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Álvarez-Urdiola R, Borràs E, Valverde F, Matus JT, Sabidó E, Riechmann JL. Peptidomics Methods Applied to the Study of Flower Development. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2686:509-536. [PMID: 37540375 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3299-4_24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/05/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the global and dynamic nature of plant developmental processes requires not only the study of the transcriptome, but also of the proteome, including its largely uncharacterized peptidome fraction. Recent advances in proteomics and high-throughput analyses of translating RNAs (ribosome profiling) have begun to address this issue, evidencing the existence of novel, uncharacterized, and possibly functional peptides. To validate the accumulation in tissues of sORF-encoded polypeptides (SEPs), the basic setup of proteomic analyses (i.e., LC-MS/MS) can be followed. However, the detection of peptides that are small (up to ~100 aa, 6-7 kDa) and novel (i.e., not annotated in reference databases) presents specific challenges that need to be addressed both experimentally and with computational biology resources. Several methods have been developed in recent years to isolate and identify peptides from plant tissues. In this chapter, we outline two different peptide extraction protocols and the subsequent peptide identification by mass spectrometry using the database search or the de novo identification methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Álvarez-Urdiola
- Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Edifici CRAG, Campus UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eva Borràs
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Federico Valverde
- Institute for Plant Biochemistry and Photosynthesis CSIC - University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - José Tomás Matus
- Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Edifici CRAG, Campus UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Universitat de València-CSIC, Paterna, Valencia, Spain
| | - Eduard Sabidó
- Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - José Luis Riechmann
- Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Edifici CRAG, Campus UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
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2
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Ventroux M, Noirot-Gros MF. Prophage-encoded small protein YqaH counteracts the activities of the replication initiator DnaA in Bacillus subtilis. MICROBIOLOGY (READING, ENGLAND) 2022; 168. [PMID: 36748575 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.001268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Bacterial genomes harbour cryptic prophages that are mostly transcriptionally silent with many unannotated genes. Still, cryptic prophages may contribute to their host fitness and phenotypes. In Bacillus subtilis, the yqaF-yqaN operon belongs to the prophage element skin, and is tightly repressed by the Xre-like repressor SknR. This operon contains several small ORFs (smORFs) potentially encoding small-sized proteins. The smORF-encoded peptide YqaH was previously reported to bind to the replication initiator DnaA. Here, using a yeast two-hybrid assay, we found that YqaH binds to the DNA binding domain IV of DnaA and interacts with Spo0A, a master regulator of sporulation. We isolated single amino acid substitutions in YqaH that abolished the interaction with DnaA but not with Spo0A. Then, using a plasmid-based inducible system to overexpress yqaH WT and mutant derivatives, we studied in B. subtilis the phenotypes associated with the specific loss-of-interaction with DnaA (DnaA_LOI). We found that expression of yqaH carrying DnaA_LOI mutations abolished the deleterious effects of yqaH WT expression on chromosome segregation, replication initiation and DnaA-regulated transcription. When YqaH was induced after vegetative growth, DnaA_LOI mutations abolished the drastic effects of YqaH WT on sporulation and biofilm formation. Thus, YqaH inhibits replication, sporulation and biofilm formation mainly by antagonizing DnaA in a manner that is independent of the cell cycle checkpoint Sda.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magali Ventroux
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech, Micalis Institute, 78350, Jouy-en-Josas, France
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3
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Zhang Z, Li Y, Yuan W, Wang Z, Wan C. Proteomic-driven identification of short open reading frame-encoded peptides. Proteomics 2022; 22:e2100312. [PMID: 35384297 DOI: 10.1002/pmic.202100312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2022] [Revised: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Accumulating evidence has shown that a large number of short open reading frames (sORFs) also have the ability to encode proteins. The discovery of sORFs opens up a new research area, leading to the identification and functional study of sORF encoded peptides (SEPs) at the omics level. Besides bioinformatics prediction and ribosomal profiling, mass spectrometry (MS) has become a significant tool as it directly detects the sequence of SEPs. Though MS-based proteomics methods have proved to be effective for qualitative and quantitative analysis of SEPs, the detection of SEPs is still a great challenge due to their low abundance and short sequence. To illustrate the progress in method development, we described and discussed the main steps of large-scale proteomics identification of SEPs, including SEP extraction and enrichment, MS detection, data processing and quality control, quantification, and function prediction and validation methods. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Zhang
- School of Life Sciences and Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, People's Republic of China
| | - Yujie Li
- School of Life Sciences and Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenqian Yuan
- School of Life Sciences and Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhiwei Wang
- School of Life Sciences and Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, People's Republic of China
| | - Cuihong Wan
- School of Life Sciences and Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, People's Republic of China
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Small open reading frames in plant research: from prediction to functional characterization. 3 Biotech 2022; 12:76. [PMID: 35251879 PMCID: PMC8873315 DOI: 10.1007/s13205-022-03147-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Gene prediction is a laborious and time-consuming task. The advancement of sequencing technologies and bioinformatics tools, coupled with accelerated rate of ribosome profiling and mass spectrometry development, have made identification of small open reading frames (sORFs) (< 100 codons) in various plant genomes possible. The past 50 years have seen sORFs being isolated from many organisms. However, to date, a comprehensive sORF annotation pipeline is as yet unavailable, hence, addressed in our review. Here, we also provide current information on classification and functions of plant sORFs and their potential applications in crop improvement programs.
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Kreitmeier M, Ardern Z, Abele M, Ludwig C, Scherer S, Neuhaus K. Spotlight on alternative frame coding: Two long overlapping genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa are translated and under purifying selection. iScience 2022; 25:103844. [PMID: 35198897 PMCID: PMC8850804 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The existence of overlapping genes (OLGs) with significant coding overlaps revolutionizes our understanding of genomic complexity. We report two exceptionally long (957 nt and 1536 nt), evolutionarily novel, translated antisense open reading frames (ORFs) embedded within annotated genes in the pathogenic Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both OLG pairs show sequence features consistent with being genes and transcriptional signals in RNA sequencing. Translation of both OLGs was confirmed by ribosome profiling and mass spectrometry. Quantitative proteomics of samples taken during different phases of growth revealed regulation of protein abundances, implying biological functionality. Both OLGs are taxonomically restricted, and likely arose by overprinting within the genus. Evidence for purifying selection further supports functionality. The OLGs reported here, designated olg1 and olg2, are the longest yet proposed in prokaryotes and are among the best attested in terms of translation and evolutionary constraint. These results highlight a potentially large unexplored dimension of prokaryotic genomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michaela Kreitmeier
- Chair for Microbial Ecology, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technische Universität München, Weihenstephaner Berg 3, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Zachary Ardern
- Chair for Microbial Ecology, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technische Universität München, Weihenstephaner Berg 3, 85354 Freising, Germany
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK
| | - Miriam Abele
- Bavarian Center for Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry (BayBioMS), TUM School of Life Sciences, Technische Universität München, Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 4, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Christina Ludwig
- Bavarian Center for Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry (BayBioMS), TUM School of Life Sciences, Technische Universität München, Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 4, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Siegfried Scherer
- Chair for Microbial Ecology, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technische Universität München, Weihenstephaner Berg 3, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Klaus Neuhaus
- Core Facility Microbiome, ZIEL – Institute for Food & Health, Technische Universität München, Weihenstephaner Berg 3, 85354 Freising, Germany
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Cassidy L, Kaulich PT, Maaß S, Bartel J, Becher D, Tholey A. Bottom-up and top-down proteomic approaches for the identification, characterization, and quantification of the low molecular weight proteome with focus on short open reading frame-encoded peptides. Proteomics 2021; 21:e2100008. [PMID: 34145981 DOI: 10.1002/pmic.202100008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Revised: 06/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The recent discovery of alternative open reading frames creates a need for suitable analytical approaches to verify their translation and to characterize the corresponding gene products at the molecular level. As the analysis of small proteins within a background proteome by means of classical bottom-up proteomics is challenging, method development for the analysis of small open reading frame encoded peptides (SEPs) have become a focal point for research. Here, we highlight bottom-up and top-down proteomics approaches established for the analysis of SEPs in both pro- and eukaryotes. Major steps of analysis, including sample preparation and (small) proteome isolation, separation and mass spectrometry, data interpretation and quality control, quantification, the analysis of post-translational modifications, and exploration of functional aspects of the SEPs by means of proteomics technologies are described. These methods do not exclusively cover the analytics of SEPs but simultaneously include the low molecular weight proteome, and moreover, can also be used for the proteome-wide analysis of proteolytic processing events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liam Cassidy
- Systematic Proteome Research & Bioanalytics, Institute for Experimental Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Philipp T Kaulich
- Systematic Proteome Research & Bioanalytics, Institute for Experimental Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Sandra Maaß
- Department of Microbial Proteomics, Institute of Microbiology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Jürgen Bartel
- Department of Microbial Proteomics, Institute of Microbiology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Dörte Becher
- Department of Microbial Proteomics, Institute of Microbiology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Andreas Tholey
- Systematic Proteome Research & Bioanalytics, Institute for Experimental Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
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Fuchs S, Kucklick M, Lehmann E, Beckmann A, Wilkens M, Kolte B, Mustafayeva A, Ludwig T, Diwo M, Wissing J, Jänsch L, Ahrens CH, Ignatova Z, Engelmann S. Towards the characterization of the hidden world of small proteins in Staphylococcus aureus, a proteogenomics approach. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009585. [PMID: 34061833 PMCID: PMC8195425 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Small proteins play essential roles in bacterial physiology and virulence, however, automated algorithms for genome annotation are often not yet able to accurately predict the corresponding genes. The accuracy and reliability of genome annotations, particularly for small open reading frames (sORFs), can be significantly improved by integrating protein evidence from experimental approaches. Here we present a highly optimized and flexible bioinformatics workflow for bacterial proteogenomics covering all steps from (i) generation of protein databases, (ii) database searches and (iii) peptide-to-genome mapping to (iv) visualization of results. We used the workflow to identify high quality peptide spectrum matches (PSMs) for small proteins (≤ 100 aa, SP100) in Staphylococcus aureus Newman. Protein extracts from S. aureus were subjected to different experimental workflows for protein digestion and prefractionation and measured with highly sensitive mass spectrometers. In total, 175 proteins with up to 100 aa (SP100) were identified. Out of these 24 (ranging from 9 to 99 aa) were novel and not contained in the used genome annotation.144 SP100 are highly conserved and were found in at least 50% of the publicly available S. aureus genomes, while 127 are additionally conserved in other staphylococci. Almost half of the identified SP100 were basic, suggesting a role in binding to more acidic molecules such as nucleic acids or phospholipids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Fuchs
- Robert Koch Institute, Methodenentwicklung und Forschungsinfrastruktur (MF), Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Kucklick
- University of Technical Sciences Braunschweig, Institute for Microbiology, Braunschweig, Germany
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Microbial Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Erik Lehmann
- University of Technical Sciences Braunschweig, Institute for Microbiology, Braunschweig, Germany
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Microbial Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Alexander Beckmann
- University of Technical Sciences Braunschweig, Institute for Microbiology, Braunschweig, Germany
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Microbial Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Maya Wilkens
- Robert Koch Institute, Methodenentwicklung und Forschungsinfrastruktur (MF), Berlin, Germany
- University of Technical Sciences Braunschweig, Institute for Microbiology, Braunschweig, Germany
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Microbial Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Baban Kolte
- University of Hamburg, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Ayten Mustafayeva
- University of Technical Sciences Braunschweig, Institute for Microbiology, Braunschweig, Germany
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Microbial Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Tobias Ludwig
- University of Technical Sciences Braunschweig, Institute for Microbiology, Braunschweig, Germany
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Microbial Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Maurice Diwo
- University of Technical Sciences Braunschweig, Institute for Microbiology, Braunschweig, Germany
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Microbial Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Josef Wissing
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Cellular Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Lothar Jänsch
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Cellular Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Christian H Ahrens
- Agroscope, Research Group Molecular Diagnostics, Genomics and Bioinformatics & SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Zoya Ignatova
- University of Hamburg, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Susanne Engelmann
- University of Technical Sciences Braunschweig, Institute for Microbiology, Braunschweig, Germany
- Helmholtz Center for Infection Research GmbH, Microbial Proteomics, Braunschweig, Germany
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Ardern Z, Neuhaus K, Scherer S. Are Antisense Proteins in Prokaryotes Functional? Front Mol Biosci 2020; 7:187. [PMID: 32923454 PMCID: PMC7457138 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.00187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Many prokaryotic RNAs are transcribed from loci outside of annotated protein coding genes. Across bacterial species hundreds of short open reading frames antisense to annotated genes show evidence of both transcription and translation, for instance in ribosome profiling data. Determining the functional fraction of these protein products awaits further research, including insights from studies of molecular interactions and detailed evolutionary analysis. There are multiple lines of evidence, however, that many of these newly discovered proteins are of use to the organism. Condition-specific phenotypes have been characterized for a few. These proteins should be added to genome annotations, and the methods for predicting them standardized. Evolutionary analysis of these typically young sequences also may provide important insights into gene evolution. This research should be prioritized for its exciting potential to uncover large numbers of novel proteins with extremely diverse potential practical uses, including applications in synthetic biology and responding to pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Ardern
- Chair for Microbial Ecology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
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Pleiotropic Regulation of Virulence Genes in Streptococcus mutans by the Conserved Small Protein SprV. J Bacteriol 2017; 199:JB.00847-16. [PMID: 28167518 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00847-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2016] [Accepted: 01/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus mutans, an oral pathogen associated with dental caries, colonizes tooth surfaces as polymicrobial biofilms known as dental plaque. S. mutans expresses several virulence factors that allow the organism to tolerate environmental fluctuations and compete with other microorganisms. We recently identified a small hypothetical protein (90 amino acids) essential for the normal growth of the bacterium. Inactivation of the gene, SMU.2137, encoding this protein caused a significant growth defect and loss of various virulence-associated functions. An S. mutans strain lacking this gene was more sensitive to acid, temperature, osmotic, oxidative, and DNA damage-inducing stresses. In addition, we observed an altered protein profile and defects in biofilm formation, bacteriocin production, and natural competence development, possibly due to the fitness defect associated with SMU.2137 deletion. Transcriptome sequencing revealed that nearly 20% of the S. mutans genes were differentially expressed upon SMU.2137 deletion, thereby suggesting a pleiotropic effect. Therefore, we have renamed this hitherto uncharacterized gene as sprV (streptococcal pleiotropic regulator of virulence). The transcript levels of several relevant genes in the sprV mutant corroborated the phenotypes observed upon sprV deletion. Owing to its highly conserved nature, inactivation of the sprV ortholog in Streptococcus gordonii also resulted in poor growth and defective UV tolerance and competence development as in the case of S. mutans Our experiments suggest that SprV is functionally distinct from its homologs identified by structure and sequence homology. Nonetheless, our current work is aimed at understanding the importance of SprV in the S. mutans biology.IMPORTANCEStreptococcus mutans employs several virulence factors and stress resistance mechanisms to colonize tooth surfaces and cause dental caries. Bacterial pathogenesis is generally controlled by regulators of fitness that are critical for successful disease establishment. Sometimes these regulators, which are potential targets for antimicrobials, are lost in the genomic context due to the lack of annotated homologs. This work outlines the regulatory impact of a small, highly conserved hypothetical protein, SprV, encoded by S. mutans We show that SprV affects the transcript levels of various virulence factors required for normal growth, biofilm formation, stress tolerance, genetic competence, and bacteriocin production.
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