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Nieuwkoop T, Terlouw BR, Stevens KG, Scheltema R, de Ridder D, van der Oost J, Claassens N. Revealing determinants of translation efficiency via whole-gene codon randomization and machine learning. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:2363-2376. [PMID: 36718935 PMCID: PMC10018363 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
It has been known for decades that codon usage contributes to translation efficiency and hence to protein production levels. However, its role in protein synthesis is still only partly understood. This lack of understanding hampers the design of synthetic genes for efficient protein production. In this study, we generated a synonymous codon-randomized library of the complete coding sequence of red fluorescent protein. Protein production levels and the full coding sequences were determined for 1459 gene variants in Escherichia coli. Using different machine learning approaches, these data were used to reveal correlations between codon usage and protein production. Interestingly, protein production levels can be relatively accurately predicted (Pearson correlation of 0.762) by a Random Forest model that only relies on the sequence information of the first eight codons. In this region, close to the translation initiation site, mRNA secondary structure rather than Codon Adaptation Index (CAI) is the key determinant of protein production. This study clearly demonstrates the key role of codons at the start of the coding sequence. Furthermore, these results imply that commonly used CAI-based codon optimization of the full coding sequence is not a very effective strategy. One should rather focus on optimizing protein production via reducing mRNA secondary structure formation with the first few codons.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Katherine G Stevens
- Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Utrecht, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Netherlands Proteomics Center, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Richard A Scheltema
- Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Utrecht, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Netherlands Proteomics Center, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Dick de Ridder
- Bioinformatics Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, The Netherlands
| | - John van der Oost
- Correspondence may also be addressed to John van der Oost. Tel: +31 317483740;
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Hegge JW, Swarts DC, Chandradoss SD, Cui T, Kneppers J, Jinek M, Joo C, van der Oost J. DNA-guided DNA cleavage at moderate temperatures by Clostridium butyricum Argonaute. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 47:5809-5821. [PMID: 31069393 PMCID: PMC6582352 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Revised: 04/05/2019] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Prokaryotic Argonaute proteins (pAgos) constitute a diverse group of endonucleases of which some mediate host defense by utilizing small interfering DNA guides (siDNA) to cleave complementary invading DNA. This activity can be repurposed for programmable DNA cleavage. However, currently characterized DNA-cleaving pAgos require elevated temperatures (≥65°C) for their activity, making them less suitable for applications that require moderate temperatures, such as genome editing. Here, we report the functional and structural characterization of the siDNA-guided DNA-targeting pAgo from the mesophilic bacterium Clostridium butyricum (CbAgo). CbAgo displays a preference for siDNAs that have a deoxyadenosine at the 5'-end and thymidines at nucleotides 2-4. Furthermore, CbAgo mediates DNA-guided DNA cleavage of AT-rich double stranded DNA at moderate temperatures (37°C). This study demonstrates that certain pAgos are capable of programmable DNA cleavage at moderate temperatures and thereby expands the scope of the potential pAgo-based applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorrit W Hegge
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 WE Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Daan C Swarts
- Laboratory of Biochemistry, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 WE Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Stanley D Chandradoss
- Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Department of BioNanoScience, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HZ Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Tao Ju Cui
- Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Department of BioNanoScience, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HZ Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Jeroen Kneppers
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 WE Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Martin Jinek
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Chirlmin Joo
- Kavli Institute of NanoScience, Department of BioNanoScience, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HZ Delft, The Netherlands
| | - John van der Oost
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 WE Wageningen, The Netherlands
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Vlot M, Houkes J, Lochs SJ, Swarts DC, Zheng P, Kunne T, Mohanraju P, Anders C, Jinek M, van der Oost J, Dickman MJ, Brouns SJ. Bacteriophage DNA glucosylation impairs target DNA binding by type I and II but not by type V CRISPR-Cas effector complexes. Nucleic Acids Res 2018; 46:873-885. [PMID: 29253268 PMCID: PMC5778469 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkx1264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2017] [Revised: 12/04/2017] [Accepted: 12/06/2017] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Prokaryotes encode various host defense systems that provide protection against mobile genetic elements. Restriction-modification (R-M) and CRISPR-Cas systems mediate host defense by sequence specific targeting of invasive DNA. T-even bacteriophages employ covalent modifications of nucleobases to avoid binding and therefore cleavage of their DNA by restriction endonucleases. Here, we describe that DNA glucosylation of bacteriophage genomes affects interference of some but not all CRISPR-Cas systems. We show that glucosyl modification of 5-hydroxymethylated cytosines in the DNA of bacteriophage T4 interferes with type I-E and type II-A CRISPR-Cas systems by lowering the affinity of the Cascade and Cas9-crRNA complexes for their target DNA. On the contrary, the type V-A nuclease Cas12a (also known as Cpf1) is not impaired in binding and cleavage of glucosylated target DNA, likely due to a more open structural architecture of the protein. Our results suggest that CRISPR-Cas systems have contributed to the selective pressure on phages to develop more generic solutions to escape sequence specific host defense systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marnix Vlot
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Joep Houkes
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Silke J A Lochs
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Daan C Swarts
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Peiyuan Zheng
- ChELSI Institute Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Tim Kunne
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Prarthana Mohanraju
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Carolin Anders
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Martin Jinek
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - John van der Oost
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Mark J Dickman
- ChELSI Institute Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Stan J J Brouns
- Laboratory of Microbiology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
- Department of Bionanoscience, Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Van der Maasweg 9, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HZ Delft, The Netherlands
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