Project description:Transcription initiation entails chromatin opening followed by pre-initiation complex formation and RNA Polymerase II recruitment. Subsequent polymerase elongation requires additional signals, resulting in increased residence time downstream of the start site, a phenomenon referred to as pausing. Here we harnessed single molecule footprinting to quantify distinct steps of initiation in vivo throughout the drosophila genome. This identifies the impact of promoter structure on initiation dynamics in relation to nucleosomal occupancy. Additionally, perturbation of transcriptional initiation reveals an unexpected high turnover of polymerases at paused promoters--an observation confirmed at the level of nascent RNAs. These observations argue that absence of elongation is largely caused by premature termination rather than stable polymerase stalling. In support of this non-processive model, we observe that induction of the paused heat-shock promoter depends on continuous initiation. Our study provides a framework to quantify protein binding at single molecule resolution and refines concepts of transcriptional pausing.
Project description:Control of RNA transcription is critical for the development and homeostasis of all organisms, and can occur at multiple steps of the transcription cycle, including RNA polymerase II (Pol II) recruitment, initiation, promoter-proximal pausing, and elongation. That Pol II accumulates on many promoters in metazoans implies that steps other than Pol II recruitment are rate-limiting and regulated 1-6. By integrating genome-wide Pol II chromatin immunoprecipition (ChIP) and Global Run-On (GRO) genomic data sets from Drosophila cells, we examined critical features of Pol II near promoters. The accumulation of promoter-proximal polymerase is widespread, occurring on 70% of active genes; and unlike elongating Pol II within the body of genes, promoter Pol II are held paused by factors like NELF, unable to transcribe unless nuclei are treated with strong detergent. Notably, we find that the vast majority of promoter-proximal Pol II detected by ChIP are paused, thereby identifying the biochemical nature of this rate-limiting step in transcription. Finally, we demonstrate that Drosophila promoters do not have the upstream divergent Pol II that is seen so broadly and prominently on mammalian promoters. We postulate this is a consequence of Drosophila’s extensive use of directional core promoter sequence elements, which contrasts with mammals’ lack of directional elements and prevalence of CpG island core promoters. In support of this idea, we show that the fraction of mammalian promoters containing a TATA box core element is dramatically depleted of upstream divergent transcription.
Project description:Eukaryotic genome is compartmentalized into structural and functional domains. One of the concepts of higher order organization of chromatin posits that the DNA is organized in constrained loops that behave as independent functional domains. A predominantly ribo-proteinaceous nucleoskeleton, termed as Nuclear Matrix (NuMat) is proposed to provide the structural platform for attachment of these loops. The DNA sequence located at the base of the loops are known as the Matrix Attachment Regions (MARs). NuMat relates to all nuclear processes and has been shown to be cell type specific in composition. It is a biochemically defined structure and several protocols have been used to isolate the NuMat where some of the steps have been critically evaluated. In the present study we have looked into the dynamics of MARs when the isolation process is varied and also during embryonic development of D. melanogaster. Our results show that a subset of MARs termed here as “Core-MARs” are fixed and unalterable anchor points in the Drosophila genome as they remain associated with NuMat at all developmental stages and do not depend on the isolation procedure used. Core-MARs are abundant in the pericentromeric heterochromatin. On the other hand, MARs in the euchromatin are dynamic and reflect the transcriptomic profile of the developmental stage of the host cell. New MARs are generated by nuclear stabilization (a critical step in the isolation procedure), and during development, mostly at the paused RNA polymerase II (Pol II) promoters. Paused Pol II MARs depend on RNA transcription for NuMat association. RNase A treatment leads to collapse of the NuMat and loss of paused Pol II promoter MARs. Our data reveals the role of MARs in functional compartmentalization of D. melanogaster genome and adds to the current understanding of nuclear architecture and 3D organization of a functionally dynamic nucleus.
Project description:Control of RNA transcription is critical for the development and homeostasis of all organisms, and can occur at multiple steps of the transcription cycle, including RNA polymerase II (Pol II) recruitment, initiation, promoter-proximal pausing, and elongation. That Pol II accumulates on many promoters in metazoans implies that steps other than Pol II recruitment are rate-limiting and regulated 1-6. By integrating genome-wide Pol II chromatin immunoprecipition (ChIP) and Global Run-On (GRO) genomic data sets from Drosophila cells, we examined critical features of Pol II near promoters. The accumulation of promoter-proximal polymerase is widespread, occurring on 70% of active genes; and unlike elongating Pol II within the body of genes, promoter Pol II are held paused by factors like NELF, unable to transcribe unless nuclei are treated with strong detergent. Notably, we find that the vast majority of promoter-proximal Pol II detected by ChIP are paused, thereby identifying the biochemical nature of this rate-limiting step in transcription. Finally, we demonstrate that Drosophila promoters do not have the upstream divergent Pol II that is seen so broadly and prominently on mammalian promoters. We postulate this is a consequence of Drosophila’s extensive use of directional core promoter sequence elements, which contrasts with mammals’ lack of directional elements and prevalence of CpG island core promoters. In support of this idea, we show that the fraction of mammalian promoters containing a TATA box core element is dramatically depleted of upstream divergent transcription. ChIP-seq data set for Pol II (rpb3) (2 replicates).
Project description:Control of RNA transcription is critical for the development and homeostasis of all organisms, and can occur at multiple steps of the transcription cycle, including RNA polymerase II (Pol II) recruitment, initiation, promoter-proximal pausing, and elongation. That Pol II accumulates on many promoters in metazoans implies that steps other than Pol II recruitment are rate-limiting and regulated 1-6. By integrating genome-wide Pol II chromatin immunoprecipition (ChIP) and Global Run-On (GRO) genomic data sets from Drosophila cells, we examined critical features of Pol II near promoters. The accumulation of promoter-proximal polymerase is widespread, occurring on 70% of active genes; and unlike elongating Pol II within the body of genes, promoter Pol II are held paused by factors like NELF, unable to transcribe unless nuclei are treated with strong detergent. Notably, we find that the vast majority of promoter-proximal Pol II detected by ChIP are paused, thereby identifying the biochemical nature of this rate-limiting step in transcription. Finally, we demonstrate that Drosophila promoters do not have the upstream divergent Pol II that is seen so broadly and prominently on mammalian promoters. We postulate this is a consequence of Drosophila’s extensive use of directional core promoter sequence elements, which contrasts with mammals’ lack of directional elements and prevalence of CpG island core promoters. In support of this idea, we show that the fraction of mammalian promoters containing a TATA box core element is dramatically depleted of upstream divergent transcription.
Project description:According to previous studies, during Drosophila embryogenesis, RNA polymerase II is recruited to promoters at developmental stages preceding the stages of active transcription of genes. This work is aimed at exploring whether this mechanism is used during Drosophila metamorphosis. We performed ChIP-Seq analysis using antibodies to various modifications of RNA polymerase II (total, Pol II CTD Ser5P and Pol II CTD Ser2P), as well as to subunits of NELF, DSIF, PAF complexes and Brd4/Fs(1)h that control transcription elongation. We found that like in mid-embryogenesis during metamorphosis, promoters bind RNA polymerase II in the "paused" state preparing for activation at later stages of development. During mid-embryogenesis, RNA polymerase II in "pause" is phosphorylated at Ser5 and Ser2 of Rpb1 CTD and binds NELF, DSIF, and PAF complexes, but not Brd4/Fs(1)h. During metamorphosis, the "paused" RNA polymerase II complex includes Brd4/Fs(1)h in addition to NELF, DSIF, and PAF. The RNA polymerase II in this complex is phosphorylated at Ser5 at Rpb1 CTD, but not at Ser2.