High-Throughput Chronological Lifespan Screening of the Fission Yeast Deletion Library Using Barcode Sequencing

Ageing is associated with the development of several chronic illnesses, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. To understand the genetic components driving cellular ageing in higher organisms, like ourselves, we study simple eukaryotic model systems which are more accessible and easier to manipulate than higher eukaryotes. This is possible due to the remarkably conserved ageing mechanisms that occurs between species. Here, we employ fission yeast one of the simplest eukaryotic model organisms to study cellular ageing. In this work, we de- coded the fission yeast deletion collection using our in-house developed pipeline, developed an improved version of Bar-seq along with a custom-developed analysis pipeline, determined a method for high-quality RNA extraction and RNA-seq from long-term quiescent yeast cells, and finally, performed a high-throughput Bar-seq screen to profile the chronological lifespan of our decoded strains. We describe bar- code decoding of 94% of the gene deletions; validation of our Bar-seq developed method; identification of ncRNAs as elements important for the cellular quiescence maintenance; Bar-seq screening of the competitively grown decoded strains which identified several long-lived and short-lived mutants following glucose-starvation and cellular culture re-growth; and also, validation of the top hits using isogenic cell cultures revealing eight novel gene deletions important for the early life maintenance, as well as ten novel gene deletion mutants with pro-ageing effects. Overall, in addition to providing rich datasets, we describe several high-throughput methods that can be used for future genome-wide studies, whereby the complementarity of genomics and transcriptomics can be coupled together to further advance our understanding of the genetic factors underpinning cellular ageing in humans

Autophagic dysfunction and gut microbiota dysbiosis cause chronic immune activation in a Drosophila model of Gaucher disease

Mutations in the GBA1 gene cause the lysosomal storage disorder Gaucher disease (GD) and are the greatest known genetic risk factors for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Communication between the gut and brain and immune dysregulation are increasingly being implicated in neurodegenerative disorders such as PD. Here, we show that flies lacking the Gba1b gene, the main fly orthologue of GBA1, display widespread NF-kB signalling activation, including gut inflammation, and brain glial activation. We also demonstrate intestinal autophagic defects, gut dysfunction, and microbiome dysbiosis. Remarkably, modulating the microbiome of Gba1b knockout flies, by raising them under germ-free conditions, partially ameliorates lifespan, locomotor and immune phenotypes. Moreover, we show that modulation of the immune deficiency (IMD) pathway is detrimental to the survival of Gba1 deficient flies. We also reveal that direct stimulation of autophagy by rapamycin treatment achieves similar benefits to germ-free conditions independent of gut bacterial load. Consistent with this, we show that pharmacologically blocking autophagosomal-lysosomal fusion, mimicking the autophagy defects of Gba1 depleted cells, is sufficient to stimulate intestinal immune activation. Overall, our data elucidate a mechanism whereby an altered microbiome, coupled with defects in autophagy, drive chronic activation of NF-kB signaling in a Gba1 loss-of-function model. It also highlights that elimination of the microbiota or stimulation of autophagy to remove immune mediators, rather than prolonged immunosuppression, may represent effective therapeutic avenues for GBA1-associated disorders

Genome size and ploidy influence angiosperm species' biomass under nitrogen and phosphorus limitation

Research Council of Norway. Grant Number: 196468/v40. NERC. Grant Number: NE/J012106/

Autophagic dysfunction and gut microbiota dysbiosis cause chronic immune activation in a Drosophila model of Gaucher disease.

Mutations in the GBA1 gene cause the lysosomal storage disorder Gaucher disease (GD) and are the greatest known genetic risk factors for Parkinson's disease (PD). Communication between the gut and brain and immune dysregulation are increasingly being implicated in neurodegenerative disorders such as PD. Here, we show that flies lacking the Gba1b gene, the main fly orthologue of GBA1, display widespread NF-kB signalling activation, including gut inflammation, and brain glial activation. We also demonstrate intestinal autophagic defects, gut dysfunction, and microbiome dysbiosis. Remarkably, modulating the microbiome of Gba1b knockout flies, by raising them under germ-free conditions, partially ameliorates lifespan, locomotor and immune phenotypes. Moreover, we show that modulation of the immune deficiency (IMD) pathway is detrimental to the survival of Gba1 deficient flies. We also reveal that direct stimulation of autophagy by rapamycin treatment achieves similar benefits to germ-free conditions independent of gut bacterial load. Consistent with this, we show that pharmacologically blocking autophagosomal-lysosomal fusion, mimicking the autophagy defects of Gba1 depleted cells, is sufficient to stimulate intestinal immune activation. Overall, our data elucidate a mechanism whereby an altered microbiome, coupled with defects in autophagy, drive chronic activation of NF-kB signaling in a Gba1 loss-of-function model. It also highlights that elimination of the microbiota or stimulation of autophagy to remove immune mediators, rather than prolonged immunosuppression, may represent effective therapeutic avenues for GBA1-associated disorders