Transcriptional read-through of the long non-coding RNA SVALKA governs plant cold acclimation

The function of most lncRNA is unknown. Here, the authors show that transcriptional read-through at the Arabidopsis SVALKA locus produces a cryptic lncRNA that overlaps with the neighboring cold-responsive CBF1 gene and limits CBF1 expression via an RNA polymerase II collision-based mechanism

Индукционный котел для нагрева воды

Материалы XVIII Междунар. науч.-техн. конф. студентов, аспирантов и молодых ученых, Гомель, 26–27 апр. 2018 г

Transcription-driven chromatin repression of Intragenic transcription start sites

<div><p>Progression of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) transcription relies on the appropriately positioned activities of elongation factors. The resulting profile of factors and chromatin signatures along transcription units provides a “positional information system” for transcribing RNAPII. Here, we investigate a chromatin-based mechanism that suppresses intragenic initiation of RNAPII transcription. We demonstrate that RNAPII transcription across gene promoters represses their function in plants. This repression is characterized by reduced promoter-specific molecular signatures and increased molecular signatures associated with RNAPII elongation. The conserved FACT histone chaperone complex is required for this repression mechanism. Genome-wide Transcription Start Site (TSS) mapping reveals thousands of discrete intragenic TSS positions in <i>fact</i> mutants, including downstream promoters that initiate alternative transcript isoforms. We find that histone H3 lysine 4 mono-methylation (H3K4me1), an <i>Arabidopsis</i> RNAPII elongation signature, is enriched at FACT-repressed intragenic TSSs. Our analyses suggest that FACT is required to repress intragenic TSSs at positions that are in part characterized by elevated H3K4me1 levels. In sum, conserved and plant-specific chromatin features correlate with the co-transcriptional repression of intragenic TSSs. Our insights into TSS repression by RNAPII transcription promise to inform the regulation of alternative transcript isoforms and the characterization of gene regulation through the act of pervasive transcription across eukaryotic genomes.</p></div

Organismal benefits of transcription speed control at gene boundaries

RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) transcription is crucial for gene expression. RNAPII density peaks at gene boundaries, associating these key regions for gene expression control with limited RNAPII movement. The connections between RNAPII transcription speed and gene regulation in multicellular organisms are poorly understood. Here, we directly modulate RNAPII transcription speed by point mutations in the second largest subunit of RNAPII in Arabidopsis thaliana. A RNAPII mutation predicted to decelerate transcription is inviable, while accelerating RNAPII transcription confers phenotypes resembling auto‐immunity. Nascent transcription profiling revealed that RNAPII complexes with accelerated transcription clear stalling sites at both gene ends, resulting in read‐through transcription. The accelerated transcription mutant NRPB2‐Y732F exhibits increased association with 5′ splice site (5′SS) intermediates and enhanced splicing efficiency. Our findings highlight potential advantages of RNAPII stalling through local reduction in transcription speed to optimize gene expression for the development of multicellular organisms.SynopsisRNAPII mutations that accelerate transcription cause auto‐immunity‐like phenotypes, read‐through transcription at RNAPII stalling sites and enhanced splicing in Arabidopsis, indicating that controlled transcription speed is required for optimal gene expression and plant development.A point mutation in RNAPII that increases the speed of RNAPII transcription triggers auto‐immunity‐like phenotypes.plaNET‐seq reveals reduced RNAPII stalling at gene boundaries in fast transcription mutants.Increasing the speed of transcription reduces the efficiency of transcriptional termination, resulting in read‐through transcription that blurs the spatial separation of genes.Accelerating RNAPII transcription enhances splicing efficiency in the multi‐cellular context.RNAPII mutations that accelerate transcription cause auto‐immunity‐like phenotypes, read‐through transcription at RNAPII stalling sites and enhanced splicing in Arabidopsis, indicating that controlled transcription speed is required for optimal gene expression and plant development.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154978/1/embr201949315-sup-0001-EVFigs.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154978/2/embr201949315.reviewer_comments.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154978/3/embr201949315.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154978/4/embr201949315_am.pd

Normal neonatal TREC and KREC levels in early onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Objective: Dysregulated central tolerance predisposes to autoimmune diseases. Reduced thymic output as well as compromised central B cell tolerance checkpoints have been proposed in the pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The aim of this study was to investigate neonatal levels of T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) and kappa-deleting element excision circles (KRECs), as markers of T- and B-cell output at birth, in patients with early onset JIA. Methods: TRECs and KRECs were quantitated by multiplex qPCR from dried blood spots (DBS), collected 2–5 days after birth, in 156 children with early onset JIA and in 312 matched controls. Results: When analysed from neonatal dried blood spots, the median TREC level was 78 (IQR 55–113) in JIA cases and 88 (IQR 57–117) copies/well in controls. The median KREC level was 51 (IQR 35–69) and 53 (IQR 35–74) copies/well, in JIA cases and controls, respectively. Stratification by sex and age at disease onset did not reveal any difference in the levels of TRECs and KRECs. Conclusion: T- and B-cell output at birth, as measured by TREC and KREC levels in neonatal dried blood spots, does not differ in children with early onset JIA compared to controls

A Lateglacial archaeological site in the far north-west of Europe at Rubha Port an t-Seilich, Isle of Islay, western Scotland: Ahrensburgian-style artefacts, absolute dating and geoarchaeology

© 2015 The Authors.The exact pattern, process and timing of the human re-colonization of northern Europe after the end of the last Ice Age remain controversial. Recent research has provided increasingly early dates for at least pioneer explorations of latitudes above 54°N in many regions, yet the far north-west of the European landmass, Scotland, has remained an unexplained exception to this pattern. Although the recently described Hamburgian artefacts from Howburn and an assemblage belonging to the arch-backed point complex from Kilmelfort Cave have established at least a sporadic human presence during earlier stages of the Lateglacial Interstadial, we currently lack evidence for Younger Dryas/Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) activity other than rare stray finds that have been claimed to be of Ahrensburgian affiliation but are difficult to interpret in isolation. We here report the discovery of chipped stone artefacts with technological and typological characteristics similar to those of the continental Ahrensburgian at a locality in western Scotland. A preliminary analysis of associated tephra, pollen and phytoliths, along with microstratigraphic analysis, suggest the artefacts represent one or more episodes of human activity that fall within the second half of GS-1 and the Preboreal period

Appropriate age range for introduction of complementary feeding into an infant’s diet

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Samtida Systembyten Globalt inom Biltillverkningsindustrin

Ett sätt att betrakta en organisation är att den ständigt är under förändring och utveckling. Sådana förändringar kan vara av mindre eller större strategisk betydelse som t.ex. systembyten. Oavsett om systembytet är datoriserat eller ej leder det till en förändring av det organisatoriska systemet i verksamheten. Utvecklingsprocessen för system är en företeelse som ständigt pågår. Den korsar ofta organisatoriska gränser. Strategiska val utförs under hela processen. Problem och fallgropar är av skiftande slag. De utgörs av t.ex. kulturkrockar, legal påverkan, otillfredsställda användare, monetära intressen o.s.v. Vi kallar fenomenet systembytande organisationer. Definitionen av systembyte blir att gå från något befintligt till något nytt. Genom att delta i en samtida systemutvecklingsprocess tog vi reda på hur denna såg ut i en global organisation. Metoder som användes var litteraturstudier, enkäter, intervjuer och inläsning av dokumenterat systemutvecklingsunderlag. Resultatet visade att det stundtals är idealiserade beskrivningar av systemutvecklingsprocessen som beskrivs i litteraturen. I verkligheten användes inte metoder i tänkt utsträckning. Utvecklingen styrdes istället av ekonomiska och tidkritiska intressen

The chloroplast talks : Insights into the language of the chloroplast in Arabidopsis

The chloroplast originates from an endosymbiotic event 1.5 billion years ago, when a free living photosynthetic bacteria was engulfed by a eukaryotic host. The chloroplastic genome has through evolution lost many genes to the nuclear genome of the host. To coordinate the gene expression between the two genomes, plants have evolved two types of communication, nucleus-to-plastid (anterograde) and plastid-to-nucleus (retrograde) signalling. This thesis will focus on retrograde communication with emphasis on redox and tetrapyrrole mediated signalling. In this thesis, we establish the tetrapyrrole Mg-ProtoIX as an important retrograde negative regulator of nuclear encoded plastid proteins. We show that Mg-ProtoIX accumulates in both artificial and natural stress conditions, and that the accumulation is tightly correlated to regulation of nuclear gene expression. Using confocal microscopy, we could visualize Mg-ProtoIX in the cytosol during stress conditions. In addition, exogenously applied Mg-ProtoIX stayed in the cytosol and was enough to trigger a signal to the nucleus. The results presented here indicate that Mg-ProtoIX is transported out of the chloroplast to control nuclear gene expression. Mg-ProtoIX mediated repression of the nuclear gene, COR15a, occurs via the transcription factor HY5. HY5 is influenced by both plastid signals and the photoreceptors. Here, we show that photoreceptors are part of Mg-ProtoIX mediated signalling as well as excess light adaptation. We identified the blue light receptor, CRY1, as a light intensity sensor that partly utilizes HY5 in the high light response. To further understand the high light regulation of nuclear genes, we isolated a mutant with redox insensitive (rin) high light response. The rin2 mutant has a mutated plastid protein with unknown function. Characterization of the rin2 mutant revealed that the protein is important in regulating plastid gene expression as well as nuclear gene expression. The rin2 mutant is the first characterized rin mutant and could prove important in elucidating the cross-talk between redox mediated coordination between the plastid and the nuclear genome