Project description:Enhancers are important regulators of gene expression, but their identification is a challenge in plants. STARR-seq is a method measuring directly the enhancer activity of millions fragments in parallel, which had been successfully used to identify enhancers in Drosophila and human genomes. Here we present a global map of rice enhancers whose activities are quantitatively determined by STARR-seq.We also predicted intergenic enhancers based on DNase I hypersensitivity as described in a previously published work. Predicted enhancers overlap poorly with STARR-seq enhancers, only about 400 sites accounting for 3-4% of total enhancers identified by these two different methods. In summary, our results of STARR-seq reveal that enhancers in a plant genome differ from animal enhancers in several aspects and provide a regulatory element resource for further functional and mechanistic studies in different contexts
Project description:Rag1 and Rag2 gene expression in CD4+CD8+ double positive (DP) thymocytes depends on the activity of a distant anti-silencer element (ASE) that counteracts the activity of an intergenic silencer. However, the mechanistic basis for ASE activity is unknown. Here we show that the ASE physically interacts with the distant Rag1 and Rag2 gene promoters in DP thymocytes, bringing the two promoters together to form an active chromatin hub. Moreover, we show that the ASE functions as a classical enhancer that can potently activate these promoters in the absence of the silencer or other locus elements. In thymocytes lacking the chromatin organizer SATB1, we identified a partial defect in Tcra gene rearrangement that was associated with reduced expression of Rag1 and Rag2 at the DP stage. SATB1 binds to the ASE and Rag promoters, facilitating inclusion of Rag2 in the chromatin hub and the loading of RNA polymerase II to both the Rag1 and Rag2 promoters. Our results provide a novel framework for understanding ASE function and demonstrate a novel role for SATB1 as a regulator of Rag locus organization and gene expression in DP thymocytes. Sequencing of Satb1-ChIP and input control from 6 wk old thymus
Project description:Genomic enhancers are important regulators of gene expression, but their identification is a challenge and methods depend on indirect measures of activity. We developed a method termed STARR-seq to directly and quantitatively assess enhancer activity for millions of candidates from arbitrary sources of DNA, enabling screens across entire genomes. When applied to the Drosophila genome, STARR-seq identifies thousands of cell type-specific enhancers across a broad continuum of strengths, linking differential gene expression to differences in enhancer activity and creating a genome-wide quantitative enhancer map. This map reveals the highly complex regulation of transcription, with several independent enhancers for both developmental regulators and ubiquitously expressed genes. STARR-seq can be used to identify and quantitate enhancer activity in other eukaryotes, including human. STARR-seq was performed in S2 and OSC cells with paired-end sequencing in two replicates and respective inputs. DHS-seq was done with single-end sequencing in two replicates for S2 and OSC cells. RNA-seq was performed with a strand-specific protocol using single-end sequencing in two replicates within S2 and OSC cells. STARR-seq was also performed in HeLa cells with single-end sequencing with a respective input.
Project description:Genomic enhancers are important regulators of gene expression, but their identification is a challenge and methods depend on indirect measures of activity. We developed a method termed STARR-seq to directly and quantitatively assess enhancer activity for millions of candidates from arbitrary sources of DNA, enabling screens across entire genomes. When applied to the Drosophila genome, STARR-seq identifies thousands of cell type-specific enhancers across a broad continuum of strengths, linking differential gene expression to differences in enhancer activity and creating a genome-wide quantitative enhancer map. This map reveals the highly complex regulation of transcription, with several independent enhancers for both developmental regulators and ubiquitously expressed genes. STARR-seq can be used to identify and quantitate enhancer activity in other eukaryotes, including human.
Project description:Rag1 and Rag2 gene expression in CD4+CD8+ double positive (DP) thymocytes depends on the activity of a distant anti-silencer element (ASE) that counteracts the activity of an intergenic silencer. However, the mechanistic basis for ASE activity is unknown. Here we show that the ASE physically interacts with the distant Rag1 and Rag2 gene promoters in DP thymocytes, bringing the two promoters together to form an active chromatin hub. Moreover, we show that the ASE functions as a classical enhancer that can potently activate these promoters in the absence of the silencer or other locus elements. In thymocytes lacking the chromatin organizer SATB1, we identified a partial defect in Tcra gene rearrangement that was associated with reduced expression of Rag1 and Rag2 at the DP stage. SATB1 binds to the ASE and Rag promoters, facilitating inclusion of Rag2 in the chromatin hub and the loading of RNA polymerase II to both the Rag1 and Rag2 promoters. Our results provide a novel framework for understanding ASE function and demonstrate a novel role for SATB1 as a regulator of Rag locus organization and gene expression in DP thymocytes.
Project description:Phenotypic differences between closely related species are thought to arise primarily from changes in gene expression due to mutations in cis-regulatory sequences (enhancers). However, it has remained unclear, how frequently mutations alter enhancer activity or create functional enhancers de novo. Here, we use STARR-seq, a recently developed quantitative enhancer assay, to determine genome-wide enhancer activity profiles for five Drosophila species in the constant trans-regulatory environment of D. melanogaster S2 cells. We find that the function of a large fraction of D. melanogaster enhancers is conserved in their orthologous sequences due to selection and stabilizing turnover of transcription factor motifs. Moreover, hundreds of enhancers have been gained since the D. melanogaster M-bM-^@M-^S D. yakuba split about 11 million years ago without apparent adaptive selection and can contribute to gene expression changes in vivo. Our finding that enhancer activity is often deeply conserved and frequently gained provides important functional insights into regulatory evolution. STARR-seq was performed in S2 cells with paired-end sequencing in two replicates and respective inputs using genomic DNA from different Drosophila species. RNA-seq was performed in a non-stranded manner without replicates for two Drosophila species.
Project description:<p>System-wide metabolic homeostasis is crucial for maintaining physiological functions of living organisms. Stable-isotope tracing metabolomics allows to unravel metabolic activity quantitatively by measuring the isotopically labeled metabolites, but has been largely restricted by coverage. Yet, delineating system-wide metabolic homeostasis at the whole-organism level remains non-trivial. Here, we develop a global isotope tracing metabolomics technology to measure labeled metabolites with a metabolome-wide coverage. Using Drosophila as an aging model organism, we probe the in vivo tracing kinetics with quantitative information on labeling patterns, extents and rates on a metabolome-wide scale. We curate a system-wide metabolic network to characterize metabolic homeostasis and disclose a system-wide loss of metabolic coordinations that impacts both intra- and inter-tissue metabolic homeostasis significantly during Drosophila aging. Importantly, we reveal an unappreciated metabolic diversion from glycolysis to serine metabolism and purine metabolism as Drosophila aging. The developed technology facilitates a system-level understanding of metabolic regulation in living organisms.</p>