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Anoud M, Delagoutte E, Helleu Q, Brion A, Duvernois-Berthet E, As M, Marques X, Lamribet K, Senamaud-Beaufort C, Jourdren L, Adrait A, Heinrich S, Toutirais G, Hamlaoui S, Gropplero G, Giovannini I, Ponger L, Geze M, Blugeon C, Couté Y, Guidetti R, Rebecchi L, Giovannangeli C, De Cian A, Concordet JP. Comparative transcriptomics reveal a novel tardigrade-specific DNA-binding protein induced in response to ionizing radiation. eLife 2024; 13:RP92621. [PMID: 38980300 PMCID: PMC11233135 DOI: 10.7554/elife.92621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Tardigrades are microscopic animals renowned for their ability to withstand extreme conditions, including high doses of ionizing radiation (IR). To better understand their radio-resistance, we first characterized induction and repair of DNA double- and single-strand breaks after exposure to IR in the model species Hypsibius exemplaris. Importantly, we found that the rate of single-strand breaks induced was roughly equivalent to that in human cells, suggesting that DNA repair plays a predominant role in tardigrades' radio-resistance. To identify novel tardigrade-specific genes involved, we next conducted a comparative transcriptomics analysis across three different species. In all three species, many DNA repair genes were among the most strongly overexpressed genes alongside a novel tardigrade-specific gene, which we named Tardigrade DNA damage Response 1 (TDR1). We found that TDR1 protein interacts with DNA and forms aggregates at high concentration suggesting it may condensate DNA and preserve chromosome organization until DNA repair is accomplished. Remarkably, when expressed in human cells, TDR1 improved resistance to Bleomycin, a radiomimetic drug. Based on these findings, we propose that TDR1 is a novel tardigrade-specific gene conferring resistance to IR. Our study sheds light on mechanisms of DNA repair helping cope with high levels of DNA damage inflicted by IR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marwan Anoud
- Département AVIV, MNHN, CNRS UMR7196, INSERM U1154ParisFrance
- Université Paris-SaclayOrsayFrance
| | | | - Quentin Helleu
- Département AVIV, MNHN, CNRS UMR7196, INSERM U1154ParisFrance
| | - Alice Brion
- Département AVIV, MNHN, CNRS UMR7196, INSERM U1154ParisFrance
| | | | - Marie As
- Département AVIV, MNHN, CNRS UMR7196, INSERM U1154ParisFrance
| | - Xavier Marques
- Département AVIV, MNHN, CNRS UMR7196, INSERM U1154ParisFrance
- CeMIM, MNHN, CNRS UMR7245ParisFrance
| | | | - Catherine Senamaud-Beaufort
- Génomique ENS, Institut de Biologie de l’ENS (IBENS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSLParisFrance
| | - Laurent Jourdren
- Génomique ENS, Institut de Biologie de l’ENS (IBENS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSLParisFrance
| | - Annie Adrait
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INSERM, CEA, UA13 BGE, CNRS, CEAGrenobleFrance
| | - Sophie Heinrich
- Institut Curie, Inserm U1021-CNRS UMR 3347, Université Paris-Saclay, Université PSLOrsay CedexFrance
- Plateforme RADEXP, Institut CurieOrsayFrance
| | | | | | | | - Ilaria Giovannini
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio EmiliaModenaItaly
- NBFC, National Biodiversity Future CenterPalermoItaly
| | - Loic Ponger
- Département AVIV, MNHN, CNRS UMR7196, INSERM U1154ParisFrance
| | - Marc Geze
- CeMIM, MNHN, CNRS UMR7245ParisFrance
| | - Corinne Blugeon
- Génomique ENS, Institut de Biologie de l’ENS (IBENS), Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSLParisFrance
| | - Yohann Couté
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, INSERM, CEA, UA13 BGE, CNRS, CEAGrenobleFrance
| | - Roberto Guidetti
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio EmiliaModenaItaly
- NBFC, National Biodiversity Future CenterPalermoItaly
| | - Lorena Rebecchi
- Department of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio EmiliaModenaItaly
- NBFC, National Biodiversity Future CenterPalermoItaly
| | | | - Anne De Cian
- Département AVIV, MNHN, CNRS UMR7196, INSERM U1154ParisFrance
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Sugiura K, Yoshida Y, Hayashi K, Arakawa K, Kunieda T, Matsumoto M. Sexual dimorphism in the tardigrade Paramacrobiotus metropolitanus transcriptome. ZOOLOGICAL LETTERS 2024; 10:11. [PMID: 38902818 PMCID: PMC11191345 DOI: 10.1186/s40851-024-00233-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND In gonochoristic animals, the sex determination pathway induces different morphological and behavioral features that can be observed between sexes, a condition known as sexual dimorphism. While many components of this sex differentiation cascade show high levels of diversity, factors such as the Doublesex-Mab-3-Related Transcription factor (DMRT) are widely conserved across animal taxa. Species of the phylum Tardigrada exhibit remarkable diversity in morphology and behavior between sexes, suggesting a pathway regulating this dimorphism. Despite the wealth of genomic and zoological knowledge accumulated in recent studies, the sexual differences in tardigrades genomes have not been identified. In the present study, we focused on the gonochoristic species Paramacrobiotus metropolitanus and employed omics analyses to unravel the molecular basis of sexual dimorphism. RESULTS Transcriptome analysis between sex-identified specimens revealed numerous differentially expressed genes, of which approximately 2,000 male-biased genes were focused on 29 non-male-specific genomic loci. From these regions, we identified two Macrobiotidae family specific DMRT paralogs, which were significantly upregulated in males and lacked sex specific splicing variants. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis indicated all tardigrade genomes lack the doublesex ortholog, suggesting doublesex emerged after the divergence of Tardigrada. In contrast to sex-specific expression, no evidence of genomic differences between the sexes was found. We also identified several anhydrobiosis genes that exhibit sex-biased expression, suggesting a possible mechanism for protection of sex-specific tissues against extreme stress. CONCLUSIONS This study provides a comprehensive analysis for analyzing the genetic differences between sexes in tardigrades. The existence of male-biased, but not male-specific, genomic loci and identification of the family specific male-biased DMRT subfamily provides the foundation for understanding the sex determination cascade. In addition, sex-biased expression of several tardigrade-specific genes which are involved their stress tolerance suggests a potential role in protecting sex-specific tissue and gametes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenta Sugiura
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 223-8522, Japan
| | - Yuki Yoshida
- Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 1-2 Owashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8634, Japan
| | - Kohei Hayashi
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 223-8522, Japan
| | - Kazuharu Arakawa
- Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University, 403-1 Nihonkoku, Daihoji, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, 997-0017, Japan
- Exploratory Research Center On Life and Living Systems (ExCELLS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 5-1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi, 444-8787, Japan
| | - Takekazu Kunieda
- Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
| | - Midori Matsumoto
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 223-8522, Japan.
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Belott CJ, Gusev OA, Kikawada T, Menze MA. Membraneless and membrane-bound organelles in an anhydrobiotic cell line are protected from desiccation-induced damage. Cell Stress Chaperones 2024; 29:425-436. [PMID: 38608858 PMCID: PMC11061232 DOI: 10.1016/j.cstres.2024.04.002] [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: 12/29/2023] [Revised: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Anhydrobiotic species can survive virtually complete water loss by entering a reversible ametabolic glassy state that may persist for years in ambient conditions. The Pv11 cell line was derived from the egg mass of the anhydrobiotic midge, Polypedilum vanderplanki, and is currently the only available anhydrobiotic cell line. Our results demonstrate that the necessary preconditioning for Pv11 cells to enter anhydrobiosis causes autophagy and reduces mitochondrial respiration by over 70%. We speculate that reorganizing cellular bioenergetics to create and conserve energy stores may be valuable to successfully recover after rehydration. Furthermore, mitochondria in preconditioned cells lose their membrane potential during desiccation but rapidly restore it within 30 min upon rehydration, demonstrating that the inner mitochondrial membrane integrity is well-preserved. Strikingly, the nucleolus remains visible immediately upon rehydration in preconditioned cells while absent in control cells. In contrast, a preconditioning-induced membraneless organelle reformed after rehydration, demonstrating that membraneless organelles in Pv11 cells can be either stabilized or recovered. Staining the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus revealed that these organelles fragment during preconditioning. We hypothesize that this process reduces sheering stress caused by rapid changes in cellular volume during desiccation and rehydration. Additionally, preconditioning was found to cause the filamentous-actin (F-actin) network to disassemble significantly and reduce the fusion of adjacent plasma membranes. This study offers several exciting avenues for future studies in the animal model and Pv11 cell line that will further our understanding of anhydrobiosis and may lead to advancements in storing sensitive biologics at ambient temperatures for months or years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clinton J Belott
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA; Division of Biotechnology, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
| | - Oleg A Gusev
- Extreme Biology Laboratory, Institute of Fundamental Medicine and Biology, Kazan Federal University, Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia; Molecular Biomimetics Group, Life Improvement by Future Technologies (LIFT) Center, Moscow, Russia; Intractable Disease Research Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Takahiro Kikawada
- Division of Biotechnology, Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
| | - Michael A Menze
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
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Clark-Hachtel CM, Hibshman JD, De Buysscher T, Stair ER, Hicks LM, Goldstein B. The tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris dramatically upregulates DNA repair pathway genes in response to ionizing radiation. Curr Biol 2024; 34:1819-1830.e6. [PMID: 38614079 PMCID: PMC11078613 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.03.019] [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: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/15/2024]
Abstract
Tardigrades can survive remarkable doses of ionizing radiation, up to about 1,000 times the lethal dose for humans. How they do so is incompletely understood. We found that the tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris suffers DNA damage upon gamma irradiation, but the damage is repaired. We show that this species has a specific and robust response to ionizing radiation: irradiation induces a rapid upregulation of many DNA repair genes. This upregulation is unexpectedly extreme-making some DNA repair transcripts among the most abundant transcripts in the animal. By expressing tardigrade genes in bacteria, we validate that increased expression of some repair genes can suffice to increase radiation tolerance. We show that at least one such gene is important in vivo for tardigrade radiation tolerance. We hypothesize that the tardigrades' ability to sense ionizing radiation and massively upregulate specific DNA repair pathway genes may represent an evolved solution for maintaining DNA integrity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney M Clark-Hachtel
- Biology Department, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Biology Department, The University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, NC 28804, USA.
| | - Jonathan D Hibshman
- Biology Department, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Tristan De Buysscher
- Biology Department, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Bioinformatics & Analytics Research Collaborative, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Evan R Stair
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Leslie M Hicks
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Bob Goldstein
- Biology Department, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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Kirk MJ, Xu C, Rothman JH. Single-animal, single-tube RNA extraction for quantitative analysis of transcripts in the tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.15.585302. [PMID: 38559134 PMCID: PMC10979942 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.15.585302] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
The tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris is an emerging model organism renowned for its ability to survive environmental extremes.1-3 To explore the molecular mechanisms and genetic basis of such extremotolerance, many studies rely on transcriptional profiling4, 5 and RNA interference (RNAi)6 to define molecular targets. Such studies require efficient, accurate, and robust RNA extraction methods; however, obtaining high-quality quantitative levels of RNA from H. exemplaris has been challenging6, 7. Possessing a layer of firm chitinous cuticle, tardigrade tissues are difficult to disrupt by chemical or mechanical means8. Here we present an efficient single-tardigrade, single-tube RNA extraction method (STST) that not only reliably isolates RNA from individual tardigrades but dramatically reduces the time required for extraction. We show that this RNA extraction method yields robust quantities of cDNA and can be used to amplify multiple transcripts by qRT-PCR. To validate the method, we use it to compare dynamic changes in expression of genes encoding two heat-shock-regulated proteins, Heat-Shock Protein 70 β2 (HSP70β2) and Heat-Shock Protein 90α (HSP90α) by quantifying their expression levels in heat-exposed and cold-exposed individuals using qRT-PCR across long-term and short-term heat stressors. Our method effectively complements existing bulk RNA extraction methods7, permitting rapid examination of individual tardigrade transcriptional data and quantification of phenotypic variations in expression profiles amongst individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly J. Kirk
- Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
| | - Chaoming Xu
- Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
| | - Joel H. Rothman
- Department of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
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Deciphering the Biological Enigma-Genomic Evolution Underlying Anhydrobiosis in the Phylum Tardigrada and the Chironomid Polypedilum vanderplanki. INSECTS 2022; 13:insects13060557. [PMID: 35735894 PMCID: PMC9224920 DOI: 10.3390/insects13060557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Anhydrobiosis, an ametabolic dehydrated state triggered by water loss, is observed in several invertebrate lineages. Anhydrobiotes revive when rehydrated, and seem not to suffer the ultimately lethal cell damage that results from severe loss of water in other organisms. Here, we review the biochemical and genomic evidence that has revealed the protectant molecules, repair systems, and maintenance pathways associated with anhydrobiosis. We then introduce two lineages in which anhydrobiosis has evolved independently: Tardigrada, where anhydrobiosis characterizes many species within the phylum, and the genus Polypedilum, where anhydrobiosis occurs in only two species. Finally, we discuss the complexity of the evolution of anhydrobiosis within invertebrates based on current knowledge, and propose perspectives to enhance the understanding of anhydrobiosis.
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