高等植物转座元件功能研究进展

转座元件是指在基因组中能够移动、复制并重新整合到基因组新位点的DNA片段.转座元件一度被视为基因组内的"垃圾"或"自私DNA",长期以来,转座元件的研究主要集中于阐释转座元件在宿主中的复制或表观沉默机制,而转座元件的调控功能并未得到全面探讨.已有研究表明,转座元件的比例与物种基因组大小存在正相关性,从而为C值悖论的解释提供了依据.近年来,越来越多的证据表明转座元件可以作为宿主基因组的"控制元件"发挥重要的调控作用.在作物中研究发现,转座元件既可以通过顺式或反式作用方式调控基因表达,也可以诱导表观等位基因的产生,从而促使固着生长的植物更好地适应外界环境的变化.本文拟就高等植物转座元件的作用及其对未来作物育种的意义进行总结.     

植物转座元件注释及生物学功能研究进展

转座元件是指在基因组中能够移动、复制并重新整合到基因组新位点的DNA片段。在植物中,多种类型的转座元件,特别是占比较高的LTR类逆转录转座元件,可以通过产生新基因和转录本、提供调节元件、改变基因结构等多种途径广泛调控基因表达,最终多维度有效推动基因组进化。同时,基因组测序组装技术的快速发展也为转座元件的检测、注释提供了良好契机。本文从结构分类、全基因组检测、功能研究、基因组进化4个方面对当前植物转座元件的研究进展进行综述,同时对今后的研究方向进行了展望。     

植物转座子与基因表达调控

植物转座子是植物基因组中可移动的DNA重复序列,在植物基因组进化、基因表达调控、系统发育和遗传多样性评价方面具有重要作用。综述了植物转座子分类、起源和转座机制以及转座子与宿主基因组间的表观遗传互作,阐述了不同转座子对基因表达调控方式,并对今后研究前景进行了展望,旨为全面了解植物转座子的功能提供参考。     

SLFN14抗LINE-1分子机制研究

长散在核重复序列1 (long interspersed nuclear element-1, LINE-1)是迄今为止发现的人体基因组中唯一具有自主转座活性的逆转录转座子,其转座常引起宿主基因组不稳定,从而导致包括癌症在内的各种严重基因疾病的发生。宿主因子在宿主抗LINE-1转座中发挥着重要作用。宿主因子SLFN14作为免疫系统重要组成员,具有抗病毒活性。本实验室研究发现SLFN14对于LINE-1的转座具有抑制作用。为进一步探究其具体的作用机制,通过对LINE-1复制周期中的转录、翻译、逆转录、整合环节进行实验分析,证实SLFN14能够通过影响LINE-1 mRNA转录过程及其半衰期,降低LINE-1 mRNA的水平,从而影响LINE-1蛋白及cDNA表达水平,最终导致LINE-1复制受阻。同时,通过对SLFN14活性中心的定位,本研究还发现SLFN14的抗LINE-1活性与其核糖核酸内切酶结构域和核糖体结合结构域密切相关。上述研究结果展示了SLFN14调控LINE-1复制的机制,进一步完善了宿主因子调控网络,为控制因LINE-1复制引起的基因组不稳定提供了新思路。     

基因组DNA甲基化及组蛋白甲基化

在真核生物中,DNA甲基化是一种非常重要的表观遗传学标记,能影响染色质的结构和基因的表达。随着全基因组甲基化测序的发展,全基因组范围内的DNA甲基化水平得以了解。文章概述了基因组中启动子、基因本体、增强子、沉默子和转座子等不同元件的DNA甲基化的研究进展,以及DNA甲基化与基因表达调控间的关系。启动子的DNA甲基化对基因的表达有抑制作用,而基因本体的DNA甲基化与基因的表达关系因物种或细胞类型不同而异。增强子的DNA甲基化状态与基因活性呈反比关系,沉默子则相反呈正相关。转座子的DNA高度甲基化抑制其转座活性,从而维持基因组的稳定性。文章还探讨了DNA甲基化与组蛋白甲基化间的相互作用及其对基因表达、可变剪切、转录的调控作用,以及本领域的未来研究方向。     

原生动物基因组转座元件的研究进展

转座元件是一类广泛分布于真核生物的可移动的遗传因子, 可以引起基因重组和变异, 在物种进化及遗传改良中起着重要作用。针对近年来原生动物全基因组序列中大量发现的转座元件, 文章着重比较了转座元件在锥虫、利什曼虫、微孢子虫、变形虫和滴虫基因组序列中的存在种类、分布特征及其功能意义。原生动物转座元件以LINE 和SINE为主, 其次是DNA转座元件和LTR反转座元件, 部分转座元件在高A+T含量区富集, 预示着转座元件与基因组序列A+T含量有着紧密联系。根据不同种微孢子虫基因组之间转座元件的差异, 推测在微孢子虫基因组进化过程中, 至少经历了一次转座元件的丢失事件。最后对转座元件在原生动物寄生虫的进一步研究和应用作了展望。     

表观遗传修饰在结核病发生发展中的作用

表观遗传学作为生命科学领域的研究热点之一,已有大量的研究证实表观遗传机制在肿瘤、自身免疫疾病等疾病中起着关键作用.表观遗传修饰在结核病中的研究刚刚起步,但已发现表观遗传修饰在结核分枝杆菌、宿主,以及结核分枝杆菌与宿主相互作用中均起着重要作用.表观遗传修饰能通过调控结核分枝杆菌基因表达或调控宿主表观基因组转录和免疫应答来影响结核分枝杆菌的生长和复制,进而影响结核病发生发展和转归.本文将对表观遗传修饰在结核分枝杆菌生长复制以及结核病发生发展中的作用进行综述,为寻找新的药物靶点、研发新型治疗策略提供科学依据.     

细菌中介导多重耐药的Tn7转座子研究进展

转座子是介导细菌耐药性传播的重要可移动遗传元件。Tn7转座子与细菌耐药密切相关,其携带转座模块和Ⅱ类整合子系统。Tn7编码转座相关蛋白TnsABCDE进行“剪切-粘贴”机制转座,转座核心TnsABC也可与三链DNA或Cas-RNA复合物结合实现转座。近年来新发现了多种介导多重耐药的Tn7转座子,其在介导细菌抗生素、消毒剂和重金属抗性基因的获得、传播扩散等方面发挥了重要作用。本文综述了细菌中Tn7转座子的遗传结构、转座机制、流行以及新发现的介导多重耐药的Tn7转座子,以期为细菌中Tn7转座子的深入研究提供参考。     

转座元件、表观遗传调控与细胞命运决定

转座元件是哺乳动物基因组内含量最多的元素.尽管转座元件的存在对基因组稳定性具有潜在的危险,但它们同时还是潜在的基因调控序列、蛋白质编码序列和染色质结构序列,并参与物种进化过程.因此,基因组中转座元件的有害性和有益性保持着谨慎的平衡,并且这种平衡主要由表观遗传修饰来调控.本文详细介绍了异染色质类型表观遗传修饰如H3K9m...     

病毒相关环状DNA研究进展

环状DNA作为生命遗传物质存在形式之一,在多种生命活动中发挥重要作用。部分病毒基因组DNA以环状形式存在,不仅可以作为承载遗传信息的病毒基因组通过滚环复制的方式进行复制,也可以作为附加体建立持久感染或者潜伏感染,还可以帮助逆转录病毒整合到染色体形成前病毒逃避细胞沉默机制。无论是人-病毒杂交形成的染色体外环状DNA,还是转座整合形成的转座子,都能通过特定癌基因产生高拷贝转录本,影响宿主的生物学功能。随着研究的不断深入,环状DNA更多的功能和生物学特性被挖掘,有助于乙肝病毒清除策略制定、逆转录病毒相关疫苗研制、或抑制肿瘤形成新靶点确定等多种医学问题的解决。     

A "mille-feuille" of silencing: epigenetic control of transposable elements

Despite their abundance in the genome, transposable elements (TEs) and their derivatives are major targets of epigenetic silencing mechanisms, which restrain TE mobility at different stages of the life cycle. DNA methylation, post-translational modification of histone tails and small RNA-based pathways contribute to maintain TE silencing; however, some of these epigenetic marks are tightly interwoven and this complicates the delineation of the exact contribution of each in TE silencing. Recent studies have confirmed that host genomes have evolved versatility in the use of these mechanisms to individualize silencing of particular TEs. These studies also revealed that silencing of TEs is much more dynamic than had been previously thought and can be reversed on the genomic scale in particular cell types or under special environmental conditions. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Epigenetic control of cellular and developmental processes in plants".     

The evolution of retrotransposon regulatory regions and its consequences on the Drosophila melanogaster and Homo sapiens host genomes

It has now been established that transposable elements (TEs) make up a variable, but significant proportion of the genomes of all organisms, from Bacteria to Vertebrates. However, in addition to their quantitative importance, there is increasing evidence that TEs also play a functional role within the genome. In particular, TE regulatory regions can be viewed as a large pool of potential promoter sequences for host genes. Studying the evolution of regulatory region of TEs in different genomic contexts is therefore a fundamental aspect of understanding how a genome works. In this paper, we first briefly describe what is currently known about the regulation of TE copy number and activity in genomes, and then focus on TE regulatory regions and their evolution. We restrict ourselves to retrotransposons, which are the most abundant class of eukaryotic TEs, and analyze their evolution and the subsequent consequences for host genomes. Particular attention is paid to much-studied representatives of the Vertebrates and Invertebrates, Homo sapiens and Drosophila melanogaster, respectively, for which high quality sequenced genomes are available.     

Dynamics and Impacts of Transposable Element Proliferation in the Drosophila nasuta Species Group Radiation

Transposable element (TE) mobilization is a constant threat to genome integrity. Eukaryotic organisms have evolved robust defensive mechanisms to suppress their activity, yet TEs can escape suppression and proliferate, creating strong selective pressure for host defense to adapt. This genomic conflict fuels a never-ending arms race that drives the rapid evolution of TEs and recurrent positive selection of genes involved in host defense; the latter has been shown to contribute to postzygotic hybrid incompatibility. However, how TE proliferation impacts genome and regulatory divergence remains poorly understood. Here, we report the highly complete and contiguous (N50 = 33.8–38.0 Mb) genome assemblies of seven closely related Drosophila species that belong to the nasuta species group—a poorly studied group of flies that radiated in the last 2 My. We constructed a high-quality de novo TE library and gathered germline RNA-seq data, which allowed us to comprehensively annotate and compare TE insertion patterns between the species, and infer the evolutionary forces controlling their spread. We find a strong negative association between TE insertion frequency and expression of genes nearby; this likely reflects survivor bias from reduced fitness impact of TEs inserting near lowly expressed, nonessential genes, with limited TE-induced epigenetic silencing. Phylogenetic analyses of insertions of 147 TE families reveal that 53% of them show recent amplification in at least one species. The most highly amplified TE is a nonautonomous DNA element (Drosophila INterspersed Element; DINE) which has gone through multiple bouts of expansions with thousands of full-length copies littered throughout each genome. Across all TEs, we find that TEs expansions are significantly associated with high expression in the expanded species consistent with suppression escape. Thus, whereas horizontal transfer followed by the invasion of a naïve genome has been highlighted to explain the long-term survival of TEs, our analysis suggests that evasion of host suppression of resident TEs is a major strategy to persist over evolutionary times. Altogether, our results shed light on the heterogenous and context-dependent nature in which TEs affect gene regulation and the dynamics of rampant TE proliferation amidst a recently radiated species group.     

Transposable elements in plants: Recent advancements,tools and prospects

Transposable elements (TEs) have long been considered junk DNA; however, the availability of genome sequences and the growth of omics databases have accelerated the study of TEs, and they are now considered evolutionary signatures. TEs, essential genetic elements in plant genomes, can move around the genome by either “cut-paste” (DNA transposons) or “copypaste” mechanisms (RNA transposons). TEs often affect host genome size and interact with host genes, resulting in altered gene expression and regulatory networks. Several genes have been identified to be influenced/modified by the action of TEs. TEs have diverse structures and functions. Plants are capable of using TEs as promoters and enhancers to drive epigenetic mechanisms in a tissue-specific manner. However, our knowledge about TEs remains poor despite extensive research in plants. Plant physiological functions associated with TEs have been challenging to analyse due to a lack of focused research. Another limitation is the lack of sufficient genetic information. The different functions displayed by plant genomes are genetically regulated, which opens up opportunities in areas such as genomic evolution and epigenetic modification. Indeed, understanding the contribution of TEs in the plant genome is indispensable to assess the diversity of evolutionary adaptability in plant taxa. In this study, we review the applications of TEs and discuss the value of genetic information in the plant genome. Genomic information about TEs has a significant value in high throughput research, including forward and reverse genetics. We discuss current strategies in using TEs for the genetic dissection of plant genomes. This review covers opportunities to use different TEs databases to increase the productivity of economically important plants for sustainable development

     

Population‐specific dynamics and selection patterns of transposable element insertions in European natural populations

Transposable elements (TEs) are ubiquitous sequences in genomes of virtually all species. While TEs have been investigated for several decades, only recently we have the opportunity to study their genome‐wide population dynamics. Most of the studies so far have been restricted either to the analysis of the insertions annotated in the reference genome or to the analysis of a limited number of populations. Taking advantage of the European Drosophila population genomics consortium (DrosEU) sequencing data set, we have identified and measured the dynamics of TEs in a large sample of European Drosophila melanogaster natural populations. We showed that the mobilome landscape is population‐specific and highly diverse depending on the TE family. In contrast with previous studies based on SNP variants, no geographical structure was observed for TE abundance or TE divergence in European populations. We further identified de novo individual insertions using two available programs and, as expected, most of the insertions were present at low frequencies. Nevertheless, we identified a subset of TEs present at high frequencies and located in genomic regions with a high recombination rate. These TEs are candidates for being the target of positive selection, although neutral processes should be discarded before reaching any conclusion on the type of selection acting on them. Finally, parallel patterns of association between the frequency of TE insertions and several geographical and temporal variables were found between European and North American populations, suggesting that TEs can be potentially implicated in the adaptation of populations across continents.     

What transposable elements tell us about genome organization and evolution: the case of Drosophila

Transposable elements (TEs) have been identified in every organism in which they have been looked for. The sequencing of large genomes, such as the human genome and those of Drosophila, Arabidopsis, Caenorhabditis, has also shown that they are a major constituent of these genomes, accounting for 15% of the genome of Drosophila, 45% of the human genome, and more than 70% in some plants and amphibians. Compared with the 1% of genomic DNA dedicated to protein-coding sequences in the human genome, this has prompted various researchers to suggest that the TEs and the other repetitive sequences that constitute the so-called "noncoding DNA", are where the most stimulating discoveries will be made in the future (Bromham, 2002). We are therefore getting further and further from the original idea that this DNA was simply "junk DNA", that owed its presence in the genome entirely to its capacity for selfish transposition. Our understanding of the structures of TEs, their distribution along the genomes, their sequence and insertion polymorphisms within genomes, and within and between populations and species, their impact on genes and on the regulatory mechanisms of genetic expression, their effects on exon shuffling and other phenomena that reshape the genome, and their impact on genome size has increased dramatically in recent years. This leads to a more general picture of the impact of TEs on genomes, though many copies are still mainly selfish or junk DNA. In this review we focus mainly on discoveries made in Drosophila, but we also use information about other genomes when this helps to elucidate the general processes involved in the organization, plasticity, and evolution of genomes.