Project description:Dimethyl sulfate (DMS) is a methylating reagent that has long been used to detect footprints of DNA-bound proteins in vitro as well as in vivo. Here we describe DMS-seq for in vivo genome-wide mapping of protein-DNA interactions. DMS-seq exploits the cell-permeable nature of DMS to obviate the need for nuclear isolation, thereby simplifying the process to detect binding sites of transcription factors. Furthermore, we found that DMS preferentially attacks nucleosome centers in vivo, evidencing for DMS-seq as a first method that locates them without using genetically-modified histones and is hence applicable to any eukaryote. DMS-seq should be a simple and unique method in epigenomics.
Project description:Dimethylsulfide is a volatile organic sulfur compound that provides the largest input of biogenic sulfur from the oceans to the atmosphere, and thence back to land, constituting an important link in the global sulfur cycle. Microorganisms degrading DMS affect fluxes of DMS in the environment, but the underlying metabolic pathways are still poorly understood. Methylophaga thiooxydans is a marine methylotrophic bacterium capable of growth on DMS as sole source of carbon and energy. Using proteomics and transcriptomics we identified genes expressed during growth on dimethylsulfide and methanol to refine our knowledge of the metabolic pathways that are involved in DMS and methanol degradation in this strain. Amongst the most highly expressed genes on DMS were the two methanethiol oxidases driving the oxidation of this reactive and toxic intermediate of DMS metabolism. Growth on DMS also increased expression of the enzymes of the tetrahydrofolate linked pathway of formaldehyde oxidation, in addition to the tetrahydromethanopterin linked pathway. Key enzymes of the inorganic sulfur oxidation pathway included flavocytochrome c sulfide dehydrogenase, sulfide quinone oxidoreductase, and persulfide dioxygenases. A sulP permease was also expressed during growth on DMS. Other enzymes of organic and inorganic sulfur metabolism previously detected in cell extracts of Methylophaga have not been characterised at the genetic level yet; their expression level and regulation could not be analysed. A pan-genome analysis of six available Methylophaga genomes suggests that only two of the six investigated bacteria have the metabolic potential to utilize methanethiol, the degradation product of DMS. These results mirror phenotypic analyses and demonstrate that DMS-utilization and subsequent C1 and sulfur oxidation are not conserved across the entire genus.
Project description:Double minutes (DMs), a major form of gene amplification, commonly carry oncogenes or chemoresistance-related genes that are associated with the occurrence, development and prognosis of tumors. Thus, probing molecular structures of DMs allows us to further understand molecular mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis. In this study, we identified four amplification regions by high-density array CGH in a human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line NCI-H716. These amplification regions localized in two populations of DMs. Through a combined analysis on the results of array CGH, high throughput sequencing, multiplex-fluorescence in situ hybridization and chromosome walking results, we constructed molecular structures of the two populations of DMs at nucleotide resolution.
Project description:Double minutes (DMs), a major form of gene amplification, commonly carry oncogenes or chemoresistance-related genes that are associated with the occurrence, development and prognosis of tumors. Thus, probing molecular structures of DMs allows us to further understand molecular mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis. In this study, we identified four amplification regions by high-density array CGH in a human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line NCI-H716. These amplification regions localized in two populations of DMs. Through a combined analysis on the results of array CGH, high throughput sequencing, multiplex-fluorescence in situ hybridization and chromosome walking results, we constructed molecular structures of the two populations of DMs at nucleotide resolution.
Project description:Marine phytoplankton produce ~109 tons of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) per year, an estimated 10% of which is catabolized by bacteria through the DMSP cleavage pathway to the climatically active gas dimethyl sulfide (DMS). SAR11 Alphaproteobacteria (order Pelagibacterales), the most abundant chemoorganotrophic bacteria in the oceans, have been shown to assimilate DMSP into biomass, thereby supplying this cell’s unusual requirement for reduced sulfur. Here we report that Pelagibacter HTCC1062 produces the gas methanethiol (MeSH) and that simultaneously a second DMSP catabolic pathway, mediated by a DMSP lyase, shunts as much as 59% of DMSP uptake to DMS production. We propose a model in which the allocation of DMSP between these pathways is kinetically controlled to release DMS when the supply of DMSP exceeds cellular sulfur demands for biosynthesis. These findings suggest that DMSP supply and demand relationships can significantly control rates of oceanic DMS production.