Project description:For the evaluation of "WIND: A Workflow for pIRNAs aNd beyonD" performance and the transcriptomic approach on small-RNA identification, and particularly on piRNAs, two mouse Adult Cardiomyocytes (aCMs) were used.
Project description:WIND: A Workflow for pIRNAs aNd beyonD, for the evaluation of the performance in piRNAs high expression and low expression conditions, we used Human Testis RNAs (BioChain Institute Inc, Newark, CA, USA) and COLO 205 cell line RNAs (samples are available on ArrayExpress (E-MTAB-8115: Non_treated_Testis_1 and Non_treated_COLO205_1, Non_treated_COLO205_2, Non_treated_COLO205_3).
Project description:For the evaluation of \\"WIND: A Workflow for pIRNAs aNd beyonD\\" performance and the transcriptomic approach on small-RNA identification, and particularly on piRNAs, a synthetic set of 4 piRNA-like molecules was used. Two non-methylated (SS-22 and SS-28) and two methylated (mSS-22 and mSS-28) of two different lengths (22 nt and 28 nt) were included. Spike-ins were chemically synthesised at Exiqon, the pool of 4 molecules was used at three different concentrations, with a final amount of 0.3 x 10^9 (dil_A), 0.3 x 10^10 (dil_B) and 0.3 x 10^11 (dil_C) molecules/ug of RNA. Library preparation and sequencing were done as previously described in Sellitto et al 2019 (doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8111390)
Project description:Monitor the efficiency of "WIND: A Workflow for pIRNAs aNd beyonD" for the identification of single-stranded (SS) spike-in piRNA-like molecules in smallRNA-seq
Project description:Current bioinformatics workflows for PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) analysis focus primarily on germline-derived piRNAs and piRNA-clusters. Frequently, they suffer from outdated piRNA databases, questionable quantification methods, and lack of reproducibility. Often, pipelines specific to miRNA analysis are used for the piRNA research in silico. Furthermore, the absence of a well-established database for piRNA annotation, as for miRNA, leads to uniformity issues between studies and generates confusion for data analysts and biologists. For these reasons, we have developed WIND ( Workflow for p IRNAs a Nd beyon D), a bioinformatics workflow that addresses the crucial issue of piRNA annotation, thereby allowing a reliable analysis of small RNA sequencing data for the identification of piRNAs and other small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) that in the past have been incorrectly classified as piRNAs. WIND allows the creation of a comprehensive annotation track of sncRNAs combining information available in RNAcentral, with piRNA sequences from piRNABank, the first database dedicated to piRNA annotation. WIND was built with Docker containers for reproducibility and integrates widely used bioinformatics tools for sequence alignment and quantification. In addition, it includes Bioconductor packages for exploratory data and differential expression analysis. Moreover, WIND implements a "dual" approach for the evaluation of sncRNAs expression level quantifying the aligned reads to the annotated genome and carrying out an alignment-free transcript quantification using reads mapped to the transcriptome. Therefore, a broader range of piRNAs can be annotated, improving their quantification and easing the subsequent downstream analysis. WIND performance has been tested with several small RNA-seq datasets, demonstrating how our approach can be a useful and comprehensive resource to analyse piRNAs and other classes of sncRNAs.
Project description:Wind is one of the most prevalent environmental forces entraining plants to develop various mechano-responses, collectively called thigmomorphogenesis. Largely unknown is how plants transduce the complex wind force signals downstream to nuclear events and the development of thigmomorphogenic phenotype or anemotropic response. To identify molecular components of the wind drag force signaling, two force-regulated phosphoproteins, identified from our previous phosphoproteomic study of Arabidopsis touch response, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 (MKK1) and 2 (MKK2), were selected for performing in planta TurboID (ID)-based proximity-labeling (PL) proteomics. This quantitative biotinylproteomics was separately performed on MKK1-ID and MKK2-ID transgenic plants, respectively, using the TurboID overexpression transgenics as a universal control. This quantitative biotinylproteomic work successfully identified 11 and 71 MKK1- and MKK2 - associated proteins, respectively. A WInd-Related Kinase 1 (WIRK1), previously known as Rapidly Accelerated Fibrosarcoma 36 protein (RAF36), was eventually found to be a common interactor for both MKK1 and MKK2 kinases. Further molecular biology studies of the Arabidopsis RAF36 kinase found that it plays a role in wind regulation of the expression of touch-responsive TCH3 and CML38 genes and the phosphorylation of a touch-regulated PATL3 phosphoprotein. Measurement of leaf morphology and shoot gravitropic response of wirk1-1 mutant revealed that the WIRK1 gene is involved in both wind response and gravitropism of Arabidopsis, suggesting that WIRK1 protein may serve as the crosstalk point among multiple signal transduction pathways of both gravitropic and wind responses. It is likely that gravity force signaling may be an integral part of the wind mechano-signaling network in various parts of plant organs.
Project description:Germ cells transmit genetic information to offspring and maintain the genome of the species. In many animals including Drosophila, germ cell formation relies on maternal determinants in the germ plasm. Several proteins present in the germ plasm of oocytes also localize to the perinuclear nuage in nurse cells, where they contribute to the production of PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). These piRNAs guide the silencing of transposons, thereby protecting the germline genome from invading mobile elements. Aubergine (Aub) is a germ plasm/nuage protein and a piRNA-directed endonuclease that inactivates transposons. Aub is also essential for germ plasm assembly. The Aub-bound piRNAs in the germ plasm are inherited by the progeny germline and serve as templates for piRNA biogenesis in the next generation. Thus, piRNA production in the nurse cell nuage is thought to be coordinated with germ plasm assembly in the oocyte. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here, we report that a maternal factor, named tiny pole plasm (tpp), mediates this coordination. In tpp– ovaries, the production of piRNAs, particularly Aub-bound piRNAs, is defective, resulting in reduced Aub localization to the germ plasm and impaired germ cell formation. Notably, the levels of piRNA production required for proper germ plasm activity are much higher than those required for transposon silencing. We propose that the production of abundant piRNAs beyond what is required for transposon silencing in the ovary ensures the transgenerational inheritance of anti-transposon information to progeny via the germ plasm, which is essential for the survival of species.
Project description:A developmental series of wind-treated Populus leaf tissue was subjected to array analyses in order to address the issue of age-dependent responsiveness to environmental changes. The following developmental stages were defined for the experiment: Y – “youngest leaf” including the shoot tip = smallest fully enrolled leaf; E – “expanded leaf” = oldest leaf that had not reached full leaf thickness; M – “mature leaf” = 5th leaf below E = has reached full leaf expansion and full leaf thickness; O – “old leaf” = 5th leaf below E. Keywords: transcription profiling Two-condition experiment, control (K) vs. Wind-treated (W) leaves. Biological replicates: 3 control (1-3), wind-exposed (1-3), independently grown and harvested. One swap replicate per array.