Project description:SPO11-promoted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) formation is a crucial step for meiotic recombination, and it is indispensable to detect the broken DNA ends accurately for dissecting the molecular mechanisms behind. Here, we report a novel technique, named DEtail-seq (DNA End tailing followed by sequencing), that can directly and quantitatively capture the meiotic DSB 3’ overhang hotspots at single-nucleotide resolution.
Project description:The polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) regulates epigenetic gene repression in eukaryotes. Mechanisms controlling its developmental specificity and signal-responsiveness are poorly understood. Here, we identify an oxygen-sensitive N-terminal (N-) degron in the plant PRC2 subunit VERNALIZATION(VRN)2, a homolog of animal Su(z)12, that promotes its degradation via the N-end rule pathway. We provide evidence that this N-degron arose early during angiosperm evolution via gene duplication and N-terminal truncation, facilitating expansion of PRC2 function in flowering plants. We show that proteolysis via the N-end rule pathway prevents ectopic VRN2 accumulation, and that hypoxia and long-term cold exposure lead to increased VRN2 abundance, which we propose may be due to inhibition of VRN2 turnover via its N-degron. Furthermore, we identify an overlap in the transcriptional responses to hypoxia and prolonged cold, and show that VRN2 promotes tolerance to hypoxia. Our work reveals a mechanism for post-translational regulation of VRN2 stability that could potentially link environmental inputs to the epigenetic control of plant development.
Project description:According to the /N-end rule pathway, proteins with basic N-termini are targeted for degradation by the Arabidopsis thaliana E3 ligase, PROTEOLYSIS6 (PRT6). Here, we undertook a quantitative proteomics study of N-end rule mutant prt6, to investigate the impact of this pathway on the etiolated seedling. Isolation of N-terminal peptides using terminal amine isotope labelling of samples (TAILS) combined with Tandem mass tag (TMT) identified over 3000 unique N-termini. Trypsin and GluC have advantage of identification of Acetylated or neo-peptides respectively. Seed storage proteins and Cysteine proteins actives are differentially regulated in abundance in the prt6 mutants, which are represent downstream targets of transcription factors known to be N-end rule substrates.
Project description:In Trypanosoma brucei, most mitochondrial mRNAs undergo U-insertion/deletion editing, and 3′ adenylation and uridylation. The internal sequence changes and terminal extensions are coordinated: Pre-editing addition of the short (A) tail protects the edited transcript against 3′-5′ degradation, while post-editing A/U-tailing renders mRNA competent for ribosome recruitment. Participation of a poly(A) binding protein (PABP) in coupling of editing and 3′ modification processes has been inferred, but its identity and mechanism of action remained elusive. We report identification of KPAF4, a pentatricopeptide repeat-containing PABP which sequesters the A-tail and impedes exonucleolytic degradation. Conversely, KPAF4 inhibits uridylation of A-tailed transcripts and, therefore, premature A/U-tailing of partially-edited mRNAs. This quality check point prevents translation of incompletely edited mRNAs. Our findings also implicate the RNA editing substrate binding complex (RESC) in mediating the interaction between the 5′-end bound pyrophosphohydrolase MERS1 and 3′-end associated KPAF4 to enable mRNA circularization. This event is critical for transcript stability during the editing process.
Project description:microRNAs are frequently modified by addition of untemplated nucleotides to the 3' end, but the role of this tailing is often unclear. Here we characterize the prevalence and functional consequences of microRNA tailing in vivo, using Caenorhabditis elegans. MicroRNA tailing in C. elegans consists mostly of mono-uridylation of mature microRNA species, with rarer mono-adenylation which is likely added to microRNA precursors. Through a targeted RNAi screen, we discover that the TUT4/TUT7 gene family member CID-1/CDE-1/PUP-1 is required for uridylation, whereas the GLD2 gene family member F31C3.2-here named GLD-2-related 2 (GLDR-2)-is required for adenylation. Thus, the TUT4/TUT7 and GLD2 gene families have broadly conserved roles in miRNA modification. We specifically examine the role of tailing in microRNA turnover. We determine half-lives of microRNAs after acute inactivation of microRNA biogenesis, revealing that half-lives are generally long (median = 20.7 h), as observed in other systems. Although we observe that the proportion of tailed species increases over time after biogenesis, disrupting tailing does not alter microRNA decay. Thus, tailing is not a global regulator of decay in C. elegans. Nonetheless, by identifying the responsible enzymes, this study lays the groundwork to explore whether tailing plays more specialized context- or miRNA-specific regulatory roles.