogenic yeast S. pombe, a popular model for cell biology. We used this system to explore how centromeres have evolved after the divergence of the two clades ~ 460 million years ago. To address this question, we established a protocol combining short-term culture and ChIP-Seq to characterize centromeres in multiple Pneumocystis species. We show that Pneumocystis have short epigenetic centromeres that function differently from those in S. pombe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ousmane H. Cissé
- Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Shelly J. Curran
- Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - H. Diego Folco
- Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Yueqin Liu
- Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Lisa Bishop
- Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Honghui Wang
- Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Elizabeth R. Fischer
- Microscopy Unit, Research Technologies Branch, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, USA
| | - A. Sally Davis
- Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Manhattan, Kansas, USA
| | - Christian Combs
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Sabrina Thapar
- Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - John P. Dekker
- Bacterial Pathogenesis and Antimicrobial Resistance Unit, National Institute of Allergy, and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Shiv Grewal
- Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Melanie Cushion
- Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - Liang Ma
- Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Joseph A. Kovacs
- Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Dendooven T, Zhang Z, Yang J, McLaughlin SH, Schwab J, Scheres SHW, Yatskevich S, Barford D. Cryo-EM structure of the complete inner kinetochore of the budding yeast point centromere. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadg7480. [PMID: 37506202 PMCID: PMC10381965 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg7480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
The point centromere of budding yeast specifies assembly of the large kinetochore complex to mediate chromatid segregation. Kinetochores comprise the centromere-associated inner kinetochore (CCAN) complex and the microtubule-binding outer kinetochore KNL1-MIS12-NDC80 (KMN) network. The budding yeast inner kinetochore also contains the DNA binding centromere-binding factor 1 (CBF1) and CBF3 complexes. We determined the cryo-electron microscopy structure of the yeast inner kinetochore assembled onto the centromere-specific centromere protein A nucleosomes (CENP-ANuc). This revealed a central CENP-ANuc with extensively unwrapped DNA ends. These free DNA duplexes bind two CCAN protomers, one of which entraps DNA topologically, positioned on the centromere DNA element I (CDEI) motif by CBF1. The two CCAN protomers are linked through CBF3 forming an arch-like configuration. With a structural mechanism for how CENP-ANuc can also be linked to KMN involving only CENP-QU, we present a model for inner kinetochore assembly onto a point centromere and how it organizes the outer kinetochore for chromosome attachment to the mitotic spindle.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jing Yang
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
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Cieslinski K, Wu YL, Nechyporenko L, Hörner SJ, Conti D, Skruzny M, Ries J. Nanoscale structural organization and stoichiometry of the budding yeast kinetochore. J Cell Biol 2023; 222:213833. [PMID: 36705601 PMCID: PMC9929930 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.202209094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Proper chromosome segregation is crucial for cell division. In eukaryotes, this is achieved by the kinetochore, an evolutionarily conserved multiprotein complex that physically links the DNA to spindle microtubules and takes an active role in monitoring and correcting erroneous spindle-chromosome attachments. Our mechanistic understanding of these functions and how they ensure an error-free outcome of mitosis is still limited, partly because we lack a complete understanding of the kinetochore structure in the cell. In this study, we use single-molecule localization microscopy to visualize individual kinetochore complexes in situ in budding yeast. For major kinetochore proteins, we measured their abundance and position within the metaphase kinetochore. Based on this comprehensive dataset, we propose a quantitative model of the budding yeast kinetochore. While confirming many aspects of previous reports based on bulk imaging, our results present a unifying nanoscale model of the kinetochore in budding yeast.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstanty Cieslinski
- https://ror.org/03mstc592Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany,Translational Radiation Oncology Unit, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Yu-Le Wu
- https://ror.org/03mstc592Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany,Faculty of Biosciences, Collaboration for Joint PhD Degree Between European Molecular Biology Laboratory and Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Lisa Nechyporenko
- https://ror.org/03mstc592Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany,Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sarah Janice Hörner
- https://ror.org/03mstc592Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany,https://ror.org/04p61dj41Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, Mannheim, Germany,Interdisciplinary Center for Neuroscience, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Duccio Conti
- https://ror.org/03vpj4s62Department of Mechanistic Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Michal Skruzny
- https://ror.org/03mstc592Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Jonas Ries
- https://ror.org/03mstc592Cell Biology and Biophysics Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany
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Schotanus K, Yadav V, Heitman J. Epigenetic dynamics of centromeres and neocentromeres in Cryptococcus deuterogattii. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009743. [PMID: 34464380 PMCID: PMC8407549 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Deletion of native centromeres in the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus deuterogattii leads to neocentromere formation. Native centromeres span truncated transposable elements, while neocentromeres do not and instead span actively expressed genes. To explore the epigenetic organization of neocentromeres, we analyzed the distribution of the heterochromatic histone modification H3K9me2, 5mC DNA methylation and the euchromatin mark H3K4me2. Native centromeres are enriched for both H3K9me2 and 5mC DNA methylation marks and are devoid of H3K4me2, while neocentromeres do not exhibit any of these features. Neocentromeres in cen10Δ mutants are unstable and chromosome-chromosome fusions occur. After chromosome fusion, the neocentromere is inactivated and the native centromere of the chromosome fusion partner remains as the sole, active centromere. In the present study, the active centromere of a fused chromosome was deleted to investigate if epigenetic memory promoted the re-activation of the inactive neocentromere. Our results show that the inactive neocentromere is not re-activated and instead a novel neocentromere forms directly adjacent to the deleted centromere of the fused chromosome. To study the impact of transcription on centromere stability, the actively expressed URA5 gene was introduced into the CENP-A bound regions of a native centromere. The introduction of the URA5 gene led to a loss of CENP-A from the native centromere, and a neocentromere formed adjacent to the native centromere location. Remarkably, the inactive, native centromere remained enriched for heterochromatin, yet the integrated gene was expressed and devoid of H3K9me2. A cumulative analysis of multiple CENP-A distribution profiles revealed centromere drift in C. deuterogattii, a previously unreported phenomenon in fungi. The CENP-A-binding shifted within the ORF-free regions and showed a possible association with a truncated transposable element. Taken together, our findings reveal that neocentromeres in C. deuterogattii are highly unstable and are not marked with an epigenetic memory, distinguishing them from native centromeres. Linear eukaryotic chromosomes require a specific chromosomal region, the centromere, where the macromolecular kinetochore protein complex assembles. In most organisms, centromeres are located in gene-free, repeat-rich chromosomal regions and may or may not be associated with heterochromatic epigenetic marks. We report that the native centromeres of the human fungal pathogen Cryptococcus deuterogattii are enriched with heterochromatin marks. Deleting a centromere in C. deuterogattii results in formation of neocentromeres that span genes. In some cases, neocentromeres are unstable leading to chromosome-chromosome fusions and neocentromere inactivation. These neocentromeres, unlike native centromeres, lack any of the tested heterochromatic marks or any epigenetic memory. We also found that neocentromere formation can be triggered not only by deletion of the native centromere but also by disrupting its function via insertion of a gene. These results show that neocentromere dynamics in this fungal pathogen are unique among organisms studied so far. Our results also revealed key differences between epigenetics of native centromeres between C. deuterogattii and its sister species, C. neoformans. These finding provide an opportunity to test and study the evolution of centromeres, as well as neocentromeres, in this species complex and how it might contribute to their genome evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaas Schotanus
- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Vikas Yadav
- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Joseph Heitman
- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Mishra PK, Basrai MA. Protein kinases in mitotic phosphorylation of budding yeast CENP-A. Curr Genet 2019; 65:1325-1332. [PMID: 31119371 DOI: 10.1007/s00294-019-00997-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Revised: 05/16/2019] [Accepted: 05/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Centromere identity is specified epigenetically by specialized nucleosomes containing the evolutionarily conserved centromeric histone H3 variant (Cse4 in budding yeast, CENP-A in humans) which is essential for faithful chromosome segregation. However, the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation of Cse4 have not been clearly defined. We have identified two kinases, Cdc5 (Plk1 in humans) and Ipl1 (Aurora B kinase in humans) that phosphorylate Cse4 to prevent chromosomal instability (CIN). Cdc5 associates with Cse4 in mitosis and Cdc5-mediated phosphorylation of Cse4 is coincident with the centromeric enrichment of Cdc5 during metaphase. Defects in Cdc5-mediated Cse4 phosphorylation causes CIN, whereas constitutive association of Cdc5 with Cse4 results in lethality. Cse4 is also a substrate for Ipl1 and phospho-mimetic cse4 mutants suppress growth defects of ipl1 and Ipl1 kinetochore substrate mutants, namely dam1 spc34 and ndc80. Ipl1-mediated phosphorylation of Cse4 regulates kinetochore-microtubule interactions and chromosome biorientation. We propose that collaboration of Cdc5- and Ipl1-mediated phosphorylation of Cse4 modulates kinetochore structure and function, and chromosome biorientation. These findings demonstrate how phosphorylation of Cse4 regulates the integrity of the kinetochore, and acts as an epigenetic marker for mitotic control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant K Mishra
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Munira A Basrai
- Genetics Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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6
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Cai Y, Hossain MJ, Hériché JK, Politi AZ, Walther N, Koch B, Wachsmuth M, Nijmeijer B, Kueblbeck M, Martinic-Kavur M, Ladurner R, Alexander S, Peters JM, Ellenberg J. Experimental and computational framework for a dynamic protein atlas of human cell division. Nature 2018; 561:411-415. [PMID: 30202089 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0518-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2016] [Accepted: 07/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Essential biological functions, such as mitosis, require tight coordination of hundreds of proteins in space and time. Localization, the timing of interactions and changes in cellular structure are all crucial to ensure the correct assembly, function and regulation of protein complexes1-4. Imaging of live cells can reveal protein distributions and dynamics but experimental and theoretical challenges have prevented the collection of quantitative data, which are necessary for the formulation of a model of mitosis that comprehensively integrates information and enables the analysis of the dynamic interactions between the molecular parts of the mitotic machinery within changing cellular boundaries. Here we generate a canonical model of the morphological changes during the mitotic progression of human cells on the basis of four-dimensional image data. We use this model to integrate dynamic three-dimensional concentration data of many fluorescently knocked-in mitotic proteins, imaged by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy-calibrated microscopy5. The approach taken here to generate a dynamic protein atlas of human cell division is generic; it can be applied to systematically map and mine dynamic protein localization networks that drive cell division in different cell types, and can be conceptually transferred to other cellular functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yin Cai
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany.,Roche Diagnostics, Waiblingen, Germany
| | - M Julius Hossain
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Antonio Z Politi
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Nike Walther
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Birgit Koch
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Malte Wachsmuth
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany.,Luxendo GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Bianca Nijmeijer
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Moritz Kueblbeck
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Marina Martinic-Kavur
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria.,Genos, Glycoscience Research Laboratory, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Rene Ladurner
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna, Austria.,Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Jan Ellenberg
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany.
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7
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Mishra PK, Guo J, Dittman LE, Haase J, Yeh E, Bloom K, Basrai MA. Pat1 protects centromere-specific histone H3 variant Cse4 from Psh1-mediated ubiquitination. Mol Biol Cell 2015; 26:2067-79. [PMID: 25833709 PMCID: PMC4472017 DOI: 10.1091/mbc.e14-08-1335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2014] [Accepted: 03/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
A novel Pat1-dependent mechanism is identified for the protection of kinetochore-associated Cse4 from ubiquitination in order to ensure faithful chromosome segregation and genomic stability. Evolutionarily conserved histone H3 variant Cse4 and its homologues are essential components of specialized centromere (CEN)-specific nucleosomes and serve as an epigenetic mark for CEN identity and propagation. Cse4 is a critical determinant for the structure and function of the kinetochore and is required to ensure faithful chromosome segregation. The kinetochore protein Pat1 regulates the levels and spatial distribution of Cse4 at centromeres. Deletion of PAT1 results in altered structure of CEN chromatin and chromosome segregation errors. In this study, we show that Pat1 protects CEN-associated Cse4 from ubiquitination in order to maintain proper structure and function of the kinetochore in budding yeast. PAT1-deletion strains exhibit increased ubiquitination of Cse4 and faster turnover of Cse4 at kinetochores. Psh1, a Cse4-specific E3-ubiquitin ligase, interacts with Pat1 in vivo and contributes to the increased ubiquitination of Cse4 in pat1∆ strains. Consistent with a role of Psh1 in ubiquitination of Cse4, transient induction of PSH1 in a wild-type strain resulted in phenotypes similar to a pat1∆ strain, including a reduction in CEN-associated Cse4, increased Cse4 ubiquitination, defects in spatial distribution of Cse4 at kinetochores, and altered structure of CEN chromatin. Pat1 interacts with Scm3 and is required for its maintenance at kinetochores. In conclusion, our studies provide novel insights into mechanisms by which Pat1 affects the structure of CEN chromatin and protects Cse4 from Psh1-mediated ubiquitination for faithful chromosome segregation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prashant K Mishra
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
| | - Jiasheng Guo
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Lauren E Dittman
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
| | - Julian Haase
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Elaine Yeh
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Kerry Bloom
- Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Munira A Basrai
- Genetics Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
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