Project description:Cytosine DNA methylation is a heritable epigenetic mark present in many eukaryotic organisms. While DNA methylation likely has a conserved role in gene silencing, the levels and patterns of DNA methylation appear to vary drastically among different organisms. Here, we used shotgun genomic bisulfite sequencing (BS-Seq) to compare DNA methylation in eight diverse plant and animal genomes. We found that patterns of methylation are very similar in flowering plants with methylated cytosines detected in all sequence contexts, whereas CG methylation predominates in animals. Vertebrates have methylation throughout the genome except for CpG islands. Gene body methylation is conserved with clear preference for exons in most of the organisms. Furthermore, genes appear to be the major target of methylation in Ciona and honeybee. Among the eight organisms, the green alga Chlamydomonas has the most unusual pattern of methylation, having non-CG methylation enriched in exons of genes rather than in repeats and transposons. In addition, we demonstrate that the Dnmt1 cofactor Uhrf1 has a conserved function in maintaining CG methylation in both transposons and gene bodies in the mouse, Arabidopsis, and zebrafish genomes. Comparison of methylation across eight eukaryotic organisms
Project description:Histone variants play crucial roles in gene expression, genome integrity and chromosome segregation. However, to what extent histone variants control chromatin architecture remains largely unknown. Here, we show that the previously uncharacterized histone variant H2A.W plays a crucial role in condensation of heterochromatin. Genome-wide profiling of all four types of H2A variants in Arabidopsis shows that H2A.W specifically associates with heterochromatin. H2A.W recruitment is independent of heterochromatic marks H3K9me2 and DNA methylation. Genetic interactions show that H2A.W acts in synergy with CMT3 mediated methylation to maintain genome integrity. In vitro, H2A.W enhances chromatin condensation through a higher propensity to make fiber-to-fiber interactions via its conserved C-terminal motif. In vivo, elimination of H2A.W causes decondensation of heterochromatin and conversely, ectopic expression of H2A.W promotes heterochromatin condensation. These results demonstrate that H2A.W plays critical roles in heterochromatin by promoting higher order chromatin condensation. Since similar H2A.W C-terminal motifs are present in other variant found in mammals and other organisms our findings impact our understanding of heterochromatin condensation in a wide variety of eukaryotic organisms. Two mRNA-seq samples, two bisulfite-seq samples, six ChIP-seq samples.
Project description:The Microrchidia (Morc) family of GHKL ATPases are present in a wide variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms but are of largely unknown function. Genetic screens in Arabidopsis thaliana have identified Morc genes as important repressors of transposons and other DNA methylated and silent genes. MORC1 deficient mice were previously found to display male-specific germ cell loss and infertility. Here we show that MORC1 is responsible for transposon repression in the male germline in a pattern that is similar to that observed for germ cells deficient for the DNA methyltransferase homolog DNMT3L. Morc1 mutants show highly localized defects in the establishment of DNA methylation at specific classes of transposons, and this is associated with failed transposon silencing at these sites. Our results identify MORC1 as an important new regulator of the epigenetic landscape of male germ cells during the period of global de novo methylation. This data includes: 47 RNA-seq, 4 smRNA-seq, 6 BS-seq, and 2 ChIP-seq datasets
Project description:To interrogate single-base resolution 6mA sites in the genome-wide, we develop DA-6mA-seq (DpnI-Assisted N6-methylAdenine sequencing), an optimized sequencing method taking advantage of restriction enzyme DpnI, which exclusively cleaves methylated adenine sites. We find DpnI also recognizes other sequence motifs besides the canonical GATC restriction sites, largely expanding the application range of this method. DA-6mA-seq requires less starting material and lower sequencing depth than previous methods, but achieves higher sensitivity, providing a good strategy to identify 6mA in large genome with a low abundance of 6mA. We rebuild the 6mA maps of Chlamydomonas by DA-6mA-seq and then apply this method to another two eukaryotic organisms, Plasmodium and Penicillium. Further analysis reveals most 6mA sites are symmetric at various sequence contexts, suggesting 6mA may function as a new heritable epigenetic mark in eukaryotes. A new sequencing method is developed to detect 6mA in eukaryotes
Project description:microRNAs (miRNA’s) regulation target gene expression, often transcription factors and as such control entire transcriptional networks. This control is important for various developmental transitions and stress responses in a wide range of eukaryotic organisms. While miRNA-mediated gene regulation has been investigated over time (temporal) and in whole organs or tissues in multiple different organisms highlighting their importance, there has been a distinct lack of focus on spatial resolution of miRNA biology. Here we present at cell-type specific resolution, miRNA loading and miRNA action within the Arabidopsis root. Our results for the first time demonstrate the multiple novel modes of miRNA action and illustrate the widespread nature of miRNA movement, at a genome scale within a complex eukaryotic organ.
Project description:The largest and most diverse class of eukaryotic transcription factors contain Cys2-His2 zinc fingers (C2H2-ZFs). Here, we have explored the diversity of sequence preferences of C2H2-ZF proteins in non-metazoan organisms using PBM experiments.
Project description:RNAs are well-suited to act as cellular sensors that detect and respond to metabolite changes in the environment due to their ability to fold into complex structures. Here, we introduce a genome-wide strategy called PARCEL that experimentally identifies RNA aptamers in vitro, in a high-throughput manner. By applying PARCEL to a collection of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, we have revealed 58 new RNA aptamers to three key metabolites, greatly expanding the list of natural RNA aptamers. The newly identified RNA aptamers exhibit significant sequence conservation, are highly structured and show an unexpected prevalence in coding regions. We identified a prokaryotic precursor tmRNA that acts as a vitamin B2 (FMN) binder to facilitate its maturation, as well as new coding-region eukaryotic riboswitches that bind and respond to FMN, highlighting FMN as a second class of eukaryotic riboswitches. PARCEL results show that RNA-based sensing and gene regulation is more widespread than previously appreciated in different organisms.
Project description:The bacterial CRISPR-Cas9 system has been widely adapted for RNA-guided genome editing and gene regulation in diverse organisms yet its in vivo target specificity is poorly understood. Here we provide the first genome-wide binding maps of nuclease-deactivated Cas9 loaded with guide RNAs in mammalian cells. We find a 5-nucleotide seed region in the guide RNA targets Cas9 to thousands of sites in the genome. Chromatin accessibility limits binding to the other hundreds of thousands sites with matching seed sequences, and consequently 70% of off-target binding sites are associated with genes. U-rich seeds have low numbers of off-target sites limited by both low guide RNA abundance and scarcity of complimentary sites in accessible chromatin. Unexpectedly, off-target sites show little evidence of cleavage, supporting a two-state model reminiscent of eukaryotic RNAi machinery where a short seed match triggers binding but extensive pairing is required for cleavage. ChIP-seq of HA-dCas9 loaded with 4 sgRNAs (Phc1-sg1, Phc1-sg2, Nanog-sg2, and Nanog-sg3) in mouse, and 2 sgRNAs in human (EMX1-sg1 and EMX1-sg3)