Project description:DNA replication errors are a major driver of evolutionâ??from single nucleotide polymorphisms to large-scale copy number variations (CNVs). Here we test a specific replication-based model to explain the generation of interstitial, inverted triplications. While no genetic information is lost, the novel inversion junctions and increased copy number of the included sequences create the potential for adaptive phenotypes. The modelâ??Origin-Dependent Inverted-Repeat Amplification (ODIRA)â??proposes that a replication error at pre-existing short, interrupted, inverted repeats in genomic sequences generates an extrachromosomal, inverted dimeric, autonomously replicating intermediate; subsequent genomic integration of the dimer yields this class of CNV without loss of distal chromosomal sequences. We used a combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches to test the feasibility of the proposed replication error and its downstream consequences on chromosome structure in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that the proposed replication errorâ??the ligation of leading and lagging nascent strands to create a "closed" forkâ??can occur in vitro at short, interrupted inverted repeats. The removal of molecules with closed forks results in a hairpin-capped linear duplex that we show replicates in vivo to create an inverted, dimeric plasmid that subsequently integrates into the genome by homologous recombination, creating an inverted triplication. While other models have been proposed to explain inverted triplications and their derivatives, our model can also explain the generation of human, de novo, inverted amplicons that have a 2:1 mixture of sequences from both homologues of a single parentâ??a feature readily explained by a plasmid intermediate that arises from one homologue and integrates into the other homolog prior to meiosis. Our tests of key features of ODIRA lend support to this mechanism and suggest further avenues of enquiry to unravel the origins of interstitial, inverted CNVs pivotal in human health and evolution These are all CGH arrays comparing DNA copy number between evolved yeast strains and a euploid wt strain.

Project description:DNA replication errors are a major driver of evolution—from single nucleotide polymorphisms to large-scale copy number variations (CNVs). Here we test a specific replication-based model to explain the generation of interstitial, inverted triplications. While no genetic information is lost, the novel inversion junctions and increased copy number of the included sequences create the potential for adaptive phenotypes. The model—Origin-Dependent Inverted-Repeat Amplification (ODIRA)—proposes that a replication error at pre-existing short, interrupted, inverted repeats in genomic sequences generates an extrachromosomal, inverted dimeric, autonomously replicating intermediate; subsequent genomic integration of the dimer yields this class of CNV without loss of distal chromosomal sequences. We used a combination of in vitro and in vivo approaches to test the feasibility of the proposed replication error and its downstream consequences on chromosome structure in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We show that the proposed replication error—the ligation of leading and lagging nascent strands to create “closed” forks—can occur in vitro at short, interrupted inverted repeats. The removal of molecules with two closed forks results in a hairpin-capped linear duplex that we show replicates in vivo to create an inverted, dimeric plasmid that subsequently integrates into the genome by homologous recombination, creating an inverted triplication. While other models have been proposed to explain inverted triplications and their derivatives, our model can also explain the generation of human, de novo, inverted amplicons that have a 2:1 mixture of sequences from both homologues of a single parent—a feature readily explained by a plasmid intermediate that arises from one homologue and integrates into the other homologue prior to meiosis. Our tests of key features of ODIRA lend support to this mechanism and suggest further avenues of enquiry to unravel the origins of interstitial, inverted CNVs pivotal in human health and evolution.

Project description:In plants, RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcription of inverted DNA repeats produces hairpin RNAs that are processed by several DICER-LIKE enzymes into siRNAs that are 21-24-nt in length. When targeted to transcriptional regulatory regions, the 24-nt size class can induce RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) and transcriptional gene silencing (TGS). In a forward genetic screen to identify mutants defective in RdDM of a target enhancer leading to TGS of a downstream GFP reporter gene in Arabidopsis thaliana, we recovered a structurally mutated silencer locus, named SM-NM-^T35S, in which the 35S promoter driving transcription of an inverted repeat of target enhancer sequences had been specifically deleted. Although Pol II-dependent, hairpin-derived 21-24-nt siRNAs were no longer generated at the newly created SM-NM-^T35S locus, the GFP reporter gene was nevertheless still partially silenced. Silencing was associated with methylation in a short tandem repeat in the upstream target enhancer and with low levels of 24-nt tandem repeat siRNAs. Introducing an nrpd1 mutation into the SM-NM-^T35S line fully released GFP silencing and eliminated both the tandem repeat methylation and associated 24-nt siRNAs, demonstrating their dependence on Pol IV. Deletion of the 35S promoter thus revealed a Pol IV-dependent pathway of 24-nt siRNA biogenesis that was previously inhibited or masked by the Pol II-dependent pathway in wild-type plants. Both Pol II- and Pol IV-dependent siRNAs accrued predominantly from cytosine (C)-containing segments of the tandem repeat monomer, suggesting that the local base composition influenced siRNA accumulation. Preferential accumulation of siRNAs at C-containing sequences was also observed at an endogenous tandem repeat comprising discrete C-rich and AT-rich sections. Our studies illuminate the potential complexity of siRNA generation at repeat-containing loci and show that Pol IV can act in siRNA biogenesis in the absence of a conventional Pol II promoter. Examination of whole-genome DNA methylation status in transgenic T+S Arabidopsis plant

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Saccharomyces cerevisiae

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