ABSTRACT: We tested whether we could increase the population of Rdp1-independent primary siRNAs in fission yeast by overexpressing the Dcr1 ribonuclease. We found that in addition to generation of centromeric siRNAs, which was expected, Dcr1 overexpression also resulted in generation of genome-wide primary siRNAs, mapping to many open reading frames. sequencing of 20-30nt sRNAs from total RNA
Project description:We use small RNA sequencing to look for spreading of secondary and tertiary siRNAs along transcripts targeted by ectopic hairpin-derived primary siRNAs. We find that signals within the 3' UTR inhibit siRNA spreading. sequencing of 20-30nt sRNAs from Argonaute immunoprecipitation
Project description:We analyzed the small RNAs bound to the fission yeast RITS and ARC complexes, and to Ago1 in wild-type and ARC mutant cells, to gain insight into the molecular role of ARC. We found that ARC contains longer heterochromatic siRNAs than RITS, and that ARC subunit Arb1 is required for loading small RNAs onto Ago1. Sequencing of 18-28 nt small RNAs from Tas3, Arb1 and Ago1 purifications.
Project description:We tested whether we could increase the population of Rdp1-independent primary siRNAs in fission yeast by overexpressing the Dcr1 ribonuclease. We found that in addition to generation of centromeric siRNAs, which was expected, Dcr1 overexpression also resulted in generation of genome-wide primary siRNAs, mapping to many open reading frames.
Project description:We test the effects of overexpressing RNAi proteins Dcr1, Rdp1, or Ago1 in wildtype, dcr1∆, ago1∆, or rdp1∆ cells. We find that overexpression does not generally affect H3K9me2 at euchromatic loci, but there are varying effects in H3K9me2 on centromeric heterochromatin.
Project description:We test the effects of overexpressing RNAi proteins Dcr1, Rdp1, or Ago1 in wildtype, dcr1M-bM-^HM-^F, ago1M-bM-^HM-^F, or rdp1M-bM-^HM-^F cells. We find that overexpression does not generally affect H3K9me2 at euchromatic loci, but there are varying effects in H3K9me2 on centromeric heterochromatin. Examination of genome-wide enrichment in H3K9 dimethylation in fission yeast haploid cells
Project description:By surveying miRNA populations in each sex, we identified sets of miRNAs differentially expressed in male and female tissues across various stages of development. Small RNAs cloning of dissected male and female tissues from Drosophila melanogaster at various stages
Project description:Argonaute proteins (AGOs) are key nuclease effectors of RNA interference (RNAi) [1]. Although purified AGOs can mediate a single round of target-RNA cleavage in vitro, accessory factors are required for siRNA loading and to achieve multiple-target turnover [2, 3]. To identify AGO co-factors we immunoprecipitated the C. elegans AGO WAGO-1, which engages amplified small RNAs during RNAi [4]. These studies identified a robust association between WAGO-1 and a conserved Vasa ATPase-related protein RDE-12. rde-12 mutants are deficient in RNAi including viral suppression, and fail to produce amplified secondary siRNAs and certain endogenous siRNAs (endo-siRNAs). RDE-12 co-localizes with WAGO-1 in germline P-granules and to peri-nuclear cytoplasmic foci in somatic cells. These findings and our genetic studies suggest that (i) RDE-12 is first recruited to target mRNAs by upstream AGOs (RDE-1 and ERGO-1) where it promotes small-RNA amplification and/or WAGO-1 loading, and that (ii) downstream of these events, RDE-12 forms an RNase-resistant (target mRNA-independent) complex with WAGO-1 that may scan for additional target mRNAs. Examine small RNA population changes in rde-12 mutants
Project description:We have found that oncogenic Ras combined with loss of the Hippo tumour-suppressor pathway reactivates a primary piRNA pathway in Drosophila somatic cells, coincident with oncogenic transformation. In these cells, Piwi becomes loaded with piRNAs derived from generative loci, which are normally restricted to either the germline or the somatic follicle cells. Negating the pathway leads to increases in the expression of a wide variety of transposons and also to altered expression of some protein coding genes. This correlates with a reduction in the proliferation of the transformed cells in culture, suggesting that at least in this context, the piRNA pathway may play a functional role in cancer. Small RNAs cloned from whole cells, piwi-bound small RNAs and long RNA-Seq were performed in wts-RNAi;RasV12 cells to identify piRNAs and gene expression and compared to RasV12 cells, somatic OSS cells, and germline UAS-wts-RNAi;UAS-RasV12 control ovaries. After knock-down of several components of the piRNA machinery in WRR-1 cells (piwi, zuchini, armitage, aubergine, argonaute3) and GFP and/or dsRED control knock-downs, small RNAs were cloned and gene expression profiles (RNA-Seq) were established.
Project description:We report that rice endosperm shows a specific hypomethylation of DNA in the maternal genome, preferring regions of high DNA accessibility. Maternally expressed imprinted genes are enriched for hypomethylation at putative promoter regions and transcriptional termini, and paternally expressed genes at promoters and gene bodies, mirroring our recent results in A. thaliana. However, unlike in A. thaliana, rice endosperm sRNA populations are dominated by specific strong sRNA-producing loci, and imprinted 24-nt sRNAs are expressed from both parental genomes and correlate with hypomethylation. Overlaps between imprinted sRNA loci and imprinted genes expressed from opposite alleles suggest that sRNAs may regulate genomic imprinting. Whereas sRNAs in seedling tissues primarily originate from small Class II (cut and paste) transposable elements, those in endosperm are much more uniformly derived, including sequences from other TE classes, as well as genic and intergenic regions. Our data indicate that the endosperm exhibits a unique pattern of sRNA expression and suggest that demethylation of maternal endosperm DNA is conserved in flowering plants. Examination of DNA methylation and small RNA expression in the seeds of two cultivars from the japonica subspecies of Oryza sativa L.