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Breen PC, Kanakanui KG, Newman MA, Dowen RH. The F-box protein FBXL-5 governs vitellogenesis and lipid homeostasis in C. elegans. Front Cell Dev Biol 2024; 12:1389077. [PMID: 38946799 PMCID: PMC11211535 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1389077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The molecular mechanisms that govern the metabolic commitment to reproduction, which often occurs at the expense of somatic reserves, remain poorly understood. We identified the Caenorhabditis elegans F-box protein FBXL-5 as a negative regulator of maternal provisioning of vitellogenin lipoproteins, which mediate the transfer of intestinal lipids to the germline. Mutations in fbxl-5 partially suppress the vitellogenesis defects observed in the heterochronic mutants lin-4 and lin-29, both of which ectopically express fbxl-5 at the adult developmental stage. FBXL-5 functions in the intestine to negatively regulate expression of the vitellogenin genes; and consistently, intestine-specific over-expression of FBXL-5 is sufficient to inhibit vitellogenesis, restrict lipid accumulation, and shorten lifespan. Our epistasis analyses suggest that fbxl-5 functions in concert with cul-6, a cullin gene, and the Skp1-related gene skr-3 to regulate vitellogenesis. Additionally, fbxl-5 acts genetically upstream of rict-1, which encodes the core mTORC2 protein Rictor, to govern vitellogenesis. Together, our results reveal an unexpected role for a SCF ubiquitin-ligase complex in controlling intestinal lipid homeostasis by engaging mTORC2 signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter C Breen
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, Unites States
| | - Kendall G Kanakanui
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, Unites States
| | - Martin A Newman
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, Unites States
| | - Robert H Dowen
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, Unites States
- Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, Unites States
- Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, Unites States
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2
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Ma F, Zheng C. Single-cell phylotranscriptomics of developmental and cell type evolution. Trends Genet 2024; 40:495-510. [PMID: 38490933 DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.005] [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: 11/23/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
Single-cell phylotranscriptomics is an emerging tool to reveal the molecular and cellular mechanisms of evolution. We summarize its utility in studying the hourglass pattern of ontogenetic evolution and for understanding the evolutionary history of cell types. The developmental hourglass model suggests that the mid-embryonic stage is the most conserved period of development across species, which is supported by morphological and molecular studies. Single-cell phylotranscriptomic analysis has revealed previously underappreciated heterogeneity in transcriptome ages among lineages and cell types throughout development, and has identified the lineages and tissues that drive the whole-organism hourglass pattern. Single-cell transcriptome age analyses also provide important insights into the origin of germ layers, the different selective forces on tissues during adaptation, and the evolutionary relationships between cell types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fuqiang Ma
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chaogu Zheng
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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3
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González R, Félix MA. Caenorhabditis elegans immune responses to microsporidia and viruses. DEVELOPMENTAL AND COMPARATIVE IMMUNOLOGY 2024; 154:105148. [PMID: 38325500 DOI: 10.1016/j.dci.2024.105148] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans is susceptible to infection by obligate intracellular pathogens, specifically microsporidia and viruses. These intracellular pathogens infect intestinal cells, or, for some microsporidia, epidermal cells. Strikingly, intestinal cell infections by viruses or microsporidia trigger a common transcriptional response, activated in part by the ZIP-1 transcription factor. Among the strongest activated genes in this response are ubiquitin-pathway members and members of the pals family, an intriguing gene family with cross-regulations of different members of genomic clusters. Some of the induced genes participate in host defense against the pathogens, for example through ubiquitin-mediated inhibition. Other mechanisms defend the host specifically against viral infections, including antiviral RNA interference and uridylation. These various immune responses are altered by environmental factors and by intraspecific genetic variation of the host. These pathogens were first isolated 15 years ago and much remains to be discovered using C. elegans genetics; also, other intracellular pathogens of C. elegans may yet to be discovered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rubén González
- Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, 75005, Paris, France.
| | - Marie-Anne Félix
- Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, 75005, Paris, France
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4
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Breen PC, Kanakanui KG, Newman MA, Dowen RH. The F-box protein FBXL-5 governs vitellogenesis and lipid homeostasis in C. elegans. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.18.590113. [PMID: 38712300 PMCID: PMC11071313 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.18.590113] [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
The molecular mechanisms that govern the metabolic commitment to reproduction, which often occurs at the expense of somatic reserves, remain poorly understood. We identified the C. elegans F-box protein FBXL-5 as a negative regulator of maternal provisioning of vitellogenin lipoproteins, which mediate the transfer of intestinal lipids to the germline. Mutations in fbxl-5 partially suppress the vitellogenesis defects observed in the heterochronic mutants lin-4 and lin-29, both of which ectopically express fbxl-5 at the adult developmental stage. FBXL-5 functions in the intestine to negatively regulate expression of the vitellogenin genes; and consistently, intestine-specific over-expression of FBXL-5 is sufficient to inhibit vitellogenesis, restrict lipid accumulation, and shorten lifespan. Our epistasis analyses suggest that fbxl-5 functions in concert with cul-6 , a cullin gene, and the Skp1-related gene skr-3 to regulate vitellogenesis. Additionally, fbxl-5 acts genetically upstream of rict-1 , which encodes the core mTORC2 protein Rictor, to govern vitellogenesis. Together, our results reveal an unexpected role for a SCF ubiquitin-ligase complex in controlling intestinal lipid homeostasis by engaging mTORC2 signaling.
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5
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Tran TD, Luallen RJ. An organismal understanding of C. elegans innate immune responses, from pathogen recognition to multigenerational resistance. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2024; 154:77-84. [PMID: 36966075 PMCID: PMC10517082 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2023.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/27/2023]
Abstract
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been a model for studying infection since the early 2000s and many major discoveries have been made regarding its innate immune responses. C. elegans has been found to utilize some key conserved aspects of immune responses and signaling, but new interesting features of innate immunity have also been discovered in the organism that might have broader implications in higher eukaryotes such as mammals. Some of the distinctive features of C. elegans innate immunity involve the mechanisms this bacterivore uses to detect infection and mount specific immune responses to different pathogens, despite lacking putative orthologs of many important innate immune components, including cellular immunity, the inflammasome, complement, or melanization. Even when orthologs of known immune factors exist, there appears to be an absence of canonical functions, most notably the lack of pattern recognition by its sole Toll-like receptor. Instead, recent research suggests that C. elegans senses infection by specific pathogens through contextual information, including unique products produced by the pathogen or infection-induced disruption of host physiology, similar to the proposed detection of patterns of pathogenesis in mammalian systems. Interestingly, C. elegans can also transfer information of past infection to their progeny, providing robust protection for their offspring in face of persisting pathogens, in part through the RNAi pathway as well as potential new mechanisms that remain to be elucidated. Altogether, some of these strategies employed by C. elegans share key conceptual features with vertebrate adaptive immunity, as the animal can differentiate specific microbial features, as well as propagate a form of immune memory to their offspring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuan D Tran
- Department of Biology San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr., San Diego, CA 92182, USA
| | - Robert J Luallen
- Department of Biology San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr., San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
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6
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Kloc M, Halasa M, Kubiak JZ, Ghobrial RM. Invertebrate Immunity, Natural Transplantation Immunity, Somatic and Germ Cell Parasitism, and Transposon Defense. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:1072. [PMID: 38256145 PMCID: PMC10815962 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25021072] [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: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
While the vertebrate immune system consists of innate and adaptive branches, invertebrates only have innate immunity. This feature makes them an ideal model system for studying the cellular and molecular mechanisms of innate immunity sensu stricto without reciprocal interferences from adaptive immunity. Although invertebrate immunity is evolutionarily older and a precursor of vertebrate immunity, it is far from simple. Despite lacking lymphocytes and functional immunoglobulin, the invertebrate immune system has many sophisticated mechanisms and features, such as long-term immune memory, which, for decades, have been exclusively attributed to adaptive immunity. In this review, we describe the cellular and molecular aspects of invertebrate immunity, including the epigenetic foundation of innate memory, the transgenerational inheritance of immunity, genetic immunity against invading transposons, the mechanisms of self-recognition, natural transplantation, and germ/somatic cell parasitism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malgorzata Kloc
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, Transplant Immunology, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (M.H.); (R.M.G.)
- Department of Surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Genetics, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Marta Halasa
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, Transplant Immunology, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (M.H.); (R.M.G.)
- Department of Surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Jacek Z. Kubiak
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Innovative Therapies, Military Institute of Medicine-National Research Institute (WIM-PIB), Szaserow 128, 04-141 Warsaw, Poland;
- Dynamics and Mechanics of Epithelia Group, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Development of Rennes, University of Rennes, CNRS, UMR 6290, 35043 Rennes, France
| | - Rafik M. Ghobrial
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, Transplant Immunology, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (M.H.); (R.M.G.)
- Department of Surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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7
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Ma F, Lau CY, Zheng C. Young duplicate genes show developmental stage- and cell type-specific expression and function in Caenorhabditis elegans. CELL GENOMICS 2024; 4:100467. [PMID: 38190105 PMCID: PMC10794840 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100467] [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: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Gene duplication produces the material that fuels evolutionary innovation. The "out-of-testis" hypothesis suggests that sperm competition creates selective pressure encouraging the emergence of new genes in male germline, but the somatic expression and function of the newly evolved genes are not well understood. We systematically mapped the expression of young duplicate genes throughout development in Caenorhabditis elegans using both whole-organism and single-cell transcriptomic data. Based on the expression dynamics across developmental stages, young duplicate genes fall into three clusters that are preferentially expressed in early embryos, mid-stage embryos, and late-stage larvae. Early embryonic genes are involved in protein degradation and develop essentiality comparable to the genomic average. In mid-to-late embryos and L4-stage larvae, young genes are enriched in intestine, epidermal cells, coelomocytes, and amphid chemosensory neurons. Their molecular functions and inducible expression indicate potential roles in innate immune response and chemosensory perceptions, which may contribute to adaptation outside of the sperm.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fuqiang Ma
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chun Yin Lau
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Chaogu Zheng
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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8
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Hua Z. Deciphering the protein ubiquitylation system in plants. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2023; 74:6487-6504. [PMID: 37688404 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erad354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023]
Abstract
Protein ubiquitylation is a post-translational modification (PTM) process that covalently modifies a protein substrate with either mono-ubiquitin moieties or poly-ubiquitin chains often at the lysine residues. In Arabidopsis, bioinformatic predictions have suggested that over 5% of its proteome constitutes the protein ubiquitylation system. Despite advancements in functional genomic studies in plants, only a small fraction of this bioinformatically predicted system has been functionally characterized. To expand our understanding about the regulatory function of protein ubiquitylation to that rivalling several other major systems, such as transcription regulation and epigenetics, I describe the status, issues, and new approaches of protein ubiquitylation studies in plant biology. I summarize the methods utilized in defining the ubiquitylation machinery by bioinformatics, identifying ubiquitylation substrates by proteomics, and characterizing the ubiquitin E3 ligase-substrate pathways by functional genomics. Based on the functional and evolutionary analyses of the F-box gene superfamily, I propose a deleterious duplication model for the large expansion of this family in plant genomes. Given this model, I present new perspectives of future functional genomic studies on the plant ubiquitylation system to focus on core and active groups of ubiquitin E3 ligase genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhihua Hua
- Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
- Interdisciplinary Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
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9
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Mandal SN, Sanchez J, Bhowmick R, Bello OR, Van-Beek CR, de Los Reyes BG. Novel genes and alleles of the BTB/POZ protein family in Oryza rufipogon. Sci Rep 2023; 13:15466. [PMID: 37726366 PMCID: PMC10509276 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41269-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The BTB/POZ family of proteins is widespread in plants and animals, playing important roles in development, growth, metabolism, and environmental responses. Although members of the expanded BTB/POZ gene family (OsBTB) have been identified in cultivated rice (Oryza sativa), their conservation, novelty, and potential applications for allele mining in O. rufipogon, the direct progenitor of O. sativa ssp. japonica and potential wide-introgression donor, are yet to be explored. This study describes an analysis of 110 BTB/POZ encoding gene loci (OrBTB) across the genome of O. rufipogon as outcomes of tandem duplication events. Phylogenetic grouping of duplicated OrBTB genes was supported by the analysis of gene sequences and protein domain architecture, shedding some light on their evolution and functional divergence. The O. rufipogon genome encodes nine novel BTB/POZ genes with orthologs in its distant cousins in the family Poaceae (Sorghum bicolor, Brachypodium distachyon), but such orthologs appeared to have been lost in its domesticated descendant, O. sativa ssp. japonica. Comparative sequence analysis and structure comparisons of novel OrBTB genes revealed that diverged upstream regulatory sequences and regulon restructuring are the key features of the evolution of this large gene family. Novel genes from the wild progenitor serve as a reservoir of potential new alleles that can bring novel functions to cultivars when introgressed by wide hybridization. This study establishes a foundation for hypothesis-driven functional genomic studies and their applications for widening the genetic base of rice cultivars through the introgression of novel genes or alleles from the exotic gene pool.
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Affiliation(s)
- Swarupa Nanda Mandal
- Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA
| | - Jacobo Sanchez
- Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA
| | - Rakesh Bhowmick
- ICAR-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora, Uttarakhand, 263601, India
| | - Oluwatobi R Bello
- Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA
| | - Coenraad R Van-Beek
- Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA
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10
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Sivaramakrishnan P, Watkins C, Murray JI. Transcript accumulation rates in the early Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadi1270. [PMID: 37611097 PMCID: PMC10446496 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi1270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023]
Abstract
Dynamic transcriptional changes are widespread in rapidly dividing developing embryos when cell fate decisions are made quickly. The Caenorhabditis elegans embryo overcomes these constraints partly through the rapid production of high levels of transcription factor mRNAs. Transcript accumulation rates for some developmental genes are known at single-cell resolution, but genome-scale measurements are lacking. We estimate zygotic mRNA accumulation rates from single-cell RNA sequencing data calibrated with single-molecule transcript imaging. Rapid transcription is common in the early C. elegans embryo with rates highest soon after zygotic transcription begins. High-rate genes are enriched for recently duplicated cell-fate regulators and share common genomic features. We identify core promoter elements associated with high rate and measure their contributions for two early endomesodermal genes, ceh-51 and sdz-31. Individual motifs modestly affect accumulation rates, suggesting multifactorial control. These results are a step toward estimating absolute transcription kinetics and understanding how transcript dosage drives developmental decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priya Sivaramakrishnan
- Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
| | - Cameron Watkins
- Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
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11
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Zheng Y, Liu C, Wang S, Qian K, Feng Y, Yu F, Wang J. Genome-wide analysis of cuticle protein family genes in rice stem borer Chilo suppressalis: Insights into their role in environmental adaptation and insecticidal stress response. Int J Biol Macromol 2023:124989. [PMID: 37244330 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.124989] [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: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Insect cuticle plays a key role in insect survival, adaptation and prosperity by serving as the exoskeleton and the first barrier against environmental stresses. As the major components of insect cuticle, the diverse structural cuticle proteins (CPs) contribute to variation in physical properties and functions of cuticle. However, the roles of CPs in cuticular versatility, especially in the stress response or adaption, remain incompletely understood. In this study, we performed a genome-wide analysis of CP superfamily in the rice-boring pest Chilo suppressalis. A total of 211 CP genes were identified and their encoding proteins were classified into eleven families and three subfamilies (RR1, RR2, and RR3). The comparative genomic analysis of CPs revealed that C. suppressalis had fewer CP genes compared to other lepidopteran species, which largely resulted from a less expansion of his-rich RR2 genes involved in cuticular sclerotization, suggesting long-term boring life of C. suppressalis inside rice hosts might evolutionarily prefer cuticular elasticity rather than cuticular sclerotization. We also investigated the response pattern of all CP genes under insecticidal stresses. >50 % CsCPs were upregulated at least 2-fold under insecticidal stresses. Notably, the majority of the highly upregulated CsCPs formed gene pairs or gene clusters on chromosomes, indicating the rapid response of adjacent CsCPs to insecticidal stress. Most high-response CsCPs encoded AAPA/V/L motifs that are related to cuticular elasticity and >50 % of the sclerotization-related his-rich RR2 genes were also upregulated. These results suggested the potential roles of CsCPs in balancing the elasticity and sclerotization of cuticles, which is essential for the survival and adaptation of plant borers including C. suppressalis. Our study provides valuable information for further developing cuticle-based strategies of both pest management and biomimetic applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Zheng
- College of Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
| | - Changpeng Liu
- College of Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Shuang Wang
- College of Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Kun Qian
- College of Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Yinghao Feng
- College of Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Fuhai Yu
- School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials, Jining University, Qufu 273155, Shandong, China
| | - Jianjun Wang
- College of Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
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12
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Ma F, Zheng C. Transcriptome age of individual cell types in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2216351120. [PMID: 36812209 PMCID: PMC9992843 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2216351120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The phylotranscriptomic analysis of development in several species revealed the expression of older and more conserved genes in midembryonic stages and younger and more divergent genes in early and late embryonic stages, which supported the hourglass mode of development. However, previous work only studied the transcriptome age of whole embryos or embryonic sublineages, leaving the cellular basis of the hourglass pattern and the variation of transcriptome ages among cell types unexplored. By analyzing both bulk and single-cell transcriptomic data, we studied the transcriptome age of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans throughout development. Using the bulk RNA-seq data, we identified the morphogenesis phase in midembryonic development as the phylotypic stage with the oldest transcriptome and confirmed the results using whole-embryo transcriptome assembled from single-cell RNA-seq data. The variation in transcriptome ages among individual cell types remained small in early and midembryonic development and grew bigger in late embryonic and larval stages as cells and tissues differentiate. Lineages that give rise to certain tissues (e.g., hypodermis and some neurons) but not all recapitulated the hourglass pattern across development at the single-cell transcriptome level. Further analysis of the variation in transcriptome ages among the 128 neuron types in C. elegans nervous system found that a group of chemosensory neurons and their downstream interneurons expressed very young transcriptomes and may contribute to adaptation in recent evolution. Finally, the variation in transcriptome age among the neuron types, as well as the age of their cell fate regulators, led us to hypothesize the evolutionary history of some neuron types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fuqiang Ma
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chaogu Zheng
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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13
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Ceron-Noriega A, Almeida MV, Levin M, Butter F. Nematode gene annotation by machine-learning-assisted proteotranscriptomics enables proteome-wide evolutionary analysis. Genome Res 2023; 33:112-128. [PMID: 36653121 PMCID: PMC9977148 DOI: 10.1101/gr.277070.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Nematodes encompass more than 24,000 described species, which were discovered in almost every ecological habitat, and make up >80% of metazoan taxonomic diversity in soils. The last common ancestor of nematodes is believed to date back to ∼650-750 million years, generating a large and phylogenetically diverse group to be explored. However, for most species high-quality gene annotations are incomprehensive or missing. Combining short-read RNA sequencing with mass spectrometry-based proteomics and machine-learning quality control in an approach called proteotranscriptomics, we improve gene annotations for nine genome-sequenced nematode species and provide new gene annotations for three additional species without genome assemblies. Emphasizing the sensitivity of our methodology, we provide evidence for two hitherto undescribed genes in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans Extensive phylogenetic systems analysis using this comprehensive proteome annotation provides new insights into evolutionary processes of this metazoan group.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Michal Levin
- Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Falk Butter
- Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), 55128 Mainz, Germany
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14
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Wan YC, Troemel ER, Reinke AW. Conservation of Nematocida microsporidia gene expression and host response in Caenorhabditis nematodes. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0279103. [PMID: 36534656 PMCID: PMC9762603 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Microsporidia are obligate intracellular parasites that are known to infect most types of animals. Many species of microsporidia can infect multiple related hosts, but it is not known if microsporidia express different genes depending upon which host species is infected or if the host response to infection is specific to each microsporidia species. To address these questions, we took advantage of two species of Nematocida microsporidia, N. parisii and N. ausubeli, that infect two species of Caenorhabditis nematodes, C. elegans and C. briggsae. We performed RNA-seq at several time points for each host infected with either microsporidia species. We observed that Nematocida transcription was largely independent of its host. We also observed that the host transcriptional response was similar when infected with either microsporidia species. Finally, we analyzed if the host response to microsporidia infection was conserved across host species. We observed that although many of the genes upregulated in response to infection are not direct orthologs, the same expanded gene families are upregulated in both Caenorhabditis hosts. Together our results describe the transcriptional interactions of Nematocida infection in Caenorhabditis hosts and demonstrate that these responses are evolutionarily conserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yin Chen Wan
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Emily R. Troemel
- School of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Aaron W. Reinke
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada,* E-mail:
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15
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Wighard SS, Athanasouli M, Witte H, Rödelsperger C, Sommer RJ. A New Hope: A Hermaphroditic Nematode Enables Analysis of a Recent Whole Genome Duplication Event. Genome Biol Evol 2022; 14:6868937. [PMID: 36461901 PMCID: PMC9763058 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evac169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Whole genome duplication (WGD) is often considered a major driver of evolution that leads to phenotypic novelties. However, the importance of WGD for evolution is still controversial because most documented WGD events occurred anciently and few experimental systems amenable to genetic analysis are available. Here, we report a recent WGD event in the hermaphroditic nematode Allodiplogaster sudhausi and present a comparison with a gonochoristic (male/female) sister species that did not undergo WGD. Self-fertilizing reproduction of A. sudhausi makes it amenable to functional analysis and an ideal system to study WGD events. We document WGD in A. sudhausi through karyotype analysis and whole genome sequencing, the latter of which allowed us to 1) identify functional bias in retention of protein domains and metabolic pathways, 2) show most duplicate genes are under evolutionary constraint, 3) show a link between sequence and expression divergence, and 4) characterize differentially expressed duplicates. We additionally show WGD is associated with increased body size and an abundance of repeat elements (36% of the genome), including a recent expansion of the DNA-hAT/Ac transposon family. Finally, we demonstrate the use of CRISPR/Cas9 to generate mutant knockouts, whereby two WGD-derived duplicate genes display functional redundancy in that they both need to be knocked out to generate a phenotype. Together, we present a novel experimental system that is convenient for examining and characterizing WGD-derived genes both computationally and functionally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara S Wighard
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Max Planck Ring 9, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marina Athanasouli
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Max Planck Ring 9, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Hanh Witte
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Max Planck Ring 9, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Christian Rödelsperger
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen, Max Planck Ring 9, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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16
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Röseler W, Collenberg M, Yoshida K, Lanz C, Sommer RJ, Rödelsperger C. The improved genome of the nematode Parapristionchus giblindavisi provides insights into lineage-specific gene family evolution. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2022; 12:jkac215. [PMID: 35980151 PMCID: PMC9526060 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkac215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Nematodes such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Pristionchus pacificus are extremely successful model organisms for comparative biology. Several studies have shown that phenotypic novelty but also conserved processes are controlled by taxon-restricted genes. To trace back the evolution of such new or rapidly evolving genes, a robust phylogenomic framework is indispensable. Here, we present an improved version of the genome of Parapristionchus giblindavisi which is the only known member of the sister group of Pristionchus. Relative to the previous short-read assembly, the new genome is based on long reads and displays higher levels of contiguity, completeness, and correctness. Specifically, the number of contigs dropped from over 7,303 to 735 resulting in an N50 increase from 112 to 791 kb. We made use of the new genome to revisit the evolution of multiple gene families. This revealed Pristionchus-specific expansions of several environmentally responsive gene families and a Pristionchus-specific loss of the de novo purine biosynthesis pathway. Focusing on the evolution of sulfatases and sulfotransferases, which control the mouth form plasticity in P. pacificus, reveals differences in copy number and genomic configurations between the genera Pristionchus and Parapristionchus. Altogether, this demonstrates the utility of the P. giblindavisi genome to date and polarizes lineage-specific patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Waltraud Röseler
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Maximilian Collenberg
- Department for Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Kohta Yoshida
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Christa Lanz
- Department for Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ralf J Sommer
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Christian Rödelsperger
- Department for Integrative Evolutionary Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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17
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The impact of species-wide gene expression variation on Caenorhabditis elegans complex traits. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3462. [PMID: 35710766 PMCID: PMC9203580 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31208-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Phenotypic variation in organism-level traits has been studied in Caenorhabditis elegans wild strains, but the impacts of differences in gene expression and the underlying regulatory mechanisms are largely unknown. Here, we use natural variation in gene expression to connect genetic variants to differences in organismal-level traits, including drug and toxicant responses. We perform transcriptomic analyses on 207 genetically distinct C. elegans wild strains to study natural regulatory variation of gene expression. Using this massive dataset, we perform genome-wide association mappings to investigate the genetic basis underlying gene expression variation and reveal complex genetic architectures. We find a large collection of hotspots enriched for expression quantitative trait loci across the genome. We further use mediation analysis to understand how gene expression variation could underlie organism-level phenotypic variation for a variety of complex traits. These results reveal the natural diversity in gene expression and possible regulatory mechanisms in this keystone model organism, highlighting the promise of using gene expression variation to understand how phenotypic diversity is generated.
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18
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van Sluijs L, Bosman KJ, Pankok F, Blokhina T, Wilten JIHA, te Molder DM, Riksen JAG, Snoek BL, Pijlman GP, Kammenga JE, Sterken MG. Balancing Selection of the Intracellular Pathogen Response in Natural Caenorhabditis elegans Populations. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 11:758331. [PMID: 35174100 PMCID: PMC8841876 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.758331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetic variation in host populations may lead to differential viral susceptibilities. Here, we investigate the role of natural genetic variation in the Intracellular Pathogen Response (IPR), an important antiviral pathway in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans against Orsay virus (OrV). The IPR involves transcriptional activity of 80 genes including the pals-genes. We examine the genetic variation in the pals-family for traces of selection and explore the molecular and phenotypic effects of having distinct pals-gene alleles. Genetic analysis of 330 global C. elegans strains reveals that genetic diversity within the IPR-related pals-genes can be categorized in a few haplotypes worldwide. Importantly, two key IPR regulators, pals-22 and pals-25, are in a genomic region carrying signatures of balancing selection, suggesting that different evolutionary strategies exist in IPR regulation. We infected eleven C. elegans strains that represent three distinct pals-22 pals-25 haplotypes with Orsay virus to determine their susceptibility. For two of these strains, N2 and CB4856, the transcriptional response to infection was also measured. The results indicate that pals-22 pals-25 haplotype shapes the defense against OrV and host genetic variation can result in constitutive activation of IPR genes. Our work presents evidence for balancing genetic selection of immunity genes in C. elegans and provides a novel perspective on the functional diversity that can develop within a main antiviral response in natural host populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa van Sluijs
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
- Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Kobus J. Bosman
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Frederik Pankok
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Tatiana Blokhina
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Jop I. H. A. Wilten
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Dennie M. te Molder
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Joost A. G. Riksen
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Basten L. Snoek
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Gorben P. Pijlman
- Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Jan E. Kammenga
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Mark G. Sterken
- Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
- Laboratory of Virology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
- *Correspondence: Mark G. Sterken,
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19
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Yun B, Ryu S, Kang M, Lee J, Yoo J, Kim Y, Oh S. Probiotic Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG Increased Longevity and Resistance Against Foodborne Pathogens in Caenorhabditis elegans by Regulating MicroRNA miR-34. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 11:819328. [PMID: 35127565 PMCID: PMC8807481 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.819328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we investigated the relation of probiotic activity of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus strain GG (LGG) and expression of microRNA to immune response and longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans host model. First, we evaluated the survival rate of C. elegans due to LGG exposure and bacterial colonization in the intestine. Next, the expression of mRNA and miRNA was analyzed in C. elegans exposure to LGG for 24 h using microarray. After exposure to LGG to C. elegans, colonized LGG was observed in the intestines of C. elegans and induced to extend lifespan. Moreover, persistent LGG in the intestine significantly enhanced the resistance of C. elegans exposed to both pathogenic bacteria and prolonged the lifespan of C. elegans. Transcriptome analysis indicated that LGG affected the expression levels of genes related to the innate immune response and upregulated the abundance of genes in multiple pathways of C. elegans, including Wnt signaling, TGF-beta signaling and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. In addition, qRT-PCR analysis confirmed that the expression of antibacterial genes was increased by LGG. Moreover, as the expression of microRNA miR-34 and immune-related pathways increased by exposure to LGG, the lifespan of C. elegans increased. However, in the miR-34 mutant C. elegans, the lifespan by LGG did not increase, so it was determined that miR-34 indirectly affects immune-related pathways. There was no significant difference in the expression of PMK-1 for LGG exposure in miR-34 mutants, suggesting that miR-34 may regulate PMK-1. In conclusion, we suggest that exposure of LGG to C. elegans enhances lifespan and resistance to food-borne pathogen infection by stimulating miR-34 and indirectly promoting PMK-1 activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bohyun Yun
- Department of Functional Food and Biotechnology, Jeonju University, Jeonju, South Korea
| | - Sangdon Ryu
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Minkyoung Kang
- Department of Functional Food and Biotechnology, Jeonju University, Jeonju, South Korea
| | - Juyeon Lee
- Department of Functional Food and Biotechnology, Jeonju University, Jeonju, South Korea
| | - Jiseon Yoo
- Department of Functional Food and Biotechnology, Jeonju University, Jeonju, South Korea
| | - Younghoon Kim
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
- *Correspondence: Younghoon Kim, ; Sangnam Oh,
| | - Sangnam Oh
- Department of Functional Food and Biotechnology, Jeonju University, Jeonju, South Korea
- *Correspondence: Younghoon Kim, ; Sangnam Oh,
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20
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Gao AW, El Alam G, Lalou A, Li TY, Molenaars M, Zhu Y, Overmyer KA, Shishkova E, Hof K, Bou Sleiman M, Houtkooper RH, Coon JJ, Auwerx J. Multi-omics analysis identifies essential regulators of mitochondrial stress response in two wild-type C. elegans strains. iScience 2022; 25:103734. [PMID: 35118355 PMCID: PMC8792074 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 12/02/2021] [Accepted: 12/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) is a promising pharmacological target for aging and age-related diseases. However, the integrative analysis of the impact of UPRmt activation on different signaling layers in animals with different genetic backgrounds is lacking. Here, we applied systems approaches to investigate the effect of UPRmt induced by doxycycline (Dox) on transcriptome, proteome, and lipidome in two genetically divergent worm strains, named N2 and CB4856. From the integrated omics datasets, we found that Dox prolongs lifespan of both worm strains through shared and strain-specific mechanisms. Specifically, Dox strongly impacts mitochondria, upregulates defense response, and lipid metabolism, while decreasing triglycerides. We further validated that lipid genes acs-2/20 and fat-7/6 were required for Dox-induced UPRmt and longevity in N2 and CB4856 worms, respectively. Our data have translational value as they indicate that the beneficial effects of Dox-induced UPRmt on lifespan are consistent across different genetic backgrounds through different regulators. Dox extends lifespan of N2 and CB4856 via shared and strain-specific mechanisms Dox controls mitochondria, defense responses, and lipid metabolism in both strains Dox-mediated longevity requires acs-2/20 in N2 and fat-7/6 in CB4856 worms
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Affiliation(s)
- Arwen W. Gao
- Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Gaby El Alam
- Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Amélia Lalou
- Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Terytty Yang Li
- Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marte Molenaars
- Laboratory Genetic Metabolic Diseases, Amsterdam Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, 1105 Amsterdam, AZ, the Netherlands
| | - Yunyun Zhu
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53506, USA
| | - Katherine A. Overmyer
- National Center for Quantitative Biology of Complex Systems, Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI 53515, USA
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53506, USA
| | - Evgenia Shishkova
- National Center for Quantitative Biology of Complex Systems, Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI 53515, USA
| | - Kevin Hof
- Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Maroun Bou Sleiman
- Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Riekelt H. Houtkooper
- Laboratory Genetic Metabolic Diseases, Amsterdam Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, 1105 Amsterdam, AZ, the Netherlands
| | - Joshua J. Coon
- National Center for Quantitative Biology of Complex Systems, Madison, WI 53706, USA
- Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI 53515, USA
- Department of Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53506, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53506, USA
| | - Johan Auwerx
- Laboratory of Integrative Systems Physiology, Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
- Corresponding author
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21
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Li L, Garsamo M, Yuan J, Wang X, Lam SH, Varala K, Boavida LC, Zhou Y, Liu X. CAND1 is required for pollen viability in Arabidopsis thaliana-a test of the adaptive exchange hypothesis. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:866086. [PMID: 35968124 PMCID: PMC9366119 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.866086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
The dynamic assembly of SKP1•CUL1•F-box protein (SCF) ubiquitin ligases is important for protein ubiquitination and degradation. This process is enabled by CAND1, which exchanges F-box proteins associated with the common CUL1 scaffold, and thereby, recycles the limited CUL1 core and allows diverse F-box proteins to assemble active SCFs. Previous human cell biological and computational studies have led to the adaptive exchange hypothesis, which suggests that the CAND1-mediated exchange confers plasticity on the SCF system, allowing cells to tolerate large variations in F-box protein expression. Here, we tested this hypothesis using Arabidopsis thaliana, a multicellular organism expressing hundreds of F-box protein genes at variable levels in different tissues. The cand1 null mutant in Arabidopsis is viable but produce almost no seeds. Bioinformatic, cell biological, and developmental analyses revealed that the low fertility in the cand1 mutant is associated with cell death in pollen, where the net expression of F-box protein genes is significantly higher than any other Arabidopsis tissue. In addition, we show that the transmission efficiency of the cand1 null allele was reduced through the male but not the female gametophyte. Our results suggest that CAND1 activity is essential in cells or tissues expressing high levels of F-box proteins. This finding is consistent with the proposed adaptive exchange hypothesis, demonstrating the necessity of the evolutionarily conserved CAND1-mediated exchange system in the development of a multicellular organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihong Li
- Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Melaku Garsamo
- Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Jing Yuan
- Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Xiaojin Wang
- Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Susan H. Lam
- Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Kranthi Varala
- Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Leonor C. Boavida
- Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Yun Zhou
- Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
| | - Xing Liu
- Department of Biochemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- Center for Plant Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States
- *Correspondence: Xing Liu,
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22
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Wang A, Chen W, Tao S. Genome-wide characterization, evolution, structure, and expression analysis of the F-box genes in Caenorhabditis. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:889. [PMID: 34895149 PMCID: PMC8665587 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-08189-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND F-box proteins represent a diverse class of adaptor proteins of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) that play critical roles in the cell cycle, signal transduction, and immune response by removing or modifying cellular regulators. Among closely related organisms of the Caenorhabditis genus, remarkable divergence in F-box gene copy numbers was caused by sizeable species-specific expansion and contraction. Although F-box gene number expansion plays a vital role in shaping genomic diversity, little is known about molecular evolutionary mechanisms responsible for substantial differences in gene number of F-box genes and their functional diversification in Caenorhabditis. Here, we performed a comprehensive evolution and underlying mechanism analysis of F-box genes in five species of Caenorhabditis genus, including C. brenneri, C. briggsae, C. elegans, C. japonica, and C. remanei. RESULTS Herein, we identified and characterized 594, 192, 377, 39, 1426 F-box homologs encoding putative F-box proteins in the genome of C. brenneri, C. briggsae, C. elegans, C. japonica, and C. remanei, respectively. Our work suggested that extensive species-specific tandem duplication followed by a small amount of gene loss was the primary mechanism responsible for F-box gene number divergence in Caenorhabditis genus. After F-box gene duplication events occurred, multiple mechanisms have contributed to gene structure divergence, including exon/intron gain/loss, exonization/pseudoexonization, exon/intron boundaries alteration, exon splits, and intron elongation by tandem repeats. Based on high-throughput RNA sequencing data analysis, we proposed that F-box gene functions have diversified by sub-functionalization through highly divergent stage-specific expression patterns in Caenorhabditis species. CONCLUSIONS Massive species-specific tandem duplications and occasional gene loss drove the rapid evolution of the F-box gene family in Caenorhabditis, leading to complex gene structural variation and diversified functions affecting growth and development within and among Caenorhabditis species. In summary, our findings outline the evolution of F-box genes in the Caenorhabditis genome and lay the foundation for future functional studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ailan Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas and College of Life Sciences, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, 712100 Shaanxi China
- Bioinformatics Center, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi China
- Geneis (Beijing) Co., Beijing, China
| | - Wei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas and College of Life Sciences, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, 712100 Shaanxi China
- Bioinformatics Center, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi China
| | - Shiheng Tao
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas and College of Life Sciences, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, 712100 Shaanxi China
- Bioinformatics Center, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi China
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23
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Shalmani A, Huang YB, Chen YB, Muhammad I, Li BB, Ullah U, Jing XQ, Bhanbhro N, Liu WT, Li WQ, Chen KM. The highly interactive BTB domain targeting other functional domains to diversify the function of BTB proteins in rice growth and development. Int J Biol Macromol 2021; 192:1311-1324. [PMID: 34655590 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.10.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The BTB (broad-complex, tram track, and bric-abrac) proteins are involved in developmental processes, biotic, and abiotic stress responses in various plants, but the molecular basis of protein interactions is yet to be investiagted in rice. In this study, the identified BTB proteins were divided into BTB-TAZ, MATH-BTB, BTB-NPH, BTB-ANK, BTB-Skp, BTB-DUF, and BTB-TPR subfamilies based on the additional functional domains found together with the BTB domain at N- and C-terminal as well. This suggesting that the extension region at both terminal sites could play a vital role in the BTB gene family expansion in plants. The yeast two-hybrid system, firefly luciferase complementation imaging (LCI) assay and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assay further confirmed that BTB proteins interact with several other proteins to perform a certain developmental process in plants. The overexpression of BTB genes of each subfamily in Arabidopsis revealed that BTB genes including OsBTB4, OsBTB8, OsBTB64, OsBTB62, OsBTB138, and OsBTB147, containing certain additional functional domains, could play a potential role in the early flowering, branching, leaf, and silique development. Thus we concluded that the presence of other functional domains such as TAZ, SKP, DUF, ANK, NPH, BACK, PQQ, and MATH could be the factor driving the diverse functions of BTB proteins in plant biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdullah Shalmani
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Yang-Bin Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Yun-Bo Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Izhar Muhammad
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China; College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Bin-Bin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Uzair Ullah
- Department of Genetics, Hazara University, Mansehra, KPK, Pakistan
| | - Xiu-Qing Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Nadeem Bhanbhro
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Wen-Ting Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Wen-Qiang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
| | - Kun-Ming Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China.
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24
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Insights into the Evolution of Spermatogenesis-Related Ubiquitin-Proteasome System Genes in Abdominal Testicular Laurasiatherians. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12111780. [PMID: 34828386 PMCID: PMC8620446 DOI: 10.3390/genes12111780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
During embryonic development in mammals, the testicles generally descend into the scrotum, making the testicular temperature 2–4 °C lower than the core temperature via heat exchange and clearance, and thus more beneficial for normal spermatogenesis. Failure to descend, known as cryptorchidism, carries a series of risks such as infertility and testicular cancer. However, some mammals have evolved abdominal testes while maintaining healthy reproduction. To explore the underlying molecular mechanism, we conducted comparative genomic analyses and functional assays on the spermatogenesis-related ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) genes essential to sperm formation in representative laurasiatherians. Here, positive selection and rapid evolution of spermatogenesis-related UPS genes were identified in the abdominal testicular laurasiatherians. Moreover, potential convergent amino acids were found between distantly related species with similar abdominal testicles and functional analyses showed RNF8 (V437I) in abdominal testicular species (437I) has a stronger ubiquitination ability, which suggests that the mammals with abdominal testes might exhibit enhanced sperm cell histone clearance to maintain sperm formation. This evidence implies that, in response to “cryptorchidism injury”, spermatogenesis-related UPS genes in the abdominal testicular species might have undergone adaptive evolution to stabilize sperm formation. Thus, our study could provide some novel insights into the reproductive adaptation in abdominal testicular mammals.
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Lažetić V, Troemel ER. Conservation lost: host-pathogen battles drive diversification and expansion of gene families. FEBS J 2021; 288:5289-5299. [PMID: 33190369 PMCID: PMC10901648 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2020] [Revised: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
One of the strongest drivers in evolution is the struggle to survive a host-pathogen battle. This pressure selects for diversity among the factors directly involved in this battle, including virulence factors deployed by pathogens, their corresponding host targets, and host immune factors. A logical outcome of this diversification is that over time, the sequence of many immune factors will not be evolutionarily conserved across a broad range of species. Thus, while universal sequence conservation is often hailed as the hallmark of the importance of a particular gene, the immune system does not necessarily play by these rules when defending against co-evolving pathogens. This loss of sequence conservation is in contrast to many signaling pathways in development and basic cell biology that are not targeted by pathogens. In addition to diversification, another consequence of host-pathogen battles can be an amplification in gene number, thus leading to large gene families that have sequence relatively specific to a particular strain, species, or clade. Here we highlight this general theme across a variety of pathogen virulence factors and host immune factors. We summarize the wide range and number across species of these expanded, lineage-specific host-pathogen factors including ubiquitin ligases, nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat receptors, GTPases, and proteins without obvious biochemical function but that nonetheless play key roles in immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir Lažetić
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Emily R Troemel
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
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Sural S, Hobert O. Nematode nuclear receptors as integrators of sensory information. Curr Biol 2021; 31:4361-4366.e2. [PMID: 34348120 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Revised: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
More than 20 years ago, the sequencing of the genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans uncovered a still unparalleled abundance of C4-zinc finger orphan nuclear hormone receptors, encoded by 267 different nhr genes.1,2 Only less than 20 of them are conserved throughout the animal kingdom; all the remaining genes are the results of an expansion of the HNF4-subtype of nuclear receptors.3,4 Strikingly, even though most of the receptors contain predicted ligand binding domains, no ligand has since been identified for any of the non-conserved, C. elegans-expanded nhr genes. Based on an analysis of more than 100 nematode genome sequences, as well as the mining of recently established nervous system-wide gene expression patterns, we propose here that nhr family expansion is a manifestation of adaptation of free-living nematodes to complex sensory environments and that NHR proteins may function as sensory receptors for external or internal sensory cues to modulate the animal's sensory responses to environmental cues as well as its internal metabolic state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Surojit Sural
- Department of Biological Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Oliver Hobert
- Department of Biological Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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Garcia-Sanchez JA, Ewbank JJ, Visvikis O. Ubiquitin-related processes and innate immunity in C. elegans. Cell Mol Life Sci 2021; 78:4305-4333. [PMID: 33630111 PMCID: PMC11072174 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-021-03787-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Innate immunity is an evolutionary ancient defence strategy that serves to eliminate infectious agents while maintaining host health. It involves a complex network of sensors, signaling proteins and immune effectors that detect the danger, then relay and execute the immune programme. Post-translational modifications relying on conserved ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like proteins are an integral part of the system. Studies using invertebrate models of infection, such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, have greatly contributed to our understanding of how ubiquitin-related processes act in immune sensing, regulate immune signaling pathways, and participate to host defence responses. This review highlights the interest of working with a genetically tractable model organism and illustrates how C. elegans has been used to identify ubiquitin-dependent immune mechanisms, discover novel ubiquitin-based resistance strategies that mediate pathogen clearance, and unravel the role of ubiquitin-related processes in tolerance, preserving host fitness during pathogen attack. Special emphasis is placed on processes that are conserved in mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan A Garcia-Sanchez
- INSERM, C3M, Côte D'Azur University, Nice, France
- INSERM, CNRS, CIML, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Jonathan J Ewbank
- INSERM, CNRS, CIML, Turing Centre for Living Systems, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.
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The Landscape of the Genomic Distribution and the Expression of the F-Box Genes Unveil Genome Plasticity in Hexaploid Wheat during Grain Development and in Response to Heat and Drought Stress. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22063111. [PMID: 33803701 PMCID: PMC8002965 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22063111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2021] [Revised: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
FBX proteins are subunits of the SCF complex (Skp1-cullin-FBX) belonging to the E3 ligase family, which is involved in the ubiquitin-proteasome 26S (UPS) pathway responsible for the post-translational protein turnover. By targeting, in a selective manner, key regulatory proteins for ubiquitination and 26S proteasome degradation, FBX proteins play a major role in plant responses to diverse developmental and stress conditions. Although studies on the genomic organization of the FBX gene family in various species have been reported, knowledge related to bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) is scarce and needs to be broadened. Using the latest assembly of the wheat genome, we identified 3670 TaFBX genes distributed non-homogeneously within the three subgenomes (A, B and D) and between the 21 chromosomes, establishing it as one of the richest gene families among plant species. Based on the presence of the five different chromosomal regions previously identified, the present study focused on the genomic distribution of the TaFBX family and the identification of differentially expressed genes during the embryogenesis stages and in response to heat and drought stress. Most of the time, when comparing the expected number of genes (taking into account the formal gene distribution on the entire wheat genome), the TaFBX family harbors a different pattern at the various stratum of observation (subgenome, chromosome, chromosomal regions). We report here that the local gene expansion of the TaFBX family must be the consequence of multiple and complex events, including tandem and small-scale duplications. Regarding the differentially expressed TaFBX genes, while the majority of the genes are localized in the distal chromosomal regions (R1 and R3), differentially expressed genes are more present in the interstitial regions (R2a and R2b) than expected, which could be an indication of the preservation of major genes in those specific chromosomal regions.
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Ma F, Lau CY, Zheng C. Large genetic diversity and strong positive selection in F-box and GPCR genes among the wild isolates of Caenorhabditis elegans. Genome Biol Evol 2021; 13:6163285. [PMID: 33693740 PMCID: PMC8120010 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evab048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 02/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The F-box and chemosensory GPCR (csGPCR) gene families are greatly expanded in nematodes, including the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, compared with insects and vertebrates. However, the intraspecific evolution of these two gene families in nematodes remain unexamined. In this study, we analyzed the genomic sequences of 330 recently sequenced wild isolates of C. elegans using a range of population genetics approaches. We found that F-box and csGPCR genes, especially the Srw family csGPCRs, showed much more diversity than other gene families. Population structure analysis and phylogenetic analysis divided the wild strains into eight non-Hawaiian and three Hawaiian subpopulations. Some Hawaiian strains appeared to be more ancestral than all other strains. F-box and csGPCR genes maintained a great amount of the ancestral variants in the Hawaiian subpopulation and their divergence among the non-Hawaiian subpopulations contributed significantly to population structure. F-box genes are mostly located at the chromosomal arms and high recombination rate correlates with their large polymorphism. Moreover, using both neutrality tests and extended haplotype homozygosity analysis, we identified signatures of strong positive selection in the F-box and csGPCR genes among the wild isolates, especially in the non-Hawaiian population. Accumulation of high-frequency-derived alleles in these genes was found in non-Hawaiian population, leading to divergence from the ancestral genotype. In summary, we found that F-box and csGPCR genes harbor a large pool of natural variants, which may be subjected to positive selection. These variants are mostly mapped to the substrate-recognition domains of F-box proteins and the extracellular and intracellular regions of csGPCRs, possibly resulting in advantages during adaptation by affecting protein degradation and the sensing of environmental cues, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fuqiang Ma
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chun Yin Lau
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Chaogu Zheng
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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Zhong Y, Zhang X, Shi Q, Cheng ZM. Adaptive evolution driving the young duplications in six Rosaceae species. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:112. [PMID: 33563208 PMCID: PMC7871599 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-07422-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In plant genomes, high proportions of duplicate copies reveals that gene duplications play an important role in the evolutionary processes of plant species. A series of gene families under positive selection after recent duplication events in plant genomes indicated the evolution of duplicates driven by adaptive evolution. However, the genome-wide evolutionary features of young duplicate genes among closely related species are rarely reported. Results In this study, we conducted a systematic survey of young duplicate genes at genome-wide levels among six Rosaceae species, whose whole-genome sequencing data were successively released in recent years. A total of 35,936 gene families were detected among the six species, in which 60.25% were generated by young duplications. The 21,650 young duplicate gene families could be divided into two expansion types based on their duplication patterns, species-specific and lineage-specific expansions. Our results showed the species-specific expansions advantaging over the lineage-specific expansions. In the two types of expansions, high-frequency duplicate domains exhibited functional preference in response to environmental stresses. Conclusions The functional preference of the young duplicate genes in both the expansion types showed that they were inclined to respond to abiotic or biotic stimuli. Moreover, young duplicate genes under positive selection in both species-specific and lineage-specific expansions suggested that they were generated to adapt to the environmental factors in Rosaceae species. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-021-07422-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Zhong
- College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
| | - Xiaohui Zhang
- School of Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Qinglong Shi
- College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China
| | - Zong-Ming Cheng
- College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.
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Caenorhabditis elegans F-Box Protein Promotes Axon Regeneration by Inducing Degradation of the Mad Transcription Factor. J Neurosci 2021; 41:2373-2381. [PMID: 33514673 PMCID: PMC7984584 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1024-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
In Caenorhabditis elegans, axon regeneration is activated by a signaling cascade through the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) SVH-2. Axonal injury induces svh-2 gene expression by degradation of the Mad-like transcription factor MDL-1. In this study, we identify the svh-24/sdz-33 gene encoding a protein containing F-box and F-box-associated domains as a regulator of axon regeneration in motor neurons. We find that sdz-33 is required for axon injury-induced svh-2 expression. In Caenorhabditis elegans, axon regeneration is activated by a signaling cascade through the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) SVH-2. Axonal injury induces svh-2 gene expression by degradation of the Mad-like transcription factor MDL-1. In this study, we identify the svh-24/sdz-33 gene encoding a protein containing F-box and F-box-associated domains as a regulator of axon regeneration in motor neurons. We find that sdz-33 is required for axon injury-induced svh-2 expression. SDZ-33 targets MDL-1 for poly-ubiquitylation and degradation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that SDZ-33 promotes axotomy-induced nuclear degradation of MDL-1, resulting in the activation of svh-2 expression in animals. These results suggest that the F-box protein is required for RTK signaling in the control of axon regeneration. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In Caenorhabditis elegans, axon regeneration is positively regulated by the growth factor SVH-1 and its receptor tyrosine kinase SVH-2. Expression of the svh-2 gene is induced by axonal injury via the Ets-like transcription factor ETS-4, whose transcriptional activity is inhibited by the Mad-like transcription factor MDL-1. Axon injury leads to the degradation of MDL-1, and this is linked to the activation of ETS-4 transcriptional activity. In this study, we identify the sdz-33 gene encoding a protein containing an F-box domain as a regulator of axon regeneration. We demonstrate that MDL-1 is poly-ubiquitylated and degraded through the SDZ-33-mediated 26S proteasome pathway. These results reveal that an F-box protein promotes axon regeneration by degrading the Mad transcription factor.
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Doroodian P, Hua Z. The Ubiquitin Switch in Plant Stress Response. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 10:246. [PMID: 33514032 PMCID: PMC7911189 DOI: 10.3390/plants10020246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2021] [Revised: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Ubiquitin is a 76 amino acid polypeptide common to all eukaryotic organisms. It functions as a post-translationally modifying mark covalently linked to a large cohort of yet poorly defined protein substrates. The resulting ubiquitylated proteins can rapidly change their activities, cellular localization, or turnover through the 26S proteasome if they are no longer needed or are abnormal. Such a selective modification is essential to many signal transduction pathways particularly in those related to stress responses by rapidly enhancing or quenching output. Hence, this modification system, the so-called ubiquitin-26S proteasome system (UPS), has caught the attention in the plant research community over the last two decades for its roles in plant abiotic and biotic stress responses. Through direct or indirect mediation of plant hormones, the UPS selectively degrades key components in stress signaling to either negatively or positively regulate plant response to a given stimulus. As a result, a tightly regulated signaling network has become of much interest over the years. The ever-increasing changes of the global climate require both the development of new crops to cope with rapid changing environment and new knowledge to survey the dynamics of ecosystem. This review examines how the ubiquitin can switch and tune plant stress response and poses potential avenues to further explore this system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paymon Doroodian
- Department of Environment and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA;
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
| | - Zhihua Hua
- Department of Environment and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA;
- Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
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Kawamura K, Maruyama IN. Mutation in histone deacetylase HDA-3 leads to shortened locomotor healthspan in Caenorhabditis elegans. Aging (Albany NY) 2020; 12:23525-23547. [PMID: 33276344 PMCID: PMC7762513 DOI: 10.18632/aging.202296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Some genes are essential for survival, while other genes play modulatory roles on health and survival. Genes that play modulatory roles may promote an organism’s survival and health by fine-tuning physiological processes. An unbiased search for genes that alter an organism’s ability to maintain aspects of health may uncover modulators of lifespan and healthspan. From an unbiased screen for Caenorhabditis elegans mutants that show a progressive decline in motility, we aimed to identify genes that play a modulatory role in maintenance of locomotor healthspan. Here we report the involvement of hda-3, encoding a class I histone deacetylase, as a genetic factor that contributes in the maintenance of general health and locomotion in C. elegans. We identified a missense mutation in HDA-3 as the causative mutation in one of the isolated strains that show a progressive decline in maximum velocity and travel distance. From transcriptome analysis, we found a cluster of genes on Chromosome II carrying BATH domains that were downregulated by hda-3. Furthermore, downregulation of individual bath genes leads to significant decline in motility. Our study identifies genetic factors that modulate the maintenance of locomotor healthspan and may reveal potential targets for delaying age-related locomotor decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuto Kawamura
- Information Processing Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, Japan
| | - Ichiro N Maruyama
- Information Processing Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa, Japan
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Na H, Zdraljevic S, Tanny RE, Walhout AJM, Andersen EC. Natural variation in a glucuronosyltransferase modulates propionate sensitivity in a C. elegans propionic acidemia model. PLoS Genet 2020; 16:e1008984. [PMID: 32857789 PMCID: PMC7482840 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2020] [Revised: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations in human metabolic genes can lead to rare diseases known as inborn errors of human metabolism. For instance, patients with loss-of-function mutations in either subunit of propionyl-CoA carboxylase suffer from propionic acidemia because they cannot catabolize propionate, leading to its harmful accumulation. Both the penetrance and expressivity of metabolic disorders can be modulated by genetic background. However, modifiers of these diseases are difficult to identify because of the lack of statistical power for rare diseases in human genetics. Here, we use a model of propionic acidemia in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to identify genetic modifiers of propionate sensitivity. Using genome-wide association (GWA) mapping across wild strains, we identify several genomic regions correlated with reduced propionate sensitivity. We find that natural variation in the putative glucuronosyltransferase GLCT-3, a homolog of human B3GAT, partly explains differences in propionate sensitivity in one of these genomic intervals. We demonstrate that loss-of-function alleles in glct-3 render the animals less sensitive to propionate. Additionally, we find that C. elegans has an expansion of the glct gene family, suggesting that the number of members of this family could influence sensitivity to excess propionate. Our findings demonstrate that natural variation in genes that are not directly associated with propionate breakdown can modulate propionate sensitivity. Our study provides a framework for using C. elegans to characterize the contributions of genetic background in models of human inborn errors in metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huimin Na
- Program in Systems Biology and Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America
| | - Stefan Zdraljevic
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States of America
| | - Robyn E. Tanny
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States of America
| | - Albertha J. M. Walhout
- Program in Systems Biology and Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, United States of America
- * E-mail: (AJMW); (ECA)
| | - Erik C. Andersen
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States of America
- * E-mail: (AJMW); (ECA)
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A cullin-RING ubiquitin ligase promotes thermotolerance as part of the intracellular pathogen response in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:7950-7960. [PMID: 32193347 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1918417117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Intracellular pathogen infection leads to proteotoxic stress in host organisms. Previously we described a physiological program in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans called the intracellular pathogen response (IPR), which promotes resistance to proteotoxic stress and appears to be distinct from canonical proteostasis pathways. The IPR is controlled by PALS-22 and PALS-25, proteins of unknown biochemical function, which regulate expression of genes induced by natural intracellular pathogens. We previously showed that PALS-22 and PALS-25 regulate the mRNA expression of the predicted ubiquitin ligase component cullin cul-6, which promotes thermotolerance in pals-22 mutants. However, it was unclear whether CUL-6 acted alone, or together with other cullin-ring ubiquitin ligase components, which comprise a greatly expanded gene family in C. elegans Here we use coimmunoprecipitation studies paired with genetic analysis to define the cullin-RING ligase components that act together with CUL-6 to promote thermotolerance. First, we identify a previously uncharacterized RING domain protein in the TRIM family we named RCS-1, which acts as a core component with CUL-6 to promote thermotolerance. Next, we show that the Skp-related proteins SKR-3, SKR-4, and SKR-5 act redundantly to promote thermotolerance with CUL-6. Finally, we screened F-box proteins that coimmunoprecipitate with CUL-6 and find that FBXA-158 and FBXA-75 promote thermotolerance. In summary, we have defined the three core components and two F-box adaptors of a cullin-RING ligase complex that promotes thermotolerance as part of the IPR in C. elegans, which adds to our understanding of how organisms cope with proteotoxic stress.
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Abd-Hamid NA, Ahmad-Fauzi MI, Zainal Z, Ismail I. Diverse and dynamic roles of F-box proteins in plant biology. PLANTA 2020; 251:68. [PMID: 32072251 DOI: 10.1007/s00425-020-03356-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The SCF complex is a widely studied multi-subunit ring E3 ubiquitin ligase that tags targeted proteins with ubiquitin for protein degradation by the ubiquitin 26S-proteasome system (UPS). The UPS is an important system that generally keeps cellular events tightly regulated by purging misfolded or damaged proteins and selectively degrading important regulatory proteins. The specificity of this post-translational regulation is controlled by F-box proteins (FBPs) via selective recognition of a protein-protein interaction motif at the C-terminal domain. Hence, FBPs are pivotal proteins in determining the plant response in multiple scenarios. It is not surprising that the FBP family is one of the largest protein families in the plant kingdom. In this review, the roles of FBPs, specifically in plants, are compiled to provide insights into their involvement in secondary metabolites, plant stresses, phytohormone signalling, plant developmental processes and miRNA biogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nur-Athirah Abd-Hamid
- Institute of Systems Biology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Muhammad-Izzat Ahmad-Fauzi
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Zamri Zainal
- Institute of Systems Biology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Ismanizan Ismail
- Institute of Systems Biology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
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Transcriptome Landscape Variation in the Genus Thymus. Genes (Basel) 2019; 10:genes10080620. [PMID: 31426352 PMCID: PMC6723042 DOI: 10.3390/genes10080620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Revised: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 08/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Among the Lamiaceae family, the genus Thymus is an economically important genera due to its medicinal and aromatic properties. Most Thymus molecular research has focused on the determining the phylogenetic relationships between different species, but no published work has focused on the evolution of the transcriptome across the genus to elucidate genes involved in terpenoid biosynthesis. Hence, in this study, the transcriptomes of five different Thymus species were generated and analyzed to mine putative genes involved in thymol and carvacrol biosynthesis. High-throughput sequencing produced ~43 million high-quality reads per sample, which were assembled de novo using several tools, then further subjected to a quality evaluation. The best assembly for each species was used as queries to search within the UniProt, KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes), COG (Clusters of Orthologous Groups) and TF (Transcription Factors) databases. Mining the transcriptomes resulted in the identification of 592 single-copy orthogroups used for phylogenetic analysis. The data showed strongly support a close genetic relationship between Thymus vulgaris and Thymus daenensis. Additionally, this study dates the speciation events between 1.5–2.1 and 9–10.2 MYA according to different methodologies. Our study provides a global overview of genes related to the terpenoid pathway in Thymus, and can help establish an understanding of the relationship that exists among Thymus species.
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Yao M, Rahman SU, Wang A, Ma T, Raza SHA, Mehmood R, Liu Y, Tao S. Evolutionary Analysis of the F-Box Gene Family in Saccharomycetaceae. DNA Cell Biol 2019; 38:333-340. [PMID: 30801225 DOI: 10.1089/dna.2018.4271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
F-box proteins are a core component of Skp1-Cul1-F-box (SCF) ubiquitin/ligase complexes and are involved in a lot of cellular processes in yeasts. However, the current knowledge of the molecular evolution of the F-box gene family in yeasts remains unclear. In this study, 136 F-box genes were identified in 10 yeast species of the Saccharomycetaceae. In addition to the F-box domain, the other six domains were identified in these F-box proteins. The evolutionary history of F-box gene numbers in 10 Saccharomycetaceae yeasts was reconstructed. Whole-genome duplication, interspersed repeats, and gene loss events were inferred. These events contributed to F-box gene number variation in the 10 yeast species. Eighty-seven and 33 positively selected sites were detected in program Selecton and Datamonkey web-server, respectively. Three of them were considered the significant positively selected sites, and 23 of them had changed radically in amino acid properties by using TreeSAAP. We investigated F-box gene number variation and underlying mechanisms, and selection patterns, all of which were beneficial to deeply understand genome evolution and figure out the function of the F-box proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingyue Yao
- 1 College of Enology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
| | - Siddiq Ur Rahman
- 2 State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas and College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
- 3 Bioinformatics Center, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
- 4 Department of Computer Science & Bioinformatics, Khushal Khan Khattak University, Karak, Pakistan
| | - Ailan Wang
- 2 State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas and College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
- 3 Bioinformatics Center, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
| | - Tao Ma
- 1 College of Enology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
| | | | - Rashid Mehmood
- 6 Department of Computer Sciences and Information Technology, University of Kotli, Kotli, Pakistan
| | - Yanlin Liu
- 1 College of Enology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
| | - Shiheng Tao
- 2 State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas and College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
- 3 Bioinformatics Center, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
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Bauer N, Škiljaica A, Malenica N, Razdorov G, Klasić M, Juranić M, Močibob M, Sprunck S, Dresselhaus T, Leljak Levanić D. The MATH-BTB Protein TaMAB2 Accumulates in Ubiquitin-Containing Foci and Interacts With the Translation Initiation Machinery in Arabidopsis. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2019; 10:1469. [PMID: 31824527 PMCID: PMC6883508 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2019] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
MATH-BTB proteins are known to act as substrate-specific adaptors of CUL3-based E3 ligases in the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. Their BTB domain binds to CUL3 scaffold proteins and the less conserved MATH domain targets a highly diverse collection of substrate proteins to promote their ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. In plants, a significant expansion of the MATH-BTB family occurred in the grasses. Here, we report analysis of TaMAB2, a MATH-BTB protein transiently expressed at the onset of embryogenesis in wheat. Due to difficulties in studying its role in zygotes and early embryos, we have overexpressed TaMAB2 in Arabidopsis to generate gain-of-function mutants and to elucidate interaction partners and substrates. Overexpression plants showed severe growth defects as well as disorganization of microtubule bundles indicating that TaMAB2 interacts with substrates in Arabidopsis. In tobacco BY-2 cells, TaMAB2 showed a microtubule and ubiquitin-associated cytoplasmic localization pattern in form of foci. Its direct interaction with CUL3 suggests functions in targeting specific substrates for ubiquitin-dependent degradation. Although direct interactions with tubulin could not be confimed, tandem affinity purification of TaMAB2 interactors point towards cytoskeletal proteins including tubulin and actin as well as the translation initiation machinery. The idenification of various subunits of eucaryotic translation initiation factors eIF3 and eIF4 as TaMAB2 interactors indicate regulation of translation initiation as a major function during onset of embryogenesis in plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nataša Bauer
- Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Andreja Škiljaica
- Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Nenad Malenica
- Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | | | - Marija Klasić
- Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Martina Juranić
- Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Marko Močibob
- Division of Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Stefanie Sprunck
- Cell Biology and Plant Biochemistry, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Dresselhaus
- Cell Biology and Plant Biochemistry, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Dunja Leljak Levanić
- Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
- *Correspondence: Dunja Leljak Levanić,
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Multi-modal regulation of C. elegans hermaphrodite spermatogenesis by the GLD-1-FOG-2 complex. Dev Biol 2018; 446:193-205. [PMID: 30599151 DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2018.11.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2018] [Revised: 11/07/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Proper germ cell sex determination in Caenorhabditis nematodes requires a network of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and their target mRNAs. In some species, changes in this network enabled limited XX spermatogenesis, and thus self-fertility. In C. elegans, one of these selfing species, the global sex-determining gene tra-2 is regulated in germ cells by a conserved RBP, GLD-1, via the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of its transcript. A C. elegans-specific GLD-1 cofactor, FOG-2, is also required for hermaphrodite sperm fate, but how it modifies GLD-1 function is unknown. Germline feminization in gld-1 and fog-2 null mutants has been interpreted as due to cell-autonomous elevation of TRA-2 translation. Consistent with the proposed role of FOG-2 in translational control, the abundance of nearly all GLD-1 target mRNAs (including tra-2) is unchanged in fog-2 mutants. Epitope tagging reveals abundant TRA-2 expression in somatic tissues, but an undetectably low level in wild-type germ cells. Loss of gld-1 function elevates germline TRA-2 expression to detectable levels, but loss of fog-2 function does not. A simple quantitative model of tra-2 activity constrained by these results can successfully sort genotypes into normal or feminized groups. Surprisingly, fog-2 and gld-1 activity enable the sperm fate even when GLD-1 cannot bind to the tra-2 3' UTR. This suggests the GLD-1-FOG-2 complex regulates uncharacterized sites within tra-2, or other mRNA targets. Finally, we quantify the RNA-binding capacities of dominant missense alleles of GLD-1 that act genetically as "hyper-repressors" of tra-2 activity. These variants bind RNA more weakly in vitro than does wild-type GLD-1. These results indicate that gld-1 and fog-2 regulate germline sex via multiple interactions, and that our understanding of the control and evolution of germ cell sex determination in the C. elegans hermaphrodite is far from complete.
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Vigneshwari L, Balasubramaniam B, Sethupathy S, Pandian SK, Balamurugan K. O-GlcNAcylation confers protection against Staphylococcus aureus infection in Caenorhabditis elegans through ubiquitination. RSC Adv 2018; 8:23089-23100. [PMID: 35540126 PMCID: PMC9081618 DOI: 10.1039/c8ra00279g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Accepted: 05/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Glycosylation is one of the most prevalent post-translational modifications in biological systems. In Caenorhabditis elegans, O-GlcNAcylation has been shown to be actively involved in the regulation of dauer formation and detoxification of toxins secreted by invading pathogens. On this backdrop, the present study is focused on understanding the role of O-GlcNAcylation in C. elegans during Staphylococcus aureus infection using a gel based proteomic approach. Results of time course killing assays with wild-type and mutants of glycosylation and comparison of results revealed an increase in the survival of the C. elegans oga-1 mutant when compared to wild-type N2 and the ogt-1 mutant. Increased survival of C. elegans N2 upon S. aureus infection in the presence of O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucopyranosylidenamino) N-phenylcarbamate (PUGNAc-an OGA inhibitor) further confirmed the involvement of O-GlcNAcylation in protecting C. elegans from infection. The two-dimensional gel-based proteomic analysis of the control and S. aureus infected C. elegans oga-1 mutant followed by mass spectrometric identification of differentially expressed proteins has been carried out. The results revealed that key proteins involved in ubiquitination such as Cullin-1 (CUL-1), Cullin-3 (CUL-3), BTB and MATH domain-containing protein 15 (BATH-15), ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 variant 3 (UEV-3) and probable ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 7 (UBC-7) are upregulated. Real-time PCR analysis further confirms the upregulation of genes encoding the above-mentioned proteins which are involved in the ubiquitin-mediated pathways in C. elegans. In addition, treatment of C. elegans wild-type N2 and the oga-1 mutant with PUGNAc + suramin and suramin (an ubiquitination inhibitor), respectively has resulted in increased sensitivity to S. aureus infection. Hence, it is presumed that upregulation of proteins involved in the ubiquitination pathway could be the key regulatory mechanism responsible for the enhanced survival of the oga-1 mutant during S. aureus infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Loganathan Vigneshwari
- Department of Biotechnology, Science Campus, Alagappa University Karaikudi 630 003 Tamil Nadu India +91 4565 229334 +91 4565 225215
| | - Boopathi Balasubramaniam
- Department of Biotechnology, Science Campus, Alagappa University Karaikudi 630 003 Tamil Nadu India +91 4565 229334 +91 4565 225215
| | - Sivasamy Sethupathy
- Department of Biotechnology, Science Campus, Alagappa University Karaikudi 630 003 Tamil Nadu India +91 4565 229334 +91 4565 225215
| | - Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian
- Department of Biotechnology, Science Campus, Alagappa University Karaikudi 630 003 Tamil Nadu India +91 4565 229334 +91 4565 225215
| | - Krishnaswamy Balamurugan
- Department of Biotechnology, Science Campus, Alagappa University Karaikudi 630 003 Tamil Nadu India +91 4565 229334 +91 4565 225215
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The Microbial Zoo in the C. elegans Intestine: Bacteria, Fungi and Viruses. Viruses 2018; 10:v10020085. [PMID: 29443938 PMCID: PMC5850392 DOI: 10.3390/v10020085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2018] [Revised: 02/08/2018] [Accepted: 02/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
C. elegans is an invaluable model organism that has been a driving force in many fundamental biological discoveries. However, it is only in the past two decades that it has been applied to host–pathogen interaction studies. These studies have been facilitated by the discoveries of natural microbes that infect C. elegans, including bacteria, fungi and viruses. Notably, many of these microbes share a common site of infection, the C. elegans intestine. Furthermore, the recent descriptions of a natural gut microbiota in C. elegans raise the possibility that this could be a novel model system for microbiome and trans-kingdom interaction studies. Here we review studies of C. elegans host–microbe interactions with a particular focus on the intestine.
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GIBSON AMANDAK, MORRAN LEVIT. A Model for Evolutionary Ecology of Disease: The Case for Caenorhabditis Nematodes and Their Natural Parasites. J Nematol 2018. [DOI: 10.21307/jofnem-2017-083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
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Abstract
Since 1999, Caenorhabditis elegans has been extensively used to study microbe-host interactions due to its simple culture, genetic tractability, and susceptibility to numerous bacterial and fungal pathogens. In contrast, virus studies have been hampered by a lack of convenient virus infection models in nematodes. The recent discovery of a natural viral pathogen of C. elegans and development of diverse artificial infection models are providing new opportunities to explore virus-host interplay in this powerful model organism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Don B Gammon
- Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
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Gibson AK, Morran LT. A Model for Evolutionary Ecology of Disease: The Case for Caenorhabditis Nematodes and Their Natural Parasites. J Nematol 2017; 49:357-372. [PMID: 29353923 PMCID: PMC5770282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Many of the outstanding questions in disease ecology and evolution call for combining observation of natural host-parasite populations with experimental dissection of interactions in the field and the laboratory. The "rewilding" of model systems holds great promise for this endeavor. Here, we highlight the potential for development of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and its close relatives as a model for the study of disease ecology and evolution. This powerful laboratory model was disassociated from its natural habitat in the 1960s. Today, studies are uncovering that lost natural history, with several natural parasites described since 2008. Studies of these natural Caenorhabditis-parasite interactions can reap the benefits of the vast array of experimental and genetic tools developed for this laboratory model. In this review, we introduce the natural parasites of C. elegans characterized thus far and discuss resources available to study them, including experimental (co)evolution, cryopreservation, behavioral assays, and genomic tools. Throughout, we present avenues of research that are interesting and feasible to address with caenorhabditid nematodes and their natural parasites, ranging from the maintenance of outcrossing to the community dynamics of host-associated microbes. In combining natural relevance with the experimental power of a laboratory supermodel, these fledgling host-parasite systems can take on fundamental questions in evolutionary ecology of disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Levi T Morran
- Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322
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Slootweg E, Koropacka K, Roosien J, Dees R, Overmars H, Lankhorst RK, van Schaik C, Pomp R, Bouwman L, Helder J, Schots A, Bakker J, Smant G, Goverse A. Sequence Exchange between Homologous NB-LRR Genes Converts Virus Resistance into Nematode Resistance, and Vice Versa. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2017; 175:498-510. [PMID: 28747428 PMCID: PMC5580749 DOI: 10.1104/pp.17.00485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2017] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Plants have evolved a limited repertoire of NB-LRR disease resistance (R) genes to protect themselves against myriad pathogens. This limitation is thought to be counterbalanced by the rapid evolution of NB-LRR proteins, as only a few sequence changes have been shown to be sufficient to alter resistance specificities toward novel strains of a pathogen. However, little is known about the flexibility of NB-LRR R genes to switch resistance specificities between phylogenetically unrelated pathogens. To investigate this, we created domain swaps between the close homologs Gpa2 and Rx1, which confer resistance in potato (Solanum tuberosum) to the cyst nematode Globodera pallida and Potato virus X, respectively. The genetic fusion of the CC-NB-ARC of Gpa2 with the LRR of Rx1 (Gpa2CN/Rx1L) results in autoactivity, but lowering the protein levels restored its specific activation response, including extreme resistance to Potato virus X in potato shoots. The reciprocal chimera (Rx1CN/Gpa2L) shows a loss-of-function phenotype, but exchange of the first three LRRs of Gpa2 by the corresponding region of Rx1 was sufficient to regain a wild-type resistance response to G. pallida in the roots. These data demonstrate that exchanging the recognition moiety in the LRR is sufficient to convert extreme virus resistance in the leaves into mild nematode resistance in the roots, and vice versa. In addition, we show that the CC-NB-ARC can operate independently of the recognition specificities defined by the LRR domain, either aboveground or belowground. These data show the versatility of NB-LRR genes to generate resistance to unrelated pathogens with completely different lifestyles and routes of invasion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Slootweg
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Kamila Koropacka
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jan Roosien
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Robert Dees
- Laboratory of Molecular Recognition and Antigen Technology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Hein Overmars
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Rene Klein Lankhorst
- Plant Research International, Centre for Biosystems Genomics, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Casper van Schaik
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Rikus Pomp
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Liesbeth Bouwman
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Johannes Helder
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Arjen Schots
- Laboratory of Molecular Recognition and Antigen Technology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jaap Bakker
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Geert Smant
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Aska Goverse
- Laboratory of Nematology, Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PD Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Abstract
Microsporidia comprise a phylum of obligate intracellular pathogens related to fungi that infect virtually all animals. Recently, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been developed as a convenient model for studying microsporidia infection in a whole-animal host through the identification and characterization of a natural microsporidian pathogen of this commonly studied laboratory organism. The C. elegans natural microsporidian pathogen is named Nematocida parisii, and it causes a lethal intestinal infection in C. elegans. Comparison of the genomes of N. parisii and its closely related species Nematocida sp. 1, together with the genomes of other microsporidian species, has provided insight into the evolutionary events that led to the emergence of the large, specialized microsporidia phylum. Cell biology studies of N. parisii infection in C. elegans have shown how N. parisii restructures host intestinal cells and, in particular, how it hijacks host exocytosis for nonlytic exit to facilitate transmission. Recent results also show how the host responds to infection with ubiquitin-mediated responses, and how a natural variant of C. elegans is able to clear N. parisii infection, but only during early life. Altogether, these studies provide insight into the mechanisms of microsporidia pathogenesis using a whole-animal host.
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Silencing of Repetitive DNA Is Controlled by a Member of an Unusual Caenorhabditis elegans Gene Family. Genetics 2017; 207:529-545. [PMID: 28801529 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.117.300134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Accepted: 08/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Repetitive DNA sequences are subject to gene silencing in various animal species. Under specific circumstances repetitive DNA sequences can escape such silencing. For example, exogenously added, extrachromosomal DNA sequences that are stably inherited in multicopy repetitive arrays in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans are frequently silenced in the germline, whereas such silencing often does not occur in the soma. This indicates that somatic cells might utilize factors that prevent repetitive DNA silencing. Indeed, such "antisilencing" factors have been revealed through genetic screens that identified mutant loci in which repetitive transgenic arrays are aberrantly silenced in the soma. We describe here a novel locus, pals-22 (for protein containing ALS2CR12 signature), required to prevent silencing of repetitive transgenes in neurons and other somatic tissue types. pals-22 deficiency also severely impacts animal vigor and confers phenotypes reminiscent of accelerated aging. We find that pals-22 is a member of a large family of divergent genes (39 members), defined by homology to the ALS2CR12 protein family. While gene family members are highly divergent, they show striking patterns of chromosomal clustering. The family expansion appears C. elegans-specific and has not occurred to the same extent in other nematode species for which genome sequences are available. The transgene-silencing phenotype observed upon loss of PALS-22 protein depends on the biogenesis of small RNAs. We speculate that the pals gene family may be part of a species-specific cellular defense mechanism.
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An evolutionarily conserved transcriptional response to viral infection in Caenorhabditis nematodes. BMC Genomics 2017; 18:303. [PMID: 28415971 PMCID: PMC5392922 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-017-3689-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 04/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful model organism for probing many biological processes including host-pathogen interactions with bacteria and fungi. The recent identification of nematode viruses that naturally infect C. elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae provides a unique opportunity to define host-virus interactions in these model hosts. Results We analyzed the transcriptional response of pathogen infected C. elegans and C. briggsae by RNA-seq. We identified a total of 320 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in C. elegans following Orsay virus infection. The DEGs of known function were enriched for ubiquitin ligase related genes; however, the majority of the genes were of unknown function. Interestingly, many DEGs that responded to Orsay virus infection were similar to those induced by Nematocida parisii infection, which is a natural microsporidia pathogen of C. elegans that like Orsay virus infects intestinal cells. Furthermore, comparison of the Orsay virus DEGs in C. elegans to Santeuil virus DEGs in C. briggsae identified 58 C. elegans genes whose orthologs were likewise differentially expressed in C. briggsae, thereby defining an evolutionarily conserved response to viral infection. Conclusions The two different species C. elegans and C. briggsae, which diverged ~18 million years ago, share a common set of transcriptionally responsive genes to viral infection. Furthermore, a subset of these genes were also differentially expressed following infection by a eukaryotic pathogen, N. parisii, suggesting that these genes may constitute a broader pan-microbial response to infection. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-017-3689-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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F-Box Protein XREP-4 Is a New Regulator of the Oxidative Stress Response in Caenorhabditis elegans. Genetics 2017; 206:859-871. [PMID: 28341649 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.117.200592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Accepted: 03/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The transcription factor SKN-1 (Skinhead family member-1) in Caenorhabditis elegans is a homolog of the mammalian Nrf-2 protein and functions to promote oxidative stress resistance and longevity. SKN-1 mediates protection from reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the transcriptional activation of genes involved in antioxidant defense and phase II detoxification. Although many core regulators of SKN-1 have been identified, much remains unknown about this complex signaling pathway. We carried out an ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis screen and isolated six independent mutants with attenuated SKN-1-dependent gene activation in response to acrylamide. All six were found to contain mutations in F46F11.6/xrep-4 (xenobiotics response pathways-4), which encodes an uncharacterized F-box protein. Loss of xrep-4 inhibits the skn-1-dependent expression of detoxification genes in response to prooxidants and decreases survival of oxidative stress, but does not shorten life span under standard culture conditions. XREP-4 interacts with the ubiquitin ligase component SKR-1 and the SKN-1 principal repressor WDR-23, and knockdown of xrep-4 increases nuclear localization of a WDR-23::GFP fusion protein. Furthermore, a missense mutation in the conserved XREP-4 F-box domain that reduces interaction with SKR-1 but not WDR-23 strongly attenuates SKN-1-dependent gene activation. These results are consistent with XREP-4 influencing the SKN-1 stress response by functioning as a bridge between WDR-23 and the ubiquitin ligase component SKR-1.
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