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An in vivo screen identifies compounds that disrupt heterochromatin integrity

ABSTRACT: Heterochromatin plays a key role in gene repression, maintaining genome integrity and chromosome segregation. Fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, utilizes conserved components to direct heterochromatin formation using siRNA generated by RNA interference (RNAi) to guide a histone H3 lysine 9 methyltransferase to cognate chromatin. To identify compounds that inhibit heterochromatin formation, an in vivo phenotypic screen for loss of silencing was performed. A tester strain harbouring a silent dominant selectable kanMX reporter gene within fission yeast centromeric heterochromatin was used to screen a diverse library of chemicals. HMS-I1 and HMS-I2 were identified as compounds that reproducibly increased G418 resistance due to loss of kanMX silencing, and decreased the level of repressive H3K9 methylation on centromeric repeats. The pattern of changes induced by HMS-I1 and HMS-I2 were consistent with inhibition of the histone deacetylases (HDACs) Clr3 and/or Sir2. Chemical-genetic interactions and expression profiling indicated that both HMS-I1 and HMS-I2 affect the activity of the Clr3-containing Snf2/HDAC repressor complex (SHREC). Exposure to HMS-I1 was also found to alleviate silencing of reporter genes in an Arabidopsis transgenic plant line and a mouse cell line. HMS-I2 also disrupted reporter gene silencing in Arabidopsis. In vitro assays indicate that HMS-I1 impairs the activity of human HDAC6 and HDAC10. As HMS-I1 and HMS-I2 bear no resemblance to known inhibitors of chromatin-based activities they represent potentially novel and valuable reagents for experimental and therapeutic purposes. Our findings highlight the use of in vivo chemical screening conducted in fission yeast to identify compounds that disrupt heterochromatin across plant, fungi and animal kingdoms.

ORGANISM(S): Schizosaccharomyces pombe

PROVIDER: GSE57207 | GEO | 2014/12/17

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA245908

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Heterochromatin plays a key role in gene repression, maintaining genome integrity and chromosome segregation. Fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, utilizes conserved components to direct heterochromatin formation using siRNA generated by RNA interference (RNAi) to guide a histone H3 lysine 9 methyltransferase to cognate chromatin. To identify compounds that inhibit heterochromatin formation, an in vivo phenotypic screen for loss of silencing was performed. A tester strain harbouring a silent dominant selectable kanMX reporter gene within fission yeast centromeric heterochromatin was used to screen a diverse library of chemicals. HMS-I1 and HMS-I2 were identified as compounds that reproducibly increased G418 resistance due to loss of kanMX silencing, and decreased the level of repressive H3K9 methylation on centromeric repeats. The pattern of changes induced by HMS-I1 and HMS-I2 were consistent with inhibition of the histone deacetylases (HDACs) Clr3 and/or Sir2. Chemical-genetic interactions and expression profiling indicated that both HMS-I1 and HMS-I2 affect the activity of the Clr3-containing Snf2/HDAC repressor complex (SHREC). Exposure to HMS-I1 was also found to alleviate silencing of reporter genes in an Arabidopsis transgenic plant line and a mouse cell line. HMS-I2 also disrupted reporter gene silencing in Arabidopsis. In vitro assays indicate that HMS-I1 impairs the activity of human HDAC6 and HDAC10. As HMS-I1 and HMS-I2 bear no resemblance to known inhibitors of chromatin-based activities they represent potentially novel and valuable reagents for experimental and therapeutic purposes. Our findings highlight the use of in vivo chemical screening conducted in fission yeast to identify compounds that disrupt heterochromatin across plant, fungi and animal kingdoms. 16 RNA samples: 2 replicates of WT untreated (vehicle DMSO) (KE1-A, KE2-A), HMS-I1 treated (KE1-B, KE2-B), HMS-I2 treated (KE1-C, KE2-C), and 2 additional replicates of WT (KE05_wt_1, KE10_wt_2), 4 replicates of clr2M-bM-^HM-^F (KE01_2118_1, KE06_2118_2, KE03_0080_1, KE08_0080_2) and mit1M-bM-^HM-^F (KE02_1295_1, KE07_1295_2, KE04_1278_1, KE09_1278_2).

Project description:Inflorescence architecture contributes to essential plant traits. It determines plant shape, contributing to morphological diversity, also determines position and number of the flowers and fruits produced by the plant, influencing seed yield. Most legumes have compound inflorescences, where flowers are produced in secondary inflorescences (I2), formed at the flanks of the main primary inflorescence (I1), in contrast to simple inflorescences of plants like Arabidopsis, in which flowers are directly formed on the I1. The pea VEGETATIVE1/ FULc (VEG1) gene, and its homologues in other legumes, specify the formation of the I2 meristem, a function apparently restricted to legumes. To understand the control of I2 development it is important to identify the genes working downstream of VEG1. In this study, we adopted a novel strategy to identify genes expressed in the I2 meristem, as potential regulatory targets of VEG1. To identify pea I2-meristem genes we compared the transcriptomes of inflorescence apices from wild type and mutants affected in I2 development, proliferating inflorescence meristems (pim - with more I2 meristems), veg1 and vegetative2 (both without I2 meristems). Analysis of the differentially expressed genes using Arabidopsis genome databases combined with RT-qPCR expression analysis in pea, allowed the selection of genes expressed in the pea inflorescence apex. In situ hybridization of four of these genes showed that all four genes are expressed in the I2 meristem, proving our approach to identify I2-meristem genes successful. Finally, analysis by VIGS in pea identified one gene, PsDAO1, whose silencing lead to small plants and another gene, PsHUP54, whose silencing leads to plants with very large stubs, meaning that this gene controls activity of the I2 meristem. PsHUP54-VIGS plants also are large and, more importantly, produce large pods with almost double of seeds than the control. Our study shows a new useful strategy to isolate I2-meristem genes and identifies a novel gene, PsHUP54, which seems a promising tool to improve yield in pea and another legumes.

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An in vivo screen identifies compounds that disrupt heterochromatin integrity

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