The Paramecium histone chaperone Spt16-1 is required for Pgm endonuclease function in programmed genome rearrangements.

In Paramecium tetraurelia, a large proportion of the germline genome is reproducibly removed from the somatic genome after sexual events via a process involving small (s)RNA-directed heterochromatin formation and DNA excision and repair. How germline limited DNA sequences are specifically recognized in the context of chromatin remains elusive. Here, we use a reverse genetics approach to identify factors involved in programmed genome rearrangements. We have identified a P. tetraurelia homolog of the highly conserved histone chaperone Spt16 subunit of the FACT complex, Spt16-1, and show its expression is developmentally regulated. A functional GFP-Spt16-1 fusion protein localized exclusively in the nuclei where genome rearrangements take place. Gene silencing of Spt16-1 showed it is required for the elimination of all germline-limited sequences, for the survival of sexual progeny, and for the accumulation of internal eliminated sequence (ies)RNAs, an sRNA population produced when elimination occurs. Normal accumulation of 25 nt scanRNAs and deposition of silent histone marks H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 indicated that Spt16-1 does not regulate the scanRNA-directed heterochromatin pathway involved in the early steps of DNA elimination. We further show that Spt16-1 is required for the correct nuclear localization of the PiggyMac (Pgm) endonuclease, which generates the DNA double-strand breaks required for DNA elimination. Thus, Spt16-1 is essential for Pgm function during programmed genome rearrangements. We propose a model in which Spt16-1 mediates interactions between the excision machinery and chromatin, facilitating endonuclease access to DNA cleavage sites during genome rearrangements

Local Effect of Enhancer of Zeste-Like Reveals Cooperation of Epigenetic and cis-Acting Determinants for Zygotic Genome Rearrangements

International audienceIn the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia, differentiation of the somatic nucleus from the zygotic nucleus is characterized by massive and reproducible deletion of transposable elements and of 45,000 short, dispersed, single-copy sequences. A specific class of small RNAs produced by the germline during meiosis, the scnRNAs, are involved in the epigenetic regulation of DNA deletion but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we show that trimethylation of histone H3 (H3K27me3 and H3K9me3) displays a dynamic nuclear localization that is altered when the endonuclease required for DNA elimination is depleted. We identified the putative histone methyltransferase Ezl1 necessary for H3K27me3 and H3K9me3 establishment and show that it is required for correct genome rearrangements. Genome-wide analyses show that scnRNA-mediated H3 trimethylation is necessary for the elimination of long, repeated germline DNA, while single copy sequences display differential sensitivity to depletion of proteins involved in the scnRNA pathway, Ezl1-a putative histone methyltransferase and Dcl5-a protein required for iesRNA biogenesis. Our study reveals cis-acting determinants, such as DNA length, also contribute to the definition of germline sequences to delete. We further show that precise excision of single copy DNA elements, as short as 26 bp, requires Ezl1, suggesting that development specific H3K27me3 and H3K9me3 ensure specific demarcation of very short germline sequences from the adjacent somatic sequences

Secuelas por Accidente Cerebrovascular Isquémico en pacientes de 40-90 años, del servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Roberto Calderón Gutiérrez, de enero 2011 a diciembre 2014

Las secuelas neurológicas después del accidente cerebrovascular isquémico pueden impactar negativamente en la calidad de vida de las personas y ser factor determinante en la mortalidad de estas, existiendo datos limitados y variables en cuanto a la frecuencia de su desarrollo, siendo preponderante la investigación de este tópico. El presente estudio es de tipo descriptivo, retrospectivo y de corte transversal, en el cual se abordaron las Secuelas por Accidente Cerebrovascular Isquémico en pacientes de 40 – 90 años, del servicio de Medicina Interna, del Hospital Roberto Calderón Gutiérrez, de enero 2011 a diciembre 2014, que persigue describir las secuelas por esta patología en el grupo de estudio definido. El universo se conformó por 138 expedientes de pacientes con la patología, siendo la muestra de 103 expedientes, la fuente fue secundaria, conformada por la revisión de expedientes clínico, recopilando los datos por medio de la Ficha de recolección elaborada en base a los objetivos propuestos en el estudio. Los principales resultados reflejaron que el sexo predominante fue el femenino, entre el grupo etario de 71 a 80 años. La Hipertensión Arterial representó el antecedente patológico más frecuente, siendo la arteria cerebral media la más afectada. La parálisis / paresia de las extremidades contralaterales fue la secuela predominante. Por tanto, se recomienda hacer insistencia en la atención integral en salud brindada a los usuarios, logrando reconocer factores de riesgo patológico y no patológico incidiendo así en su control o eliminación y de esta forma mitigando el desarrollo de esta enfermedad. Palabras Claves: Secuelas, accidente cerebrovascular, isquemia

The Polycomb protein Ezl1 mediates H3K9 and H3K27 methylation to repress transposable elements in Paramecium.

In animals and plants, the H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 chromatin silencing marks are deposited by different protein machineries. H3K9me3 is catalyzed by the SET-domain SU(VAR)3-9 enzymes, while H3K27me3 is catalyzed by the SET-domain Enhancer-of-zeste enzymes, which are the catalytic subunits of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2). Here, we show that the Enhancer-of-zeste-like protein Ezl1 from the unicellular eukaryote Paramecium tetraurelia, which exhibits significant sequence and structural similarities with human EZH2, catalyzes methylation of histone H3 in vitro and in vivo with an apparent specificity toward K9 and K27. We find that H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 co-occur at multiple families of transposable elements in an Ezl1-dependent manner. We demonstrate that loss of these histone marks results in global transcriptional hyperactivation of transposable elements with modest effects on protein-coding gene expression. Our study suggests that although often considered functionally distinct, H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 may share a common evolutionary history as well as a common ancestral role in silencing transposable elements

Silencing-associated and meiosis-specific small RNA pathways in Paramecium tetraurelia

Distinct small RNA pathways are involved in the two types of homology-dependent effects described in Paramecium tetraurelia, as shown by a functional analysis of Dicer and Dicer-like genes and by the sequencing of small RNAs. The siRNAs that mediate post-transcriptional gene silencing when cells are fed with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) were found to comprise two subclasses. DCR1-dependent cleavage of the inducing dsRNA generates ∼23-nt primary siRNAs from both strands, while a different subclass of ∼24-nt RNAs, characterized by a short untemplated poly-A tail, is strictly antisense to the targeted mRNA, suggestive of secondary siRNAs that depend on an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. An entirely distinct pathway is responsible for homology-dependent regulation of developmental genome rearrangements after sexual reproduction. During early meiosis, the DCL2 and DCL3 genes are required for the production of a highly complex population of ∼25-nt scnRNAs from all types of germline sequences, including both strands of exons, introns, intergenic regions, transposons and Internal Eliminated Sequences. A prominent 5′-UNG signature, and a minor fraction showing the complementary signature at positions 21–23, indicate that scnRNAs are cleaved from dsRNA precursors as duplexes with 2-nt 3′ overhangs at both ends, followed by preferential stabilization of the 5′-UNG strand

The Challenges of Genome-Wide Studies in a Unicellular Eukaryote With Two Nuclear Genomes

International audienc

Programmed Rearrangement in Ciliates: Paramecium

International audienc

Role of Histone Deacetylation in Developmentally Programmed DNA Rearrangements in Tetrahymena thermophila

In Tetrahymena, as in other ciliates, development of the somatic macronucleus during conjugation involves extensive and reproducible rearrangements of the germ line genome, including chromosome fragmentation and excision of internal eliminated sequences (IESs). The molecular mechanisms controlling these events are poorly understood. To investigate the role that histone acetylation may play in the regulation of these processes, we treated Tetrahymena cells during conjugation with the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA). We show that TSA treatment induces developmental arrests in the early stages of conjugation but does not significantly affect the progression of conjugation once the mitotic divisions of the zygotic nucleus have occurred. Progeny produced from TSA-treated cells were examined for effects on IES excision and chromosome breakage. We found that TSA treatment caused partial inhibition of excision of five out of the six IESs analyzed but did not affect chromosome breakage at four different sites. TSA treatment greatly delayed in some cells and inhibited in most the excision events in the developing macronucleus. It also led to loss of the specialized subnuclear localization of the chromodomain protein Pdd1p that is normally associated with DNA elimination. We propose a model in which underacetylated nucleosomes mark germ line-limited sequences for excision

DNA Modification Patterns Filtering and Analysis Using DNAModAnnot.

Mapping DNA modifications at the base resolution is now possible at the genome level thanks to advances in sequencing technologies. Long-read sequencing data can be used to identify modified base patterns. However, the downstream analysis of Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) or Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) data requires the integration of genomic annotation and comprehensive filtering to prevent the accumulation of artifact signals. We present in this chapter, a linear workflow to fully analyze modified base patterns using the DNA Modification Annotation (DNAModAnnot) package. This workflow includes a thorough filtering based on sequencing quality and false discovery rate estimation and provides tools for a global analysis of DNA modifications. Here, we provide an application example of this workflow with PacBio data and guide the user by explaining expected outputs via a fully integrated Rmarkdown script. This protocol is presented with tips showing how to adapt the provided code for annotating epigenomes of any organism according to the user needs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe