In vivo structure probing of RNA in Archaea: Novel insights into the ribosome structure of Methanosarcina acetivorans
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ABSTRACT: Structure probing combined with next-generation sequencing (NGS) has provided novel insights into RNA structure-function relationships. To date such studies have focused largely on bacteria and eukaryotes, with little attention given to the third domain of life, archaea. Furthermore, functional RNAs have not been extensively studied in archaea, leaving open questions about RNA structure and function within this domain of life. With archaeal species being diverse and having many similarities to both bacteria and eukaryotes, the archaea domain has the potential to be an evolutionary bridge. In this study, we introduce a method for probing RNA structure in vivo in the archaea domain of life. We investigated the structure of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) from Methanosarcina acetivorans, a well-studied anaerobic archaeal species, grown with either methanol or acetate. After probing the RNA in vivo with dimethyl sulfate (DMS), Structure-seq2 libraries were generated, sequenced, and analyzed. We mapped the reactivity of DMS onto the secondary structure of the ribosome, which we determined independently with comparative analysis, and confirmed the accuracy of DMS probing in M. acetivorans. Accessibility of the rRNA to DMS in the two carbon sources was found to be quite similar, although some differences were found. Overall, this study establishes the Structure-seq2 pipeline in the archaea domain of life and informs about ribosomal structure within M. acetivorans.
Project description:Here, we use dimethyl sulfate mutational profiling with sequencing (DMS-MaPseq) to conduct a target-specific and genome-wide profile of in vivo RNA secondary structure in rice (Oryza sativa). Our study presents an optimized DMS-MaPseq for probing in vivo RNA structure in rice.
Project description:Deciphering the conformations of RNAs in their cellular environment allows identification of RNA elements with potentially functional roles within biological contexts. Insight into the conformation of RNA in cells has been achieved using chemical probes that were developed to react specifically with flexible RNA nucleotides, or the Watson-Crick face of single-stranded nucleotides. The most widely used probes are either selective SHAPE (2'-hydroxyl acylation and primer extension) reagents that probe nucleotide flexibility, or dimethyl sulfate (DMS), which probes the base-pairing at adenine and cytosine but is unable to interrogate guanine or uracil. The constitutively charged carbodiimide N-cyclohexyl-N'-(2-morpholinoethyl)carbodiimide metho-p-toluenesulfonate (CMC) is widely used for probing G and U nucleotides, but has not been established for probing RNA in cells. Here, we report the use of a smaller and conditionally charged reagent, 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC), as a chemical probe of RNA conformation, and the first reagent validated for structure probing of unpaired G and U nucleotides in intact cells. We showed that EDC demonstrates similar reactivity to CMC when probing transcripts in vitro. We found that EDC specifically reacted with accessible nucleotides in the 7SK noncoding RNA in intact cells. We probed structured regions within the Xist lncRNA with EDC and integrated these data with DMS probing data. Together, EDC and DMS allowed us to refine predicted structure models for the 3’ extension of repeat C within Xist. These results highlight how complementing DMS probing experiments with EDC allows the analysis of Watson-Crick base-pairing at all four nucleotides of RNAs in their cellular context.
Project description:The goal of this set of experiments is to determine the structure of HIV-1 NL4-3 and NHG RNA structure using a novel algorithm that allows for the identification of multiple RNA folding conformations. The input data used for this algorithm is DMS-MaPseq data. We focused on two specific areas of the HIV-1 genome, the Rev Response Element (RRE) and A3 splice acceptor site, as well as probing the whole HIV-1 genome. RNA is DMS-modified in vitro and in vivo as indicated. The goal of this data set was to test the novel alternative RNA structure detecting algorithm (DREEM) using RNA molecules with known structures.
Project description:Organisms of the third domain of life, the Archaea, share molecular characteristics both with bacteria and eukarya. These organisms attract scientific attention as research models for regulation and evolution of processes such as transcription, translation and RNA processing. We have reconstructed the primary transcriptome of Sulfolobus solfataricus P2, one of the most widely studied model archaeal organisms. Analysis of 625 million bases of sequenced cDNAs yielded a single-bp resolution map of transcription start sites and operon structures for more than 1000 transcriptional units. The analysis led to the discovery of 310 expressed non-coding RNAs, with an extensive expression of overlapping cis-antisense transcripts to a level unprecedented in any bacteria or archaea but resembling that of eukaryotes. As opposed to bacterial transcripts, most Sulfolobus transcripts completely lack 5' UTR sequences, suggesting that mRNA/ncRNA interactions differ between bacteria and archaea. The data also reveal internal hotspots for transcript cleavage linked to RNA degradation, and predict sequence motifs that promote RNA destabilization. This study emphasizes the importance of transcriptome sequencing as a key tool for understanding the mechanisms and extent of RNA-based regulation for bacteria and archaea. 5 samples of cDNA sequencing (2 of these are replicates), and 3 samples of RACE-cDNA sequencing (described in the samples section).
Project description:Archaea, together with Bacteria, represent the two main divisions of life on Earth, with many of the defining characteristics of the more complex eukaryotes tracing their origin to evolutionary innovations first made in their archaeal ancestors. One of the most notable such features is nucleosomal chromatin, although archaeal histones and chromatin differ significantly from those of eukaryotes. Despite increased interest in archaeal histones in recent years, the properties of archaeal chromatin have been little studied using genomic tools. Here, we adapt the ATAC-seq assay to the archaeal context and use it to map the accessible landscape of the genome of the euryarchaeote Haloferax volcanii. We integrate the resulting datasets with genome-wide maps of active transcription and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), and find that while H. volcanii promoters exist in a preferentially accessible state, modulation of transcriptional activity is not associated with changes in promoter accessibility, unlike the typical situation in eukaryotes. Applying orthogonal single-molecule footprinting methods, we quantify the absolute levels of physical protection of H. volcanii, and find that archaeal nucleosomal chromatin is at its baseline comparably to slightly more open than that of eukaryotes. We also evaluate the degree of coordination of transcription within archaeal operons and make the unexpected observation that some CRISPR arrays are associated with highly prevalent ssDNA structures. These results provide a foundation for the future functional studies of archaeal chromatin.
Project description:Structure probing experiments were performed on in vitro transcripts and E. coli and human cell cultures under natively extracted (cell-free) and in-cell conditions to benchmark the performance of the newly introduced PAIR-MaP correlated chemical probing strategy for detecting RNA duplexes. Multiple-hit dimethyl sulfate (DMS) probing was done using new buffer conditions that facilitate DMS modification of all four nucleotides.
Project description:RNA structure heterogeneity is a major challenge when querying RNA structures with chemical probing. We introduce DRACO, an algorithm for the deconvolution of coexisting RNA conformations from mutational profiling experiments. Analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 genome using dimethyl sulfate mutational profiling with sequencing (DMS-MaPseq) and DRACO, identifies multiple regions that fold into two mutually exclusive conformations, including a conserved structural switch in the 3′ untranslated region. This work may open the way to dissecting the heterogeneity of the RNA structurome.
Project description:Organisms of the third domain of life, the Archaea, share molecular characteristics both with bacteria and eukarya. These organisms attract scientific attention as research models for regulation and evolution of processes such as transcription, translation and RNA processing. We have reconstructed the primary transcriptome of Sulfolobus solfataricus P2, one of the most widely studied model archaeal organisms. Analysis of 625 million bases of sequenced cDNAs yielded a single-bp resolution map of transcription start sites and operon structures for more than 1000 transcriptional units. The analysis led to the discovery of 310 expressed non-coding RNAs, with an extensive expression of overlapping cis-antisense transcripts to a level unprecedented in any bacteria or archaea but resembling that of eukaryotes. As opposed to bacterial transcripts, most Sulfolobus transcripts completely lack 5' UTR sequences, suggesting that mRNA/ncRNA interactions differ between bacteria and archaea. The data also reveal internal hotspots for transcript cleavage linked to RNA degradation, and predict sequence motifs that promote RNA destabilization. This study emphasizes the importance of transcriptome sequencing as a key tool for understanding the mechanisms and extent of RNA-based regulation for bacteria and archaea.
Project description:We present Structure-seq2, which provides nucleotide-resolution RNA structural information in vivo and genome-wide. This optimized version of our original Structure-seq method increases sensitivity and data quality by minimizing formation of a deleterious by-product, reducing ligation bias, and improving read coverage. Structure-seq2 can employ a biotinylated nucleotide to facilitate the protocol. We have benchmarked Structure-seq2 on both mRNA and rRNA structure in rice (Oryza sativa) and apply Structure-seq2 to provide evidence of hidden breaks in chloroplast rRNA and a previously unreported N1-methyladenosine (m1A) in a nuclear-encoded rRNA.