Project description:S. meliloti strains with a bi- and monopartite genome configuration were constructed by consecutive Cre/lox-mediated site-specific fusions of the secondary replicons. Beside the correct genomic arrangements, these strains and precursors were tested for variations in the nucleotide sequence. Futher, a marker fequency analysis was performed to test if replication is initiated at all origins and to determine the replication termination regions of the triple replicon fusion molecule. To gain the sequence data for these analyses, respective strains were applied to whole genome sequencing using an Illumina MiSeq-System and Oxford Nanopore (MinION) sequencing technology.
Project description:DNA polymerase delta (Pol ∂) plays several essential roles in eukaryotic DNA replication and repair. At the replication fork, Pol ∂ is responsible for the synthesis and processing of the lagging strand; this role requires Pol ∂ to extend Okazaki fragment primers synthesized by Pol ⍺-primase, and to carry out strand-displacement synthesis coupled to nuclease cleavage during Okazaki fragment termination. Destabilizing mutations in human Pol ∂ subunits cause replication stress and syndromic immunodeficiency. Analogously, reduced levels of Pol ∂ in Saccharomyces cerevisiae lead to pervasive genome instability. Here, we analyze the how the depletion of Pol ∂ impacts replication initiation and elongation in vivo in S. cerevisiae. We determine that Pol ∂ depletion leads to a dependence on checkpoint signaling and recombination-mediated repair for cellular viability. By analyzing nascent lagging-strand products, we observe both a genome-wide change in the establishment and progression of replication forks and a global defect in Pol ∂-mediated Okazaki fragment processing. Additionally, we detect significant lagging-strand synthesis by the leading-strand polymerase (Pol ɛ) in late regions of the genome when Pol ∂ is depleted.
Project description:The replication of eukaryotic genomes is highly stochastic, making it difficult to determine the replication dynamics of individual molecules with existing methods. We now report a sequencing method for the measurement of replication fork movement on single molecules by Detecting Nucleotide Analogue signal currents on extremely long nanopore traces (D‑NAscent). Using this method, we detect BrdU incorporated by Saccharomyces cerevisiae to reveal, at a genomic scale and on single molecules, the DNA sequences replicated during a pulse labelling period. Under conditions of limiting BrdU concentration, D-NAscent detects the differences in BrdU incorporation frequency across individual molecules to reveal the location of active replication origins, fork direction, termination sites, and fork pausing/stalling events. We used sequencing reads of 20-160 kb, to generate the first whole genome single-molecule map of DNA replication dynamics and discover a new class of low frequency stochastic origins in budding yeast.
Project description:Replication forks face multiple obstacles that slow their progression. By two-dimensional gel analysis, yeast forks pause at stable DNA protein complexes, and this pausing is greatly increased in the absence of the Rrm3 helicase. We used a genome wide approach to identify 96 sites of very high DNA polymerase binding in wild type cells. Most of these binding sites were not previously identified pause sites. Rather, the most highly represented genomic category among high DNA polymerase binding sites was the open reading frames (ORFs) of highly transcribed RNA polymerase II genes. Twice as many pause sites were identified in rrm3 compared to wild type cells as pausing in this strain occurred at both highly transcribed RNA polymerase II genes and the previously identified protein DNA complexes. ORFs of highly transcribed RNA polymerase II genes are the first class of natural pause sites that are not exacerbated in rrm3 cells. We alse mapped pause sites using a second replication fork component, Rrm3-13MYC and got similar results. Genomic input (labelled with Cy3) and IP'ed DNA (labelled with Cy5) using a MYC Ab of either DNA Pol2-13MYC or Rrm3-MYC from asynchronously grown S. cerevisiae cells in rich media were hybridized to whole-genome PCR-based arrays containing ORF and intergenic regions of the entire genome (Ivery et al 2001). At least three biological replication and one technical replicate (dye swap) were performed. Log2 transformed median normalized ratios (IP/IN) were averaged for each experiment and significant peaks of either DNA Pol2 or Rrm3 association were identified
Project description:Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes two distinct Pif1-family helicases – Pif1 and Rrm3 – which have been reported to play distinct roles in numerous nuclear processes. Here, we systematically characterize the roles of Pif1 helicases in replisome progression and lagging- strand synthesis in S. cerevisiae. We demonstrate that either Pif1 or Rrm3 redundantly stimulate strand-displacement by DNA polymerase δ during lagging-strand synthesis. By analyzing replisome mobility in pif1 and rrm3 mutants, we show that Rrm3, with a partially redundant contribution from Pif1, suppresses widespread terminal arrest of the replisome at tRNA genes. Although both head-on and codirectional collisions induce replication fork arrest at tRNA genes, head-on collisions arrest a higher proportion of replisomes; consistent with this observation, we find that head-on collisions between tRNA transcription and replisome progression are under-represented in the S. cerevisiae genome. Further, we demonstrate that tRNA-mediated arrest is R-loop independent, and propose that replisome arrest and DNA damage are mechanistically separable.
Project description:To ensure efficient genome duplication, cells have evolved a multitude of factors that promote unperturbed DNA replication, and protect, repair and restart damaged forks. Here we identify DONSON as a novel fork protection factor, and report biallelic DONSON mutations in individuals with microcephalic dwarfism. We demonstrate that DONSON is a component of the replisome that stabilises forks during normal genome replication. Loss of DONSON leads to severe replication-associated DNA damage arising from nucleolytic cleavage of stalled replication forks. Furthermore, ATR-dependent ,signalling in response to replication stress is impaired in DONSON-deficient cells, resulting in decreased checkpoint activity, and potentiating chromosomal instability. Hypomorphic mutations substantially reduce DONSON protein levels and impair fork stability in patient cells, consistent with defective DNA replication underlying the disease phenotype In summary, we identify mutations in DONSON as a common cause of microcephalic dwarfism, and establish DONSON as a critical replication fork protein required for mammalian DNA replication and genome stability
Project description:We sequenced DNA from a bulk of Col x Ler F2 hybrid plants (WT and recq4) using Nanopore long-read sequencing and identified crossover sites with COmapper. For nanopore sequencing of gDNA from 1,000 pooled seedlings, 10-day-old seedlings were ground in liquid nitrogen using a mortar and pestle. The ground tissue was resuspended in four volumes of CTAB buffer (1% [w/v] CTAB, 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, 0.7 M NaCl, 10 mM EDTA) and incubated at 65°C for 30 min. Following chloroform extraction, isopropanol precipitation and removal of RNAs as above, the gDNA pellet was resuspended in 150 μl TE (10 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, 0.1 mM EDTA) buffer and gDNA was quantified using a Qubit dsDNA Broad Range assay kit (Thermo Fisher, Q32853). Nine micrograms of gDNA from pollen or seedlings was used to construct a nanopore long-read sequencing library using a Ligation Sequencing Kit V14 (Nanopore, SQK-LSK114). The libraries were sequenced using a PromethION platform (BGI, Hong Kong).
Project description:Genomic DNA from 55 wild type Col x Ler F2 individuals was extracted using the CTAB method. Equal amounts of DNA from these 55 plants were pooled into two groups (pool 1 = 4 plants; pool 2 = 51 plants), and nine micrograms of gDNA from each pool was used to generate Nanopore sequencing libraries with the Ligation Sequencing Kit V14 (Nanopore, SQK-LSK114). The libraries were sequenced independently using PromethION (BGI, Hong Kong).
Project description:The identification of sites of DNA replication initiation in mammalian cells has been challenging. Here, we present unbiased detection of replication initiation events in human cells using BrdU incorporation and single-molecule nanopore sequencing. Increases in BrdU incorporation allow us to measure DNA replication dynamics, including identification of replication initiation, fork direction and termination on individual nanopore sequencing reads. Importantly, initiation and termination events are identified on single-molecules with high resolution, throughout S-phase and across the human genome. We find a significant enrichment of initiation sites within the broad initiation zones identified by population level studies. However, these focused sites only account for ~20% of all identified replication initiation events. Most initiation events are dispersed throughout the genome and are missed by cell population approaches. This indicates that most initiation occurs at sites that, individually, are rarely used. These dispersed initiation sites contrast with the focused sites identified by population studies, in that they do not show a strong relationship to transcription or a particular epigenetic signature. Therefore, single-molecule sequencing enables unbiased detection and characterisation of DNA replication initiation events, including the numerous dispersed initiation events that replicate most of the human genome.