Project description:Chromosome duplication normally initiates via the assembly of replication fork complexes at defined origins. DNA synthesis by any one fork is thought to cease when it meets another travelling in the opposite direction, at which stage the replication machinery may simply dissociate before the nascent strands are finally ligated. But what actually happens is not clear. Here we present evidence consistent with the idea that every fork collision has the potential to trigger re-replication of the already replicated DNA, thus posing a threat to genomic integrity. In Escherichia coli this threat is kept at bay by the RecG DNA translocase. Without RecG, replication initiates where forks meet, establishing new forks with the potential to sustain cell growth and division in the absence of an active origin. The studies reported raise the question of how eukaryotic and archaeal cells are able to exploit multiple origins for the duplication of each chromosome without any apparent ill effect from the consequent multiple fork collisions. Measurement of replication dynamics (marker frequency analysis; MFA) for E. coli strains, including wild-type and various mutants.
Project description:DNA replication initiates at defined sites called origins, which serve as binding sites for initiator proteins that recruit the replicative machinery. Origins differ in number and structure across the three domains of life1 and their properties determine the dynamics of chromosome replication. Bacteria and some archaea replicate from single origins, whilst most archaea and all eukaryotes replicate using multiple origins. Initiation mechanisms that rely on homologous recombination operate in some viruses. Here we show that such mechanisms also operate in archaea. We have used deep sequencing to study replication in Haloferax volcanii. Four chromosomal origins of differing activity were identified. Deletion of individual origins resulted in perturbed replication dynamics and reduced growth. However, a strain lacking all origins has no apparent defects and grows significantly faster than wild-type. Origin-less cells initiate replication at dispersed sites rather than at discrete origins and have an absolute requirement for the recombinase RadA, unlike strains lacking individual origins. Our results demonstrate that homologous recombination alone can efficiently initiate the replication of an entire cellular genome. This raises the question of what purpose replication origins serve and why they have evolved. Measurement of replication dynamics (marker frequency analysis; MFA) for Haloferax volcanii strains, including wild-type, the laboratory strain, individual and combinations of replication origin deletions.
Project description:Eukaryotic genome replication is stochastic with each cell using a different cohort of replication origins. Interpreting high-resolution genome replication profiles with a mathematical model allowed us to quantify the stochastic nature of genome replication. This approach included estimation of the activity of every replication origin and the genome-wide location of replication termination events. Single-cell measurements verified the inferred values for stochastic origin replication time. Strains in which multiple origins had been inactivated, confirmed that the location of termination events is primarily dictated by the stochastic activation time of origins. Cell-to-cell variability in origin activity ensures that termination events are widely distributed across virtually the whole genome. We propose that the heterogeneity in origin usage contributes to genome stability by limiting potentially deleterious events from accumulating at particular loci. Measurement of genome replication time for two S. cerevisiae strains. For each strain six S phase samples werecompared with a non-replicating sample.
Project description:Eukaryotic genome replication is stochastic with each cell using a different cohort of replication origins. Interpreting high-resolution genome replication profiles with a mathematical model allowed us to quantify the stochastic nature of genome replication. This approach included estimation of the activity of every replication origin and the genome-wide location of replication termination events. Single-cell measurements verified the inferred values for stochastic origin replication time. Strains in which multiple origins had been inactivated, confirmed that the location of termination events is primarily dictated by the stochastic activation time of origins. Cell-to-cell variability in origin activity ensures that termination events are widely distributed across virtually the whole genome. We propose that the heterogeneity in origin usage contributes to genome stability by limiting potentially deleterious events from accumulating at particular loci.
Project description:The S. cerevisiae Forkhead Box (FOX) proteins, Fkh1 and Fkh2, regulate diverse cellular processes including transcription, long-range DNA interactions during homologous recombination, and replication origin timing and long-range origin clustering. As stimulators of early origin activation, we hypothesized that Fkh1 and Fkh2 abundance limits the rate of origin activation genome-wide. Existing methods, however, were not well suited to quantitative, genome-wide measurements of origin firing between strains and conditions. To overcome this limitation, we developed qBrdU-seq, a quantitative method for BrdU incorporation analysis of replication dynamics, and applied it to show that overexpression of Fkh1 and Fkh2 advance the initiation timing of many origins throughout the genome resulting in a higher total level of origin initiations in early S phase. The higher initiation rate is accompanied by slower replication fork progression, thereby maintaining a normal length of S phase without causing detectable Rad53 checkpoint kinase activation. The advancement of origin firing time, including that of origins in heterochromatic domains, was established in late G1 phase, indicating that origin timing can be reset subsequently to origin licensing. These results provide novel insights into the mechanisms of origin timing regulation by identifying Fkh1 and Fkh2 as rate-limiting factors for origin firing that determine the ability of replication origins to accrue limiting factors and have the potential to reprogram replication timing late in G1 phase.
Project description:The S. cerevisiae Forkhead Box (FOX) proteins, Fkh1 and Fkh2, regulate diverse cellular processes including transcription, long-range DNA interactions during homologous recombination, and replication origin timing and long-range origin clustering. As stimulators of early origin activation, we hypothesized that Fkh1 and Fkh2 abundance limits the rate of origin activation genome-wide. Existing methods, however, were not well suited to quantitative, genome-wide measurements of origin firing between strains and conditions. To overcome this limitation, we developed qBrdU-seq, a quantitative method for BrdU incorporation analysis of replication dynamics, and applied it to show that overexpression of Fkh1 and Fkh2 advance the initiation timing of many origins throughout the genome resulting in a higher total level of origin initiations in early S phase. The higher initiation rate is accompanied by slower replication fork progression, thereby maintaining a normal length of S phase without causing detectable Rad53 checkpoint kinase activation. The advancement of origin firing time, including that of origins in heterochromatic domains, was established in late G1 phase, indicating that origin timing can be reset subsequently to origin licensing. These results provide novel insights into the mechanisms of origin timing regulation by identifying Fkh1 and Fkh2 as rate-limiting factors for origin firing that determine the ability of replication origins to accrue limiting factors and have the potential to reprogram replication timing late in G1 phase. 5 total experiments with replicates
Project description:The S. cerevisiae Forkhead Box (FOX) proteins, Fkh1 and Fkh2, regulate diverse cellular processes including transcription, long-range DNA interactions during homologous recombination, and replication origin timing and long-range origin clustering. As stimulators of early origin activation, we hypothesized that Fkh1 and Fkh2 abundance limits the rate of origin activation genome-wide. Existing methods, however, were not well suited to quantitative, genome-wide measurements of origin firing between strains and conditions. To overcome this limitation, we developed qBrdU-seq, a quantitative method for BrdU incorporation analysis of replication dynamics, and applied it to show that overexpression of Fkh1 and Fkh2 advance the initiation timing of many origins throughout the genome resulting in a higher total level of origin initiations in early S phase. The higher initiation rate is accompanied by slower replication fork progression, thereby maintaining a normal length of S phase without causing detectable Rad53 checkpoint kinase activation. The advancement of origin firing time, including that of origins in heterochromatic domains, was established in late G1 phase, indicating that origin timing can be reset subsequently to origin licensing. These results provide novel insights into the mechanisms of origin timing regulation by identifying Fkh1 and Fkh2 as rate-limiting factors for origin firing that determine the ability of replication origins to accrue limiting factors and have the potential to reprogram replication timing late in G1 phase.
Project description:Ribosomal DNA (rDNA) is organized as large arrays of tandem repeats that vary in copy number from a few dozen to hundreds. In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, each rDNA repeat includes a potential origin of replication. Previous work has led to the model that the rDNA replication origins compete for limiting replication initiation factors with origins in the rest of the genome, suggesting that reduction in rDNA copy number would reduce competition for these limiting factors and therefore promote origin usage in the rest of the genome. To test this hypothesis, we compared genome-wide replication in strains with either wild type rDNA copy number of ~180 (“180 rDNA”) or just ~35 copies (“35 rDNA”) by performing dense-to-light isotope transfer experiments to physically separate replicated, hybrid-density (HL or heavy-light) DNA from unreplicated, HH (heavy-heavy) DNA in cell samples collected at different times in S phase. Contrary to our expectations, we find that although there are no apparent differences in non-rDNA origin activity between the two strains, the 35 rDNA strain shows a genome-wide delay in progression through S phase compared to the 180 rDNA strain.
Project description:Eukaryotic genomes are replicated from many origin sites that are licensed by the loading of inactive double hexamers of the replicative DNA helicase, Mcm2-7. How eukaryotic origin positions are specified remains elusive. Here we show that, contrary to the bacterial paradigm, eukaryotic origins are not irrevocably defined by selection of the loading site for the replicative helicase, but can shift in position after helicase loading. Using purified proteins, we show that DNA translocases, including RNA polymerase, can push budding yeast Mcm2-7 double hexamers along DNA. Displaced Mcm2-7 double hexamers support DNA replication initiation distal to the loading site in vitro. In yeast cells that are defective for transcription termination, collisions with RNA polymerase induce a shift in origin positions that correlates with the direction of transcription. These results reveal a eukaryotic origin specification mechanism that departs from the classical replicon model, helping eukaryotic cells to negotiate transcription-replication conflict. 4 samples: one replicate for WT at 37C, two replicates for rat1-1 at 37C, and one replicate for rat1-1 at 24C. All are single-end sequenced via Ion Torrent PGM methodology. rat1 = Nuclear 5' to 3' single-stranded RNA exonuclease; involved in RNA metabolism (http://www.yeastgenome.org/locus/S000005574/overview). 4 ChIP seq samples and their duplicates are submitted. rat1-1 ORC ChIP at 24C and 37C; rat1-1 MCM ChIP at 24C and 37C.