| 1. |
- Barré, Benjamin P., et al.
(author)
-
Intragenic repeat expansion in the cell wall protein gene HPF1 controls yeast chronological aging
- 2020
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In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 30:5, s. 697-710
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aging varies among individuals due to both genetics and environment, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Using a highly recombined Saccharomyces cerevisiae population, we found 30 distinct quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that control chronological life span (CLS) in calorie-rich and calorie-restricted environments and under rapamycin exposure. Calorie restriction and rapamycin extended life span in virtually all genotypes but through different genetic variants. We tracked the two major QTLs to the cell wall glycoprotein genes FLO11 and HPF1. We found that massive expansion of intragenic tandem repeats within the N-terminal domain of HPF1 was sufficient to cause pronounced life span shortening. Life span impairment by HPF1 was buffered by rapamycin but not by calorie restriction. The HPF1 repeat expansion shifted yeast cells from a sedentary to a buoyant state, thereby increasing their exposure to surrounding oxygen. The higher oxygenation altered methionine, lipid, and purine metabolism, and inhibited quiescence, which explains the life span shortening. We conclude that fast-evolving intragenic repeat expansions can fundamentally change the relationship between cells and their environment with profound effects on cellular lifestyle and longevity.
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| 2. |
- Belfield, Eric J., et al.
(author)
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Thermal stress accelerates Arabidopsis thaliana mutation rate
- 2021
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In: Genome Research. - : COLD SPRING HARBOR LAB PRESS, PUBLICATIONS DEPT. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 31:1, s. 40-50
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mutations are the source of both genetic diversity and mutational load. However, the effects of increasing environmental temperature on plant mutation rates and relative impact on specific mutational classes (e.g., insertion /deletion [indel] vs. single nucleotide variant [SNV]) are unknown. This topic is important because of the poorly defined effects of anthropogen ic global temperature rise on biological systems. Here, we show the impact of temperature increase on Arabidopsis thaliana mutation, studying whole genome profiles of mutation accumulation (MA) lineages grown for 11 successive generations at 29 degrees C. Whereas growth of A. thaliana at standard temperature (ST; 23 degrees C) is associated with a mutation rate of 7 x10(-9) base substitutions per site per generation, growth at stressful high temperature (HT; 29 degrees C) is highly mutagenic, increasing the mutation rate to 12 x 10(-9). SNV frequency is approximately two- to threefold higher at HT than at ST, and HT-growth causes an similar to 19- to 23-fold increase in indel frequency, resulting in a disproportionate increase in indels (vs. SNVs). Most HT-induced indels are 1-2 bp in size and particularly affect homopolymeric or dinucleotide A or T stretch regions of the genome. HT-induced indels occur disproportionately in nucleosome-free regions, suggesting that much HT-induced mutational damage occurs during cell-cycle phases when genomic DNA is packaged into nucleosomes. We conclude that stressful experimental temperature increases accelerate plant mutation rates and particularly accelerate the rate of indel mutation. Increasing environmental temperatures are thus likely to have significant mutagenic consequences for plants growing in the wild and may, in particular, add detrimentally to mutational load.
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| 3. |
- de Hoon, M, et al.
(author)
-
Deep sequencing of short capped RNAs reveals novel families of noncoding RNAs
- 2022
-
In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 32:9, s. 1727-1735
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In eukaryotes, capped RNAs include long transcripts such as messenger RNAs and long noncoding RNAs, as well as shorter transcripts such as spliceosomal RNAs, small nucleolar RNAs, and enhancer RNAs. Long capped transcripts can be profiled using cap analysis gene expression (CAGE) sequencing and other methods. Here, we describe a sequencing library preparation protocol for short capped RNAs, apply it to a differentiation time course of the human cell line THP-1, and systematically compare the landscape of short capped RNAs to that of long capped RNAs. Transcription initiation peaks associated with genes in the sense direction have a strong preference to produce either long or short capped RNAs, with one out of six peaks detected in the short capped RNA libraries only. Gene-associated short capped RNAs have highly specific 3′ ends, typically overlapping splice sites. Enhancers also preferentially generate either short or long capped RNAs, with 10% of enhancers observed in the short capped RNA libraries only. Enhancers producing either short or long capped RNAs show enrichment for GWAS-associated disease SNPs. We conclude that deep sequencing of short capped RNAs reveals new families of noncoding RNAs and elucidates the diversity of transcripts generated at known and novel promoters and enhancers.
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| 4. |
- Ekim, Baris, et al.
(author)
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Efficient mapping of accurate long reads in minimizer space with mapquik
- 2023
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In: Genome Research. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 33:7, s. 1188-1197
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- DNA sequencing data continue to progress toward longer reads with increasingly lower sequencing error rates. We focus on the critical problem of mapping, or aligning, low-divergence sequences from long reads (e.g., Pacific Biosciences [PacBio] HiFi) to a reference genome, which poses challenges in terms of accuracy and computational resources when using cutting-edge read mapping approaches that are designed for all types of alignments. A natural idea would be to optimize efficiency with longer seeds to reduce the probability of extraneous matches; however, contiguous exact seeds quickly reach a sensitivity limit. We introduce mapquik, a novel strategy that creates accurate longer seeds by anchoring alignments through matches of k consecutively sampled minimizers (k-min-mers) and only indexing k-min-mers that occur once in the reference genome, thereby unlocking ultrafast mapping while retaining high sensitivity. We show that mapquik significantly accelerates the seeding and chaining steps-fundamental bottlenecks to read mapping-for both the human and maize genomes with >96% sensitivity and near-perfect specificity. On the human genome, for both real and simulated reads, mapquik achieves a 37x speedup over the state-of-the-art tool minimap2, and on the maize genome, mapquik achieves a 410x speedup over minimap2, making mapquik the fastest mapper to date. These accelerations are enabled from not only minimizer-space seeding but also a novel heuristic O(n) pseudochaining algorithm, which improves upon the long-standing O(nlogn) bound. Minimizer-space computation builds the foundation for achieving real-time analysis of long-read sequencing data.
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| 5. |
- Gao, W, et al.
(author)
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Cell type-specific analysis by single-cell profiling identifies a stable mammalian tRNA-mRNA interface and increased translation efficiency in neurons
- 2022
-
In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 32:1, s. 97-110
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The correlation between codon and anticodon pools influences the efficiency of translation, but whether differences exist in these pools across individual cells is unknown. We determined that codon usage and amino acid demand are highly stable across different cell types using available mouse and human single-cell RNA-sequencing atlases. After showing the robustness of ATAC-sequencing measurements for the analysis of tRNA gene usage, we quantified anticodon usage and amino acid supply in both mouse and human single-cell ATAC-seq atlases. We found that tRNA gene usage is overall coordinated across cell types, except in neurons, which clustered separately from other cell types. Integration of these data sets revealed a strong and statistically significant correlation between amino acid supply and demand across almost all cell types. Neurons have an enhanced translation efficiency over other cell types, driven by an increased supply of tRNAAla (AGC) anticodons. This results in faster decoding of the Ala-GCC codon, as determined by cell type–specific ribosome profiling, suggesting that the reduction of tRNAAla (AGC) anticodon pools may be implicated in neurological pathologies. This study, the first such examination of codon usage, anticodon usage, and translation efficiency resolved at the cell-type level with single-cell information, identifies a conserved landscape of translation elongation across mammalian cellular diversity and evolution.
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| 6. |
- Gao, W, et al.
(author)
-
Cell type-specific analysis by single-cell profiling identifies a stable mammalian tRNA-mRNA interface and increased translation efficiency in neurons
- 2022
-
In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 32:1, s. 97-110
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The correlation between codon and anticodon pools influences the efficiency of translation, but whether differences exist in these pools across individual cells is unknown. We determined that codon usage and amino acid demand are highly stable across different cell types using available mouse and human single-cell RNA-sequencing atlases. After showing the robustness of ATAC-sequencing measurements for the analysis of tRNA gene usage, we quantified anticodon usage and amino acid supply in both mouse and human single-cell ATAC-seq atlases. We found that tRNA gene usage is overall coordinated across cell types, except in neurons, which clustered separately from other cell types. Integration of these data sets revealed a strong and statistically significant correlation between amino acid supply and demand across almost all cell types. Neurons have an enhanced translation efficiency over other cell types, driven by an increased supply of tRNAAla (AGC) anticodons. This results in faster decoding of the Ala-GCC codon, as determined by cell type–specific ribosome profiling, suggesting that the reduction of tRNAAla (AGC) anticodon pools may be implicated in neurological pathologies. This study, the first such examination of codon usage, anticodon usage, and translation efficiency resolved at the cell-type level with single-cell information, identifies a conserved landscape of translation elongation across mammalian cellular diversity and evolution.
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| 7. |
- Geng, KY, et al.
(author)
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Target-enriched nanopore sequencing and de novo assembly reveals co-occurrences of complex on-target genomic rearrangements induced by CRISPR-Cas9 in human cells
- 2022
-
In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 32:10, s. 1876-1891
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The CRISPR-Cas9 system is widely used to permanently delete genomic regions via dual guide RNAs. Genomic rearrangements induced by CRISPR-Cas9 can occur, but continuous technical developments make it possible to characterize complex on-target effects. We combined an innovative droplet-based target enrichment approach with long-read sequencing and coupled it to a customized de novo sequence assembly. This approach enabled us to dissect the sequence content at kilobase scale within an on-target genomic locus. We here describe extensive genomic disruptions by Cas9, involving the allelic co-occurrence of a genomic duplication and inversion of the target region, as well as integrations of exogenous DNA and clustered interchromosomal DNA fragment rearrangements. Furthermore, we found that these genomic alterations led to functional aberrant DNA fragments and can alter cell proliferation. Our findings broaden the consequential spectrum of the Cas9 deletion system, reinforce the necessity of meticulous genomic validations, and introduce a data-driven workflow enabling detailed dissection of the on-target sequence content with superior resolution.
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| 8. |
- Hashimoto, K, et al.
(author)
-
Embryonic LTR retrotransposons supply promoter modules to somatic tissues
- 2021
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In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 31:11, s. 1983-1993
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons are widely distributed across the human genome. They have accumulated through retroviral integration into germline DNA and are latent genetic modules. Active LTR promoters are observed in germline cells; however, little is known about the mechanisms underlying their active transcription in somatic tissues. Here, by integrating our previous transcriptome data set with publicly available data sets, we show that the LTR families MLT2A1 and MLT2A2 are primarily expressed in human four-cell and eight-cell embryos and are also activated in some adult somatic tissues, particularly pineal gland. Three MLT2A elements function as the promoters and first exons of the protein-coding genes ABCE1, COL5A1, and GALNT13 specifically in the pineal gland of humans but not in that of macaques, suggesting that the exaptation of these LTRs as promoters occurred during recent primate evolution. This analysis provides insight into the possible transition from germline insertion to somatic expression of LTR retrotransposons.
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| 9. |
- Jolma, A, et al.
(author)
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Binding specificities of human RNA-binding proteins toward structured and linear RNA sequences
- 2020
-
In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 30:7, s. 962-973
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) regulate RNA metabolism at multiple levels by affecting splicing of nascent transcripts, RNA folding, base modification, transport, localization, translation, and stability. Despite their central role in RNA function, the RNA-binding specificities of most RBPs remain unknown or incompletely defined. To address this, we have assembled a genome-scale collection of RBPs and their RNA-binding domains (RBDs) and assessed their specificities using high-throughput RNA-SELEX (HTR-SELEX). Approximately 70% of RBPs for which we obtained a motif bound to short linear sequences, whereas ∼30% preferred structured motifs folding into stem–loops. We also found that many RBPs can bind to multiple distinctly different motifs. Analysis of the matches of the motifs in human genomic sequences suggested novel roles for many RBPs. We found that three cytoplasmic proteins—ZC3H12A, ZC3H12B, and ZC3H12C—bound to motifs resembling the splice donor sequence, suggesting that these proteins are involved in degradation of cytoplasmic viral and/or unspliced transcripts. Structural analysis revealed that the RNA motif was not bound by the conventional C3H1 RNA-binding domain of ZC3H12B. Instead, the RNA motif was bound by the ZC3H12B's PilT N terminus (PIN) RNase domain, revealing a potential mechanism by which unconventional RBDs containing active sites or molecule-binding pockets could interact with short, structured RNA molecules. Our collection containing 145 high-resolution binding specificity models for 86 RBPs is the largest systematic resource for the analysis of human RBPs and will greatly facilitate future analysis of the various biological roles of this important class of proteins.
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| 10. |
- Kjellin, Jonas, et al.
(author)
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Abundantly expressed class of noncoding RNAs conserved through the multicellular evolution of dictyostelid social amoebas
- 2021
-
In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHL). - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 31:3, s. 436-447
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aggregative multicellularity has evolved multiple times in diverse groups of eukaryotes, exemplified by the well-studied development of dictyostelid social amoebas, for example, Dictyostelium discoideum. However, it is still poorly understood why multicellularity emerged in these amoebas while the majority of other members of Amoebozoa are unicellular. Previously, a novel type of noncoding RNA, Class I RNAs, was identified in D. discoideum and shown to be important for normal multicellular development. Here, we investigated Class I RNA evolution and its connection to multicellular development. We identified a large number of new Class I RNA genes by constructing a covariance model combined with a scoring system based on conserved upstream sequences. Multiple genes were predicted in representatives of each major group of Dictyostelia and expression analysis confirmed that our search approach identifies expressed Class I RNA genes with high accuracy and sensitivity and that the RNAs are developmentally regulated. Further studies showed that Class I RNAs are ubiquitous in Dictyostelia and share highly conserved structure and sequence motifs. In addition, Class I RNA genes appear to be unique to dictyostelid social amoebas because they could not be identified in outgroup genomes, including their closest known relatives. Our results show that Class I RNA is an ancient class of ncRNAs, likely to have been present in the last common ancestor of Dictyostelia dating back at least 600 million years. Based on previous functional analyses and the presented evolutionary investigation, we hypothesize that Class I RNAs were involved in evolution of multicellularity in Dictyostelia.
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| 11. |
- Maier, Benjamin Dominik, 1997-, et al.
(author)
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Entropy predicts sensitivity of pseudorandom seeds
- 2023
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In: Genome Research. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 33:7, s. 1162-1174
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Seed design is important for sequence similarity search applications such as read mapping and average nucleotide identity (ANI) estimation. Although k-mers and spaced k-mers are likely the most well-known and used seeds, sensitivity suffers at high error rates, particularly when indels are present. Recently, we developed a pseudorandom seeding construct, strobemers, which was empirically shown to have high sensitivity also at high indel rates. However, the study lacked a deeper understanding of why. In this study, we propose a model to estimate the entropy of a seed and find that seeds with high entropy, according to our model, in most cases have high match sensitivity. Our discovered seed randomness–sensitivity relationship explains why some seeds perform better than others, and the relationship provides a framework for designing even more sensitive seeds. We also present three new strobemer seed constructs: mixedstrobes, altstrobes, and multistrobes. We use both simulated and biological data to show that our new seed constructs improve sequence-matching sensitivity to other strobemers. We show that the three new seed constructs are useful for read mapping and ANI estimation. For read mapping, we implement strobemers into minimap2 and observe 30% faster alignment time and 0.2% higher accuracy than using k-mers when mapping reads at high error rates. As for ANI estimation, we find that higher entropy seeds have a higher rank correlation between estimated and true ANI.
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| 12. |
- Mármol-Sánchez, Emilio, et al.
(author)
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Historical RNA expression profiles from the extinct Tasmanian tiger
- 2023
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In: Genome Research. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 33:8, s. 1299-1316
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Paleogenomics continues to yield valuable insights into the evolution, population dynamics, and ecology of our ancestors and other extinct species. However, DNA sequencing cannot reveal tissue-specific gene expression, cellular identity, or gene regulation, which are only attainable at the transcriptional level. Pioneering studies have shown that useful RNA can be extracted from ancient specimens preserved in permafrost and historical skins from extant canids, but no attempts have been made so far on extinct species. We extract, sequence, and analyze historical RNA from muscle and skin tissue of a ∼130-year-old Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) preserved in desiccation at room temperature in a museum collection. The transcriptional profiles closely resemble those of extant species, revealing specific anatomical features such as slow muscle fibers or blood infiltration. Metatranscriptomic analysis, RNA damage, tissue-specific RNA profiles, and expression hotspots genome-wide further confirm the thylacine origin of the sequences. RNA sequences are used to improve protein-coding and noncoding annotations, evidencing missing exonic loci and the location of ribosomal RNA genes while increasing the number of annotated thylacine microRNAs from 62 to 325. We discover a thylacine-specific microRNA isoform that could not have been confirmed without RNA evidence. Finally, we detect traces of RNA viruses, suggesting the possibility of profiling viral evolution. Our results represent the first successful attempt to obtain transcriptional profiles from an extinct animal species, providing thought-to-be-lost information on gene expression dynamics. These findings hold promising implications for the study of RNA molecules across the vast collections of natural history museums and from well-preserved permafrost remains.
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| 13. |
- Mugal, Carina, et al.
(author)
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Tissue-specific patterns of regulatory changes underlying gene expression differences among Ficedula flycatchers and their naturally occurring F1 hybrids
- 2020
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In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 30:12, s. 1727-1739
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Changes in interacting cis- and trans-regulatory elements are important candidates for Dobzhansky-Muller hybrid incompatibilities and may contribute to hybrid dysfunction by giving rise to misexpression in hybrids. To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms and determinants of gene expression evolution in natural populations, we analyzed the transcriptome from multiple tissues of two recently diverged Ficedula flycatcher species and their naturally occurring F1 hybrids. Differential gene expression analysis revealed that the extent of differentiation between species and the set of differentially expressed genes varied across tissues. Common to all tissues, a higher proportion of Z-linked genes than autosomal genes showed differential expression, providing evidence for a fast-Z effect. We further found clear signatures of hybrid misexpression in brain, heart, kidney, and liver. However, while testis showed the highest divergence of gene expression among tissues, it showed no clear signature of misexpression in F1 hybrids, even though these hybrids were found to be sterile. It is therefore unlikely that incompatibilities between cis-trans regulatory changes explain the observed sterility. Instead, we found evidence that cis-regulatory changes play a significant role in the evolution of gene expression in testis, which illustrates the tissue-specific nature of cis-regulatory evolution bypassing constraints associated with pleiotropic effects of genes.
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| 14. |
- Nichterwitz, S, et al.
(author)
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LCM-seq reveals unique transcriptional adaptation mechanisms of resistant neurons and identifies protective pathways in spinal muscular atrophy
- 2020
-
In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 30:8, s. 1083-1096
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Somatic motor neurons are selectively vulnerable in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which is caused by a deficiency of the ubiquitously expressed survival of motor neuron protein. However, some motor neuron groups, including oculomotor and trochlear (ocular), which innervate eye muscles, are for unknown reasons spared. To reveal mechanisms of vulnerability and resistance in SMA, we investigate the transcriptional dynamics in discrete neuronal populations using laser capture microdissection coupled with RNA sequencing (LCM-seq). Using gene correlation network analysis, we reveal a TRP53-mediated stress response that is intrinsic to all somatic motor neurons independent of their vulnerability, but absent in relatively resistant red nucleus and visceral motor neurons. However, the temporal and spatial expression analysis across neuron types shows that the majority of SMA-induced modulations are cell type–specific. Using Gene Ontology and protein network analyses, we show that ocular motor neurons present unique disease-adaptation mechanisms that could explain their resilience. Specifically, ocular motor neurons up-regulate (1) Syt1, Syt5, and Cplx2, which modulate neurotransmitter release; (2) the neuronal survival factors Gdf15, Chl1, and Lif; (3) Aldh4, that protects cells from oxidative stress; and (4) the caspase inhibitor Pak4. Finally, we show that GDF15 can rescue vulnerable human spinal motor neurons from degeneration. This confirms that adaptation mechanisms identified in resilient neurons can be used to reduce susceptibility of vulnerable neurons. In conclusion, this in-depth longitudinal transcriptomics analysis in SMA reveals novel cell type–specific changes that, alone and combined, present compelling targets, including Gdf15, for future gene therapy studies aimed toward preserving vulnerable motor neurons.
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| 15. |
- Palahi i Torres, Aleix, et al.
(author)
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The fine-scale recombination rate variation and associations with genomic features in a butterfly
- 2023
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In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 33:5, s. 810-823
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recombination is a key molecular mechanism that has profound implications on both micro- and macroevolutionary processes. However, the determinants of recombination rate variation in holocentric organisms are poorly understood, in particular in Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). The wood white butterfly (Leptidea sinapis) shows considerable intraspecific variation in chromosome numbers and is a suitable system for studying regional recombination rate variation and its potential molecular underpinnings. Here, we developed a large whole-genome resequencing data set from a population of wood whites to obtain high-resolution recombination maps using linkage disequilibrium information. The analyses revealed that larger chromosomes had a bimodal recombination landscape, potentially caused by interference between simultaneous chiasmata. The recombination rate was significantly lower in subtelomeric regions, with exceptions associated with segregating chromosome rearrangements, showing that fissions and fusions can have considerable effects on the recombination landscape. There was no association between the inferred recombination rate and base composition, supporting a limited influence of GC-biased gene conversion in butterflies. We found significant but variable associations between the recombination rate and the density of different classes of transposable elements, most notably a significant enrichment of short interspersed nucleotide elements in genomic regions with higher recombination rate. Finally, the analyses unveiled significant enrichment of genes involved in farnesyltranstransferase activity in recombination coldspots, potentially indicating that expression of transferases can inhibit formation of chiasmata during meiotic division. Our results provide novel information about recombination rate variation in holocentric organisms and have particular implications for forthcoming research in population genetics, molecular/genome evolution, and speciation.
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| 16. |
- Paloviita, P, et al.
(author)
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Small RNA expression and miRNA modification dynamics in human oocytes and early embryos
- 2021
-
In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 31:8, s. 1474-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Small noncoding RNAs (sRNAs) play important roles during the oocyte-to-embryo transition (OET), when the maternal phenotype is reprogrammed and the embryo genome is gradually activated. The transcriptional program driving early human development has been studied with the focus mainly on protein-coding RNAs, and expression dynamics of sRNAs remain largely unexplored. We profiled sRNAs in human oocytes and early embryos using an RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) method suitable for low inputs of material. We show that OET in humans is temporally coupled with the transition from predominant expression of oocyte short piRNAs (os-piRNAs) in oocytes, to activation of microRNA (miRNA) expression in cleavage stage embryos. Additionally, 3′ mono- and oligoadenylation of miRNAs is markedly increased in zygotes. We hypothesize that this may modulate the function or stability of maternal miRNAs, some of which are retained throughout the first cell divisions in embryos. This study is the first of its kind elucidating the dynamics of sRNA expression and miRNA modification along a continuous trajectory of early human development and provides a valuable data set for in-depth interpretative analyses.
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| 17. |
- Parey, Elise, et al.
(author)
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Phylogenetic modeling of enhancer shifts in African mole-rats reveals regulatory changes associated with tissue-specific traits
- 2023
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In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Lab Press. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 33:9, s. 1513-1526
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Changes in gene regulation are thought to underlie most phenotypic differences between species. For subterranean rodents such as the naked mole-rat, proposed phenotypic adaptations include hypoxia tolerance, metabolic changes, and cancer resistance. However, it is largely unknown what regulatory changes may associate with these phenotypic traits, and whether these are unique to the naked mole-rat, the mole-rat clade, or are also present in other mammals. Here, we investigate regulatory evolution in the heart and liver from two African mole-rat species and two rodent outgroups using genome-wide epigenomic profiling. First, we adapted and applied a phylogenetic modeling approach to quantitatively compare epigenomic signals at orthologous regulatory elements and identified thousands of promoter and enhancer regions with differential epigenomic activity in mole-rats. These elements associate with known mole-rat adaptations in metabolic and functional pathways and suggest candidate genetic loci that may underlie mole-rat innovations. Second, we evaluated ancestral and species-specific regulatory changes in the study phylogeny and report several candidate pathways experiencing stepwise remodeling during the evolution of mole-rats, such as the insulin and hypoxia response pathways. Third, we report nonorthologous regulatory elements overlap with lineage-specific repetitive elements and appear to modify metabolic pathways by rewiring of HNF4 and RAR/RXR transcription factor binding sites in mole-rats. These comparative analyses reveal how mole-rat regulatory evolution informs previously reported phenotypic adaptations. Moreover, the phylogenetic modeling framework we propose here improves upon the state of the art by addressing known limitations of inter-species comparisons of epigenomic profiles and has broad implications in the field of comparative functional genomics.
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| 18. |
- Ramilowski, JA, et al.
(author)
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Functional annotation of human long noncoding RNAs via molecular phenotyping
- 2020
-
In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 30:7, s. 1060-1072
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) constitute the majority of transcripts in the mammalian genomes, and yet, their functions remain largely unknown. As part of the FANTOM6 project, we systematically knocked down the expression of 285 lncRNAs in human dermal fibroblasts and quantified cellular growth, morphological changes, and transcriptomic responses using Capped Analysis of Gene Expression (CAGE). Antisense oligonucleotides targeting the same lncRNAs exhibited global concordance, and the molecular phenotype, measured by CAGE, recapitulated the observed cellular phenotypes while providing additional insights on the affected genes and pathways. Here, we disseminate the largest-to-date lncRNA knockdown data set with molecular phenotyping (over 1000 CAGE deep-sequencing libraries) for further exploration and highlight functional roles for ZNF213-AS1 and lnc-KHDC3L-2.
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| 19. |
- Sahlin, Kristoffer
(author)
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Effective sequence similarity detection with strobemers
- 2021
-
In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 31:11, s. 2080-2094
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- k-mer-based methods are widely used in bioinformatics for various types of sequence comparisons. However, a single mutation will mutate k consecutive k-mers and make most k-mer-based applications for sequence comparison sensitive to variable mutation rates. Many techniques have been studied to overcome this sensitivity, for example, spaced k-mers and k-mer permutation techniques, but these techniques do not handle indels well. For indels, pairs or groups of small k-mers are commonly used, but these methods first produce k-mer matches, and only in a second step, a pairing or grouping of k-mers is performed. Such techniques produce many redundant k-mer matches owing to the size of k Here, we propose strobemers as an alternative to k-mers for sequence comparison. Intuitively, strobemers consist of two or more linked shorter k-mers, where the combination of linked k-mers is decided by a hash function. We use simulated data to show that strobemers provide more evenly distributed sequence matches and are less sensitive to different mutation rates than k-mers and spaced k-mers. Strobemers also produce higher match coverage across sequences. We further implement a proof-of-concept sequence-matching tool StrobeMap and use synthetic and biological Oxford Nanopore sequencing data to show the utility of using strobemers for sequence comparison in different contexts such as sequence clustering and alignment scenarios.
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| 20. |
- Vaid, Roshan, et al.
(author)
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Global loss of cellular m(6)A RNA methylation following infection with different SARS-CoV-2 variants
- 2023
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In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 33:3, s. 299-313
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Insights into host-virus interactions during SARS-CoV-2 infection are needed to understand COVID-19 pathogenesis and may help to guide the design of novel antiviral therapeutics. N-6-Methyladenosine modification (m(6)A), one of the most abundant cellular RNA modifications, regulates key processes in RNA metabolism during stress response. Gene expression profiles observed postinfection with different SARS-CoV-2 variants show changes in the expression of genes related to RNA catabolism, including m(6)A readers and erasers. We found that infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants causes a loss of m(6)A in cellular RNAs, whereas m(6)A is detected abundantly in viral RNA. METTL3, the m(6)A methyltransferase, shows an unusual cytoplasmic localization postinfection. The B.1.351 variant has a less-pronounced effect on METTL3 localization and loss of m(6)A than did the B.1 and B.1.1.7 variants. We also observed a loss of m(6)A upon SARS-CoV-2 infection in air/liquid interface cultures of human airway epithelia, confirming that m(6)A loss is characteristic of SARS-CoV-2-infected cells. Further, transcripts with m(6)A modification are preferentially down-regulated postinfection. Inhibition of the export protein XPO1 results in the restoration of METTL3 localization, recovery of m(6)A on cellular RNA, and increased mRNA expression. Stress granule formation, which is compromised by SARS-CoV-2 infection, is restored by XPO1 inhibition and accompanied by a reduced viral infection in vitro. Together, our study elucidates how SARS-CoV-2 inhibits the stress response and perturbs cellular gene expression in an m(6)A-dependent manner.
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| 21. |
- Vaid, R, et al.
(author)
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Global loss of cellular m6A RNA methylation following infection with different SARS-CoV-2 variants
- 2023
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In: Genome research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1549-5469 .- 1088-9051. ; 33:3, s. 299-313
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Insights into host–virus interactions during SARS-CoV-2 infection are needed to understand COVID-19 pathogenesis and may help to guide the design of novel antiviral therapeutics.N6-Methyladenosine modification (m6A), one of the most abundant cellular RNA modifications, regulates key processes in RNA metabolism during stress response. Gene expression profiles observed postinfection with different SARS-CoV-2 variants show changes in the expression of genes related to RNA catabolism, including m6A readers and erasers. We found that infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants causes a loss of m6A in cellular RNAs, whereas m6A is detected abundantly in viral RNA. METTL3, the m6A methyltransferase, shows an unusual cytoplasmic localization postinfection. The B.1.351 variant has a less-pronounced effect on METTL3 localization and loss of m6A than did the B.1 and B.1.1.7 variants. We also observed a loss of m6A upon SARS-CoV-2 infection in air/liquid interface cultures of human airway epithelia, confirming that m6A loss is characteristic of SARS-CoV-2-infected cells. Further, transcripts with m6A modification are preferentially down-regulated postinfection. Inhibition of the export protein XPO1 results in the restoration of METTL3 localization, recovery of m6A on cellular RNA, and increased mRNA expression. Stress granule formation, which is compromised by SARS-CoV-2 infection, is restored by XPO1 inhibition and accompanied by a reduced viral infection in vitro. Together, our study elucidates how SARS-CoV-2 inhibits the stress response and perturbs cellular gene expression in an m6A-dependent manner.
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| 22. |
- Viluma, Agnese, et al.
(author)
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Whole-genome resequencing of temporally stratified samples reveals substantial loss of haplotype diversity in the highly inbred Scandinavian wolf population
- 2022
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In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHL). - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 32:3, s. 449-458
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Genetic drift can dramatically change allele frequencies in small populations and lead to reduced levels of genetic diversity, including loss of segregating variants. However, there is a shortage of quantitative studies of how genetic diversity changes over time in natural populations, especially on genome-wide scales. Here, we analyzed whole-genome sequences from 76 wolves of a highly inbred Scandinavian population, founded by only one female and two males, sampled over a period of 30 yr. We obtained chromosome-level haplotypes of all three founders and found that 10%-24% of their diploid genomes had become lost after about 20 yr of inbreeding (which approximately corresponds to five generations). Lost haplotypes spanned large genomic regions, as expected from the amount of recombination during this limited time period. Altogether, 160,000 SNP alleles became lost from the population, which may include adaptive variants as well as wild-type alleles masking recessively deleterious alleles. Although not sampled, we could indirectly infer that the two male founders had megabase-sized runs of homozygosity and that all three founders showed significant haplotype sharing, meaning that there were on average only 4.2 unique haplotypes in the six copies of each autosome that the founders brought into the population. This violates the assumption of unrelated founder haplotypes often made in conservation and management of endangered species. Our study provides a novel view of how whole-genome resequencing of temporally stratified samples can be used to visualize and directly quantify the consequences of genetic drift in a small inbred population.
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| 23. |
- Vogan, Aaron A., et al.
(author)
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The Enterprise, a massive transposon carrying Spok meiotic drive genes
- 2021
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In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHL). - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 31:5, s. 789-798
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The genomes of eukaryotes are full of parasitic sequences known as transposable elements (TEs). Most TEs studied to date are relatively small (50 — 12000 bp), but can contribute to very large proportions of genomes. Here we report the discovery of a giant tyrosine-recombinase-mobilized DNA transposon, Enterprise, from the model fungus Podospora anserina. Previously, we described a large genomic feature called the Spok block which is notable due to the presence of meiotic drive genes of the Spok gene family. The Spok block ranges from 110 kb to 247 kb and can be present in at least four different genomic locations within P. anserina, despite what is an otherwise highly conserved genome structure. We have determined that the reason for its varying positions is that the Spok block is not only capable of meiotic drive, but is also capable of transposition. More precisely, the Spok block represents a unique case where the Enterprise has captured the Spoks, thereby parasitizing a resident genomic parasite to become a genomic hyperparasite. Furthermore, we demonstrate that Enterprise (without the Spoks) is found in other fungal lineages, where it can be as large as 70 kb. Lastly, we provide experimental evidence that the Spok block is deleterious, with detrimental effects on spore production in strains which carry it. In contrast to the selfish role of the Enterprise in P. anserina, we speculate that the mobility of the Enterprise may also play an adaptive role in many other fungi, through the horizontal transfer of metabolic genes. This union of meiotic drivers and a transposon has created a selfish element of impressive size in Podospora, challenging our perception of how TEs influence genome evolution and broadening the horizons in terms of what the upper limit of transposition may be.
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| 24. |
- Zhang, Hua, et al.
(author)
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Profiling chromatin accessibility in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples
- 2022
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In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHL). - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 32:1, s. 150-161
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Archived formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) samples are the global standard format for preservation of the majority of biopsies in both basic research and translational cancer studies, and profiling chromatin accessibility in the archived FFPE tissues is fundamental to understanding gene regulation. Accurate mapping of chromatin accessibility from FFPE specimens is challenging because of the high degree of DNA damage. Here, we first showed that standard ATAC-seq can be applied to purified FFPE nuclei but yields lower library complexity and a smaller proportion of long DNA fragments. We then present FFPE-ATAC, the first highly sensitive method for decoding chromatin accessibility in FFPE tissues that combines Tn5-mediated transposition and T7 in vitro transcription. The FFPE-ATAC generates high-quality chromatin accessibility profiles with 500 nuclei from a single FFPE tissue section, enables the dissection of chromatin profiles from the regions of interest with the aid of hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, and reveals disease-associated chromatin regulation from the human colorectal cancer FFPE tissue archived for >10 yr. In summary, the approach allows decoding of the chromatin states that regulate gene expression in archival FFPE tissues, thereby permitting investigators to better understand epigenetic regulation in cancer and precision medicine.
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| 25. |
- Zhao, Cheng, et al.
(author)
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Single-cell multi-omics of human preimplantation embryos shows susceptibility to glucocorticoids
- 2022
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In: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHL). - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 32:9, s. 1627-1641
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The preconceptual, intrauterine, and early life environments can have a profound and long-lasting impact on the developmental trajectories and health outcomes of the offspring. Given the relatively low success rates of assisted reproductive technologies (ART; similar to 25%), additives and adjuvants, such as glucocorticoids, are used to improve the success rate. Considering the dynamic developmental events that occur during this window, these exposures may alter blastocyst formation at a molecular level, and as such, affect not only the viability of the embryo and the ability of the blastocyst to implant, but also the developmental trajectory of the first three cell lineages, ultimately influencing the physiology of the embryo. In this study, we present a comprehensive single-cell transcriptome, methylome, and small RNA atlas in the day 7 human embryo. We show that, despite no change in morphology and developmental features, preimplantation glucocorticoid exposure reprograms the molecular profile of the trophectoderm (TE) lineage, and these changes are associated with an altered metabolic and inflammatory response. Our data also suggest that glucocorticoids can precociously mature the TE sublineages, supported by the presence of extravillous trophoblast markers in the polar sublineage and presence of X Chromosome dosage compensation. Further, we have elucidated that epigenetic regulation-DNA methylation and microRNAs (miRNAs)-likely underlies the transcriptional changes observed. This study suggests that exposures to exogenous compounds during preimplantation may unintentionally reprogram the human embryo, possibly leading to suboptimal development and longer-term health outcomes.
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| 26. |
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