Project description:Two types of RNA:DNA associations can lead to genome instability: the formation of R-loops during transcription and the incorporation of ribonucleotide monophosphates (rNMPs) into DNA during replication. Both ribonuclease (RNase) H1 and RNase H2 degrade the RNA component of R-loops, whereas only RNase H2 can remove one or a few rNMPs from DNA. We performed high-resolution mapping of mitotic recombination events throughout the yeast genome in diploid strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae lacking RNase H1 (rnh1Δ), RNase H2 (rnh201Δ), or both RNase H1 and RNase H2 (rnh1Δ rnh201Δ). We found little effect on recombination in the rnh1Δ strain, but elevated recombination in both the rnh201Δ and the double-mutant strains; levels of recombination in the double mutant were about 50% higher than in the rnh201 single-mutant strain. An rnh201Δ mutant that additionally contained a mutation that reduces rNMP incorporation by DNA polymerase ε (pol2-M644L) had a level of instability similar to that observed in the presence of wild-type Polε. This result suggests that the elevated recombination observed in the absence of only RNase H2 is primarily a consequence of R loops rather than misincorporated rNMPs.
Project description:Molecular hydrogen (H2) is a biologically active gas that is used medically to ameliorate various systemic pathological conditions. H2 also regulates gene expression involved in intracellular signaling and metabolic pathways. Therefore, we attempted to identify genes that exhibit similar changes in expression in response to H2 by employing DNA microarrays and gene set enrichment analysis. We found that H2 activated the expression of sets of genes regulated by histone H3K27 methylation status. H2 also modified the expression of many genes regulated by a wide variety of signaling pathways.