1
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Hague MTJ, Wheeler TB, Cooper BS. Comparative analysis of Wolbachia maternal transmission and localization in host ovaries. Commun Biol 2024; 7:727. [PMID: 38877196 PMCID: PMC11178894 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06431-y] [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: 02/17/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Many insects and other animals carry microbial endosymbionts that influence their reproduction and fitness. These relationships only persist if endosymbionts are reliably transmitted from one host generation to the next. Wolbachia are maternally transmitted endosymbionts found in most insect species, but transmission rates can vary across environments. Maternal transmission of wMel Wolbachia depends on temperature in natural Drosophila melanogaster hosts and in transinfected Aedes aegypti, where wMel is used to block pathogens that cause human disease. In D. melanogaster, wMel transmission declines in the cold as Wolbachia become less abundant in host ovaries and at the posterior pole plasm (the site of germline formation) in mature oocytes. Here, we assess how temperature affects maternal transmission and underlying patterns of Wolbachia localization across 10 Wolbachia strains diverged up to 50 million years-including strains closely related to wMel-and their natural Drosophila hosts. Many Wolbachia maintain high transmission rates across temperatures, despite highly variable (and sometimes low) levels of Wolbachia in the ovaries and at the developing germline in late-stage oocytes. Identifying strains like closely related wMel-like Wolbachia with stable transmission across variable environmental conditions may improve the efficacy of Wolbachia-based biocontrol efforts as they expand into globally diverse environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Timothy B Wheeler
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - Brandon S Cooper
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
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2
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Shukla HG, Chakraborty M, Emerson J. Genetic variation in recalcitrant repetitive regions of the Drosophila melanogaster genome. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.11.598575. [PMID: 38915508 PMCID: PMC11195212 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.11.598575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
Many essential functions of organisms are encoded in highly repetitive genomic regions, including histones involved in DNA packaging, centromeres that are core components of chromosome segregation, ribosomal RNA comprising the protein translation machinery, telomeres that ensure chromosome integrity, piRNA clusters encoding host defenses against selfish elements, and virtually the entire Y chromosome. These regions, formed by highly similar tandem arrays, pose significant challenges for experimental and informatic study, impeding sequence-level descriptions essential for understanding genetic variation. Here, we report the assembly and variation analysis of such repetitive regions in Drosophila melanogaster, offering significant improvements to the existing community reference assembly. Our work successfully recovers previously elusive segments, including complete reconstructions of the histone locus and the pericentric heterochromatin of the X chromosome, spanning the Stellate locus to the distal flank of the rDNA cluster. To infer structural changes in these regions where alignments are often not practicable, we introduce landmark anchors based on unique variants that are putatively orthologous. These regions display considerable structural variation between different D. melanogaster strains, exhibiting differences in copy number and organization of homologous repeat units between haplotypes. In the histone cluster, although we observe minimal genetic exchange indicative of crossing over, the variation patterns suggest mechanisms such as unequal sister chromatid exchange. We also examine the prevalence and scale of concerted evolution in the histone and Stellate clusters and discuss the mechanisms underlying these observed patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harsh G. Shukla
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA
- Graduate Program in Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA
| | - Mahul Chakraborty
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
| | - J.J. Emerson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA
- Center for Complex Biological Systems, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California 92697, USA
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3
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Stutzman AV, Hill CA, Armstrong RL, Gohil R, Duronio RJ, Dowen JM, McKay DJ. Heterochromatic 3D genome organization is directed by HP1a- and H3K9-dependent and independent mechanisms. Mol Cell 2024; 84:2017-2035.e6. [PMID: 38795706 PMCID: PMC11185254 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2024.05.002] [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: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024]
Abstract
Whether and how histone post-translational modifications and the proteins that bind them drive 3D genome organization remains unanswered. Here, we evaluate the contribution of H3K9-methylated constitutive heterochromatin to 3D genome organization in Drosophila tissues. We find that the predominant organizational feature of wild-type tissues is the segregation of euchromatic chromosome arms from heterochromatic pericentromeres. Reciprocal perturbation of HP1a⋅H3K9me binding, using a point mutation in the HP1a chromodomain or replacement of the replication-dependent histone H3 with H3K9R mutant histones, revealed that HP1a binding to methylated H3K9 in constitutive heterochromatin is required to limit contact frequency between pericentromeres and chromosome arms and regulate the distance between arm and pericentromeric regions. Surprisingly, the self-association of pericentromeric regions is largely preserved despite the loss of H3K9 methylation and HP1a occupancy. Thus, the HP1a⋅H3K9 interaction contributes to but does not solely drive the segregation of euchromatin and heterochromatin inside the nucleus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexis V Stutzman
- Curriculum in Genetics & Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Christina A Hill
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Robin L Armstrong
- Curriculum in Genetics & Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Riya Gohil
- Curriculum in Genetics & Molecular Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Robert J Duronio
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
| | - Jill M Dowen
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
| | - Daniel J McKay
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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4
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Atinbayeva N, Valent I, Zenk F, Loeser E, Rauer M, Herur S, Quarato P, Pyrowolakis G, Gomez-Auli A, Mittler G, Cecere G, Erhardt S, Tiana G, Zhan Y, Iovino N. Inheritance of H3K9 methylation regulates genome architecture in Drosophila early embryos. EMBO J 2024:10.1038/s44318-024-00127-z. [PMID: 38831123 DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00127-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Revised: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Constitutive heterochromatin is essential for transcriptional silencing and genome integrity. The establishment of constitutive heterochromatin in early embryos and its role in early fruitfly development are unknown. Lysine 9 trimethylation of histone H3 (H3K9me3) and recruitment of its epigenetic reader, heterochromatin protein 1a (HP1a), are hallmarks of constitutive heterochromatin. Here, we show that H3K9me3 is transmitted from the maternal germline to the next generation. Maternally inherited H3K9me3, and the histone methyltransferases (HMT) depositing it, are required for the organization of constitutive heterochromatin: early embryos lacking H3K9 methylation display de-condensation of pericentromeric regions, centromere-centromere de-clustering, mitotic defects, and nuclear shape irregularities, resulting in embryo lethality. Unexpectedly, quantitative CUT&Tag and 4D microscopy measurements of HP1a coupled with biophysical modeling revealed that H3K9me2/3 is largely dispensable for HP1a recruitment. Instead, the main function of H3K9me2/3 at this developmental stage is to drive HP1a clustering and subsequent heterochromatin compaction. Our results show that HP1a binding to constitutive heterochromatin in the absence of H3K9me2/3 is not sufficient to promote proper embryo development and heterochromatin formation. The loss of H3K9 HMTs and H3K9 methylation alters genome organization and hinders embryonic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nazerke Atinbayeva
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
- Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Fahnenbergplatz, 79085, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Iris Valent
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Zoological Institute, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Fides Zenk
- Brain Mind Institute, School of Life Sciences EPFL, SV3809, 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Eva Loeser
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Michael Rauer
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Shwetha Herur
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Piergiuseppe Quarato
- San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132, Milan, Italy
| | - Giorgos Pyrowolakis
- Centre for Biological signaling studies, University of Freiburg, 79104, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Alejandro Gomez-Auli
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Gerhard Mittler
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Germano Cecere
- Institute Pasteur, Mechanisms of Epigenetic Inheritance, Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, UMR3738, CNRS, 75724, Cedex 15, Paris, France
| | - Sylvia Erhardt
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Zoological Institute, 76131, Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Guido Tiana
- Università degli Studi di Milano and INFN, Milan, Italy
| | - Yinxiu Zhan
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology-IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
| | - Nicola Iovino
- Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
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5
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Hague MT, Wheeler TB, Cooper BS. Comparative analysis of Wolbachia maternal transmission and localization in host ovaries. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.03.583170. [PMID: 38496649 PMCID: PMC10942406 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.03.583170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Many insects and other animals carry microbial endosymbionts that influence their reproduction and fitness. These relationships only persist if endosymbionts are reliably transmitted from one host generation to the next. Wolbachia are maternally transmitted endosymbionts found in most insect species, but transmission rates can vary across environments. Maternal transmission of wMel Wolbachia depends on temperature in natural Drosophila melanogaster hosts and in transinfected Aedes aegypti, where wMel is used to block pathogens that cause human disease. In D. melanogaster, wMel transmission declines in the cold as Wolbachia become less abundant in host ovaries and at the posterior pole plasm (the site of germline formation) in mature oocytes. Here, we assess how temperature affects maternal transmission and underlying patterns of Wolbachia localization across 10 Wolbachia strains diverged up to 50 million years-including strains closely related to wMel-and their natural Drosophila hosts. Many Wolbachia maintain high transmission rates across temperatures, despite highly variable (and sometimes low) levels of Wolbachia in the ovaries and at the developing germline in late-stage oocytes. Identifying strains like closely related wMel-like Wolbachia with stable transmission across variable environmental conditions may improve the efficacy of Wolbachia-based biocontrol efforts as they expand into globally diverse environments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Timothy B. Wheeler
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
| | - Brandon S. Cooper
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
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6
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Sokolov V, Kyrchanova O, Klimenko N, Fedotova A, Ibragimov A, Maksimenko O, Georgiev P. New Drosophila promoter-associated architectural protein Mzfp1 interacts with CP190 and is required for housekeeping gene expression and insulator activity. Nucleic Acids Res 2024:gkae393. [PMID: 38769058 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2023] [Revised: 04/20/2024] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
In Drosophila, a group of zinc finger architectural proteins recruits the CP190 protein to the chromatin, an interaction that is essential for the functional activity of promoters and insulators. In this study, we describe a new architectural C2H2 protein called Madf and Zinc-Finger Protein 1 (Mzfp1) that interacts with CP190. Mzfp1 has an unusual structure that includes six C2H2 domains organized in a C-terminal cluster and two tandem MADF domains. Mzfp1 predominantly binds to housekeeping gene promoters located in both euchromatin and heterochromatin genome regions. In vivo mutagenesis studies showed that Mzfp1 is an essential protein, and both MADF domains and the CP190 interaction region are required for its functional activity. The C2H2 cluster is sufficient for the specific binding of Mzfp1 to regulatory elements, while the second MADF domain is required for Mzfp1 recruitment to heterochromatin. Mzfp1 binds to the proximal part of the Fub boundary that separates regulatory domains of the Ubx and abd-A genes in the Bithorax complex. Mzfp1 participates in Fub functions in cooperation with the architectural proteins Pita and Su(Hw). Thus, Mzfp1 is a new architectural C2H2 protein involved in the organization of active promoters and insulators in Drosophila.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Sokolov
- Department of the Control of Genetic Processes, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russia
| | - Olga Kyrchanova
- Department of the Control of Genetic Processes, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russia
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russia
| | - Natalia Klimenko
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russia
| | - Anna Fedotova
- Department of the Control of Genetic Processes, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russia
| | - Airat Ibragimov
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russia
| | - Oksana Maksimenko
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russia
| | - Pavel Georgiev
- Department of the Control of Genetic Processes, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russia
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7
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Chao KH, Heinz JM, Hoh C, Mao A, Shumate A, Pertea M, Salzberg SL. Combining DNA and protein alignments to improve genome annotation with LiftOn. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.16.593026. [PMID: 38798552 PMCID: PMC11118573 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.16.593026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
As the number and variety of assembled genomes continues to grow, the number of annotated genomes is falling behind, particularly for eukaryotes. DNA-based mapping tools help to address this challenge, but they are only able to transfer annotation between closely-related species. Here we introduce LiftOn, a homology-based software tool that integrates DNA and protein alignments to enhance the accuracy of genome-scale annotation and to allow mapping between relatively distant species. LiftOn's protein-centric algorithm considers both types of alignments, chooses optimal open reading frames, resolves overlapping gene loci, and finds additional gene copies where they exist. LiftOn can reliably transfer annotation between genomes representing members of the same species, as we demonstrate on human, mouse, honey bee, rice, and Arabidopsis thaliana. It can further map annotation effectively across species pairs as far apart as mouse and rat or Drosophila melanogaster and D. erecta.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuan-Hao Chao
- Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Center for Computational Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Jakob M. Heinz
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Celine Hoh
- Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Center for Computational Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Alan Mao
- Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Center for Computational Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Alaina Shumate
- Center for Computational Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Mihaela Pertea
- Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Center for Computational Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Steven L Salzberg
- Department of Computer Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Center for Computational Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21211, USA
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8
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Yingning L, Shuhua W, Wenting D, Miao M, Ying W, Rong Z, Liping B. Chromosome-level genome assembly of Odontothrips loti Haliday (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Sci Data 2024; 11:451. [PMID: 38704405 PMCID: PMC11069530 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-024-03289-x] [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: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/06/2024] Open
Abstract
As the predominant pest of alfalfa, Odontothrips loti Haliday causes great damages over the major alfalfa-growing regions of China. The characteristics of strong mobility and fecundity make them develop rapidly in the field and hard to be controlled. There is a shortage of bioinformation and limited genomic resources available of O. loti for us to develop novel pest management strategies. In this study, we constructed a chromosome-level reference genome assembly of O. loti with a genome size of 346.59 Mb and scaffold N50 length of 18.52 Mb, anchored onto 16 chromosomes and contained 20128 genes, of which 93.59% were functionally annotated. The results of 99.20% complete insecta_odb10 genes in BUSCO analysis, 91.11% short reads mapped to the ref-genome, and the consistent tendency among the thrips in the distribution of gene length reflects the quality of genome. Our study provided the first report of genome for the genus Odontothrips, which offers a genomic resource for further investigations on evolution and molecular biology of O. loti, contributing to pest management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luo Yingning
- College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Wei Shuhua
- Institute of Plant Protection, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Yinchuan, 750002, China
| | - Dai Wenting
- College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Miao Miao
- College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Wang Ying
- Institute of Plant Protection, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Yinchuan, 750002, China
| | - Zhang Rong
- Institute of Plant Protection, Ningxia Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Yinchuan, 750002, China
| | - Ban Liping
- College of Grassland Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
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9
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Crain AT, Nevil M, Leatham-Jensen MP, Reeves KB, Matera AG, McKay DJ, Duronio RJ. Redesigning the Drosophila histone gene cluster: An improved genetic platform for spatiotemporal manipulation of histone function. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.25.591202. [PMID: 38712307 PMCID: PMC11071459 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.25.591202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Mutating replication-dependent (RD) histone genes is an important tool for understanding chromatin-based epigenetic regulation. Deploying this tool in metazoan models is particularly challenging because RD histones in these organisms are typically encoded by many genes, often located at multiple loci. Such RD histone gene arrangements make the ability to generate homogenous histone mutant genotypes by site-specific gene editing quite difficult. Drosophila melanogaster provides a solution to this problem because the RD histone genes are organized into a single large tandem array that can be deleted and replaced with transgenes containing mutant histone genes. In the last ∼15 years several different RD histone gene replacement platforms have been developed using this simple strategy. However, each platform contains weaknesses that preclude full use of the powerful developmental genetic capabilities available to Drosophila researchers. Here we describe the development of a newly engineered platform that rectifies many of these weaknesses. We used CRISPR to precisely delete the RD histone gene array ( HisC ), replacing it with a multifunctional cassette that permits site-specific insertion of either one or two synthetic gene arrays using selectable markers. We designed this cassette with the ability to selectively delete each of the integrated gene arrays in specific tissues using site-specific recombinases. We also present a method for rapidly synthesizing histone gene arrays of any genotype using Golden Gate cloning technologies. These improvements facilitate generation of histone mutant cells in various tissues at different stages of Drosophila development and provide an opportunity to apply forward genetic strategies to interrogate chromatin structure and gene regulation.
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10
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Ryu T, Merigliano C, Chiolo I. Nup153 is not required for anchoring heterochromatic DSBs to the nuclear periphery. MICROPUBLICATION BIOLOGY 2024; 2024:10.17912/micropub.biology.001176. [PMID: 38737725 PMCID: PMC11087819 DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2024] [Revised: 04/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
Pericentromeric heterochromatin mostly comprises repeated DNA sequences prone to ectopic recombination. In Drosophila cells, 'safe' homologous recombination repair requires relocalization of heterochromatic repair sites to the nuclear periphery before Rad51 recruitment and strand invasion. DSBs are anchored to the nuclear periphery through the Nup107/160 nucleoporin complex. Previous studies suggested that the nuclear pore 'basket' protein Nup153 could also mediate anchoring, but Nup153 RNAi depletion also affects Nup107 association with the pores, preventing a direct assessment of Nup153 role. Using a separation of function mutant, here we show that Nup153 is not required for anchoring heterochromatic DSBs to the nuclear periphery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taehyun Ryu
- Molecular and Computational Biology Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Chiara Merigliano
- Molecular and Computational Biology Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Irene Chiolo
- Molecular and Computational Biology Department, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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11
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Leitão AB, Arunkumar R, Day JP, Hanna N, Devi A, Hayes MP, Jiggins FM. Recognition of nonself is necessary to activate Drosophila's immune response against an insect parasite. BMC Biol 2024; 22:89. [PMID: 38644510 PMCID: PMC11034056 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-024-01886-1] [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: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Innate immune responses can be activated by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), danger signals released by damaged tissues, or the absence of self-molecules that inhibit immunity. As PAMPs are typically conserved across broad groups of pathogens but absent from the host, it is unclear whether they allow hosts to recognize parasites that are phylogenetically similar to themselves, such as parasitoid wasps infecting insects. RESULTS Parasitoids must penetrate the cuticle of Drosophila larvae to inject their eggs. In line with previous results, we found that the danger signal of wounding triggers the differentiation of specialized immune cells called lamellocytes. However, using oil droplets to mimic infection by a parasitoid wasp egg, we found that this does not activate the melanization response. This aspect of the immune response also requires exposure to parasite molecules. The unidentified factor enhances the transcriptional response in hemocytes and induces a specific response in the fat body. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that a combination of danger signals and the recognition of nonself molecules is required to activate Drosophila's immune response against parasitic insects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre B Leitão
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal.
| | | | - Jonathan P Day
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Nancy Hanna
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Aarathi Devi
- Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Matthew P Hayes
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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12
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Li X, Mao C, He J, Bin X, Liu G, Dong Z, Zhao R, Wan X, Li X. The first chromosome-level genome of the stag beetle Dorcus hopei Saunders, 1854 (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). Sci Data 2024; 11:396. [PMID: 38637640 PMCID: PMC11026507 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-024-03251-x] [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: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) represent a significant saproxylic assemblage in forest ecosystems and are noted for their enlarged mandibles and male polymorphism. Despite their relevance as ideal models for the study of exaggerated mandibles that aid in attracting mates, the regulatory mechanisms associated with these traits remain understudied, and restricted by the lack of high-quality reference genomes for stag beetles. To address this limitation, we successfully assembled the first chromosome-level genome of a representative species Dorcus hopei. The genome was 496.58 Mb in length, with a scaffold N50 size of 54.61 Mb, BUSCO values of 99.8%, and 96.8% of scaffolds anchored to nine pairs of chromosomes. We identified 285.27 Mb (57.45%) of repeat sequences and annotated 11,231 protein-coding genes. This genome will be a valuable resource for further understanding the evolution and ecology of stag beetles, and provides a basis for studying the mechanisms of exaggerated mandibles through comparative analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolu Li
- Department of Ecology, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, 230601, China
| | - Chuyang Mao
- Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Information, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
| | - Jinwu He
- Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Information, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
| | - Xiaoyan Bin
- Department of Ecology, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, 230601, China
| | - Guichun Liu
- Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Information, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
| | - Zhiwei Dong
- Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Information, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
| | - Ruoping Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Information, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China
| | - Xia Wan
- Department of Ecology, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, 230601, China.
| | - Xueyan Li
- Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China.
- Yunnan Key Laboratory of Biodiversity Information, Kunming, Yunnan, 650223, China.
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13
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Scarpa A, Pianezza R, Wierzbicki F, Kofler R. Genomes of historical specimens reveal multiple invasions of LTR retrotransposons in Drosophila melanogaster during the 19th century. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313866121. [PMID: 38564639 PMCID: PMC11009621 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313866121] [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: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Transposable element invasions have a profound impact on the evolution of genomes and phenotypes. It is thus an important open question how often such TE invasions occur. To address this question, we utilize the genomes of historical specimens, sampled about 200 y ago. We found that the LTR retrotransposons Blood, Opus, and 412 spread in Drosophila melanogaster in the 19th century. These invasions constitute second waves, as degraded fragments were found for all three TEs. The composition of Opus and 412, but not of Blood, shows a pronounced geographic heterogeneity, likely due to founder effects during the invasions. Finally, we identified species from the Drosophila simulans complex as the likely origin of the TEs. We show that in total, seven TE families invaded D. melanogaster during the last 200y, thereby increasing the genome size by up to 1.2Mbp. We suggest that this high rate of TE invasions was likely triggered by human activity. Based on the analysis of strains and specimens sampled at different times, we provide a detailed timeline of TE invasions, making D. melanogaster the first organism where the invasion history of TEs during the last two centuries could be inferred.
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Affiliation(s)
- Almorò Scarpa
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Wien1210, Austria
- Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna1210, Austria
| | - Riccardo Pianezza
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Wien1210, Austria
- Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna1210, Austria
| | - Filip Wierzbicki
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Wien1210, Austria
- Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna1210, Austria
| | - Robert Kofler
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Wien1210, Austria
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Zhou Y, Routh AL. Bipartite viral RNA genome heterodimerization influences genome packaging and virion thermostability. J Virol 2024; 98:e0182023. [PMID: 38329331 PMCID: PMC10949487 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01820-23] [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: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Multi-segmented viruses often multimerize their genomic segments to ensure efficient and stoichiometric packaging of the correct genetic cargo. In the bipartite Nodaviridae family, genome heterodimerization is also observed and conserved among different species. However, the nucleotide composition and biological function for this heterodimer remain unclear. Using Flock House virus as a model system, we developed a next-generation sequencing approach ("XL-ClickSeq") to probe heterodimer site sequences. We identified an intermolecular base-pairing site which contributed to heterodimerization in both wild-type and defective virus particles. Mutagenic disruption of this heterodimer site exhibited significant deficiencies in genome packaging and encapsidation specificity to viral genomic RNAs. Furthermore, the disruption of this intermolecular interaction directly impacts the thermostability of the mature virions. These results demonstrate that the intermolecular RNA-RNA interactions within the encapsidated genome of an RNA virus have an important role on virus particle integrity and thus may impact its transmission to a new host.IMPORTANCEFlock House virus is a member of Nodaviridae family of viruses, which provides a well-studied model virus for non-enveloped RNA virus assembly, cell entry, and replication. The Flock House virus genome consists of two separate RNA molecules, which can form a heterodimer upon heating of virus particles. Although similar RNA dimerization is utilized by other viruses (such as retroviruses) as a packaging mechanism and is conserved among Nodaviruses, the role of heterodimerization in the Nodavirus replication cycle is unclear. In this research, we identified the RNA sequences contributing to Flock House virus genome heterodimerization and discovered that such RNA-RNA interaction plays an essential role in virus packaging efficiency and particle integrity. This provides significant insight into how the interaction of packaged viral RNA may have a broader impact on the structural and functional properties of virus particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiyang Zhou
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
| | - Andrew L. Routh
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Scripps Research, La Jolla, California, USA
- Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
- Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, USA
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15
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Jin J, Zhan Z, Wei X, Pan Z, Zhao Y, Yu D, Zhang F. Genomic insights into the chromosomal elongation in a family of Collembola. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20232937. [PMID: 38471545 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2937] [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: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Collembola is a highly diverse and abundant group of soil arthropods with chromosome numbers ranging from 5 to 11. Previous karyotype studies indicated that the Tomoceridae family possesses an exceptionally long chromosome. To better understand chromosome size evolution in Collembola, we obtained a chromosome-level genome of Yoshiicerus persimilis with a size of 334.44 Mb and BUSCO completeness of 97.0% (n = 1013). Both genomes of Y. persimilis and Tomocerus qinae (recently published) have an exceptionally large chromosome (ElChr greater than 100 Mb), accounting for nearly one-third of the genome. Comparative genomic analyses suggest that chromosomal elongation occurred independently in the two species approximately 10 million years ago, rather than in the ancestor of the Tomoceridae family. The ElChr elongation was caused by large tandem and segmental duplications, as well as transposon proliferation, with genes in these regions experiencing weaker purifying selection (higher dN/dS) than conserved regions. Moreover, inter-genomic synteny analyses indicated that chromosomal fission/fusion events played a crucial role in the evolution of chromosome numbers (ranging from 5 to 7) within Entomobryomorpha. This study provides a valuable resource for investigating the chromosome evolution of Collembola.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianfeng Jin
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhihong Zhan
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiping Wei
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhixiang Pan
- School of Life Sciences, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuxin Zhao
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China
| | - Daoyuan Yu
- Soil Ecology Lab, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China
| | - Feng Zhang
- Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, People's Republic of China
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16
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Lin L, Huang Y, McIntyre J, Chang CH, Colmenares S, Lee YCG. Prevalent fast evolution of genes involved in heterochromatin functions. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.03.583199. [PMID: 38496614 PMCID: PMC10942301 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.03.583199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Heterochromatin is a gene-poor and repeat-rich genomic compartment ubiquitously found in eukaryotes. Despite its low transcriptional activity, heterochromatin plays important roles in maintaining genome stability, organizing chromosomes, and suppressing transposable elements (TEs). Given the importance of these functions, it is expected that the genes involved in heterochromatin regulation would be highly conserved. Yet, a handful of these genes have been found to evolve rapidly. To investigate whether these previous findings are anecdotal or general to genes modulating heterochromatin, we compiled an exhaustive list of 106 candidate genes involved in heterochromatin functions and investigated their evolution over both short and long evolutionary time scales in Drosophila. Our analyses found that these genes exhibit significantly more frequent evolutionary changes, both in the forms of amino acid substitutions and gene copy number variation, when compared to genes involved in Polycomb-based repressive chromatin. While positive selection drives amino acid changes within both structured domains with diverse functions and irregular disordered regions (IDRs), purifying selection may have maintained the proportions of IDRs. Together with the observed negative associations between rates of protein evolution of these genes and genomic TE abundance, we propose an evolutionary model where the fast evolution of genes involved in heterochromatin functions is an inevitable outcome of the unique molecular features of the heterochromatin environment, while the rapid evolution of TEs may be an effect rather than cause. Our study provides an important global view of the evolution of genes involved in this critical cellular domain and provides insights into the factors driving the distinctive evolution of heterochromatin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila Lin
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine
| | - Yuheng Huang
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine
| | - Jennifer McIntyre
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine
| | | | - Serafin Colmenares
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley
| | - Yuh Chwen G. Lee
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine
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17
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Pianezza R, Scarpa A, Narayanan P, Signor S, Kofler R. Spoink, a LTR retrotransposon, invaded D. melanogaster populations in the 1990s. PLoS Genet 2024; 20:e1011201. [PMID: 38530818 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024] Open
Abstract
During the last few centuries D. melanogaster populations were invaded by several transposable elements, the most recent of which was thought to be the P-element between 1950 and 1980. Here we describe a novel TE, which we named Spoink, that has invaded D. melanogaster. It is a 5216nt LTR retrotransposon of the Ty3/gypsy superfamily. Relying on strains sampled at different times during the last century we show that Spoink invaded worldwide D. melanogaster populations after the P-element between 1983 and 1993. This invasion was likely triggered by a horizontal transfer from the D. willistoni group, much as the P-element. Spoink is probably silenced by the piRNA pathway in natural populations and about 1/3 of the examined strains have an insertion into a canonical piRNA cluster such as 42AB. Given the degree of genetic investigation of D. melanogaster it is perhaps surprising that Spoink was able to invade unnoticed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Pianezza
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Almorò Scarpa
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Prakash Narayanan
- Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, United States of America
| | - Sarah Signor
- Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, United States of America
| | - Robert Kofler
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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18
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Bernard EIM, Towler BP, Rogoyski OM, Newbury SF. Characterisation of the in-vivo miRNA landscape in Drosophila ribonuclease mutants reveals Pacman-mediated regulation of the highly conserved let-7 cluster during apoptotic processes. Front Genet 2024; 15:1272689. [PMID: 38444757 PMCID: PMC10912645 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1272689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
The control of gene expression is a fundamental process essential for correct development and to maintain homeostasis. Many post-transcriptional mechanisms exist to maintain the correct levels of each RNA transcript within the cell. Controlled and targeted cytoplasmic RNA degradation is one such mechanism with the 5'-3' exoribonuclease Pacman (XRN1) and the 3'-5' exoribonuclease Dis3L2 playing crucial roles. Loss of function mutations in either Pacman or Dis3L2 have been demonstrated to result in distinct phenotypes, and both have been implicated in human disease. One mechanism by which gene expression is controlled is through the function of miRNAs which have been shown to be crucial for the control of almost all cellular processes. Although the biogenesis and mechanisms of action of miRNAs have been comprehensively studied, the mechanisms regulating their own turnover are not well understood. Here we characterise the miRNA landscape in a natural developing tissue, the Drosophila melanogaster wing imaginal disc, and assess the importance of Pacman and Dis3L2 on the abundance of miRNAs. We reveal a complex landscape of miRNA expression and show that whilst a null mutation in dis3L2 has a minimal effect on the miRNA expression profile, loss of Pacman has a profound effect with a third of all detected miRNAs demonstrating Pacman sensitivity. We also reveal a role for Pacman in regulating the highly conserved let-7 cluster (containing miR-100, let-7 and miR-125) and present a genetic model outlining a positive feedback loop regulated by Pacman which enhances our understanding of the apoptotic phenotype observed in Pacman mutants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa I. M. Bernard
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Benjamin P. Towler
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Oliver M. Rogoyski
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah F. Newbury
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
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19
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Luecke D, Luo Y, Krzystek H, Jones C, Kopp A. Highly Contiguous Genome Assembly of Drosophila prolongata - a Model for Evolution of Sexual Dimorphism and Male-specific Innovations. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.29.577853. [PMID: 38352395 PMCID: PMC10862779 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.29.577853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
Drosophila prolongata is a member of the melanogaster species group and rhopaloa subgroup native to the subtropical highlands of southeast Asia. This species exhibits an array of recently evolved male-specific morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits that distinguish it from its closest relatives, making it an attractive model for studying the evolution of sexual dimorphism and testing theories of sexual selection. The lack of genomic resources has impeded the dissection of the molecular basis of sex-specific development and behavior in this species. To address this, we assembled the genome of D. prolongata using long-read sequencing and Hi-C scaffolding, resulting in a highly complete and contiguous (scaffold N50 2.2Mb) genome assembly of 220Mb. The repetitive content of the genome is 24.6%, the plurality of which are LTR retrotransposons (33.2%). Annotations based on RNA-seq data and homology to related species revealed a total of 19,330 genes, of which 16,170 are protein-coding. The assembly includes 98.5% of Diptera BUSCO genes, including 93.8% present as a single copy. Despite some likely regional duplications, the completeness of this genome suggests that it can be readily used for gene expression, GWAS, and other genomic analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Luecke
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave Davis CA 95616
| | - Yige Luo
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave Davis CA 95616
| | - Halina Krzystek
- Biology Department of the University of North Carolina (UNC), 3159 Genome Sciences Building. 250 Bell Tower Drive. Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Corbin Jones
- Biology Department of the University of North Carolina (UNC), 3159 Genome Sciences Building. 250 Bell Tower Drive. Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Artyom Kopp
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave Davis CA 95616
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20
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Ryazansky SS, Chen C, Potters M, Naumenko AN, Lukyanchikova V, Masri RA, Brusentsov II, Karagodin DA, Yurchenko AA, Dos Anjos VL, Haba Y, Rose NH, Hoffman J, Guo R, Menna T, Kelley M, Ferrill E, Schultz KE, Qi Y, Sharma A, Deschamps S, Llaca V, Mao C, Murphy TD, Baricheva EM, Emrich S, Fritz ML, Benoit JB, Sharakhov IV, McBride CS, Tu Z, Sharakhova MV. The chromosome-scale genome assembly for the West Nile vector Culex quinquefasciatus uncovers patterns of genome evolution in mosquitoes. BMC Biol 2024; 22:16. [PMID: 38273363 PMCID: PMC10809549 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-024-01825-0] [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: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Understanding genome organization and evolution is important for species involved in transmission of human diseases, such as mosquitoes. Anophelinae and Culicinae subfamilies of mosquitoes show striking differences in genome sizes, sex chromosome arrangements, behavior, and ability to transmit pathogens. However, the genomic basis of these differences is not fully understood. METHODS In this study, we used a combination of advanced genome technologies such as Oxford Nanopore Technology sequencing, Hi-C scaffolding, Bionano, and cytogenetic mapping to develop an improved chromosome-scale genome assembly for the West Nile vector Culex quinquefasciatus. RESULTS We then used this assembly to annotate odorant receptors, odorant binding proteins, and transposable elements. A genomic region containing male-specific sequences on chromosome 1 and a polymorphic inversion on chromosome 3 were identified in the Cx. quinquefasciatus genome. In addition, the genome of Cx. quinquefasciatus was compared with the genomes of other mosquitoes such as malaria vectors An. coluzzi and An. albimanus, and the vector of arboviruses Ae. aegypti. Our work confirms significant expansion of the two chemosensory gene families in Cx. quinquefasciatus, as well as a significant increase and relocation of the transposable elements in both Cx. quinquefasciatus and Ae. aegypti relative to the Anophelines. Phylogenetic analysis clarifies the divergence time between the mosquito species. Our study provides new insights into chromosomal evolution in mosquitoes and finds that the X chromosome of Anophelinae and the sex-determining chromosome 1 of Culicinae have a significantly higher rate of evolution than autosomes. CONCLUSION The improved Cx. quinquefasciatus genome assembly uncovered new details of mosquito genome evolution and has the potential to speed up the development of novel vector control strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergei S Ryazansky
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Department of Molecular Genetics of Cell, NRC "Kurchatov Institute", Moscow, Russia
| | - Chujia Chen
- Genetics, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology Program, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Mark Potters
- Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, USA
| | - Anastasia N Naumenko
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Varvara Lukyanchikova
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Group of Genomic Mechanisms of Development, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia
- Laboratory of Structural and Functional Genomics, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Reem A Masri
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Ilya I Brusentsov
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Laboratory of Cell Differentiation Mechanisms, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Dmitriy A Karagodin
- Laboratory of Cell Differentiation Mechanisms, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Andrey A Yurchenko
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Vitor L Dos Anjos
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Yuki Haba
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Noah H Rose
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Jinna Hoffman
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20894, USA
| | - Rong Guo
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Theresa Menna
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Melissa Kelley
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Emily Ferrill
- County of San Diego Vector Control Program, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Karen E Schultz
- Mosquito and Vector Management District of Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Yumin Qi
- Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, USA
| | - Atashi Sharma
- Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, USA
| | | | | | - Chunhong Mao
- Biocomplexity Institute & Initiative University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
| | - Terence D Murphy
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20894, USA
| | - Elina M Baricheva
- Laboratory of Cell Differentiation Mechanisms, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Scott Emrich
- Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Megan L Fritz
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Joshua B Benoit
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Igor V Sharakhov
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Fralin Life Sciences Institute, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Carolyn S McBride
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Zhijian Tu
- Genetics, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology Program, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, USA
- Fralin Life Sciences Institute, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Maria V Sharakhova
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
- Laboratory of Cell Differentiation Mechanisms, Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia.
- Fralin Life Sciences Institute, Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
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21
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Goodheart JA, Rio RA, Taraporevala NF, Fiorenza RA, Barnes SR, Morrill K, Jacob MAC, Whitesel C, Masterson P, Batzel GO, Johnston HT, Ramirez MD, Katz PS, Lyons DC. A chromosome-level genome for the nudibranch gastropod Berghia stephanieae helps parse clade-specific gene expression in novel and conserved phenotypes. BMC Biol 2024; 22:9. [PMID: 38233809 PMCID: PMC10795318 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-024-01814-3] [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: 08/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/19/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND How novel phenotypes originate from conserved genes, processes, and tissues remains a major question in biology. Research that sets out to answer this question often focuses on the conserved genes and processes involved, an approach that explicitly excludes the impact of genetic elements that may be classified as clade-specific, even though many of these genes are known to be important for many novel, or clade-restricted, phenotypes. This is especially true for understudied phyla such as mollusks, where limited genomic and functional biology resources for members of this phylum have long hindered assessments of genetic homology and function. To address this gap, we constructed a chromosome-level genome for the gastropod Berghia stephanieae (Valdés, 2005) to investigate the expression of clade-specific genes across both novel and conserved tissue types in this species. RESULTS The final assembled and filtered Berghia genome is comparable to other high-quality mollusk genomes in terms of size (1.05 Gb) and number of predicted genes (24,960 genes) and is highly contiguous. The proportion of upregulated, clade-specific genes varied across tissues, but with no clear trend between the proportion of clade-specific genes and the novelty of the tissue. However, more complex tissue like the brain had the highest total number of upregulated, clade-specific genes, though the ratio of upregulated clade-specific genes to the total number of upregulated genes was low. CONCLUSIONS Our results, when combined with previous research on the impact of novel genes on phenotypic evolution, highlight the fact that the complexity of the novel tissue or behavior, the type of novelty, and the developmental timing of evolutionary modifications will all influence how novel and conserved genes interact to generate diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica A Goodheart
- Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Robin A Rio
- Bioengineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Neville F Taraporevala
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA
| | - Rose A Fiorenza
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Seth R Barnes
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Kevin Morrill
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mark Allan C Jacob
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Carl Whitesel
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Park Masterson
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Grant O Batzel
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hereroa T Johnston
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - M Desmond Ramirez
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
- Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA
| | - Paul S Katz
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
| | - Deirdre C Lyons
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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22
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Brown J, Su TT. E2F1, DIAP1, and the presence of a homologous chromosome promote while JNK inhibits radiation-induced loss of heterozygosity in Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics 2024; 226:iyad192. [PMID: 37874851 PMCID: PMC10763536 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad192] [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: 08/25/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) can occur when a heterozygous mutant cell loses the remaining wild-type allele to become a homozygous mutant. LOH can have physiological consequences if, for example, the affected gene encodes a tumor suppressor. We used fluorescent reporters to study the mechanisms of LOH induction by X-rays, a type of ionizing radiation (IR), in Drosophila melanogaster larval wing discs. IR is used to treat more than half of patients with cancer, so understanding its effects is of biomedical relevance. Quantitative analysis of IR-induced LOH at different positions between the telomere and the centromere on the X chromosome showed a strong sex dependence and the need for a recombination-proficient homologous chromosome, whereas, paradoxically, position along the chromosome made little difference in LOH incidence. We propose that published data documenting high recombination frequency within centromeric heterochromatin on the X chromosome can explain these data. Using a focused screen, we identified E2F1 as a key promotor of LOH and further testing suggests a mechanism involving its role in cell-cycle regulation. We leveraged the loss of a transcriptional repressor through LOH to express transgenes specifically in cells that have already acquired LOH. This approach identified JNK signaling and apoptosis as key determinants of LOH maintenance. These studies reveal previously unknown mechanisms for the generation and elimination of cells with chromosome aberrations after exposure to IR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy Brown
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, 347 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0347, USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, 13001 E. 17th Pl., Aurora, CO 80045, USA
| | - Tin Tin Su
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, 347 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0347, USA
- University of Colorado Cancer Center, Anschutz Medical Campus, 13001 E. 17th Pl., Aurora, CO 80045, USA
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23
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Feldmeyer B, Bornberg-Bauer E, Dohmen E, Fouks B, Heckenhauer J, Huylmans AK, Jones ARC, Stolle E, Harrison MC. Comparative Evolutionary Genomics in Insects. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2802:473-514. [PMID: 38819569 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3838-5_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Genome sequencing quality, in terms of both read length and accuracy, is constantly improving. By combining long-read sequencing technologies with various scaffolding techniques, chromosome-level genome assemblies are now achievable at an affordable price for non-model organisms. Insects represent an exciting taxon for studying the genomic underpinnings of evolutionary innovations, due to ancient origins, immense species-richness, and broad phenotypic diversity. Here we summarize some of the most important methods for carrying out a comparative genomics study on insects. We describe available tools and offer concrete tips on all stages of such an endeavor from DNA extraction through genome sequencing, annotation, and several evolutionary analyses. Along the way we describe important insect-specific aspects, such as DNA extraction difficulties or gene families that are particularly difficult to annotate, and offer solutions. We describe results from several examples of comparative genomics analyses on insects to illustrate the fascinating questions that can now be addressed in this new age of genomics research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Feldmeyer
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (SBiK-F), Molecular Ecology, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Erich Bornberg-Bauer
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- Department of Protein Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Elias Dohmen
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Bertrand Fouks
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Jacqueline Heckenhauer
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Frankfurt, Germany
- Department of Terrestrial Zoology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Ann Kathrin Huylmans
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Alun R C Jones
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Eckart Stolle
- Museum Koenig, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB), Bonn, Germany
| | - Mark C Harrison
- Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
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24
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Zimmermann B, Montenegro JD, Robb SMC, Fropf WJ, Weilguny L, He S, Chen S, Lovegrove-Walsh J, Hill EM, Chen CY, Ragkousi K, Praher D, Fredman D, Schultz D, Moran Y, Simakov O, Genikhovich G, Gibson MC, Technau U. Topological structures and syntenic conservation in sea anemone genomes. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8270. [PMID: 38092765 PMCID: PMC10719294 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44080-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
There is currently little information about the evolution of gene clusters, genome architectures and karyotypes in early branching animals. Slowly evolving anthozoan cnidarians can be particularly informative about the evolution of these genome features. Here we report chromosome-level genome assemblies of two related anthozoans, the sea anemones Nematostella vectensis and Scolanthus callimorphus. We find a robust set of 15 chromosomes with a clear one-to-one correspondence between the two species. Both genomes show chromosomal conservation, allowing us to reconstruct ancestral cnidarian and metazoan chromosomal blocks, consisting of at least 19 and 16 ancestral linkage groups, respectively. We show that, in contrast to Bilateria, the Hox and NK clusters of investigated cnidarians are largely disintegrated, despite the presence of staggered hox/gbx expression in Nematostella. This loss of microsynteny conservation may be facilitated by shorter distances between cis-regulatory sequences and their cognate transcriptional start sites. We find no clear evidence for topologically associated domains, suggesting fundamental differences in long-range gene regulation compared to vertebrates. These data suggest that large sets of ancestral metazoan genes have been retained in ancestral linkage groups of some extant lineages; yet, higher order gene regulation with associated 3D architecture may have evolved only after the cnidarian-bilaterian split.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bob Zimmermann
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
- Research platform SinCeReSt, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Juan D Montenegro
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
- Research platform SinCeReSt, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sofia M C Robb
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
| | - Whitney J Fropf
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
| | - Lukas Weilguny
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Shuonan He
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
| | - Shiyuan Chen
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
| | - Jessica Lovegrove-Walsh
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Eric M Hill
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
| | - Cheng-Yi Chen
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
| | - Katerina Ragkousi
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
- Department of Biology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, 01002, USA
| | - Daniela Praher
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - David Fredman
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Darrin Schultz
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Yehu Moran
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
- The Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 9190401, Israel
| | - Oleg Simakov
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
- Research platform SinCeReSt, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Grigory Genikhovich
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Matthew C Gibson
- Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA.
| | - Ulrich Technau
- Department of Neurosciences and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria.
- Research platform SinCeReSt, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria.
- Max Perutz laboratories, University of Vienna, Dr. Bohrgasse 5, 1030, Vienna, Austria.
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25
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Zhu JY, Lee H, Huang X, van de Leemput J, Han Z. Distinct Roles for COMPASS Core Subunits Set1, Trx, and Trr in the Epigenetic Regulation of Drosophila Heart Development. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:17314. [PMID: 38139143 PMCID: PMC10744143 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242417314] [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: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Highly evolutionarily conserved multiprotein complexes termed Complex of Proteins Associated with Set1 (COMPASS) are required for histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methylation. Drosophila Set1, Trx, and Trr form the core subunits of these complexes. We show that flies deficient in any of these three subunits demonstrated high lethality at eclosion (emergence of adult flies from their pupal cases) and significantly shortened lifespans for the adults that did emerge. Silencing Set1, trx, or trr in the heart led to a reduction in H3K4 monomethylation (H3K4me1) and dimethylation (H3K4me2), reflecting their distinct roles in H3K4 methylation. Furthermore, we studied the gene expression patterns regulated by Set1, Trx, and Trr. Each of the COMPASS core subunits controls the methylation of different sets of genes, with many metabolic pathways active early in development and throughout, while muscle and heart differentiation processes were methylated during later stages of development. Taken together, our findings demonstrate the roles of COMPASS series complex core subunits Set1, Trx, and Trr in regulating histone methylation during heart development and, given their implication in congenital heart diseases, inform research on heart disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-yi Zhu
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Hangnoh Lee
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Xiaohu Huang
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Joyce van de Leemput
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Zhe Han
- Center for Precision Disease Modeling, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
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26
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Courret C, Larracuente AM. High levels of intra-strain structural variation in Drosophila simulans X pericentric heterochromatin. Genetics 2023; 225:iyad176. [PMID: 37768175 PMCID: PMC10697818 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2023] [Revised: 08/12/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Large genome structural variations can impact genome regulation and integrity. Repeat-rich regions like pericentric heterochromatin are vulnerable to structural rearrangements although we know little about how often these rearrangements occur over evolutionary time. Repetitive genome regions are particularly difficult to study with genomic approaches, as they are missing from most genome assemblies. However, cytogenetic approaches offer a direct way to detect large rearrangements involving pericentric heterochromatin. Here, we use a cytogenetic approach to reveal large structural rearrangements associated with the X pericentromeric region of Drosophila simulans. These rearrangements involve large blocks of satellite DNA-the 500-bp and Rsp-like satellites-which colocalize in the X pericentromeric heterochromatin. We find that this region is polymorphic not only among different strains, but between isolates of the same strain from different labs, and even within individual isolates. On the one hand, our observations raise questions regarding the potential impact of such variation at the phenotypic level and our ability to control for such genetic variability. On the other hand, this highlights the very rapid turnover of the pericentric heterochromatin most likely associated with genomic instability of the X pericentromere. It represents a unique opportunity to study the dynamics of pericentric heterochromatin, the evolution of associated satellites on a very short time scale, and to better understand how structural variation arises.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cécile Courret
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
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27
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Strunov A, Kirchner S, Schindelar J, Kruckenhauser L, Haring E, Kapun M. Historic Museum Samples Provide Evidence for a Recent Replacement of Wolbachia Types in European Drosophila melanogaster. Mol Biol Evol 2023; 40:msad258. [PMID: 37995370 PMCID: PMC10701101 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Wolbachia is one of the most common bacterial endosymbionts, which is frequently found in numerous arthropods and nematode taxa. Wolbachia infections can have a strong influence on the evolutionary dynamics of their hosts since these bacteria are reproductive manipulators that affect the fitness and life history of their host species for their own benefit. Host-symbiont interactions with Wolbachia are perhaps best studied in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, which is naturally infected with at least 5 different variants among which wMel and wMelCS are the most frequent ones. Comparisons of infection types between natural flies and long-term lab stocks have previously indicated that wMelCS represents the ancestral type, which was only very recently replaced by the nowadays dominant wMel in most natural populations. In this study, we took advantage of recently sequenced museum specimens of D. melanogaster that have been collected 90 to 200 yr ago in Northern Europe to test this hypothesis. Our comparison to contemporary Wolbachia samples provides compelling support for the replacement hypothesis. Our analyses show that sequencing data from historic museum specimens and their bycatch are an emerging and unprecedented resource to address fundamental questions about evolutionary dynamics in host-symbiont interactions. However, we also identified contamination with DNA from crickets that resulted in co-contamination with cricket-specific Wolbachia in several samples. These results underpin the need for rigorous quality assessments of museomic data sets to account for contamination as a source of error that may strongly influence biological interpretations if it remains undetected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton Strunov
- Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sandra Kirchner
- Natural History Museum Vienna, Central Research Laboratories, Vienna, Austria
| | - Julia Schindelar
- Natural History Museum Vienna, Central Research Laboratories, Vienna, Austria
| | - Luise Kruckenhauser
- Natural History Museum Vienna, Central Research Laboratories, Vienna, Austria
- Department for Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Haring
- Natural History Museum Vienna, Central Research Laboratories, Vienna, Austria
- Department for Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Martin Kapun
- Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Natural History Museum Vienna, Central Research Laboratories, Vienna, Austria
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28
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Wierzbicki F, Kofler R. The composition of piRNA clusters in Drosophila melanogaster deviates from expectations under the trap model. BMC Biol 2023; 21:224. [PMID: 37858221 PMCID: PMC10588112 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01727-7] [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: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND It is widely assumed that the invasion of a transposable element (TE) in mammals and invertebrates is stopped when a copy of the TE jumps into a piRNA cluster (i.e., the trap model). However, recent works, which for example showed that deletion of three major piRNA clusters has no effect on TE activity, cast doubt on the trap model. RESULTS Here, we test the trap model from a population genetics perspective. Our simulations show that the composition of regions that act as transposon traps (i.e., potentially piRNA clusters) ought to deviate from regions that have no effect on TE activity. We investigated TEs in five Drosophila melanogaster strains using three complementary approaches to test whether the composition of piRNA clusters matches these expectations. We found that the abundance of TE families inside and outside of piRNA clusters is highly correlated, although this is not expected under the trap model. Furthermore, the distribution of the number of TE insertions in piRNA clusters is also much broader than expected. CONCLUSIONS We found that the observed composition of piRNA clusters is not in agreement with expectations under the simple trap model. Dispersed piRNA producing TE insertions and temporal as well as spatial heterogeneity of piRNA clusters may account for these deviations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filip Wierzbicki
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Vienna, Austria
| | - Robert Kofler
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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29
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Guo S, Liu B, He J, Zhao Z, Zhang R, Li Z. Chromosome-level genome assembly of an important wolfberry fruit fly (Neoceratitis asiatica Becker). Sci Data 2023; 10:675. [PMID: 37794161 PMCID: PMC10551018 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02601-5] [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: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Tephritidae pests are significant agricultural pests with a notable impact on the economy, with a wide range of species and most having broad host ranges and strong reproductive abilities. However, the wolfberry fruit fly, Neoceratitis asiatica (Becker), is a Tephritidae fly which only harms wolfberry. Here, we assembled and annotated N. asiatica genome at the chromosome level and compared it with the genomic and transcriptomic information from other Tephritidae flies. The assembled genome of N. asiatica had a size of 563.8 Mb and achieved a completeness level of 99.1%, 18,387 genes were annotated totally. All contigs were assembled into 7 linkage groups with an N50 of 93.166 Mb assisted by the Hi-C technique. The high-quality genome developed here will provide a significant resource for exploring the genetic basis of the adaptive and reproductive differences among various Tephritidae pests, and provides an important theoretical basis for the prevention and control of Tephritidae pests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaokun Guo
- Department of Plant Biosecurity, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P. R. China.
| | - Bo Liu
- Department of Plant Biosecurity, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Jia He
- Ningxia Key Laboratory of Plant Disease and Pest Control, Institute of Plant Protection, Academy of Ningxia Agriculture and Forestry Science, Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, P. R. China
| | - Zihua Zhao
- Department of Plant Biosecurity, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Rong Zhang
- Ningxia Key Laboratory of Plant Disease and Pest Control, Institute of Plant Protection, Academy of Ningxia Agriculture and Forestry Science, Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, P. R. China
| | - Zhihong Li
- Department of Plant Biosecurity, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing, P. R. China.
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30
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Miller JM, Prange S, Ji H, Rau AR, Khodaverdian VY, Li X, Patel A, Butova N, Lutter A, Chung H, Merigliano C, Rawal CC, Hanscom T, McVey M, Chiolo I. Alternative end-joining results in smaller deletions in heterochromatin relative to euchromatin. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.03.03.531058. [PMID: 37645729 PMCID: PMC10461932 DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.03.531058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Pericentromeric heterochromatin is highly enriched for repetitive sequences prone to aberrant recombination. Previous studies showed that homologous recombination (HR) repair is uniquely regulated in this domain to enable 'safe' repair while preventing aberrant recombination. In Drosophila cells, DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) relocalize to the nuclear periphery through nuclear actin-driven directed motions before recruiting the strand invasion protein Rad51 and completing HR repair. End-joining (EJ) repair also occurs with high frequency in heterochromatin of fly tissues, but how alternative EJ (alt-EJ) pathways operate in heterochromatin remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we induce DSBs in single euchromatic and heterochromatic sites using a new system that combines the DR- white reporter and I-SceI expression in spermatogonia of flies. Using this approach, we detect higher frequency of HR repair in heterochromatin, relative to euchromatin. Further, sequencing of mutagenic repair junctions reveals the preferential use of different EJ pathways across distinct euchromatic and heterochromatic sites. Interestingly, synthesis-dependent microhomology-mediated end joining (SD-MMEJ) appears differentially regulated in the two domains, with a preferential use of motifs close to the cut site in heterochromatin relative to euchromatin, resulting in smaller deletions. Together, these studies establish a new approach to study repair outcomes in fly tissues, and support the conclusion that heterochromatin uses more HR and less mutagenic EJ repair relative to euchromatin.
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31
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Kaufmann P, Wiberg RAW, Papachristos K, Scofield DG, Tellgren-Roth C, Immonen E. Y-Linked Copy Number Polymorphism of Target of Rapamycin Is Associated with Sexual Size Dimorphism in Seed Beetles. Mol Biol Evol 2023; 40:msad167. [PMID: 37479678 PMCID: PMC10414808 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The Y chromosome is theorized to facilitate evolution of sexual dimorphism by accumulating sexually antagonistic loci, but empirical support is scarce. Due to the lack of recombination, Y chromosomes are prone to degenerative processes, which poses a constraint on their adaptive potential. Yet, in the seed beetle, Callosobruchus maculatus segregating Y linked variation affects male body size and thereby sexual size dimorphism (SSD). Here, we assemble C. maculatus sex chromosome sequences and identify molecular differences associated with Y-linked SSD variation. The assembled Y chromosome is largely euchromatic and contains over 400 genes, many of which are ampliconic with a mixed autosomal and X chromosome ancestry. Functional annotation suggests that the Y chromosome plays important roles in males beyond primary reproductive functions. Crucially, we find that, besides an autosomal copy of the gene target of rapamycin (TOR), males carry an additional TOR copy on the Y chromosome. TOR is a conserved regulator of growth across taxa, and our results suggest that a Y-linked TOR provides a male specific opportunity to alter body size. A comparison of Y haplotypes associated with male size difference uncovers a copy number variation for TOR, where the haplotype associated with decreased male size, and thereby increased sexual dimorphism, has two additional TOR copies. This suggests that sexual conflict over growth has been mitigated by autosome to Y translocation of TOR followed by gene duplications. Our results reveal that despite of suppressed recombination, the Y chromosome can harbor adaptive potential as a male-limited supergene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Kaufmann
- Department of Ecology and Genetics (Evolutionary Biology program), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - R Axel W Wiberg
- Department of Ecology and Genetics (Evolutionary Biology program), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Ecology Division, Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Douglas G Scofield
- Uppsala Multidisciplinary Center for Advanced Computational Science, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Christian Tellgren-Roth
- National Genomics Infrastructure, Uppsala Genome Center, SciLifeLab, BioMedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Elina Immonen
- Department of Ecology and Genetics (Evolutionary Biology program), Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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32
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Nowling RJ, Njoya K, Peters JG, Riehle MM. Prediction accuracy of regulatory elements from sequence varies by functional sequencing technique. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1182567. [PMID: 37600946 PMCID: PMC10433755 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1182567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Various sequencing based approaches are used to identify and characterize the activities of cis-regulatory elements in a genome-wide fashion. Some of these techniques rely on indirect markers such as histone modifications (ChIP-seq with histone antibodies) or chromatin accessibility (ATAC-seq, DNase-seq, FAIRE-seq), while other techniques use direct measures such as episomal assays measuring the enhancer properties of DNA sequences (STARR-seq) and direct measurement of the binding of transcription factors (ChIP-seq with transcription factor-specific antibodies). The activities of cis-regulatory elements such as enhancers, promoters, and repressors are determined by their sequence and secondary processes such as chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation, and bound histone markers. Methods Here, machine learning models are employed to evaluate the accuracy with which cis-regulatory elements identified by various commonly used sequencing techniques can be predicted by their underlying sequence alone to distinguish between cis-regulatory activity that is reflective of sequence content versus secondary processes. Results and discussion Models trained and evaluated on D. melanogaster sequences identified through DNase-seq and STARR-seq are significantly more accurate than models trained on sequences identified by H3K4me1, H3K4me3, and H3K27ac ChIP-seq, FAIRE-seq, and ATAC-seq. These results suggest that the activity detected by DNase-seq and STARR-seq can be largely explained by underlying DNA sequence, independent of secondary processes. Experimentally, a subset of DNase-seq and H3K4me1 ChIP-seq sequences were tested for enhancer activity using luciferase assays and compared with previous tests performed on STARR-seq sequences. The experimental data indicated that STARR-seq sequences are substantially enriched for enhancer-specific activity, while the DNase-seq and H3K4me1 ChIP-seq sequences are not. Taken together, these results indicate that the DNase-seq approach identifies a broad class of regulatory elements of which enhancers are a subset and the associated data are appropriate for training models for detecting regulatory activity from sequence alone, STARR-seq data are best for training enhancer-specific sequence models, and H3K4me1 ChIP-seq data are not well suited for training and evaluating sequence-based models for cis-regulatory element prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald J. Nowling
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Kimani Njoya
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - John G. Peters
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, WI, United States
| | - Michelle M. Riehle
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States
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Pei Y, Deng Z, Zhang X, Blair D, Hu W, Yin M. Chromosome-scale genome assembly of the freshwater cladoceran crustacean Chydorus sphaericus: A resource for discovery of genes responsive to ecological challenges. AQUATIC TOXICOLOGY (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) 2023; 260:106565. [PMID: 37186996 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2023.106565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
The genus Chydorus Leach 1816 (family Chydoridae) is a diverse and ecologically important taxon within freshwater ecosystems. Despite having been widely used in ecological, evolutionary and eco-toxicological studies, no high-quality genomic resource is available for any member of the genus. Here, we present a high-quality chromosome-level assembly of the C. sphaericus genome by combining 7.40 Gb (∼ 50 × coverage) PacBio reads, 19.28 Gb (∼ 135 × coverage) Illumina paired-end reads, and 34.04 Gb Hi-C reads. Our genome assembly is approximately 151 Mb, with contig and scaffold N50 lengths of 1.09 Mb and 13.70 Mb, respectively. The assembly captured 94.9% of the complete eukaryotic BUSCO. Repetitive elements accounted for 17.6% of the genome, and 13,549 protein-coding genes were predicted (based on transcriptome sequencing data, ab-initio or homology-based prediction), of which 96.4% have been functionally annotated in the NCBI-NR database. We identified 303 gene families specific to C. sphaericus, mainly families enriched in functions related to immune response, visual senses and detoxification. Interestingly, we also found 53 significantly expanded gene families in C. sphaericus, mostly with functions related to detoxification. This high-quality assembly genome will act as a reference genome for C. sphaericus and benefit studies on functional and comparative genomics of Chydorus and other crustaceans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingbing Pei
- Department of Microbiology and Bioengineering, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China; MOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Songhu Road 2005, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhixiong Deng
- MOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Songhu Road 2005, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiuping Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Songhu Road 2005, Shanghai, China
| | - David Blair
- College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811, Australia
| | - Wei Hu
- Department of Microbiology and Bioengineering, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China; MOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Songhu Road 2005, Shanghai, China
| | - Mingbo Yin
- MOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Songhu Road 2005, Shanghai, China.
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Catto MA, Labadie PE, Jacobson AL, Kennedy GG, Srinivasan R, Hunt BG. Pest status, molecular evolution, and epigenetic factors derived from the genome assembly of Frankliniella fusca, a thysanopteran phytovirus vector. BMC Genomics 2023; 24:343. [PMID: 37344773 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09375-5] [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: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 05/13/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The tobacco thrips (Frankliniella fusca Hinds; family Thripidae; order Thysanoptera) is an important pest that can transmit viruses such as the tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus to numerous economically important agricultural row crops and vegetables. The structural and functional genomics within the order Thysanoptera has only begun to be explored. Within the > 7000 known thysanopteran species, the melon thrips (Thrips palmi Karny) and the western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis Pergrande) are the only two thysanopteran species with assembled genomes. RESULTS A genome of F. fusca was assembled by long-read sequencing of DNA from an inbred line. The final assembly size was 370 Mb with a single copy ortholog completeness of ~ 99% with respect to Insecta. The annotated genome of F. fusca was compared with the genome of its congener, F. occidentalis. Results revealed many instances of lineage-specific differences in gene content. Analyses of sequence divergence between the two Frankliniella species' genomes revealed substitution patterns consistent with positive selection in ~ 5% of the protein-coding genes with 1:1 orthologs. Further, gene content related to its pest status, such as xenobiotic detoxification and response to an ambisense-tripartite RNA virus (orthotospovirus) infection was compared with F. occidentalis. Several F. fusca genes related to virus infection possessed signatures of positive selection. Estimation of CpG depletion, a mutational consequence of DNA methylation, revealed that F. fusca genes that were downregulated and alternatively spliced in response to virus infection were preferentially targeted by DNA methylation. As in many other insects, DNA methylation was enriched in exons in Frankliniella, but gene copies with homology to DNA methyltransferase 3 were numerous and fragmented. This phenomenon seems to be relatively unique to thrips among other insect groups. CONCLUSIONS The F. fusca genome assembly provides an important resource for comparative genomic analyses of thysanopterans. This genomic foundation allows for insights into molecular evolution, gene regulation, and loci important to agricultural pest status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael A Catto
- Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Paul E Labadie
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | - Alana L Jacobson
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University College of Agriculture, Auburn, AL, 36849, USA
| | - George G Kennedy
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
| | | | - Brendan G Hunt
- Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA, 30223, USA.
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Sgammeglia N, Widmer YF, Kaldun JC, Fritsch C, Bruggmann R, Sprecher SG. Memory phase-specific genes in the Mushroom Bodies identified using CrebB-target DamID. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1010802. [PMID: 37307281 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The formation of long-term memories requires changes in the transcriptional program and de novo protein synthesis. One of the critical regulators for long-term memory (LTM) formation and maintenance is the transcription factor CREB. Genetic studies have dissected the requirement of CREB activity within memory circuits, however less is known about the genetic mechanisms acting downstream of CREB and how they may contribute defining LTM phases. To better understand the downstream mechanisms, we here used a targeted DamID approach (TaDa). We generated a CREB-Dam fusion protein using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as model. Expressing CREB-Dam in the mushroom bodies (MBs), a brain center implicated in olfactory memory formation, we identified genes that are differentially expressed between paired and unpaired appetitive training paradigm. Of those genes we selected candidates for an RNAi screen in which we identified genes causing increased or decreased LTM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noemi Sgammeglia
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Yves F Widmer
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Jenifer C Kaldun
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Cornelia Fritsch
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Rémy Bruggmann
- Interfaculty Bioinformatics Unit and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Simon G Sprecher
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
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Srivastav S, Feschotte C, Clark AG. Rapid evolution of piRNA clusters in the Drosophila melanogaster ovary. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.05.08.539910. [PMID: 37214865 PMCID: PMC10197564 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.08.539910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Animal genomes are parasitized by a horde of transposable elements (TEs) whose mutagenic activity can have catastrophic consequences. The piRNA pathway is a conserved mechanism to repress TE activity in the germline via a specialized class of small RNAs associated with effector Piwi proteins called piwi-associated RNAs (piRNAs). piRNAs are produced from discrete genomic regions called piRNA clusters (piCs). While piCs are generally enriched for TE sequences and the molecular processes by which they are transcribed and regulated are relatively well understood in Drosophila melanogaster, much less is known about the origin and evolution of piCs in this or any other species. To investigate piC evolution, we use a population genomics approach to compare piC activity and sequence composition across 8 geographically distant strains of D. melanogaster with high quality long-read genome assemblies. We perform extensive annotations of ovary piCs and TE content in each strain and test predictions of two proposed models of piC evolution. The 'de novo' model posits that individual TE insertions can spontaneously attain the status of a small piC to generate piRNAs silencing the entire TE family. The 'trap' model envisions large and evolutionary stable genomic clusters where TEs tend to accumulate and serves as a long-term "memory" of ancient TE invasions and produce a great variety of piRNAs protecting against related TEs entering the genome. It remains unclear which model best describes the evolution of piCs. Our analysis uncovers extensive variation in piC activity across strains and signatures of rapid birth and death of piCs in natural populations. Most TE families inferred to be recently or currently active show an enrichment of strain-specific insertions into large piCs, consistent with the trap model. By contrast, only a small subset of active LTR retrotransposon families is enriched for the formation of strain-specific piCs, suggesting that these families have an inherent proclivity to form de novo piCs. Thus, our findings support aspects of both 'de novo' and 'trap' models of piC evolution. We propose that these two models represent two extreme stages along an evolutionary continuum, which begins with the emergence of piCs de novo from a few specific LTR retrotransposon insertions that subsequently expand by accretion of other TE insertions during evolution to form larger 'trap' clusters. Our study shows that piCs are evolutionarily labile and that TEs themselves are the major force driving the formation and evolution of piCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satyam Srivastav
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
| | - Cédric Feschotte
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
| | - Andrew G. Clark
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
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Radousky YA, Hague MTJ, Fowler S, Paneru E, Codina A, Rugamas C, Hartzog G, Cooper BS, Sullivan W. Distinct Wolbachia localization patterns in oocytes of diverse host species reveal multiple strategies of maternal transmission. Genetics 2023; 224:iyad038. [PMID: 36911919 PMCID: PMC10474932 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad038] [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: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/14/2023] Open
Abstract
A broad array of endosymbionts radiate through host populations via vertical transmission, yet much remains unknown concerning the cellular basis, diversity, and routes underlying this transmission strategy. Here, we address these issues, by examining the cellular distributions of Wolbachia strains that diverged up to 50 million years ago in the oocytes of 18 divergent Drosophila species. This analysis revealed 3 Wolbachia distribution patterns: (1) a tight clustering at the posterior pole plasm (the site of germline formation); (2) a concentration at the posterior pole plasm, but with a significant bacteria population distributed throughout the oocyte; and (3) a distribution throughout the oocyte, with none or very few located at the posterior pole plasm. Examination of this latter class indicates Wolbachia accesses the posterior pole plasm during the interval between late oogenesis and the blastoderm formation. We also find that 1 Wolbachia strain in this class concentrates in the posterior somatic follicle cells that encompass the pole plasm of the developing oocyte. In contrast, strains in which Wolbachia concentrate at the posterior pole plasm generally exhibit no or few Wolbachia in the follicle cells associated with the pole plasm. Taken together, these studies suggest that for some Drosophila species, Wolbachia invade the germline from neighboring somatic follicle cells. Phylogenomic analysis indicates that closely related Wolbachia strains tend to exhibit similar patterns of posterior localization, suggesting that specific localization strategies are a function of Wolbachia-associated factors. Previous studies revealed that endosymbionts rely on 1 of 2 distinct routes of vertical transmission: continuous maintenance in the germline (germline-to-germline) or a more circuitous route via the soma (germline-to-soma-to-germline). Here, we provide compelling evidence that Wolbachia strains infecting Drosophila species maintain the diverse arrays of cellular mechanisms necessary for both of these distinct transmission routes. This characteristic may account for its ability to infect and spread globally through a vast range of host insect species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonah A Radousky
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Michael T J Hague
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
| | - Sommer Fowler
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Eliza Paneru
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Adan Codina
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Cecilia Rugamas
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Grant Hartzog
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - Brandon S Cooper
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
| | - William Sullivan
- Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
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Huynh K, Smith BR, Macdonald SJ, Long AD. Genetic variation in chromatin state across multiple tissues in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1010439. [PMID: 37146087 PMCID: PMC10191298 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010439] [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: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/07/2023] Open
Abstract
We use ATAC-seq to examine chromatin accessibility for four different tissues in Drosophila melanogaster: adult female brain, ovaries, and both wing and eye-antennal imaginal discs from males. Each tissue is assayed in eight different inbred strain genetic backgrounds, seven associated with a reference quality genome assembly. We develop a method for the quantile normalization of ATAC-seq fragments and test for differences in coverage among genotypes, tissues, and their interaction at 44099 peaks throughout the euchromatic genome. For the strains with reference quality genome assemblies, we correct ATAC-seq profiles for read mis-mapping due to nearby polymorphic structural variants (SVs). Comparing coverage among genotypes without accounting for SVs results in a highly elevated rate (55%) of identifying false positive differences in chromatin state between genotypes. After SV correction, we identify 1050, 30383, and 4508 regions whose peak heights are polymorphic among genotypes, among tissues, or exhibit genotype-by-tissue interactions, respectively. Finally, we identify 3988 candidate causative variants that explain at least 80% of the variance in chromatin state at nearby ATAC-seq peaks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khoi Huynh
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, California, United States of America
| | - Brittny R. Smith
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
| | - Stuart J. Macdonald
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
- Center for Computational Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, United States of America
| | - Anthony D. Long
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, California, United States of America
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Zhu B, Jin P, Zhang Y, Shen Y, Wang W, Li S. Genomic and transcriptomic analyses support a silk gland origin of spider venom glands. BMC Biol 2023; 21:82. [PMID: 37055766 PMCID: PMC10099834 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01581-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/15/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Spiders comprise a hyperdiverse lineage of predators with venom systems, yet the origin of functionally novel spider venom glands remains unclear. Previous studies have hypothesized that spider venom glands originated from salivary glands or evolved from silk-producing glands present in early chelicerates. However, there is insufficient molecular evidence to indicate similarity among them. Here, we provide comparative analyses of genome and transcriptome data from various lineages of spiders and other arthropods to advance our understanding of spider venom gland evolution. RESULTS We generated a chromosome-level genome assembly of a model spider species, the common house spider (Parasteatoda tepidariorum). Module preservation, GO semantic similarity, and differentially upregulated gene similarity analyses demonstrated a lower similarity in gene expressions between the venom glands and salivary glands compared to the silk glands, which questions the validity of the salivary gland origin hypothesis but unexpectedly prefers to support the ancestral silk gland origin hypothesis. The conserved core network in the venom and silk glands was mainly correlated with transcription regulation, protein modification, transport, and signal transduction pathways. At the genetic level, we found that many genes in the venom gland-specific transcription modules show positive selection and upregulated expressions, suggesting that genetic variation plays an important role in the evolution of venom glands. CONCLUSIONS This research implies the unique origin and evolutionary path of spider venom glands and provides a basis for understanding the diverse molecular characteristics of venom systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingyue Zhu
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China
| | - Pengyu Jin
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Yiming Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China
| | - Yunxiao Shen
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
- Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Protection of Rare and Endangered Animals and Plants, Ministry of Education, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, 541004, China
| | - Shuqiang Li
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
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Fisher WW, Hammonds AS, Weiszmann R, Booth BW, Gevirtzman L, Patton JEJ, Kubo CA, Waterston RH, Celniker SE. A modERN resource: identification of Drosophila transcription factor candidate target genes using RNAi. Genetics 2023; 223:iyad004. [PMID: 36652461 PMCID: PMC10078917 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyad004] [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: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Transcription factors (TFs) play a key role in development and in cellular responses to the environment by activating or repressing the transcription of target genes in precise spatial and temporal patterns. In order to develop a catalog of target genes of Drosophila melanogaster TFs, the modERN consortium systematically knocked down the expression of TFs using RNAi in whole embryos followed by RNA-seq. We generated data for 45 TFs which have 18 different DNA-binding domains and are expressed in 15 of the 16 organ systems. The range of inactivation of the targeted TFs by RNAi ranged from log2fold change -3.52 to +0.49. The TFs also showed remarkable heterogeneity in the numbers of candidate target genes identified, with some generating thousands of candidates and others only tens. We present detailed analysis from five experiments, including those for three TFs that have been the focus of previous functional studies (ERR, sens, and zfh2) and two previously uncharacterized TFs (sens-2 and CG32006), as well as short vignettes for selected additional experiments to illustrate the utility of this resource. The RNA-seq datasets are available through the ENCODE DCC (http://encodeproject.org) and the Sequence Read Archive (SRA). TF and target gene expression patterns can be found here: https://insitu.fruitfly.org. These studies provide data that facilitate scientific inquiries into the functions of individual TFs in key developmental, metabolic, defensive, and homeostatic regulatory pathways, as well as provide a broader perspective on how individual TFs work together in local networks during embryogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- William W Fisher
- Division of Biological Systems and Engineering, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Ann S Hammonds
- Division of Biological Systems and Engineering, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Richard Weiszmann
- Division of Biological Systems and Engineering, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Benjamin W Booth
- Division of Biological Systems and Engineering, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Louis Gevirtzman
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Jaeda E J Patton
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Connor A Kubo
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Robert H Waterston
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Susan E Celniker
- Division of Biological Systems and Engineering, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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Wang L, Zhang S, Hadjipanteli S, Saiz L, Nguyen L, Silva E, Kelleher E. P-element invasion fuels molecular adaptation in laboratory populations of Drosophila melanogaster. Evolution 2023; 77:980-994. [PMID: 36749648 PMCID: PMC10078945 DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpad017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Transposable elements (TEs) are mobile genetic parasites that frequently invade new host genomes through horizontal transfer. Invading TEs often exhibit a burst of transposition, followed by reduced transposition rates as repression evolves in the host. We recreated the horizontal transfer of P-element DNA transposons into a Drosophila melanogaster host and followed the expansion of TE copies and evolution of host repression in replicate laboratory populations reared at different temperatures. We observed that while populations maintained at high temperatures rapidly go extinct after TE invasion, those maintained at lower temperatures persist, allowing for TE spread and the evolution of host repression. We also surprisingly discovered that invaded populations experienced recurrent insertion of P-elements into a specific long non-coding RNA, lncRNA:CR43651, and that these insertion alleles are segregating at unusually high frequency in experimental populations, indicative of positive selection. We propose that, in addition to driving the evolution of repression, transpositional bursts of invading TEs can drive molecular adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luyang Wang
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Shuo Zhang
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Savana Hadjipanteli
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Lorissa Saiz
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Lisa Nguyen
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Efren Silva
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Erin Kelleher
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
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Shao C, Sun S, Liu K, Wang J, Li S, Liu Q, Deagle BE, Seim I, Biscontin A, Wang Q, Liu X, Kawaguchi S, Liu Y, Jarman S, Wang Y, Wang HY, Huang G, Hu J, Feng B, De Pittà C, Liu S, Wang R, Ma K, Ying Y, Sales G, Sun T, Wang X, Zhang Y, Zhao Y, Pan S, Hao X, Wang Y, Xu J, Yue B, Sun Y, Zhang H, Xu M, Liu Y, Jia X, Zhu J, Liu S, Ruan J, Zhang G, Yang H, Xu X, Wang J, Zhao X, Meyer B, Fan G. The enormous repetitive Antarctic krill genome reveals environmental adaptations and population insights. Cell 2023; 186:1279-1294.e19. [PMID: 36868220 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2022] [Revised: 12/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023]
Abstract
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is Earth's most abundant wild animal, and its enormous biomass is vital to the Southern Ocean ecosystem. Here, we report a 48.01-Gb chromosome-level Antarctic krill genome, whose large genome size appears to have resulted from inter-genic transposable element expansions. Our assembly reveals the molecular architecture of the Antarctic krill circadian clock and uncovers expanded gene families associated with molting and energy metabolism, providing insights into adaptations to the cold and highly seasonal Antarctic environment. Population-level genome re-sequencing from four geographical sites around the Antarctic continent reveals no clear population structure but highlights natural selection associated with environmental variables. An apparent drastic reduction in krill population size 10 mya and a subsequent rebound 100 thousand years ago coincides with climate change events. Our findings uncover the genomic basis of Antarctic krill adaptations to the Southern Ocean and provide valuable resources for future Antarctic research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changwei Shao
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China.
| | - Shuai Sun
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China; BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Kaiqiang Liu
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - Jiahao Wang
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China
| | - Shuo Li
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - Qun Liu
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China; Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Bruce E Deagle
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australian National Fish Collection, National Research Collections Australia, Hobart, TAS 7000, Australia; Australian Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, TAS 7050, Australia
| | - Inge Seim
- Integrative Biology Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China
| | | | - Qian Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - Xin Liu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China; BGI-Beijing, Beijing 102601, China; State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, Centre for Crop and Food Innovation, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia
| | - So Kawaguchi
- Australian Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, TAS 7050, Australia
| | - Yalin Liu
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China
| | - Simon Jarman
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
| | - Yue Wang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China; State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine and Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macao 999078, China
| | - Hong-Yan Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | | | - Jiang Hu
- Nextomics Biosciences Institute, Wuhan, Hubei 430073, China
| | - Bo Feng
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | | | - Shanshan Liu
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China
| | - Rui Wang
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - Kailong Ma
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China; China National GeneBank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518120, China
| | - Yiping Ying
- Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Polar Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China
| | - Gabrielle Sales
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova 35121, Italy
| | - Tao Sun
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China
| | - Xinliang Wang
- Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Polar Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China
| | - Yaolei Zhang
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China; BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China
| | - Yunxia Zhao
- Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Polar Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China
| | - Shanshan Pan
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China
| | - Xiancai Hao
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - Yang Wang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China
| | - Jiakun Xu
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Polar Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China
| | - Bowen Yue
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - Yanxu Sun
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - He Zhang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China
| | - Mengyang Xu
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China; BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China
| | - Yuyan Liu
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - Xiaodong Jia
- Joint Laboratory for Translational Medicine Research, Liaocheng People's Hospital, Liaocheng, Shandong 252000, China
| | - Jiancheng Zhu
- Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Polar Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China
| | - Shufang Liu
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, China
| | - Jue Ruan
- Agricultural Genomics Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518120, China
| | - Guojie Zhang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China; Villum Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, Section for Ecology and Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Huanming Yang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China; James D. Watson Institute of Genome Science, Hangzhou 310058, China
| | - Xun Xu
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China; BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China
| | - Jun Wang
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China
| | - Xianyong Zhao
- National Key Laboratory of Mariculture Biobreeding and Sustainable Goods, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China; Key Lab of Sustainable Development of Polar Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, Shandong 266071, China
| | - Bettina Meyer
- Section Polar Biological Oceanography, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany; Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carlvon Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany; Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB), University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany.
| | - Guangyi Fan
- BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao, Shandong 266555, China; BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518083, China; Agricultural Genomics Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518120, China; Lars Bolund Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Qingdao-Europe Advanced Institute for Life Sciences, BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen 518120, China.
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43
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Pérez-Mojica JE, Enders L, Walsh J, Lau KH, Lempradl A. Continuous transcriptome analysis reveals novel patterns of early gene expression in Drosophila embryos. CELL GENOMICS 2023; 3:100265. [PMID: 36950383 PMCID: PMC10025449 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100265] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The transformative events during early organismal development lay the foundation for body formation and long-term phenotype. The rapid progression of events and the limited material available present major barriers to studying these earliest stages of development. Herein, we report an operationally simple RNA sequencing approach for high-resolution, time-sensitive transcriptome analysis in early (≤3 h) Drosophila embryos. This method does not require embryo staging but relies on single-embryo RNA sequencing and transcriptome ordering along a developmental trajectory (pseudo-time). The resulting high-resolution, time-sensitive mRNA expression profiles reveal the exact onset of transcription and degradation for thousands of transcripts. Further, using sex-specific transcription signatures, embryos can be sexed directly, eliminating the need for Y chromosome genotyping and revealing patterns of sex-biased transcription from the beginning of zygotic transcription. Our data provide an unparalleled resolution of gene expression during early development and enhance the current understanding of early transcriptional processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- J. Eduardo Pérez-Mojica
- Department of Metabolic and Nutritional Programming, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI 4930, USA
| | - Lennart Enders
- Department of Epigenetics, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
| | - Joseph Walsh
- Department of Metabolic and Nutritional Programming, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI 4930, USA
| | - Kin H. Lau
- Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Core, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI 4930, USA
| | - Adelheid Lempradl
- Department of Metabolic and Nutritional Programming, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI 4930, USA
- Department of Epigenetics, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, 79108 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
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44
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Wierzbicki F, Kofler R, Signor S. Evolutionary dynamics of piRNA clusters in Drosophila. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:1306-1322. [PMID: 34878692 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Revised: 11/24/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Small RNAs produced from transposable element (TE)-rich sections of the genome, termed piRNA clusters, are a crucial component in the genomic defence against selfish DNA. In animals, it is thought the invasion of a TE is stopped when a copy of the TE inserts into a piRNA cluster, triggering the production of cognate small RNAs that silence the TE. Despite this importance for TE control, little is known about the evolutionary dynamics of piRNA clusters, mostly because these repeat-rich regions are difficult to assemble and compare. Here, we establish a framework for studying the evolution of piRNA clusters quantitatively. Previously introduced quality metrics and a newly developed software for multiple alignments of repeat annotations (Manna) allow us to estimate the level of polymorphism segregating in piRNA clusters and the divergence among homologous piRNA clusters. By studying 20 conserved piRNA clusters in multiple assemblies of four Drosophila species, we show that piRNA clusters are evolving rapidly. While 70%-80% of the clusters are conserved within species, the clusters share almost no similarity between species as closely related as D. melanogaster and D. simulans. Furthermore, abundant insertions and deletions are segregating within the Drosophila species. We show that the evolution of clusters is mainly driven by large insertions of recently active TEs and smaller deletions mostly in older TEs. The effect of these forces is so rapid that homologous clusters often do not contain insertions from the same TE families.
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Affiliation(s)
- Filip Wierzbicki
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Vienna, Austria
| | - Robert Kofler
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sarah Signor
- Biological Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA
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45
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Nicolini F, Martelossi J, Forni G, Savojardo C, Mantovani B, Luchetti A. Comparative genomics of Hox and ParaHox genes among major lineages of Branchiopoda with emphasis on tadpole shrimps. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1046960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Hox and ParaHox genes (HPHGs) are key developmental genes that pattern regional identity along the anterior–posterior body axis of most animals. Here, we identified HPHGs in tadpole shrimps (Pancrustacea, Branchiopoda, Notostraca), an iconic example of the so-called “living fossils” and performed a comparative genomics analysis of HPHGs and the Hox cluster among major branchiopod lineages. Notostraca possess the entire Hox complement, and the Hox cluster seems to be split into two different subclusters, although we were not able to support this finding with chromosome-level assemblies. However, the genomic structure of Hox genes in Notostraca appears more derived than that of Daphnia spp., which instead retains the plesiomorphic condition of a single compact cluster. Spinicaudata and Artemia franciscana show instead a Hox cluster subdivided across two or more genomic scaffolds with some orthologs either duplicated or missing. Yet, branchiopod HPHGs are similar among the various clades in terms of both intron length and number, as well as in their pattern of molecular evolution. Sequence substitution rates are in fact generally similar for most of the branchiopod Hox genes and the few differences we found cannot be traced back to natural selection, as they are not associated with any signals of diversifying selection or substantial switches in selective modes. Altogether, these findings do not support a significant stasis in the Notostraca Hox cluster and further confirm how morphological evolution is not tightly associated with genome dynamics.
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46
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Piña JS, Orozco-Arias S, Tobón-Orozco N, Camargo-Forero L, Tabares-Soto R, Guyot R. G-SAIP: Graphical Sequence Alignment Through Parallel Programming in the Post-Genomic Era. Evol Bioinform Online 2023; 19:11769343221150585. [PMID: 36703866 PMCID: PMC9871978 DOI: 10.1177/11769343221150585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
A common task in bioinformatics is to compare DNA sequences to identify similarities between organisms at the sequence level. An approach to such comparison is the dot-plots, a 2-dimensional graphical representation to analyze DNA or protein alignments. Dot-plots alignment software existed before the sequencing revolution, and now there is an ongoing limitation when dealing with large-size sequences, resulting in very long execution times. High-Performance Computing (HPC) techniques have been successfully used in many applications to reduce computing times, but so far, very few applications for graphical sequence alignment using HPC have been reported. Here, we present G-SAIP (Graphical Sequence Alignment in Parallel), a software capable of spawning multiple distributed processes on CPUs, over a supercomputing infrastructure to speed up the execution time for dot-plot generation up to 1.68× compared with other current fastest tools, improve the efficiency for comparative structural genomic analysis, phylogenetics because the benefits of pairwise alignments for comparison between genomes, repetitive structure identification, and assembly quality checking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johan S. Piña
- Department of Data Science, People
Contact, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia,Department of Computer Science,
Universidad Autónoma de Manizales, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia,Johan S. Piña, Department of Computer
Science, Universidad Autónoma de Manizales, Antigua estación del ferrocarril,
Manizales, Caldas 170004, Colombia.
| | - Simon Orozco-Arias
- Department of Computer Science,
Universidad Autónoma de Manizales, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia,Department of Systems and Informatics,
Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia
| | - Nicolas Tobón-Orozco
- Department of Computer Science,
Universidad Autónoma de Manizales, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia
| | | | - Reinel Tabares-Soto
- Department of Electronics and
Automation, Universidad Autónoma de Manizales, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia
| | - Romain Guyot
- Department of Electronics and
Automation, Universidad Autónoma de Manizales, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia,Institut de Recherche pour le
Développement, CIRAD, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
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Babišová K, Mentelová L, Geisseová TK, Beňová-Liszeková D, Beňo M, Chase BA, Farkaš R. Apocrine secretion in the salivary glands of Drosophilidae and other dipterans is evolutionarily conserved. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 10:1088055. [PMID: 36712974 PMCID: PMC9880899 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.1088055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Apocrine secretion is a transport and secretory mechanism that remains only partially characterized, even though it is evolutionarily conserved among all metazoans, including humans. The excellent genetic model organism Drosophila melanogaster holds promise for elucidating the molecular mechanisms regulating this fundamental metazoan process. Two prerequisites for such investigations are to clearly define an experimental system to investigate apocrine secretion and to understand the evolutionarily and functional contexts in which apocrine secretion arose in that system. To this end, we recently demonstrated that, in D. melanogaster, the prepupal salivary glands utilize apocrine secretion prior to pupation to deliver innate immune and defense components to the exuvial fluid that lies between the metamorphosing pupae and its chitinous case. This finding provided a unique opportunity to appraise how this novel non-canonical and non-vesicular transport and secretory mechanism is employed in different developmental and evolutionary contexts. Here we demonstrate that this apocrine secretion, which is mechanistically and temporarily separated from the exocytotic mechanism used to produce the massive salivary glue secretion (Sgs), is shared across Drosophilidae and two unrelated dipteran species. Screening more than 30 species of Drosophila from divergent habitats across the globe revealed that apocrine secretion is a widespread and evolutionarily conserved cellular mechanism used to produce exuvial fluid. Species with longer larval and prepupal development than D. melanogaster activate apocrine secretion later, while smaller and more rapidly developing species activate it earlier. In some species, apocrine secretion occurs after the secretory material is first concentrated in cytoplasmic structures of unknown origin that we name "collectors." Strikingly, in contrast to the widespread use of apocrine secretion to provide exuvial fluid, not all species use exocytosis to produce the viscid salivary glue secretion that is seen in D. melanogaster. Thus, apocrine secretion is the conserved mechanism used to realize the major function of the salivary gland in fruitflies and related species: it produces the pupal exuvial fluid that provides an active defense against microbial invasion during pupal metamorphosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaudia Babišová
- Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Biomedical Research Center v.v.i., Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Lucia Mentelová
- Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Biomedical Research Center v.v.i., Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia,Department of Genetics, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Terézia Klaudia Geisseová
- Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Biomedical Research Center v.v.i., Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Denisa Beňová-Liszeková
- Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Biomedical Research Center v.v.i., Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Milan Beňo
- Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Biomedical Research Center v.v.i., Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Bruce A. Chase
- Department of Biology, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, United States
| | - Robert Farkaš
- Laboratory of Developmental Genetics, Institute of Experimental Endocrinology, Biomedical Research Center v.v.i., Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia,*Correspondence: Robert Farkaš,
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48
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Messina G, Celauro E, Marsano RM, Prozzillo Y, Dimitri P. Epigenetic Silencing of P-Element Reporter Genes Induced by Transcriptionally Active Domains of Constitutive Heterochromatin in Drosophila melanogaster. Genes (Basel) 2022; 14:genes14010012. [PMID: 36672753 PMCID: PMC9858095 DOI: 10.3390/genes14010012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Reporter genes inserted via P-element integration into different locations of the Drosophila melanogaster genome have been routinely used to monitor the functional state of chromatin domains. It is commonly thought that P-element-derived reporter genes are subjected to position effect variegation (PEV) when transposed into constitutive heterochromatin because they acquire heterochromatin-like epigenetic modifications that promote silencing. However, sequencing and annotation of the D. melanogaster genome have shown that constitutive heterochromatin is a genetically and molecularly heterogeneous compartment. In fact, in addition to repetitive DNAs, it harbors hundreds of functional genes, together accounting for a significant fraction of its entire genomic territory. Notably, most of these genes are actively transcribed in different developmental stages and tissues, irrespective of their location in heterochromatin. An open question in the genetic and molecular studies on PEV in D. melanogaster is whether functional heterochromatin domains, i.e., heterochromatin harboring active genes, are able to silence reporter genes therein transposed or, on the contrary, can drive their expression. In this work, we provide experimental evidence showing that strong silencing of the Pw+ reporters is induced even when they are integrated within or near actively transcribed loci in the pericentric regions of chromosome 2. Interestingly, some Pw+ reporters were found insensitive to the action of a known PEV suppressor. Two of them are inserted within Yeti, a gene expressed in the deep heterochromatin of chromosome 2 which carries active chromatin marks. The difference sensitivity to suppressors-exhibited Pw+ reporters supports the view that different epigenetic regulators or mechanisms control different regions of heterochromatin. Together, our results suggest that there may be more complexity regarding the molecular mechanisms underlying PEV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Messina
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
| | - Emanuele Celauro
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
| | | | - Yuri Prozzillo
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
| | - Patrizio Dimitri
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “Charles Darwin”, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
- Correspondence:
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49
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Delineating Purinergic Signaling in Drosophila. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232315196. [PMID: 36499534 PMCID: PMC9738970 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232315196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Simplistic models can aid in discovering what is important in the context of normal and pathological behavior. First recognized as a genetic model more than 100 years ago, to date, fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) still remain an astonishingly good laboratory stand-in for scientists to study development and physiology and to investigate the molecular mechanisms of human diseases. This is because fruit flies indeed represent a simplistic model. Furthermore, about 75% of human disease-related genes have their counterparts in the Drosophila genome, added to the fact that fruit flies are inexpensive and extremely easy to maintain, being invertebrates and, moreover, lacking any ethical concern issues. Purinergic signaling is, by definition, mediated by extracellular purinergic ligands, among which ATP represents the prototype molecule. A key feature that has progressively emerged when dissecting the purinergic mechanisms is the multilayer and dynamic nature of the signaling sustained by purinergic ligands. Indeed, these last are sequentially metabolized by several different ectonucleotidases, which generate the ligands that simultaneously activate several different purinergic receptors. Since significant purinergic actions have also been described in Drosophila, the aim of the present work is to provide a comprehensive picture of the purinergic events occurring in fruit flies.
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Andreyeva EN, Emelyanov AV, Nevil M, Sun L, Vershilova E, Hill CA, Keogh MC, Duronio RJ, Skoultchi AI, Fyodorov DV. Drosophila SUMM4 complex couples insulator function and DNA replication control. eLife 2022; 11:e81828. [PMID: 36458689 PMCID: PMC9917439 DOI: 10.7554/elife.81828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Asynchronous replication of chromosome domains during S phase is essential for eukaryotic genome function, but the mechanisms establishing which domains replicate early versus late in different cell types remain incompletely understood. Intercalary heterochromatin domains replicate very late in both diploid chromosomes of dividing cells and in endoreplicating polytene chromosomes where they are also underreplicated. Drosophila SNF2-related factor SUUR imparts locus-specific underreplication of polytene chromosomes. SUUR negatively regulates DNA replication fork progression; however, its mechanism of action remains obscure. Here, we developed a novel method termed MS-Enabled Rapid protein Complex Identification (MERCI) to isolate a stable stoichiometric native complex SUMM4 that comprises SUUR and a chromatin boundary protein Mod(Mdg4)-67.2. Mod(Mdg4) stimulates SUUR ATPase activity and is required for a normal spatiotemporal distribution of SUUR in vivo. SUUR and Mod(Mdg4)-67.2 together mediate the activities of gypsy insulator that prevent certain enhancer-promoter interactions and establish euchromatin-heterochromatin barriers in the genome. Furthermore, SuUR or mod(mdg4) mutations reverse underreplication of intercalary heterochromatin. Thus, SUMM4 can impart late replication of intercalary heterochromatin by attenuating the progression of replication forks through euchromatin/heterochromatin boundaries. Our findings implicate a SNF2 family ATP-dependent motor protein SUUR in the insulator function, reveal that DNA replication can be delayed by a chromatin barrier, and uncover a critical role for architectural proteins in replication control. They suggest a mechanism for the establishment of late replication that does not depend on an asynchronous firing of late replication origins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evgeniya N Andreyeva
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of MedicineBronxUnited States
| | | | - Markus Nevil
- UNC-SPIRE, University of North CarolinaChapel HillUnited States
| | - Lu Sun
- EpiCypherDurhamUnited States
| | - Elena Vershilova
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of MedicineBronxUnited States
| | - Christina A Hill
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillUnited States
| | | | - Robert J Duronio
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillUnited States
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North CarolinaChapel HillUnited States
- Department of Biology, University of North CarolinaChapel HillUnited States
- Department of Genetics, University of North CarolinaChapel HillUnited States
| | - Arthur I Skoultchi
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of MedicineBronxUnited States
| | - Dmitry V Fyodorov
- Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of MedicineBronxUnited States
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