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MINIYO and QUATRE-QUART 2 Are Required for the Assembly of RNA Polymerase V in Arabidopsis

ABSTRACT: RNA polymerases IV and V (Pol IV and Pol V) are plant-specific polymerases required for the generation of noncoding RNAs in RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM) and transcriptional gene silencing. Their subunit compositions largely resemble that of Pol II. However, the mechanism and accessory factors involved in their assembly remain largely unknown. In this study, we performed a forward genetic screen and identified novel mutant alleles of MINIYO (IYO), QUATRE-QUART 2 (QQT2) and NUCLEAR RNA POLYMERASE B/D/E 11 (NRPB/D/E11) that are defective in RdDM. We found that Pol IV-dependent small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and Pol V-dependent transcripts were greatly reduced in the mutants. NRPE1, the largest subunit of Pol V, dissociated from other Pol V subunits in the iyo and qqt2 mutants, suggesting the involvement of IYO and QQT2 in Pol V assembly. Furthermore, we found that IYO and QQT2 were mutually dependent for their binding to the NRPE3 subassembly to facilitate the assembly of Pol V holoenzyme. Our findings reveal IYO and QQT2 as cofactors for Pol V assembly and provide mechanistic insights into how RNA polymerases are assembled in Arabidopsis.

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE103326 | GEO | 2018/04/09

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that plays critical roles in gene silencing, development, and the maintenance of genome integrity. In Arabidopsis, DNA methylation is established by DOMAINS REARRANGED METHYLTRANSFERASE 2 (DRM2) and is targeted by 24 nt small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) through a pathway termed RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM)1. This pathway requires two plant-specific RNA polymerases: Pol-IV, which functions to initiate siRNA biogenesis and Pol-V, which functions in the downstream DNA methyltransferase targeting phase of the RdDM pathway to generate scaffold transcripts that recruit downstream RdDM factors1,2. To understand the mechanisms controlling Pol-IV targeting we investigated the function of SAWADEE HOMEODOMAIN HOMOLOG 1 (SHH1)3,4, a Pol-IV interacting protein3. Here we show that SHH1 acts upstream in the RdDM pathway to enable siRNA production from a large subset of the most active RdDM targets and that SHH1 is required for Pol-IV occupancy at these same loci. We also show that the SHH1 SAWADEE domain is a novel chromatin binding module that adopts a unique tandem Tudor-like fold and functions as a dual lysine reader, probing for both unmethylated K4 and methylated K9 modifications on the histone 3 (H3) tail. Finally, we show that key residues within both lysine binding pockets of SHH1 are required in vivo to maintain siRNA and DNA methylation levels as well as Pol-IV occupancy at RdDM targets, demonstrating a central role for methyl H3K9 binding in SHH1 function and providing the first insights into the mechanism of Pol-IV targeting. Given the parallels between methylation systems in plants and mammals1,5, a further understanding of this early targeting step may aid in our ability to control the expression of endogenous and newly introduced genes, which has broad implications for agriculture and gene therapy. For wild type plants (ecotype Columbia) and RdDM mutants whole-genome small RNA (sRNA-seq) and bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq) was performed. The Col and nrpe1 BS-seq libraries were previously reported (GSE39247) and so are not part of this submission. In addition, two replicates of whole genome chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP-seq) was performed on wild type (ecotype Columbia) plants as a negative control with experimentals consiting of nrpd1 mutant plants carrying a C-terminally epitope tagged (3XFLAG) NRPD1. Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and small RNA sequencing was also performed on shh1 mutant plants transformed with the wild-type SHH1 protein-coding construct as well as multiple constructs containing point mutations. For these complementation libraries a separate shh1 mutant and Col control line were sequenced (“complementation replicates”).

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MINIYO and QUATRE-QUART 2 Are Required for the Assembly of RNA Polymerase V in Arabidopsis

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