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Newman T, Ishihara T, Shaw G, Renfree MB. The structure of the TH/INS locus and the parental allele expressed are not conserved between mammals. Heredity (Edinb) 2024; 133:21-32. [PMID: 38834866 PMCID: PMC11222543 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-024-00689-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 05/01/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Parent-of-origin-specific expression of imprinted genes is critical for successful mammalian growth and development. Insulin, coded by the INS gene, is an important growth factor expressed from the paternal allele in the yolk sac placenta of therian mammals. The tyrosine hydroxylase gene TH encodes an enzyme involved in dopamine synthesis. TH and INS are closely associated in most vertebrates, but the mouse orthologues, Th and Ins2, are separated by repeated DNA. In mice, Th is expressed from the maternal allele, but the parental origin of expression is not known for any other mammal so it is unclear whether the maternal expression observed in the mouse represents an evolutionary divergence or an ancestral condition. We compared the length of the DNA segment between TH and INS across species and show that separation of these genes occurred in the rodent lineage with an accumulation of repeated DNA. We found that the region containing TH and INS in the tammar wallaby produces at least five distinct RNA transcripts: TH, TH-INS1, TH-INS2, lncINS and INS. Using allele-specific expression analysis, we show that the TH/INS locus is expressed from the paternal allele in pre- and postnatal tammar wallaby tissues. Determining the imprinting pattern of TH/INS in other mammals might clarify if paternal expression is the ancestral condition which has been flipped to maternal expression in rodents by the accumulation of repeat sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trent Newman
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Teruhito Ishihara
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK
| | - Geoff Shaw
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Marilyn B Renfree
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
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Ishihara T, Suzuki S, Newman TA, Fenelon JC, Griffith OW, Shaw G, Renfree MB. Marsupials have monoallelic MEST expression with a conserved antisense lncRNA but MEST is not imprinted. Heredity (Edinb) 2024; 132:5-17. [PMID: 37952041 PMCID: PMC10798977 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-023-00656-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The imprinted isoform of the Mest gene in mice is involved in key mammalian traits such as placental and fetal growth, maternal care and mammary gland maturation. The imprinted isoform has a distinct differentially methylated region (DMR) at its promoter in eutherian mammals but in marsupials, there are no differentially methylated CpG islands between the parental alleles. Here, we examined similarities and differences in the MEST gene locus across mammals using a marsupial, the tammar wallaby, a monotreme, the platypus, and a eutherian, the mouse, to investigate how imprinting of this gene evolved in mammals. By confirming the presence of the short isoform in all mammalian groups (which is imprinted in eutherians), this study suggests that an alternative promoter for the short isoform evolved at the MEST gene locus in the common ancestor of mammals. In the tammar, the short isoform of MEST shared the putative promoter CpG island with an antisense lncRNA previously identified in humans and an isoform of a neighbouring gene CEP41. The antisense lncRNA was expressed in tammar sperm, as seen in humans. This suggested that the conserved lncRNA might be important in the establishment of MEST imprinting in therian mammals, but it was not imprinted in the tammar. In contrast to previous studies, this study shows that MEST is not imprinted in marsupials. MEST imprinting in eutherians, therefore must have occurred after the marsupial-eutherian split with the acquisition of a key epigenetic imprinting control region, the differentially methylated CpG islands between the parental alleles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teruhito Ishihara
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
- Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK
| | - Shunsuke Suzuki
- Department of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Shinshu University, Nagano, Japan
| | - Trent A Newman
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Jane C Fenelon
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Oliver W Griffith
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia
| | - Geoff Shaw
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Marilyn B Renfree
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.
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Bond DM, Ortega-Recalde O, Laird MK, Hayakawa T, Richardson KS, Reese FCB, Kyle B, McIsaac-Williams BE, Robertson BC, van Heezik Y, Adams AL, Chang WS, Haase B, Mountcastle J, Driller M, Collins J, Howe K, Go Y, Thibaud-Nissen F, Lister NC, Waters PD, Fedrigo O, Jarvis ED, Gemmell NJ, Alexander A, Hore TA. The admixed brushtail possum genome reveals invasion history in New Zealand and novel imprinted genes. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6364. [PMID: 37848431 PMCID: PMC10582058 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41784-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Combining genome assembly with population and functional genomics can provide valuable insights to development and evolution, as well as tools for species management. Here, we present a chromosome-level genome assembly of the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), a model marsupial threatened in parts of their native range in Australia, but also a major introduced pest in New Zealand. Functional genomics reveals post-natal activation of chemosensory and metabolic genes, reflecting unique adaptations to altricial birth and delayed weaning, a hallmark of marsupial development. Nuclear and mitochondrial analyses trace New Zealand possums to distinct Australian subspecies, which have subsequently hybridised. This admixture allowed phasing of parental alleles genome-wide, ultimately revealing at least four genes with imprinted, parent-specific expression not yet detected in other species (MLH1, EPM2AIP1, UBP1 and GPX7). We find that reprogramming of possum germline imprints, and the wider epigenome, is similar to eutherian mammals except onset occurs after birth. Together, this work is useful for genetic-based control and conservation of possums, and contributes to understanding of the evolution of novel mammalian epigenetic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donna M Bond
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Melanie K Laird
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Takashi Hayakawa
- Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0808, Japan
| | - Kyle S Richardson
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Biology Department, University of Montana Western, Dillon, MT, 59725, USA
| | - Finlay C B Reese
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Bruce Kyle
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | | | | | - Amy L Adams
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Wei-Shan Chang
- School of Life and Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Health and Biosecurity, CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Bettina Haase
- Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | - Joanna Collins
- Tree of Life, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
| | - Kerstin Howe
- Tree of Life, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
| | - Yasuhiro Go
- Graduate School of Information Science, Hyogo University, Hyogo, Japan
- Cognitive Genomics Research Group, Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living Systems (ExCELLS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Aichi, Japan
- Department of System Neuroscience, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Aichi, Japan
| | - Francoise Thibaud-Nissen
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Nicholas C Lister
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, Faculty of Science, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Paul D Waters
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, Faculty of Science, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Olivier Fedrigo
- Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Erich D Jarvis
- Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
- Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, 10065, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, 20815, USA
| | - Neil J Gemmell
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Alana Alexander
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Timothy A Hore
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
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Feigin C, Li S, Moreno J, Mallarino R. The GRN concept as a guide for evolutionary developmental biology. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART B, MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2023; 340:92-104. [PMID: 35344632 PMCID: PMC9515236 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.23132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Revised: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Organismal phenotypes result largely from inherited developmental programs, usually executed during embryonic and juvenile life stages. These programs are not blank slates onto which natural selection can draw arbitrary forms. Rather, the mechanisms of development play an integral role in shaping phenotypic diversity and help determine the evolutionary trajectories of species. Modern evolutionary biology must, therefore, account for these mechanisms in both theory and in practice. The gene regulatory network (GRN) concept represents a potent tool for achieving this goal whose utility has grown in tandem with advances in "omic" technologies and experimental techniques. However, while the GRN concept is widely utilized, it is often less clear what practical implications it has for conducting research in evolutionary developmental biology. In this Perspective, we attempt to provide clarity by discussing how experiments and projects can be designed in light of the GRN concept. We first map familiar biological notions onto the more abstract components of GRN models. We then review how diverse functional genomic approaches can be directed toward the goal of constructing such models and discuss current methods for functionally testing evolutionary hypotheses that arise from them. Finally, we show how the major steps of GRN model construction and experimental validation suggest generalizable workflows that can serve as a scaffold for project design. Taken together, the practical implications that we draw from the GRN concept provide a set of guideposts for studies aiming at unraveling the molecular basis of phenotypic diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Feigin
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA,School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sha Li
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
| | - Jorge Moreno
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
| | - Ricardo Mallarino
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
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Cao W, Douglas KC, Samollow PB, VandeBerg JL, Wang X, Clark AG. Origin and Evolution of Marsupial-specific Imprinting Clusters Through Lineage-specific Gene Duplications and Acquisition of Promoter Differential Methylation. Mol Biol Evol 2023; 40:msad022. [PMID: 36721950 PMCID: PMC9937046 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 01/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Genomic imprinting is a parent-of-origin-specific expression phenomenon that plays fundamental roles in many biological processes. In animals, imprinting is only observed in therian mammals, with ∼200 imprinted genes known in humans and mice. The imprinting pattern in marsupials has been minimally investigated by examining orthologs to known eutherian imprinted genes. To identify marsupial-specific imprinting in an unbiased way, we performed RNA-seq studies on samples of fetal brain and placenta from the reciprocal cross progeny of two laboratory opossum stocks. We inferred allele-specific expression for >3,000 expressed genes and discovered/validated 13 imprinted genes, including three previously known imprinted genes, Igf2r, Peg10, and H19. We estimate that marsupials imprint ∼60 autosomal genes, which is a much smaller set compared with eutherians. Among the nine novel imprinted genes, three noncoding RNAs have no known homologs in eutherian mammals, while the remaining genes have important functions in pluripotency, transcription regulation, nucleolar homeostasis, and neural differentiation. Methylation analyses at promoter CpG islands revealed differentially methylated regions in five of these marsupial-specific imprinted genes, suggesting that differential methylation is a common mechanism in the epigenetic regulation of marsupial imprinting. Clustering and co-regulation were observed at marsupial imprinting loci Pou5f3-Npdc1 and Nkrfl-Ipncr2, but eutherian-type multi-gene imprinting clusters were not detected. Also differing from eutherian mammals, the brain and placenta imprinting profiles are remarkably similar in opossums, presumably due to the shared origin of these organs from the trophectoderm. Our results contribute to a fuller understanding of the origin, evolution, and mechanisms of genomic imprinting in therian mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenqi Cao
- Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Innovation, and Commerce, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University Center for Advanced Science, Auburn, AL, USA
| | - Kory C Douglas
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Paul B Samollow
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - John L VandeBerg
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute and Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA
| | - Xu Wang
- Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
- Innovation, and Commerce, Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University Center for Advanced Science, Auburn, AL, USA
- Scott-Ritchey Research Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL, USA
| | - Andrew G Clark
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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Xiong X, Samollow PB, Cao W, Metz R, Zhang C, Leandro AC, VandeBerg JL, Wang X. Genetic and genomic architecture in eight strains of the laboratory opossum Monodelphis domestica. G3-GENES GENOMES GENETICS 2021; 12:6423994. [PMID: 34751383 PMCID: PMC8728031 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The gray short-tailed opossum (Monodelphis domestica) is an established laboratory-bred marsupial model for biomedical research. It is a critical species for comparative genomics research, providing the pivotal phylogenetic outgroup for studies of derived vs ancestral states of genomic/epigenomic characteristics for eutherian mammal lineages. To characterize the current genetic profile of this laboratory marsupial, we examined 79 individuals from eight established laboratory strains. Double digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing and whole-genome resequencing experiments were performed to investigate the genetic architecture in these strains. A total of 66,640 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. We analyzed SNP density, average heterozygosity, nucleotide diversity, and population differentiation parameter Fst within and between the eight strains. Principal component and population structure analysis clearly resolve the strains at the level of their ancestral founder populations, and the genetic architecture of these strains correctly reflects their breeding history. We confirmed the successful establishment of the first inbred laboratory opossum strain LSD (inbreeding coefficient F > 0.99) and a nearly inbred strain FD2M1 (0.98 < F < 0.99), each derived from a different ancestral background. These strains are suitable for various experimental protocols requiring controlled genetic backgrounds and for intercrosses and backcrosses that can generate offspring with informative SNPs for studying a variety of genetic and epigenetic processes. Together with recent advances in reproductive manipulation and CRISPR/Cas9 techniques for Monodelphis domestica, the existence of distinctive inbred strains will enable genome editing on different genetic backgrounds, greatly expanding the utility of this marsupial model for biomedical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Xiong
- Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.,School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Paul B Samollow
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Wenqi Cao
- Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
| | - Richard Metz
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Chao Zhang
- Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Institute of Precision Medicine, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Ana C Leandro
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute and Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA
| | - John L VandeBerg
- South Texas Diabetes and Obesity Institute and Department of Human Genetics, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX 78520, USA
| | - Xu Wang
- Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.,Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.,HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL 35806, USA
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