scholarly journals Zygotic Expression of the Double-Stranded RNA Binding Motif Protein Drb2p Is Required for DNA Elimination in the Ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1648-1659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason A. Motl ◽  
Douglas L. Chalker

ABSTRACTDouble-stranded RNA binding motif (DSRM)-containing proteins play many roles in the regulation of gene transcription and translation, including some with tandem DSRMs that act in small RNA biogenesis. We report the characterization of the genes for double-stranded RNA binding proteins 1 and 2 (DRB1andDRB2), two genes encoding nuclear proteins with tandem DSRMs in the ciliateTetrahymena thermophila.Both proteins are expressed throughout growth and development but exhibit distinct peaks of expression, suggesting different biological roles. In support of this, we show that expression ofDRB2is essential for vegetative growth whileDRB1expression is not. During conjugation, Drb1p and Drb2p localize to distinct nuclear foci. Cells lacking allDRB1copies are able to produce viable progeny, although at a reduced rate relative to wild-type cells. In contrast, cells lacking germ lineDRB2copies, which thus cannot express Drb2p zygotically, fail to produce progeny, arresting late into conjugation. This arrest phenotype is accompanied by a failure to organize the essential DNA rearrangement protein Pdd1p into DNA elimination bodies and execute DNA elimination and chromosome breakage. These results implicate zygotically expressed Drb2p in the maturation of these nuclear structures, which are necessary for reorganization of the somatic genome.

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 628-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine A. Braun ◽  
Kenneth M. Dombek ◽  
Elton T. Young

In the yeastSaccharomyces cerevisiae, the switch from respiratory metabolism to fermentation causes rapid decay of transcripts encoding proteins uniquely required for aerobic metabolism. Snf1, the yeast ortholog of AMP-activated protein kinase, has been implicated in this process because inhibiting Snf1 mimics the addition of glucose. In this study, we show that theSNF1-dependentADH2promoter, or just the major transcription factor binding site, is sufficient to confer glucose-induced mRNA decay upon heterologous transcripts.SNF1-independent expression from theADH2promoter prevented glucose-induced mRNA decay without altering the start site of transcription.SNF1-dependent transcripts are enriched for the binding motif of the RNA binding protein Vts1, an important mediator of mRNA decay and mRNA repression whose expression is correlated with decreased abundance ofSNF1-dependent transcripts during the yeast metabolic cycle. However, deletion ofVTS1did not slow the rate of glucose-induced mRNA decay.ADH2mRNA rapidly dissociated from polysomes after glucose repletion, and sequences bound by RNA binding proteins were enriched in the transcripts from repressed cells. Inhibiting the protein kinase A pathway did not affect glucose-induced decay ofADH2mRNA. Our results suggest that Snf1 may influence mRNA stability by altering the recruitment activity of the transcription factor Adr1.


Methods ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertram L. Jacobs ◽  
Jeffrey O. Langland ◽  
Teresa Brandt

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1343-1353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lihui Yin ◽  
Susan T. Gater ◽  
Kathleen M. Karrer

ABSTRACT Ciliated protozoa contain two types of nuclei, germ line micronuclei (Mic) and transcriptionally active macronuclei (Mac). During sexual reproduction, the parental Mac degenerates and a new Mac develops from a mitotic product of the zygotic Mic. Macronuclear development involves extensive endoreplication of the genome. The present study shows that endoreplication of macronuclear DNA in Tetrahymena is an example of endocyling, a variant of the mitotic cycle with alternating S and G phases in the absence of cell division. Thus, endocycling is conserved from ciliates to multicellular organisms. The gene ASI2 in Tetrahymena thermophila encodes a putative signal transduction receptor. ASI2 is nonessential for vegetative growth, but it is upregulated during development of the new Mac. Cells that lack ASI2 in the developing Mac anlagen are arrested in endoreplication of the DNA and die. This study shows that ASI2 is also transcribed in the parental Mac early in conjugation and that transcription of ASI2 in the parental Mac supports endoreplication of the DNA during early stages of development of the Mac anlagen. Other molecular events in Mac anlage development, including developmentally regulated DNA rearrangement, occur normally in matings between ASI2 knockouts, suggesting that ASI2 specifically regulates endocycling in Tetrahymena.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 4128-4134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail A. Nikiforov ◽  
Martin A. Gorovsky ◽  
C. David Allis

ABSTRACT Conversion of the germ line micronuclear genome into the genome of a somatic macronucleus in Tetrahymena thermophila requires several DNA rearrangement processes. These include (i) excision and subsequent elimination of several thousand internal eliminated sequences (IESs) scattered throughout the micronuclear genome and (ii) breakage of the micronuclear chromosomes into hundreds of DNA fragments, followed by de novo telomere addition to their ends. Chromosome breakage sequences (Cbs) that determine the sites of breakage and short regions of DNA adjacent to them are also eliminated. Both processes occur concomitantly in the developing macronucleus. Two stage-specific protein factors involved in germ line DNA elimination have been described previously. Pdd1p and Pdd2p (for programmed DNA degradation) physically associate with internal eliminated sequences in transient electron-dense structures in the developing macronucleus. Here, we report the purification, sequence analysis, and characterization of Pdd3p, a novel developmentally regulated, chromodomain-containing polypeptide. Pdd3p colocalizes with Pdd1p in the peripheral regions of DNA elimination structures, but is also found more internally. DNA cross-linked and immunoprecipitated with Pdd1p- or Pdd3p-specific antibodies is enriched in IESs, but not Cbs, suggesting that different protein factors are involved in elimination of these two groups of sequences.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Erin C. Boone

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA (MSUD) is an RNA interference (RNAi) pathway in Neurospora crassa that detects genes without a homologous partner and silences them for the duration of sexual development. In this study, we have further elucidated the function of known MSUD proteins, identified novel proteins that are required for MSUD, and demonstrated the conservation of RNAi-related processes at the nuclear periphery. We began by showing SAD-2 is crucial for the localization of other MSUD proteins in the perinuclear region. These data suggest that SAD-2 works as a scaffold protein and that proper function of MSUD, like other germline RNAi-like systems, is reliant on the presence of silencing proteins in the perinuclear region. An MSUD suppression assay identified two novel MSUD proteins, SAD-Y and SAD-B'. Even though SAD-Y and its homologs contain a conserved putative RNA- binding motif, they have yet to be assigned to a biochemical pathway. Our work here has linked silencing to SAD-Y-like proteins. SAD-Y has been shown to interact with other MSUD factors in both the nucleus and at the nuclear periphery. SAD-B's homolog has been found in the nuage, an epicenter for RNA-binding proteins involved in post-transcriptional regulation for Drosophila germline cells. SAD-B interacts with core MSUD proteins and has an especially intimate association with SMS-2, which requires it for localization. Furthermore, bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) revealed that SAD-B' interacts with a Golgi retrograde transport protein and an autophagy marker protein, suggesting the importance of the endomembrane system in this RNAi process.


1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 358-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
S R Green ◽  
L Manche ◽  
M B Mathews

The RNA-binding domain of the protein kinase DAI, the double-stranded RNA inhibitor of translation, contains two repeats of a motif that is also found in a number of other RNA-binding proteins. This motif consists of 67 amino acid residues and is predicted to contain a positively charged alpha helix at its C terminus. We have analyzed the effects of equivalent single amino acid changes in three conserved residues distributed over each copy of the motif. Mutants in the C-terminal portion of either repeat were severely defective, indicating that both copies of the motif are essential for RNA binding. Changes in the N-terminal and central parts of the motif were more debilitating if they were made in the first motif than in the second, suggesting that the first motif is the more important for RNA binding and that the second motif is structurally more flexible. When the second motif was replaced by a duplicate of the first motif, the ectopic copy retained its greater sensitivity to mutation, implying that the two motifs have distinct functions with respect to the process of RNA binding. Furthermore, the mutations have the same effect on the binding of double-stranded RNA and VA RNA, consistent with the existence of a single RNA-binding domain for both activating and inhibitory RNAs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 758-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnès Méreau ◽  
Vincent Anquetil ◽  
Hubert Lerivray ◽  
Justine Viet ◽  
Claire Schirmer ◽  
...  

The output of alternative splicing depends on the cooperative or antagonistic activities of several RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), like Ptbp1 and Esrp1 inXenopus. Fine-tuning of the RBP abundance is therefore of prime importance to achieve tissue- or cell-specific splicing patterns. Here, we addressed the mechanisms leading to the high expression of theptbp1gene, which encodes Ptbp1, inXenopusepidermis. Two splice isoforms ofptbp1mRNA differ by the presence of an alternative exon 11, and only the isoform including exon 11 can be translated to a full-length protein.In vivominigene assays revealed that the nonproductive isoform was predominantly produced. Knockdown experiments demonstrated that Esrp1, which is specific to the epidermis, strongly stimulated the expression ofptbp1by favoring the productive isoform. Consequently, knocking downesrp1phenocopiedptbp1inactivation. Conversely, Ptbp1 repressed the expression of its own gene by favoring the nonproductive isoform. Hence, a complex posttranscriptional mechanism controls Ptbp1 abundance inXenopusepidermis: skipping of exon 11 is the default splicing pattern, but Esrp1 stimulatesptbp1expression by favoring the inclusion of exon 11 up to a level that is limited by Ptbp1 itself. These results decipher a posttranscriptional mechanism that achieves various abundances of the ubiquitous RBP Ptbp1 in different tissues.


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (42) ◽  
pp. 26520-26530
Author(s):  
Amir K. Foroushani ◽  
Bryan Chim ◽  
Madeline Wong ◽  
Andre Rastegar ◽  
Patrick T. Smith ◽  
...  

The human genome encodes for over 1,500 RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), which coordinate regulatory events on RNA transcripts. Most studies of RBPs have concentrated on their action on host protein-encoding mRNAs, which constitute a minority of the transcriptome. A widely neglected subset of our transcriptome derives from integrated retroviral elements, termed endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), that comprise ∼8% of the human genome. Some ERVs have been shown to be transcribed under physiological and pathological conditions, suggesting that sophisticated regulatory mechanisms to coordinate and prevent their ectopic expression exist. However, it is unknown how broadly RBPs and ERV transcripts directly interact to provide a posttranscriptional layer of regulation. Here, we implemented a computational pipeline to determine the correlation of expression between individual RBPs and ERVs from single-cell or bulk RNA-sequencing data. One of our top candidates for an RBP negatively regulating ERV expression was RNA-binding motif protein 4 (RBM4). We used photoactivatable ribonucleoside-enhanced cross-linking and immunoprecipitation to demonstrate that RBM4 indeed bound ERV transcripts at CGG consensus elements. Loss of RBM4 resulted in an elevated transcript level of bound ERVs of the HERV-K and -H families, as well as increased expression of HERV-K envelope protein. We pinpointed RBM4 regulation of HERV-K to a CGG-containing element that is conserved in the LTRs of HERV-K-10, -K-11, and -K-20, and validated the functionality of this site using reporter assays. In summary, we systematically identified RBPs that may regulate ERV function and demonstrate a role for RBM4 in controlling ERV expression.


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