Project description:The endogenous RNA substrates of Translin-TRAX complexes (also known as C3POs) and how they regulate diverse biological processes remain unknown. Here we show that Translin and TRAX do not play a significant role in RNAi in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. Instead, the Neurospora C3PO complex functions as a ribonuclease that removes the 5M-bM-^@M-^Y pre-tRNA fragments after the processing of pre-tRNAs by RNase P. In translin and trax mutants, 5M-bM-^@M-^Y pre-tRNA fragments accumulate to very high levels that can be degraded specifically by both recombinant and endogenous Neurospora C3PO and recombinant Drosophila C3PO. In addition, the mutants have elevated tRNA levels and increased levels of protein translation and are more resistant to a programmed cell-death inducing agent. Together, this study identified the endogenous RNA substrates of C3PO and provides a potential explanation for its roles in seemingly diverse biological processes. Examine small RNA population changes in two different strain background
Project description:The endogenous RNA substrates of Translin-TRAX complexes (also known as C3POs) and how they regulate diverse biological processes remain unknown. Here we show that Translin and TRAX do not play a significant role in RNAi in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa. Instead, the Neurospora C3PO complex functions as a ribonuclease that removes the 5’ pre-tRNA fragments after the processing of pre-tRNAs by RNase P. In translin and trax mutants, 5’ pre-tRNA fragments accumulate to very high levels that can be degraded specifically by both recombinant and endogenous Neurospora C3PO and recombinant Drosophila C3PO. In addition, the mutants have elevated tRNA levels and increased levels of protein translation and are more resistant to a programmed cell-death inducing agent. Together, this study identified the endogenous RNA substrates of C3PO and provides a potential explanation for its roles in seemingly diverse biological processes.
Project description:RNA interference is required to form the centromeric heterochromatin needed for chromosome segregation fidelity. Central to this is Argonaute protein, which processes small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) within a self-enforcing feedback mechanism that utilizes the guidance of siRNAs to nucleate heterochromatin-mediators. siRNA processing by Argonaute-containing complexes is enhanced by Translin and Trax proteins. Current dogma purports that impairment of Argonaute drives centromeric heterochromatin dysregulation and chromosome instability. We used the fission yeast to demonstrate that loss of Trax can suppress the chromosomal instability conferred by loss of Argonaute in a Translin-dependent fashion, without restoring centromeric heterochromatin. Extended analysis of Trax and Translin defective cells revealed a conserved role for Trax and Translin in telomeric transcription. This not only identified a novel telomere regulatory activity, but also demonstrates that under conditions of centromeric dysfunction telomeric transcriptional stasis can negatively impact chromosome segregation.
Project description:Neurons utilize RNA interference in the reversible translational repression of synaptically localized mRNAs, enabling rapid translation in response to synaptic activity. Two evolutionarily conserved proteins, Translin and Trax, form an RNase complex which processes miRNAs, tRNAs and siRNAs. To determine the specific role of the RNase activity of this complex in brain function, we employed a mouse line harboring a point mutation in Trax (E126A) that renders the Translin/Trax RNase inactive. At the molecular level, we found alterations in the levels of multiple small RNAs including miRNAs, tsRNAs and substantial downregulation of gene expression at the mRNA level in the hippocampus of TraxE126A mice. At the synaptic level, TraxE126A mice exhibit deficits in specific forms of long-term hippocampal synaptic plasticity. At the behavioral level, TraxE126A mice display impaired long-term spatial memory and altered open-field and acoustic-startle behavior. These studies reveal the functional role of Translin/Trax RNase in the mammalian brain.
Project description:Neurons utilize RNA interference in the reversible translational repression of synaptically localized mRNAs, enabling rapid translation in response to synaptic activity. Two evolutionarily conserved proteins, Translin and Trax, form an RNase complex which processes miRNAs, tRNAs and siRNAs. To determine the specific role of the RNase activity of this complex in brain function, we employed a mouse line harboring a point mutation in Trax (E126A) that renders the Translin/Trax RNase inactive. At the molecular level, we found alterations in the levels of multiple small RNAs including miRNAs, tsRNAs and substantial downregulation of gene expression at the mRNA level in the hippocampus of TraxE126A mice. At the synaptic level, TraxE126A mice exhibit deficits in specific forms of long-term hippocampal synaptic plasticity. At the behavioral level, TraxE126A mice display impaired long-term spatial memory and altered open-field and acoustic-startle behavior. These studies reveal the functional role of Translin/Trax RNase in the mammalian brain.
Project description:Neurospora crassa has a long history as an excellent model for genetic, cellular, and biochemical research. Although this fungus is known as a saprotroph, it normally appears on burned vegetations or trees after forest fires. However, due to a lack of experimental evidence, the nature of its association with living plants remains enigmatic. Here we report that Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) is a host plant for N. crassa. The endophytic lifestyle of N. crassa was found in its interaction with Scots pine. Moreover, the fungus can switch to a pathogenic state when its balanced interaction with the host is disrupted. Our data reveal previously unknown lifestyles of N. crassa, which are likely controlled by both environmental and host factors. Switching among the endophytic, pathogenic, and saprotrophic lifestyles confers upon fungi phenotypic plasticity in adapting to changing environments and drives the evolution of fungi and associated plants.
Project description:Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are fundamental for both cellular and viral gene expression during viral infection. Moreover, mounting evidence supports a noncanonical role for tRNA cleavage products in the control of gene expression during diverse conditions of stress and infection. We previously reported that infection with the model murine gammaherpesvirus, MHV68, leads to altered tRNA transcription, suggesting that tRNA regulation may play an important role in mediating viral replication or the host response. To better understand how viral infection alters tRNA expression, we combined Ordered Two Template Relay (OTTR) with tRNA-specific bioinformatic software called tRAX to profile full-length tRNAs and fragmented tRNA-derived RNAs (tDRs) during infection with the model gammaherpesvirus, MHV68. We find that OTTR-tRAX is a powerful sequencing strategy for combined tRNA/tDR profiling, and reveal that MHV68 infection triggers pre-tRNA and mature tRNA cleavage, resulting in the accumulation of specific tDRs. Fragments of virally-encoded tRNAs (virtRNAs), as well as virtRNA base modification signatures are also detectable during infection. We further dissected the biogenesis pathway of an MHV68-induced cleavage product from a pre-tRNA. Our data shows that pre-tDR-Tyr expression is dependent on the tRNA splicing factor, TSEN2, and that pre-tDR-Tyr expression is inhibited by the kinase, CLP1, which regulates tRNA splicing. Significantly, our findings suggest that CLP1 kinase is required for infectious gammaherpesvirus production, offering new insight into the importance of tRNA processing during viral infection.
Project description:The silencing of tRNA-specific adenosine deaminase adat2 in Neurospora crassa abolished most of the I34 modification, resulting in major tRNA profile changes. The adat2 silencing caused genome-wide codon usage-biased ribosome pausing on mRNAs corresponding to changes in the tRNA profile, which reprograms translation elongation kinetics on ADAT-related codons. The ribosome profiling in this study was used to measure the effect of defective I34 modification of the eight tRNAs on translation kinetics during elongation stage. The accompanying mRNA-seq was used to normalize the ribosome profiling data using the same library construction protocol (reference to ARTseq™ Ribosome Profiling Kit (Catalog Number: RPYSC12116)) under the same growth condition. The independent mRNA-seq was used to measure the effect of I34 abolishment on transcriptome change using standard Illumina protocols. Meanwhile, to isolate the role of codon usage in translation elongation and protein level changes when adat2 is silenced, the independent mRNA-seq was also used to exclude the effect of mRNA level changes.
Project description:This study demonstrates the utility of Lifeact for the investigation of actin dynamics in Neurospora crassa and also represents the first report of simultaneous live-cell imaging of the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons in filamentous fungi. Lifeact is a 17-amino-acid peptide derived from the nonessential Saccharomyces cerevisiae actin-binding protein Abp140p. Fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP) or red fluorescent protein (TagRFP), Lifeact allowed live-cell imaging of actin patches, cables, and rings in N. crassa without interfering with cellular functions. Actin cables and patches localized to sites of active growth during the establishment and maintenance of cell polarity in germ tubes and conidial anastomosis tubes (CATs). Recurrent phases of formation and retrograde movement of complex arrays of actin cables were observed at growing tips of germ tubes and CATs. Two populations of actin patches exhibiting slow and fast movement were distinguished, and rapid (1.2 microm/s) saltatory transport of patches along cables was observed. Actin cables accumulated and subsequently condensed into actin rings associated with septum formation. F-actin organization was markedly different in the tip regions of mature hyphae and in germ tubes. Only mature hyphae displayed a subapical collar of actin patches and a concentration of F-actin within the core of the Spitzenkörper. Coexpression of Lifeact-TagRFP and beta-tubulin-GFP revealed distinct but interrelated localization patterns of F-actin and microtubules during the initiation and maintenance of tip growth.
Project description:The cell cycle and the circadian clock communicate with each other, resulting in circadian-gated cell division cycles. Alterations in this network may lead to diseases such as cancer. Therefore, it is critical to identify molecular components that connect these two oscillators. However, molecular mechanisms between the clock and the cell cycle remain largely unknown. A model filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa, is a multinucleate system used to elucidate molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythms, but not used to investigate the molecular coupling between these two oscillators. In this report, we show that a conserved coupling between the circadian clock and the cell cycle exists via serine/threonine protein kinase-29 (STK-29), the Neurospora homolog of mammalian WEE1 kinase. Based on this finding, we established a mathematical model that predicts circadian oscillations of cell cycle components and circadian clock-dependent synchronized nuclear divisions. We experimentally demonstrate that G1 and G2 cyclins, CLN-1 and CLB-1, respectively, oscillate in a circadian manner with bioluminescence reporters. The oscillations of clb-1 and stk-29 gene expression are abolished in a circadian arrhythmic frq(ko) mutant. Additionally, we show the light-induced phase shifts of a core circadian component, frq, as well as the gene expression of the cell cycle components clb-1 and stk-29, which may alter the timing of divisions. We then used a histone hH1-GFP reporter to observe nuclear divisions over time, and show that a large number of nuclear divisions occur in the evening. Our findings demonstrate the circadian clock-dependent molecular dynamics of cell cycle components that result in synchronized nuclear divisions in Neurospora.