Project description:High-throughput approaches for profiling the 5' ends of RNA degradation intermediates on a genome-wide scale are frequently applied in the validation of cleavage sites guided by microRNAs (miRNAs). However, the complexity of the RNA degradome beyond miRNA targets is currently largely unclear which limits the application of RNA degradome. Here, we provide multiple lines of evidence to show that the plant RNA degradome contains in vivo ribosome-protected mRNA fragments. We observed a 3-nt periodicity and a bias toward the translational frame in the global analysis of 5' truncated mRNA ends mapped to the coding sequence (CDS) of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), rice (Oryza sativa) and soybean (Glycine max). In addition, predominant 5' termini of RNA degradation intermediates separated by a length equal to a ribosome-protected mRNA fragment were evident in some conserved peptide upstream open reading frames (uORFs) of Arabidopsis and rice. Through the analysis of RNA degradome data, we uncovered novel uORFs and CDS regions potentially associated with stacked ribosomes in Arabidopsis. Furthermore, the analysis of RNA degradome data suggested that the binding of Arabidopsis ARGONAUTE7 to a non-cleavable target site of miR390 might directly hinder ribosome movement. This work demonstrates an alternative use of RNA degradome data in the study of ribosome stalling.
Project description:Environmental stress is detrimental to plants viability and requires an adequate reprogramming of cellular activities to maximize plant survival. We present a global analysis of the adaptive stress response of Arabidopsis thaliana to prolonged heat stress. We combine deep sequencing of RNA and ribosome protected fragments to provide genome wide map of adaptation to heat stress on at transcriptional and translational level. Our analysis shows that the genes with the highest upregulation upon heat stress are known heat-responsive gene, chaperons and other genes involved in protein folding control. Majority of these genes exhibits increase on both transcriptional and translational level. No translational inhibition or ribosome stalling was observed, which can be observed in the early thermal stress response, indicating that plants alter their cellular composition in order to adapt to the prolonged exposure to increased temperatures.
Project description:The eukaryotic translation factor eIF5A, originally identified as an initiation factor, was later shown to promote translation elongation of iterated proline sequences. Using a combination of ribosome profiling and in vitro biochemistry, we report a much broader role for eIF5A in elongation and uncover a substantial function for eIF5A in termination. Ribosome profiling of an eIF5A-depleted strain reveals a global elongation defect, with abundant ribosomes stalling at many sequences, not limited to proline stretches. Our data also show accumulation at stop codons and in the 3’-UTR, suggesting a global defect in termination in the absence of eIF5A. Using an in vitro reconstituted translation system, we find that eIF5A strongly promotes the translation of novel stalling sequences and increases the rate of peptidyl-tRNA hydrolysis more than 17-fold. We conclude that eIF5A functions broadly in elongation and termination, rationalizing its great cellular abundance and essential nature.
Project description:We previously reported that ribosome stalling at AUG-stop sequences in the 5'-UTR plays a critical role in regulating the expression of Arabidopsis thaliana NIP5;1, which encodes a boron uptake transporter, in response to boron conditions in media. Here, we conducted ribosome profiling analysis to reveal the genome-wide regulation of translation in response to boron conditions in A. thaliana. We identified 460 translationally regulated genes. Transcripts with reduced translation efficiency were rich in upstream open reading frames (uORFs), highlighting the importance of uORF-mediated translational regulation. We found that 148 uORF instances had greater ribosome density under high boron conditions. Moreover, translationally downregulated transcripts were rich in minimum uORFs (AUG-stops), suggesting that AUG-stops play a global role in the boron response. Boron increased the ribosome occupancy of stop codons, indicating that this element is involved in global translational termination processes.
Project description:Ribosomes that stall before completing peptide synthesis must be recycled and returned to the cytoplasmic pool. The protein Dom34 and cofactors Hbs1 and Rli1 can dissociate stalled ribosomes in vitro, but the identity of targets in the cell is unknown. Here we use ribosome profiling methodology to reveal a high- resolution molecular characterization of Dom34 function in vivo. We show that Dom34 removes stalled ribosomes from mRNAs that are truncated but, in contrast, does not generally dissociate ribosomes on coding sequences known to trigger stalling, such as polyproline. We also show that Dom34 targets arrested ribosomes near the ends of 3 ? UTRs. These ribosomes appear to gain access to the 3 ? UTR via a mechanism that does not require decoding of the mRNA. These results suggest that Dom34 carries out the important task of rescuing ribosomes found in noncoding regions. 25 samples are included in the study (2 mRNA-Seq samples and 23 ribosome footprint profiling samples). These include wild-type and dom34 or hbs1 knockout strains that were created in a variety of genetic backgrounds, treated with various agents in cell culture (e.g. diamide, 3-AT, or glucose starvation), treated differently during cell lysis (use of cycloheximide vs. other ribosome-stabilizing agents), or prepared in different ways after cell lysis (e.g. retention of short vs. long monosome-protected footprints or disome footprints).
Project description:Stalling of the ribosomes on the mRNA has been linked to myriad of molecular and biological functions. While a multitude of algorithms predict codon-usage in ribosome profiling data, no tool exists to predict the context-specific stalling of ribosomes on transcripts. Combining these two features can reveal unprecedented insights in the ribosomal function and their usage across cells and conditions. To overcome this lack of tools to comprehensively analyze these features, we created Bumpfinder, a web-server, that provides comprehensive analytical details on differences in total ribosome occupancy on transcripts, ribosomal occupancy across codons, ribosome-stalling and the underlying causal amino-acids/codons, as well as collisions. Employing Bumpfinder on generated and publicly available ribosome-profiling datasets, we studied the response of various cell types to amino-acid starvation conditions. We observed interesting patterns in response to the biological effects, suggesting the impact of quality control mechanisms of protein synthesis. Complimentary analysis of collided ribosomes demonstrated phased ribosome stalling on the identified sites. Thus, by deciphering context-specific ribosome distribution, Bumpfinder provides unprecedented molecular insights in the ribosome function and mRNA translation during stress response conditions.
Project description:The polyglutamine expansion of huntingtin (mHtt) causes Huntington disease (HD) and neurodegeneration, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we found that mHtt promotes ribosome stalling and suppresses protein synthesis. Depletion of mHtt enhances protein synthesis and increases the speed of ribosome translocation, while mHtt directly inhibits protein synthesis in vitro. We found interactions of ribosomal proteins and translating ribosomes with mHtt. High-resolution global ribosome footprint profiling (Ribo-Seq) and mRNA-Seq indicated a widespread shift in ribosome occupancy toward the 5’ and 3’ end and unique single-codon pauses on selected mRNA targets in HD cells, compared to controls. Thus, mHtt impedes ribosomal translocation during translation by promoting ribosome stalling, a novel mechanistic defect that can be exploited for HD therapeutics.
Project description:The polyglutamine expansion of huntingtin (mHtt) causes Huntington disease (HD) and neurodegeneration, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we found that mHtt promotes ribosome stalling and suppresses protein synthesis. Depletion of mHtt enhances protein synthesis and increases the speed of ribosome translocation, while mHtt directly inhibits protein synthesis in vitro. We found interactions of ribosomal proteins and translating ribosomes with mHtt. High-resolution global ribosome footprint profiling (Ribo-Seq) and mRNA-Seq indicated a widespread shift in ribosome occupancy toward the 5’ and 3’ end and unique single-codon pauses on selected mRNA targets in HD cells, compared to controls. Thus, mHtt impedes ribosomal translocation during translation by promoting ribosome stalling, a novel mechanistic defect that can be exploited for HD therapeutics.
Project description:The polyglutamine expansion of huntingtin (mHtt) causes Huntington disease (HD) and neurodegeneration, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we found that mHtt promotes ribosome stalling and suppresses protein synthesis. Depletion of mHtt enhances protein synthesis and increases the speed of ribosome translocation, while mHtt directly inhibits protein synthesis in vitro. We found interactions of ribosomal proteins and translating ribosomes with mHtt. High-resolution global ribosome footprint profiling (Ribo-Seq) and mRNA-Seq indicated a widespread shift in ribosome occupancy toward the 5’ and 3’ end and unique single-codon pauses on selected mRNA targets in HD cells, compared to controls. Thus, mHtt impedes ribosomal translocation during translation by promoting ribosome stalling, a novel mechanistic defect that can be exploited for HD therapeutics.