Project description:We show that these R-loop objects impose specific physical constraints on the DNA, as revealed by the presence of stereotypical angles in the surrounding DNA. Biochemical probing and mutagenesis experiments revealed that the formation of R-loop objects at Airn is dictated by the extruded non-template strand, suggesting that R-loops possess intrinsic sequence-driven properties. Consistent with this, we show that R-loops formed at the fission yeast gene sum3 do not form detectable R-loop objects. Our results reveal that R-loops differ by their architectures and that the organization of the non-template strand is a fundamental characteristic of R-loops, which could explain that only a subset of R-loops is associated with replication-dependent DNA breaks.
Project description:The formation of R-loops is a natural consequence of the transcription process, caused by invasion of the DNA duplex by nascent transcripts. These structures have been considered rare transcriptional by-products with potential harmful effects on genome integrity, due to the fragility of the displaced DNA coding strand. However R-loops may also possess beneficial effects as their widespread formation has been detected over CpG island promoters in human genes. Furthermore we have previously shown that R-loops are particularly enriched over G-rich terminator elements. These facilitate RNA polymerase II (Pol II) pausing prior to efficient termination. Here we reveal an unanticipated link between R-loops and RNA interference (RNAi)-dependent H3K9me2 formation over pause site termination regions of mammalian protein coding genes. We show that R-loops induce antisense transcription over these pause elements which in turn lead to the generation of double-strand RNA (dsRNA) and recruitment of Dicer, Ago1, Ago2, and G9a histone lysine methyltransferase (HKMT). Consequently an H3K9me2 repressive mark is formed and Heterochromatin Protein 1γ (HP1γ) is recruited, that reinforces Pol II pausing prior to efficient transcriptional termination. We predict that R-loops promote a chromatin architecture that defines the termination region for a substantial subset of mammalian genes. PolIIS2ph ChIP-seq and input in untreated condition and treated with BIX and RNaseH1 overexpression in HeLa cells. The 4 samples have been multiplexed, pooled and sequenced on 3 lanes of Illumina HiSeq2000.
Project description:Distribution of R-loops on genomic sites was studied for exponentially growing Escherichia coli in different conditions using strand-specific DRIP-Seq with S9.6 antibodies.
Project description:The formation of R-loops is a natural consequence of the transcription process, caused by invasion of the DNA duplex by nascent transcripts. These structures have been considered rare transcriptional by-products with potential harmful effects on genome integrity, due to the fragility of the displaced DNA coding strand. However R-loops may also possess beneficial effects as their widespread formation has been detected over CpG island promoters in human genes. Furthermore we have previously shown that R-loops are particularly enriched over G-rich terminator elements. These facilitate RNA polymerase II (Pol II) pausing prior to efficient termination. Here we reveal an unanticipated link between R-loops and RNA interference (RNAi)-dependent H3K9me2 formation over pause site termination regions of mammalian protein coding genes. We show that R-loops induce antisense transcription over these pause elements which in turn lead to the generation of double-strand RNA (dsRNA) and recruitment of Dicer, Ago1, Ago2, and G9a histone lysine methyltransferase (HKMT). Consequently an H3K9me2 repressive mark is formed and Heterochromatin Protein 1γ (HP1γ) is recruited, that reinforces Pol II pausing prior to efficient transcriptional termination. We predict that R-loops promote a chromatin architecture that defines the termination region for a substantial subset of mammalian genes.
Project description:Information that regulates gene expression is encoded throughout each gene but if different regulatory regions can be understood in isolation, or if they interact, is unknown. Here we measure mRNA levels for 10,000 open reading frames (ORFs) transcribed from either an inducible or constitutive promoter. We find that the strength of cotranslational regulation on mRNA levels is determined by promoter architecture. By using a novel computational genetic screen of 6402 RNA-seq experiments, we identify the RNA helicase Dbp2 as the mechanism by which cotranslational regulation is reduced specifically for inducible promoters. Finally, we find that for constitutive genes, but not inducible genes, most of the information encoding regulation of mRNA levels in response to changes in growth rate is encoded in the ORF and not in the promoter. Thus, the ORF sequence is a major regulator of gene expression, and a nonlinear interaction between promoters and ORFs determines mRNA levels.
Project description:Inspired by the important roles of the special chromatin structure R-loops, here we report a new method, ssDRIP-seq, for genome-wide identification of R-loops, and demonstrate its high efficiency, low bias, and strand-specificity when profiling the R-loops in Arabidopsis. Using this single-strand DNA ligation based library construction technique, we find that Arabidopsis R-loops are formed in both the sense and antisense orientations of genes, and prefer both AT and GC skews. R-loops are prevalent in regions with multiple chromatin modifications, and are negatively correlated with CG DNA hypermethylation. R-loops are strongly enriched in gene promoters and gene bodies, highly associated with noncoding RNA and repetitive genomic regions, and correlated with activated and repressed gene loci. In summary, our analysis reveals that R-loop is a common feature of the Arabidopsis genome, and suggests diverse roles for R-loops in genome organization and gene regulation, thereby providing novel insights into plant nuclear genome formation and function.