Project description:TnpB nucleases represent the evolutionary precursors to CRISPR-Cas12 and are widespread in all domains of life. IS605-family TnpB homologs function in bacteria as programmable RNA-guided homing endonucleases driving transposon maintenance through DSB-stimulated homologous recombination. Here we uncover molecular mechanisms of transposition lifecycle of IS607-family elements that, remarkably, also encode group I introns. We discover molecular features for a candidate ‘IStron’ from Clostridium botulinum that allow the element to carefully control the relative levels of spliced products versus functional guide RNAs. Our results suggest that IStron transcripts have evolved a sensitive equilibrium to balance competing and mutually exclusive activities that promote transposon maintenance while limiting adverse fitness costs on the host. Collectively, this work highlights molecular innovation in the multi-functional utility of transposon-encoded noncoding RNAs.
Project description:TnpB nucleases represent the evolutionary precursors to CRISPR-Cas12 and are widespread in all domains of life. IS605-family TnpB homologs function in bacteria as programmable RNA-guided homing endonucleases driving transposon maintenance through DSB-stimulated homologous recombination. Here we uncover molecular mechanisms of transposition lifecycle of IS607-family elements that, remarkably, also encode group I introns. We discover molecular features for a candidate ‘IStron’ from Clostridium botulinum that allow the element to carefully control the relative levels of spliced products versus functional guide RNAs. Our results suggest that IStron transcripts have evolved a sensitive equilibrium to balance competing and mutually exclusive activities that promote transposon maintenance while limiting adverse fitness costs on the host. Collectively, this work highlights molecular innovation in the multi-functional utility of transposon-encoded noncoding RNAs.
Project description:RNA-guided endonucleases form the crux of diverse biological processes and technologies, including adaptive immunity, transposition, and genome editing. Some of these enzymes are components of insertion sequences (IS) in the IS200/IS605 and IS607 transposon families. Both IS families encode a TnpA transposase and TnpB nuclease, an RNA-guided enzyme ancestral to CRISPR-Cas12. In eukaryotes and their viruses, TnpB homologs occur as two distinct types, Fanzor1 and Fanzor2. We analyzed the evolutionary relationships between prokaryotic TnpBs and eukaryotic Fanzors, revealing that a clade of IS607 TnpBs with unusual active site arrangement found primarily in cyanobacteria likely gave rise to both types of Fanzors. The widespread nature of Fanzors imply that the properties of this particular group of IS607 TnpBs were particularly suited to adaptation and evolution in eukaryotes and their viruses. Biochemical analysis of a prokaryotic IS607 TnpB and virally encoded Fanzor1s revealed features that may have fostered co-evolution between TnpBs/Fanzors and their cognate transposases. These results provide insight into the evolutionary origins of a ubiquitous family of RNA-guided proteins that shows remarkable conservation across the three domains of life.
Project description:Transposon-encoded tnpB and iscB genes encode RNA-guided DNA nucleases that promote their own selfish spread through targeted DNA cleavage and homologous recombination. These widespread gene families were repeatedly domesticated over evolutionary timescales, leading to the emergence of diverse CRISPR-associated nucleases including Cas9 and Cas12. We set out to test the hypothesis that TnpB nucleases may have also been repurposed for novel, unexpected functions other than CRISPR-Cas. Here, using phylogenetics, structural predictions, comparative genomics, and functional assays, we uncover multiple instances of programmable transcription factors that we name TnpB-like nuclease-dead repressors (TldR). These proteins employ naturally occurring guide RNAs to specifically target conserved promoter regions of the genome, leading to potent gene repression in a mechanism akin to CRISPRi technologies invented by humans. Focusing on a TldR clade found broadly in Enterobacteriaceae, we discover that bacteriophages exploit the combined action of TldR and an adjacently encoded phage gene to alter the expression and composition of the host flagellar assembly, a transformation with the potential to impact motility, phage susceptibility, and host immunity. Collectively, this work showcases the diverse molecular innovations that were enabled through repeated exaptation of transposon-encoded genes, and reveals the evolutionary trajectory of diverse RNA-guided transcription factors.
Project description:Insertion sequences (IS) are compact and pervasive transposable elements found in bacteria, which encode only the genes necessary for their mobilization and maintenance. IS200/IS605 elements undergo ‘peel-and-paste’ transposition catalyzed by a TnpA transposase, but intriguingly, they also encode diverse, TnpB-family genes that are evolutionarily related to the CRISPR-associated effectors Cas9 and Cas12. Recent studies demonstrated that TnpB-family enzymes function as RNA-guided DNA endonucleases, but the broader biological role of this activity has remained enigmatic. Here we show that IscB and TnpB are essential to prevent loss of the donor IS element and potential transposon extinction as a consequence of the TnpA transposition mechanism. We first performed phylogenetic analysis of IscB/TnpB proteins and selected a family of related IS elements from Geobacillus stearothermophilus that we predicted would be mobilized by a common TnpA homolog. After reconstituting transposition using a heterologous expression system in E. coli, we found that IS elements were readily lost from the donor site due to the activity of TnpA in rejoining the flanking sequences back together upon excision. However, these IS elements also encode non-coding RNAs that guide TnpB and IscB nucleases to precisely recognize and cleave these excision products, leading either to elimination of the excision product or re-installation of the transposon through recombination. Indeed, under experimental conditions in which TnpA and TnpB-RNA complexes were co-expressed together with a genomically integrated IS element, transposon retention was significantly increased relative to conditions expressing TnpA alone. Remarkably, both TnpA and TnpB recognize the same AT-rich transposon-adjacent motif (TAM) during transposon excision and RNA-guided DNA cleavage, respectively, revealing a striking convergence in the evolution of DNA sequence specificity between transposase and nuclease. Collectively, our study reveals that RNA-guided DNA cleavage is a primal biochemical activity that arose to bias the selfish inheritance of transposable elements, which was later co-opted during the evolution of CRISPR-Cas adaptive immunity for antiviral defense.
Project description:Small RNA silencing pathways protect genome integrity in part through establishing heterochromatin at transposon loci. In animals, this process requires piRNA-guided targeting of nuclear PIWI proteins to nascent transcripts. The molecular events contributing to heterochromatin formation upon PIWI binding to nascent RNA, a transient molecule at chromatin, are unknown. Here, we identify SFINX, a protein complex that is required for Piwi-mediated co-transcriptional silencing in Drosophila. It consists of Nxf2—a variant of the nuclear RNA export factor Nxf1/Tap, the mRNA export co-factor Nxt1/p15, and the Piwi-associated protein Panoramix. In the absence of Nxf2, Panoramix is targeted for degradation and piRNA-loaded Piwi is unable to establish heterochromatin. Consequently, nxf2 mutants exhibit severe transposon de-repression and are sterile. We show that within SFINX, Panoramix connects to the heterochromatin machinery while Nxf2 enables target silencing via nascent RNA. Thus, the Nxf2-Nxt1 heterodimer—despite having originated from core mRNA export machinery—has been repurposed for heterochromatin formation. Our data establish an unexpected link between nuclear small RNA biology and NXF-variants, which are widespread in animal lineages, but mostly lack ascribed functions.
Project description:Piwi proteins and piRNAs have conserved functions in transposonM- silencing. The murine Piwi proteins Mili and Miwi2 direct epigeneticM- LINE1 (L1) and intracisternal A particle (IAP) transposon silencingM- during genome reprogramming in the embryonic male germline. PiwiM- proteins are proposed to be piRNA-guided endonucleases that initiateM- secondary piRNA biogenesis . However the actual contribution of theirM- endonuclease activities to piRNA biogenesis and transposon silencingM- remain unknown. To investigate the role of Piwi-catalyzedM- endonucleolytic activity, we engineered point mutations in the mouseM- that substitute the second D to an A in the catalytic triad (DDH) ofM- Mili and Miwi2, generating the MiliDAH and Miwi2DAH alleles,M- M- respectively. Analysis of Mili-bound piRNAs from homozygous MiliDAHM- fetal gonadocytes revealed the failure of transposon piRNA amplification resulting in the stark reduction of piRNA bound withinM- Miwi2 ribonuclear particles (RNPs). We find that Mili-mediated piRNA amplification is selectively required for L1 but not IAP silencing.M- The defective piRNA pathway in MiliDAH mice results in spermatogenic failure and sterility. Surprisingly, homozygous Miwi2DAH mice areM- fertile, transposon silencing is established normally and no defectsM- in secondary piRNA biogenesis are observed. In addition, the hallmarks of piRNA amplification are observed in Miwi2-deficient gonadocytes. WeM- conclude that cycles of intra-Mili secondary piRNA biogenesis fuelM- piRNA amplification that is selectively required for L1 silencing.M-
Project description:Methylation of chromosomal DNA in animals and plants is a fundamental mechanism of epigenetic regulation, and the maize genome, with its diverse complement of transposons and repeats, is a paradigm for transgenerational mechanisms such as paramutation and imprinting. We have determined the genome-wide cytosine methylation map of two maize inbred lines, B73 and Mo17, at high coverage and at single nucleotide resolution. Transposon methylation is highest in CG (65%) and CHG (50%) contexts (where H = A, C or T), while methylation in CHH (5%) contexts is guided by 24nt small interfering RNA (siRNA), and not by 21-22nt siRNA. We have found that CG (8%) methylation seems to deter insertion of Mutator transposons into exons, while CHH and CHG methylation at splice donor and acceptor sites strongly inhibits RNA splicing. Methylation differences between parents are inherited in recombinant inbred lines, but methylation switches, guided by siRNA, are widespread and persist for up to 8 generations. These differences influence splicing, and recurrent switching suggest that paramutation is much more common than previously supposed, and may contribute to heterosis. Our results provide a comprehensive high resolution resource for maize genome methylation, as well as a map of recurrent transgenerational epigenetic shifts (paramutation) in the two most commonly used inbred maize lines. Genome-wide cytosine methylation map in 2 maize strains by bisulfite sequencing, and RNA and small RNA profiles in the same tissue using Illumina platform.