Project description:<p>Paired DNA and RNA profiling is increasingly employed in genomics research to uncover molecular mechanisms of disease and to explore personal genotype and phenotype correlations. We developed a novel simultaneous DNA and RNA sequencing approach (Simul-seq) that enables comprehensive genomic and transcriptomic profiles from small quantities of cells or tissues. In this study, Simul-seq was performed on patient-derived fibroblast cells as well as an esophageal adenocarcinoma tumor sample and compared with standard DNA and RNA-sequencing approaches.</p>
Project description:Limited functional annotation of the Z. mobilis genome is a current barrier to both basic studies of Z. mobilis and its development as a synthetic-biology chassis. To gain insight, we collected sample-matched multiomics data including RNA-seq, transcription start site sequencing (TSS-seq), termination sequencing (term-seq), ribosome profiling, and label-free shotgun proteomic mass spectrometry across different growth conditions to improve annotation and assign functional sites in the Z. mobilis genome. Proteomics and ribosome profiling informed revisions of protein-coding genes, which included 44 start codon changes and 42 added proteins.
Project description:Lipids play an important role in energy storage, membrane structure stabilization and signaling. Parasitoids are excellent models to study lipidomics because a majority of them do not accumulate during their free-living life-stage. Studies on parasitoids have mostly focused on the changes in the lipids and gene transcripts in hosts and little attention has been devoted to lipidomics and transcriptomics changes in parasitoids. In this study, a relative quantitative analysis of lipids and their gene transcripts in 3-days-old Lysiphlebia japonica larva (3 days after spawning) and pupae were performed using liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and RNA-seq. Thirty-three glycerolipids and 250 glycerophospholipids were identified in this study; all triglycerides and the vast majority of phospholipids accumulated in the pupal stage. This was accompanied by differentially regulated lipid uptake and remolding. Furthermore, our data showed that gene transcription was up-regulated in key nutrient metabolic pathways involved in lipid synthesis in 3-days-old larvae. Finally, our data suggests that larva and pupa of L. japonica may lack the ability for fatty acids synthesis. A comprehensive, quantitative, and expandable resource was provided for further studies of metabolic regulation and molecular mechanisms underlying parasitic response to hosts defense.
Project description:Quantitative analysis of the sequence determinants of transcription and translation regulation is of special relevance for systems and synthetic biology applications. Here, we developed a novel generic approach for the fast and efficient analysis of these determinants in vivo. ELM-seq (expression level monitoring by DNA methylation) uses Dam coupled to high-throughput sequencing) as a reporter that can be detected by DNA-seq. We used the genome-reduced bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae to show that it is a quantitative reporter. We showed that the methylase activity correlates with protein expression, does not affect cell viability, and has a large dynamic range (~10,000-fold). We applied ELM-seq to randomized libraries of promoters or 5’ untranslated regions. We found that transcription is greatly influenced by the bases around the +1 of the transcript and the Pribnow box, and we also identified several epistatic interactions (including the +1 and the “extended Pribnow”). Regarding translation initiation, we confirmed that the Shine-Dalgarno motif is not relevant, but instead, that RNA secondary structure is the main governing factor. With this in hand, we developed a predictor to help tailor gene expression in M. pneumoniae. The simple ELM-seq methodology will allow identifying and optimizing key sequence determinants for promoter strength and translation. The ELM-seq methodology allows both researchers and companies to identify and optimize in an easy and comprehensive manner, key sequence determinants for promoter strength and translation.
