Two distinct mechanisms generate endogenous siRNAs from bidirectional transcription in Drosophila melanogaster.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Okamura K
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2713754 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Cis-natural antisense transcripts (cis-NATs) have been speculated to be substrates for endogenous RNA interference (RNAi), but little experimental evidence for such a pathway in animals has been reported. Analysis of massive Drosophila melanogaster small RNA data sets now reveals that endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are produced via bidirectional transcription. >100 cis-NATs with overlapping 3' exons generate 21-nt, Dicer-2 (Dcr-2)dependent, 3'-end modified siRNAs. To determine whether any co-expressed cisNATs are denied entry into the RNAi pathway, we analyzed the gene expression profile of S2 cells. The analysis suggested that the processing of cis-NATs by RNAi are actively restricted, and the selected loci are enriched for nucleic acidbased functions and include Argonaute-2 (AGO2) itself. Keywords: Gene expression
2008-05-14 | GSE11370 | GEO
Project description:BackgroundEndogenous small interfering (esi)RNAs repress mRNA levels and retrotransposon mobility in Drosophila somatic cells by poorly understood mechanisms. 21 nucleotide esiRNAs are primarily generated from retrotransposons and two inverted repeat (hairpin) loci in Drosophila culture cells in a Dicer2 dependent manner. Additionally, proteins involved in 3' end processing, such as Symplekin, CPSF73 and CPSR100, have been recently implicated in the esiRNA pathway.ResultsHere we present evidence of overlap between two essential RNA metabolic pathways: esiRNA biogenesis and mRNA 3' end processing. We have identified a nucleus-specific interaction between the essential esiRNA cleavage enzyme Dicer2 (Dcr2) and Symplekin, a component of the core cleavage complex (CCC) required for 3' end processing of all eukaryotic mRNAs. This interaction is mediated by the N-terminal 271 amino acids of Symplekin; CCC factors CPSF73 and CPSF100 do not contact Dcr2. While Dcr2 binds the CCC, Dcr2 knockdown does not affect mRNA 3' end formation. RNAi-depletion of CCC components Symplekin and CPSF73 causes perturbations in esiRNA abundance that correlate with fluctuations in retrotransposon and hairpin esiRNA precursor levels. We also discovered that esiRNAs generated from retrotransposons and hairpins have distinct physical characteristics including a higher predominance of 22 nucleotide hairpin-derived esiRNAs and differences in 3' and 5' base preference. Additionally, retrotransposon precursors and derived esiRNAs are highly enriched in the nucleus while hairpins and hairpin derived esiRNAs are predominantly cytoplasmic similar to canonical mRNAs. RNAi-depletion of either CPSF73 or Symplekin results in nuclear retention of both hairpin and retrotransposon precursors suggesting that polyadenylation indirectly affects cellular localization of Dcr2 substrates.ConclusionsTogether, these observations support a novel mechanism in which differences in localization of esiRNA precursors impacts esiRNA biogenesis. Hairpin-derived esiRNAs are generated in the cytoplasm independent of Dcr2-Symplekin interactions, while retrotransposons are processed in the nucleus.
| S-EPMC5392987 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Telomeres are generally considered heterochromatic. On the basis of DNA composition, the telomeric region of Drosophila melanogaster contains two distinct subdomains: a subtelomeric region of repetitive DNA, termed TAS, and a terminal array of retrotransposons, which perform the elongation function instead of telomerase. We have identified several P-element insertions into this retrotransposon array and compared expression levels of transgenes with similar integrations into TAS and euchromatic regions. In contrast to insertions in TAS, which are silenced, reporter genes in the terminal HeT-A, TAHRE, or TART retroelements did not exhibit repressed expression in comparison with the same transgene construct in euchromatin. These data, in combination with cytological studies, provide evidence that the subtelomeric TAS region exhibits features resembling heterochromatin, while the terminal retrotransposon array exhibits euchromatic characteristics.
| S-EPMC1382029 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Genome-wide pervasive transcription has been reported in many eukaryotic organisms, revealing a highly interleaved transcriptome organization that involves hundreds of previously unknown non-coding RNAs. These recently identified transcripts either exist stably in cells (stable unannotated transcripts, SUTs) or are rapidly degraded by the RNA surveillance pathway (cryptic unstable transcripts, CUTs). One characteristic of pervasive transcription is the extensive overlap of SUTs and CUTs with previously annotated features, which prompts questions regarding how these transcripts are generated, and whether they exert function. Single-gene studies have shown that transcription of SUTs and CUTs can be functional, through mechanisms involving the generated RNAs or their generation itself. So far, a complete transcriptome architecture including SUTs and CUTs has not been described in any organism. Knowledge about the position and genome-wide arrangement of these transcripts will be instrumental in understanding their function. Here we provide a comprehensive analysis of these transcripts in the context of multiple conditions, a mutant of the exosome machinery and different strain backgrounds of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that both SUTs and CUTs display distinct patterns of distribution at specific locations. Most of the newly identified transcripts initiate from nucleosome-free regions (NFRs) associated with the promoters of other transcripts (mostly protein-coding genes), or from NFRs at the 3' ends of protein-coding genes. Likewise, about half of all coding transcripts initiate from NFRs associated with promoters of other transcripts. These data change our view of how a genome is transcribed, indicating that bidirectionality is an inherent feature of promoters. Such an arrangement of divergent and overlapping transcripts may provide a mechanism for local spreading of regulatory signals-that is, coupling the transcriptional regulation of neighbouring genes by means of transcriptional interference or histone modification.
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Project description:Anti-sense transcription originating upstream of mammalian protein-coding genes is a well-documented phenomenon, but remarkably little is known about the regulation or function of anti-sense promoters and the non-coding RNAs they generate. Here we define at nucleotide resolution the divergent transcription start sites (TSSs) near mouse mRNA genes. We find that coupled sense and anti-sense TSSs precisely define the boundaries of a nucleosome-depleted region (NDR) that is highly enriched in transcription factor (TF) motifs. Notably, as the distance between sense and anti-sense TSSs increases, so does the size of the NDR, the level of signal-dependent TF binding, and gene activation. We further discover a group of anti-sense TSSs in macrophages with an enhancer-like chromatin signature. Interestingly, this signature identifies divergent promoters that are activated during immune challenge. We propose that anti-sense promoters serve as platforms for TF binding and establishment of active chromatin to further regulate or enhance sense-strand mRNA expression.
| S-EPMC4475495 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundConstant hypoxia (CH) and intermittent hypoxia (IH) occur during several pathological conditions such as asthma and obstructive sleep apnea. Our research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms that lead to injury or adaptation to hypoxic stress using Drosophila as a model system. Our current genome-wide study is designed to investigate gene expression changes and identify protective mechanism(s) in D. melanogaster after exposure to severe (1% O(2)) intermittent or constant hypoxia.Methodology/principal findingsOur microarray analysis has identified multiple gene families that are up- or down-regulated in response to acute CH or IH. We observed distinct responses to IH and CH in gene expression that varied in the number of genes and type of gene families. We then studied the role of candidate genes (up-or down-regulated) in hypoxia tolerance (adult survival) for longer periods (CH-7 days, IH-10 days) under severe CH or IH. Heat shock proteins up-regulation (specifically Hsp23 and Hsp70) led to a significant increase in adult survival (as compared to controls) of P-element lines during CH. In contrast, during IH treatment the up-regulation of Mdr49 and l(2)08717 genes (P-element lines) provided survival advantage over controls. This suggests that the increased transcript levels following treatment with either paradigm play an important role in tolerance to severe hypoxia. Furthermore, by over-expressing Hsp70 in specific tissues, we found that up-regulation of Hsp70 in heart and brain play critical role in tolerance to CH in flies.Conclusions/significanceWe observed that the gene expression response to IH or CH is specific and paradigm-dependent. We have identified several genes Hsp23, Hsp70, CG1600, l(2)08717 and Mdr49 that play an important role in hypoxia tolerance whether it is in CH or IH. These data provide further clues about the mechanisms by which IH or CH lead to cell injury and morbidity or adaptation and survival.
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Project description:The Drosophila genes spalt major (salm) and spalt-related (salr) encode Zn-finger transcription factors regulated by the Decapentaplegic (Dpp) signalling pathway in the wing imaginal disc. The function of these genes is required for cell survival and proliferation in the central region of the wing disc, and also for vein patterning in the lateral regions. The identification of direct Salm and Salr target genes, and the analysis of their functions, are critical steps towards understanding the genetic control of growth and patterning of the Drosophila wing imaginal disc by the Dpp pathway. To identify candidate Salm/Salr target genes, we have compared the expression profile of salm/salr knockdown wing discs with control discs in microarray experiments. We studied by in situ hybridization the expression pattern of the genes whose mRNA levels varied significantly, and uncovered a complex transcription landscape regulated by the Spalt proteins in the wing disc. Interestingly, candidate Salm/Salr targets include genes which expression is turned off and genes which expression is positively regulated by Salm/Salr. Furthermore, loss-of-function phenotypic analysis of these genes indicates, for a fraction of them, a requirement for wing growth and patterning. The identification and analysis of candidate Salm/Salr target genes opens a new avenue to reconstruct the genetic structure of the wing, linking the activity of the Dpp pathway to the development of this epithelial tissue.
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Project description:Static allometries, the scaling relationship between body and trait size, describe the shape of animals in a population or species, and are generated in response to variation in genetic or environmental regulators of size. In principle, allometries may vary with the different size regulators that generate them, which can be problematic since allometric differences are also used to infer patterns of selection on morphology. We test this hypothesis by examining the patterns of scaling in Drosophila melanogaster subjected to variation in three environmental regulators of size: nutrition, temperature and rearing density. Our data indicate that different environmental regulators of size do indeed generate different patterns of scaling. Consequently, flies that are ostensibly the same size may have very different body proportions. These data indicate that trait size is not simply a read-out of body size, but that different environmental factors may regulate body and trait size, and the relationship between the two, through different developmental mechanisms. It may therefore be difficult to infer selective pressures that shape scaling relationships in a wild population without first elucidating the environmental and genetic factors that generate size variation among members of the population.
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Project description:R2 retrotransposons insert into the rRNA-encoding units (rDNA units) that form the nucleoli of insects. We have utilized an R2 integration system in Drosophila melanogaster to study transcription of foreign sequences integrated into the R2 target site of the 28S rRNA genes. The exogenous sequences were cotranscribed at dramatically different levels which closely paralleled the level of transcription of the endogenous R1 and R2 elements. Transcription levels were inversely correlated with the number of uninserted rDNA units, variation in this number having been brought about by the R2 integration system itself. Females with as few as 20 uninserted rDNA units per X chromosome had expression levels of endogenous and exogenous insertion sequences that were 2 orders of magnitude higher than lines that contained over 80 uninserted rDNA units per chromosome. R2 insertions only 167 bp in length exhibited this range of transcriptional regulation. Analysis of transcript levels in males suggested R2 insertions on the Y chromosome are not down-regulated to the same extent as insertions on the X chromosome. These results suggest that transcription of the rDNA units can be tightly regulated, but this regulation gradually breaks down as the cell approaches the minimum number of uninserted genes needed for survival.
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Project description:Specific cellular fates and functions depend on differential gene expression, which occurs primarily at the transcriptional level and is controlled by complex regulatory networks of transcription factors (TFs). TFs act through combinatorial interactions with other TFs, cofactors, and chromatin-remodeling proteins. Here, we define protein-protein interactions using a coaffinity purification/mass spectrometry method and study 459 Drosophila melanogaster transcription-related factors, representing approximately half of the established catalog of TFs. We probe this network in vivo, demonstrating functional interactions for many interacting proteins, and test the predictive value of our data set. Building on these analyses, we combine regulatory network inference models with physical interactions to define an integrated network that connects combinatorial TF protein interactions to the transcriptional regulatory network of the cell. We use this integrated network as a tool to connect the functional network of genetic modifiers related to mastermind, a transcriptional cofactor of the Notch pathway.
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