1
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Salvail H, Balaji A, Roth A, Breaker RR. A spermidine riboswitch class in bacteria exploits a close variant of an aptamer for the enzyme cofactor S-adenosylmethionine. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113571. [PMID: 38096053 PMCID: PMC10853860 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 11/22/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Natural polyamines such as spermidine and spermine cations have characteristics that make them highly likely to be sensed by riboswitches, such as their general affinity to polyanionic RNA and their broad contributions to cell physiology. Despite previous claims that polyamine riboswitches exist, evidence of their biological functions has remained unconvincing. Here, we report that rare variants of bacterial S-adenosylmethionine-I (SAM-I) riboswitches reject SAM and have adapted to selectively sense spermidine. These spermidine-sensing riboswitch variants are associated with genes whose protein products are directly involved in the production of spermidine and other polyamines. Biochemical and genetic assays demonstrate that representatives of this riboswitch class robustly function as genetic "off" switches, wherein spermidine binding causes premature transcription termination to suppress the expression of polyamine biosynthetic genes. These findings confirm the existence of natural spermidine-sensing riboswitches in bacteria and expand the list of variant riboswitch classes that have adapted to bind different ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hubert Salvail
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA
| | - Aparaajita Balaji
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA
| | - Adam Roth
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA
| | - Ronald R Breaker
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA.
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2
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Li M, Deng J, Peng X, Wang J, Wilson TJ, Huang L, Lilley DMJ. Structure and ion-dependent folding of k-junctions. RNA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2023; 29:1411-1422. [PMID: 37311599 PMCID: PMC10573300 DOI: 10.1261/rna.079678.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
k-Junctions are elaborated forms of kink turns with an additional helix on the nonbulged strand, thus forming a three-way helical junction. Two were originally identified in the structures of Arabidopsis and Escherichia coli thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) riboswitches, and another called DUF-3268 was tentatively identified from sequence information. In this work we show that the Arabidopsis and E. coli riboswitch k-junctions fold in response to the addition of magnesium or sodium ions, and that atomic mutations that should disrupt key hydrogen bonding interactions greatly impair folding. Using X-ray crystallography, we have determined the structure of the DUF-3268 RNA and thus confirmed that it is a k-junction. It also folds upon the addition of metal ions, though requiring a 40-fold lower concentration of either divalent or monovalent ions. The key difference between the DUF-3268 and riboswitch k-junctions is the lack of nucleotides inserted between G1b and A2b in the former. We show that this insertion is primarily responsible for the difference in folding properties. Finally, we show that the DUF-3268 can functionally substitute for the k-junction in the E. coli TPP riboswitch such that the chimera can bind the TPP ligand, although less avidly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengxiao Li
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Jie Deng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Xuemei Peng
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - Jia Wang
- College of Pharmacy, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, China
| | - Timothy J Wilson
- Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, MSI/WTB Complex, The University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
| | - Lin Huang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
| | - David M J Lilley
- Nucleic Acid Structure Research Group, MSI/WTB Complex, The University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, United Kingdom
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3
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Fekete FJ, Marotta NJ, Liu X, Weinert EE. An O 2-sensing diguanylate cyclase broadly affects the aerobic transcriptome in the phytopathogen Pectobacterium carotovorum. Front Microbiol 2023; 14:1134742. [PMID: 37485529 PMCID: PMC10360401 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1134742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Pectobacterium carotovorum is an important plant pathogen responsible for the destruction of crops through bacterial soft rot, which is modulated by oxygen (O2) concentration. A soluble globin coupled sensor protein, Pcc DgcO (also referred to as PccGCS) is one way through which P. carotovorum senses oxygen. DgcO contains a diguanylate cyclase output domain producing c-di-GMP. Synthesis of the bacterial second messenger c-di-GMP is increased upon oxygen binding to the sensory globin domain. This work seeks to understand regulation of function by DgcO at the transcript level. RNA sequencing and differential expression analysis revealed that the deletion of DgcO only affects transcript levels in cells grown under aerobic conditions. Differential expression analysis showed that DgcO deletion alters transcript levels for metal transporters. These results, followed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry showing decreased concentrations of six biologically relevant metals upon DgcO deletion, provide evidence that a globin coupled sensor can affect cellular metal content. These findings improve the understanding of the transcript level control of O2-dependent phenotypes in an important phytopathogen and establish a basis for further studies on c-di-GMP-dependent functions in P. carotovorum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian J. Fekete
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - Nick J. Marotta
- Graduate Program in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - Xuanyu Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State University, University Park, PA, United States
| | - Emily E. Weinert
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Penn State University, University Park, PA, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Penn State University, University Park, PA, United States
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4
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Amadei F, Reichenbach M, Gallo S, Sigel RKO. The structural features of the ligand-free moaA riboswitch and its ion-dependent folding. J Inorg Biochem 2023; 242:112153. [PMID: 36774787 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2023.112153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Riboswitches are structural elements of mRNA involved in the regulation of gene expression by responding to specific cellular metabolites. To fulfil their regulatory function, riboswitches prefold into an active state, the so-called binding competent form, that guarantees metabolite binding and allows a consecutive refolding of the RNA. Here, we describe the folding pathway to the binding competent form as well as the ligand free structure of the moaA riboswitch of E. coli. This RNA proposedly responds to the molybdenum cofactor (Moco), a highly oxygen-sensitive metabolite, essential in the carbon and sulfur cycles of eukaryotes. K+- and Mg2+-dependent footprinting assays and spectroscopic investigations show a high degree of structure formation of this RNA already at very low ion-concentrations. Mg2+ facilitates additionally a general compaction of the riboswitch towards its proposed active structure. We show that this fold agrees with the earlier suggested secondary structure which included also a long-range tetraloop/tetraloop-receptor like interaction. Metal ion cleavage assays revealed specific Mg2+-binding pockets within the moaA riboswitch. These Mg2+ binding pockets are good indicators for the potential Moco binding site, since in riboswitches, Mg2+ was shown to be necessary to bind phosphate-carrying metabolites. The importance of the phosphate and of other functional groups of Moco is highlighted by binding assays with tetrahydrobiopterin, the reduced and oxygen-sensitive core moiety of Moco. We demonstrate that the general molecular shape of pterin by its own is insufficient for the recognition by the riboswitch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Amadei
- Department of Chemistry, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - María Reichenbach
- Department of Chemistry, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Sofia Gallo
- Department of Chemistry, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Roland K O Sigel
- Department of Chemistry, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
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5
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Cheah HL, Ahmed SA, Tang TH. Transcription start site mapping and small RNA profiling of Leptospira biflexa serovar Patoc. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 39:104. [PMID: 36808011 DOI: 10.1007/s11274-023-03540-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023]
Abstract
Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by bacterial species of the genus Leptospira. However, the regulatory mechanisms and pathways underlying the adaptation of pathogenic and non-pathogenic Leptospira spp. in different environmental conditions remain elusive. Leptospira biflexa is a non-pathogenic species of Leptospira that lives exclusively in a natural environment. It is an ideal model not only for exploring molecular mechanisms underlying the environmental survival of Leptospira species but also for identifying virulence factors unique to Leptospira's pathogenic species. In this study, we aim to establish the transcription start site (TSS) landscape and the small RNA (sRNA) profile of L. biflexa serovar Patoc grown to exponential and stationary phases via differential RNA-seq (dRNA-seq) and small RNA-seq (sRNA-seq) analyses, respectively. Our dRNA-seq analysis uncovered a total of 2726 TSSs, which are also used to identify other elements, e.g., promoter and untranslated regions (UTRs). Besides, our sRNA-seq analysis revealed a total of 603 sRNA candidates, comprising 16 promoter-associated sRNAs, 184 5'UTR-derived sRNAs, 230 true intergenic sRNAs, 136 5'UTR-antisense sRNAs, and 130 open reading frame (ORF)-antisense sRNAs. In summary, these findings reflect the transcriptional complexity of L. biflexa serovar Patoc under different growth conditions and help to facilitate our understanding of regulatory networks in L. biflexa. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting the TSS landscape of L. biflexa. The TSS and sRNA landscapes of L. biflexa can also be compared with its pathogenic counterparts, e.g., L. borgpetersenii and L. interrogans, to identify features contributing to their environmental survival and virulence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong-Leong Cheah
- Advanced Medical & Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Bertam, 13200, Kepala Batas, Penang, Malaysia
| | - Siti Aminah Ahmed
- Advanced Medical & Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Bertam, 13200, Kepala Batas, Penang, Malaysia
| | - Thean-Hock Tang
- Advanced Medical & Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia, Bertam, 13200, Kepala Batas, Penang, Malaysia.
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6
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Kavita K, Breaker RR. Discovering riboswitches: the past and the future. Trends Biochem Sci 2023; 48:119-141. [PMID: 36150954 PMCID: PMC10043782 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibs.2022.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 45.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Riboswitches are structured noncoding RNA domains used by many bacteria to monitor the concentrations of target ligands and regulate gene expression accordingly. In the past 20 years over 55 distinct classes of natural riboswitches have been discovered that selectively sense small molecules or elemental ions, and thousands more are predicted to exist. Evidence suggests that some riboswitches might be direct descendants of the RNA-based sensors and switches that were likely present in ancient organisms before the evolutionary emergence of proteins. We provide an overview of the current state of riboswitch research, focusing primarily on the discovery of riboswitches, and speculate on the major challenges facing researchers in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kumari Kavita
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA
| | - Ronald R Breaker
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA; Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA.
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7
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Lenkeit F, Eckert I, Sinn M, Hauth F, Hartig JS, Weinberg Z. A variant of guanidine-IV riboswitches exhibits evidence of a distinct ligand specificity. RNA Biol 2023; 20:10-19. [PMID: 36548032 PMCID: PMC9788692 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2022.2160562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Riboswitches are regulatory RNAs that specifically bind a small molecule or ion. Like metabolite-binding proteins, riboswitches can evolve new ligand specificities, and some examples of this phenomenon have been validated. As part of work based on comparative genomics to discover novel riboswitches, we encountered a candidate riboswitch with striking similarities to the recently identified guanidine-IV riboswitch. This candidate riboswitch, the Gd4v motif, is predicted in four distinct bacterial phyla, thus almost as widespread as the guanidine-IV riboswitch. Bioinformatic and experimental analysis suggest that the Gd4v motif is a riboswitch that binds a ligand other than guanidine. It is found associated with gene classes that differ from genes regulated by confirmed guanidine riboswitches. In inline-probing assays, we showed that free guanidine binds only weakly to one of the tested sequences of the variant. Further tested compounds did not show binding, attenuation of transcription termination, or activation of a genetic reporter construct. We characterized an N-acetyltransferase frequently associated with the Gd4v motif and compared its substrate preference to an N-acetyltransferase that occurs under control of guanidine-IV riboswitches. The substrates of this Gd4v-motif-associated enzyme did not show activity for Gd4v RNA binding or transcription termination. Hence, the ligand of the candidate riboswitch motif remains unidentified. The variant RNA motif is predominantly found in gut metagenome sequences, hinting at a ligand that is highly relevant in this environment. This finding is a first step to determining the identity of this unknown ligand, and understanding how guanidine-IV-riboswitch-like structures can evolve to bind different ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felina Lenkeit
- Department of Chemistry and Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457Konstanz, Germany
| | - Iris Eckert
- Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics, Leipzig University, Härtelstraße 16-18, 04107Leipzig, Germany
| | - Malte Sinn
- Department of Chemistry and Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457Konstanz, Germany
| | - Franziskus Hauth
- Department of Chemistry and Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jörg S. Hartig
- Department of Chemistry and Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457Konstanz, Germany,CONTACT Jörg S. Hartig
| | - Zasha Weinberg
- Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics, Leipzig University, Härtelstraße 16-18, 04107Leipzig, Germany,Zasha Weinberg Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics, Leipzig University, Härtelstraße 16-18, 04107Leipzig, Germany
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8
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Zheng L, Song Q, Xu X, Shen X, Li C, Li H, Chen H, Ren A. Structure-based insights into recognition and regulation of SAM-sensing riboswitches. SCIENCE CHINA. LIFE SCIENCES 2023; 66:31-50. [PMID: 36459353 DOI: 10.1007/s11427-022-2188-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Riboswitches are highly conserved RNA elements that located in the 5'-UTR of mRNAs, which undergo real-time structure conformational change to achieve the regulation of downstream gene expression by sensing their cognate ligands. S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is a ubiquitous methyl donor for transmethylation reactions in all living organisms. SAM riboswitch is one of the most abundant riboswitches that bind to SAM with high affinity and selectivity, serving as regulatory modules in multiple metabolic pathways. To date, seven SAM-specific riboswitch classes that belong to four families, one SAM/SAH riboswitch and one SAH riboswitch have been identified. Each SAM riboswitch family has a well-organized tertiary core scaffold to support their unique ligand-specific binding pocket. In this review, we summarize the current research progress on the distribution, structure, ligand recognition and gene regulation mechanism of these SAM-related riboswitch families, and further discuss their evolutionary prospects and potential applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luqian Zheng
- Department of Gastroenterology, Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.,Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.,The Eighth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, 518033, China
| | - Qianqian Song
- Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Xiaochen Xu
- Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Xin Shen
- Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Chunyan Li
- Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Hongcheng Li
- Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Hao Chen
- Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Aiming Ren
- Department of Gastroenterology, Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. .,Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
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9
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Pavlova N, Penchovsky R. Bioinformatics and Genomic Analyses of the Suitability of Eight Riboswitches for Antibacterial Drug Targets. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:antibiotics11091177. [PMID: 36139956 PMCID: PMC9495176 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11091177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance (AR) is an acute problem that results in prolonged and debilitating illnesses. AR mortality worldwide is growing and causes a pressing need to research novel mechanisms of action and untested target molecules. This article presents in silico analyses of eight bacterial riboswitches for their suitability for antibacterial drug targets. Most bacterial riboswitches are located in the 5′-untranslated region of messenger RNAs, act as allosteric cis-acting gene control elements, and have not been found in humans before. Sensing metabolites, the riboswitches regulate the synthesis of vital cellular metabolites in various pathogenic bacteria. The analyses performed in this article represent a complete and informative genome-wide bioinformatics analysis of the adequacy of eight riboswitches as antibacterial drug targets in different pathogenic bacteria based on four criteria. Due to the ability of the riboswitch to control biosynthetic pathways and transport proteins of essential metabolites and the presence/absence of alternative biosynthetic pathways, we classified them into four groups based on their suitability for use as antibacterial drug targets guided by our in silico analyses. We concluded that some of them are promising targets for antibacterial drug discovery, such as the PreQ1, MoCo RNA, cyclic-di-GMP I, and cyclic-di-GMP II riboswitches.
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10
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Landgraf T, Völklein AE, Fürtig B, Schwalbe H. The cotranscriptional folding landscape for two cyclic di-nucleotide-sensing riboswitches with highly homologous aptamer domains acting either as ON- or OFF-switches. Nucleic Acids Res 2022; 50:6639-6655. [PMID: 35736222 PMCID: PMC9262584 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Riboswitches are gene regulatory elements located in untranslated mRNA regions. They bind inducer molecules with high affinity and specificity. Cyclic-di-nucleotide-sensing riboswitches are major regulators of genes for the environment, membranes and motility (GEMM) of bacteria. Up to now, structural probing assays or crystal structures have provided insight into the interaction between cyclic-di-nucleotides and their corresponding riboswitches. ITC analysis, NMR analysis and computational modeling allowed us to gain a detailed understanding of the gene regulation mechanisms for the Cd1 (Clostridium difficile) and for the pilM (Geobacter metallireducens) riboswitches and their respective di-nucleotides c-di-GMP and c-GAMP. Binding capability showed a 25 nucleotide (nt) long window for pilM and a 61 nt window for Cd1. Within this window, binding affinities ranged from 35 μM to 0.25 μM spanning two orders of magnitude for Cd1 and pilM showing a strong dependence on competing riboswitch folds. Experimental results were incorporated into a Markov simulation to further our understanding of the transcriptional folding pathways of riboswitches. Our model showed the ability to predict riboswitch gene regulation and its dependence on transcription speed, pausing and ligand concentration.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Boris Fürtig
- Correspondence may also be addressed to Boris Fürtig.
| | - Harald Schwalbe
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +49 69 798 29737; Fax: +49 69 798 29515;
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11
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Hamal Dhakal S, Panchapakesan SSS, Slattery P, Roth A, Breaker RR. Variants of the guanine riboswitch class exhibit altered ligand specificities for xanthine, guanine, or 2'-deoxyguanosine. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2120246119. [PMID: 35622895 PMCID: PMC9295807 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2120246119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The aptamer portions of previously reported riboswitch classes that sense guanine, adenine, or 2′-deoxyguanosine are formed by a highly similar three-stem junction with distinct nucleotide sequences in the regions joining the stems. The nucleotides in these joining regions form the major features of the selective ligand-binding pocket for each aptamer. Previously, we reported the existence of additional, rare variants of the predominant guanine-sensing riboswitch class that carry nucleotide differences in the ligand-binding pocket, suggesting that these RNAs have further diversified their structures and functions. Herein, we report the discovery and analysis of three naturally occurring variants of guanine riboswitches that are narrowly distributed across Firmicutes. These RNAs were identified using comparative sequence analysis methods, which also revealed that some of the gene associations for these variants are atypical for guanine riboswitches or their previously known natural variants. Binding assays demonstrate that the newfound variant riboswitch representatives recognize xanthine, guanine, or 2′-deoxyguanosine, with the guanine class exhibiting greater discrimination against related purines than the more common guanine riboswitch class reported previously. These three additional variant classes, together with the four previously discovered riboswitch classes that employ the same three-stem junction architecture, reveal how a simple structural framework can be diversified to expand the range of purine-based ligands sensed by RNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siddhartha Hamal Dhakal
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103
| | | | - Paul Slattery
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103
| | - Adam Roth
- HHMI, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103
| | - Ronald R. Breaker
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103
- HHMI, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103
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12
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Fuks C, Falkner S, Schwierz N, Hengesbach M. Combining Coarse-Grained Simulations and Single Molecule Analysis Reveals a Three-State Folding Model of the Guanidine-II Riboswitch. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:826505. [PMID: 35573739 PMCID: PMC9094411 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.826505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Riboswitch RNAs regulate gene expression by conformational changes induced by environmental conditions and specific ligand binding. The guanidine-II riboswitch is proposed to bind the small molecule guanidinium and to subsequently form a kissing loop interaction between the P1 and P2 hairpins. While an interaction was shown for isolated hairpins in crystallization and electron paramagnetic resonance experiments, an intrastrand kissing loop formation has not been demonstrated. Here, we report the first evidence of this interaction in cis in a ligand and Mg2+ dependent manner. Using single-molecule FRET spectroscopy and detailed structural information from coarse-grained simulations, we observe and characterize three interconvertible states representing an open and kissing loop conformation as well as a novel Mg2+ dependent state for the guanidine-II riboswitch from E. coli. The results further substantiate the proposed switching mechanism and provide detailed insight into the regulation mechanism for the guanidine-II riboswitch class. Combining single molecule experiments and coarse-grained simulations therefore provides a promising perspective in resolving the conformational changes induced by environmental conditions and to yield molecular insights into RNA regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christin Fuks
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sebastian Falkner
- Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,Computational and Soft Matter Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, VIA, Austria
| | - Nadine Schwierz
- Department of Theoretical Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Martin Hengesbach
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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13
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Abstract
Noncoding RNAs with secondary structures play important roles in CRISPR-Cas systems. Many of these structures likely remain undiscovered. We used a large-scale comparative genomics approach to predict 156 novel candidate structured RNAs from 36,111 CRISPR-Cas systems. A number of these were found to overlap with coding genes, including palindromic candidates that overlapped with a variety of Cas genes in type I and III systems. Among these 156 candidates, we identified 46 new models of CRISPR direct repeats and 1 tracrRNA. This tracrRNA model occasionally overlapped with predicted cas9 coding regions, emphasizing the importance of expanding our search windows for novel structure RNAs in coding regions. We also demonstrated that the antirepeat sequence in this tracrRNA model can be used to accurately assign thousands of predicted CRISPR arrays to type II-C systems. This study highlights the importance of unbiased identification of candidate structured RNAs across CRISPR-Cas systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brayon J. Fremin
- Department of Energy, Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Nikos C. Kyrpides
- Department of Energy, Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA
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14
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Ma H, Jia X, Zhang K, Su Z. Cryo-EM advances in RNA structure determination. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2022; 7:58. [PMID: 35197441 PMCID: PMC8864457 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-022-00916-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/30/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has emerged as an unprecedented tool to resolve protein structures at atomic resolution. Structural insights of biological samples not accessible by conventional X-ray crystallography and NMR can be explored with cryo-EM because measurements are carried out under near-native crystal-free conditions, and large protein complexes with conformational and compositional heterogeneity are readily resolved. RNA has remained underexplored in cryo-EM, despite its essential role in various biological processes. This review highlights current challenges and recent progress in using cryo-EM single-particle analysis to determine protein-free RNA structures, enabled by improvement in sample preparation and integration of multiple structural and biochemical methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haiyun Ma
- The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Department of Geriatrics and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610044, China
| | - Xinyu Jia
- The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Department of Geriatrics and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610044, China
| | - Kaiming Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory for Cellular Dynamics and Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230027, China
| | - Zhaoming Su
- The State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, Department of Geriatrics and National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610044, China.
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15
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Wu Y, Zhang D, Duan A, Ao Y, Li S. The application of riboswitch sequencing for human gut bacterial classification and identification. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2022; 169:107409. [PMID: 35063674 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Bacteria, especially gut bacteria play important roles in human health and diseases. The classification of many bacterial genera by the 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) has failed due to its low inter-species resolution. Given the wide distribution of riboswitches in bacteria, they may help 16S rRNA differentiate closely related species. We found that among 28 groups of species that could not be distinguished by 16S rRNA, eight of them could be separated by the TPP riboswitch and other riboswitches. Moreover, the species in the 16S rRNA database and these riboswitch databases overlap, therefore, using riboswitch databases can help 16S rRNA better identify species. In addition, we used Klenow DNA polymerase and a pair of short primers to facilitate the library construction of TPP riboswitches for sequencing. The sequencing results showed that the TPP riboswitch could detect the major phyla similar to those detected by 16S rRNA. Therefore, the TPP riboswitch and other riboswitch classes could potentially be applied to gut bacteria classification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaoyao Wu
- Medical School, Engineering Research Center of Molecular Medicine of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Deying Zhang
- Medical School, Engineering Research Center of Molecular Medicine of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China; State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510627, P. R. China(2)
| | - Anqi Duan
- Medical School, Engineering Research Center of Molecular Medicine of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Yaqi Ao
- Medical School, Engineering Research Center of Molecular Medicine of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Sanshu Li
- Medical School, Engineering Research Center of Molecular Medicine of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China.
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16
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Conserved Motifs and Domains in Members of Pospiviroidae. Cells 2022; 11:cells11020230. [PMID: 35053346 PMCID: PMC8774013 DOI: 10.3390/cells11020230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 12/28/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In 1985, Keese and Symons proposed a hypothesis on the sequence and secondary structure of viroids from the family Pospiviroidae: their secondary structure can be subdivided into five structural and functional domains and “viroids have evolved by rearrangement of domains between different viroids infecting the same cell and subsequent mutations within each domain”; this article is one of the most cited in the field of viroids. Employing the pairwise alignment method used by Keese and Symons and in addition to more recent methods, we tried to reproduce the original results and extent them to further members of Pospiviroidae which were unknown in 1985. Indeed, individual members of Pospiviroidae consist of a patchwork of sequence fragments from the family but the lengths of fragments do not point to consistent points of rearrangement, which is in conflict with the original hypothesis of fixed domain borders.
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17
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Sanbonmatsu K. Towards Molecular Mechanism in Long Non-coding RNAs: Linking Structure and Function. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2022; 1363:23-32. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-92034-0_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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18
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Schamber T, Binas O, Schlundt A, Wacker A, Schwalbe H. Characterization of Structure and Dynamics of the Guanidine-II Riboswitch from Escherichia coli by NMR Spectroscopy and Small-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS). Chembiochem 2021; 23:e202100564. [PMID: 34847270 PMCID: PMC9300104 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202100564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Riboswitches are regulatory RNA elements that undergo functionally important allosteric conformational switching upon binding of specific ligands. The here investigated guanidine‐II riboswitch binds the small cation, guanidinium, and forms a kissing loop‐loop interaction between its P1 and P2 hairpins. We investigated the structural changes to support previous studies regarding the binding mechanism. Using NMR spectroscopy, we confirmed the structure as observed in crystal structures and we characterized the kissing loop interaction upon addition of Mg2+ and ligand for the riboswitch aptamer from Escherichia coli. We further investigated closely related mutant constructs providing further insight into functional differences between the two (different) hairpins P1 and P2. Formation of intermolecular interactions were probed by small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) and NMR DOSY data. All data are consistent and show the formation of oligomeric states of the riboswitch induced by Mg2+ and ligand binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatjana Schamber
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.,Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance, Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7-9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Oliver Binas
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.,Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance, Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7-9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Andreas Schlundt
- Institute for Molecular Biosciences, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.,Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance, Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7-9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Anna Wacker
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.,Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance, Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7-9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Harald Schwalbe
- Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.,Center for Biomolecular Magnetic Resonance, Institute for Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 7-9, 60438, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
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19
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Chen Y, Zhai W, Zhang K, Liu H, Zhu T, Su L, Bermudez L, Chen H, Guo A. Small RNA Profiling in Mycobacterium Provides Insights Into Stress Adaptability. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:752537. [PMID: 34803973 PMCID: PMC8600241 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.752537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycobacteria encounter a number of environmental changes during infection and respond using different mechanisms. Small RNA (sRNA) is a post-transcriptionally regulatory system for gene functions and has been investigated in many other bacteria. This study used Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection models and sequenced whole bacterial RNAs before and after host cell infection. A comparison of differentially expressed sRNAs using Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and target prediction was carried out. Six pathogenically relevant stress conditions, growth rate, and morphology were used to screen and identify sRNAs. From these data, a subset of sRNAs was differentially expressed in multiple infection groups and stress conditions. Many were found associated with lipid metabolism. Among them, ncBCG427 was significantly downregulated when BCG entered into macrophages and was associated with increased biofilm formation. The reduction of virulence possibility depends on regulating lipid metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingyu Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,National Animal Tuberculosis Para-Reference Laboratory (Wuhan) of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Wenjun Zhai
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,National Animal Tuberculosis Para-Reference Laboratory (Wuhan) of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Kailun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,National Animal Tuberculosis Para-Reference Laboratory (Wuhan) of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Han Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,National Animal Tuberculosis Para-Reference Laboratory (Wuhan) of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Tingting Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,National Animal Tuberculosis Para-Reference Laboratory (Wuhan) of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Li Su
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,National Animal Tuberculosis Para-Reference Laboratory (Wuhan) of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Luiz Bermudez
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States
| | - Huanchun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,National Animal Tuberculosis Para-Reference Laboratory (Wuhan) of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Aizhen Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China.,National Animal Tuberculosis Para-Reference Laboratory (Wuhan) of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
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20
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Small RNAs Asserting Big Roles in Mycobacteria. Noncoding RNA 2021; 7:ncrna7040069. [PMID: 34842799 PMCID: PMC8628891 DOI: 10.3390/ncrna7040069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), with 10.4 million new cases per year reported in the human population. Recent studies on the Mtb transcriptome have revealed the abundance of noncoding RNAs expressed at various phases of mycobacteria growth, in culture, in infected mammalian cells, and in patients. Among these noncoding RNAs are both small RNAs (sRNAs) between 50 and 350 nts in length and smaller RNAs (sncRNA) < 50 nts. In this review, we provide an up-to-date synopsis of the identification, designation, and function of these Mtb-encoded sRNAs and sncRNAs. The methodological advances including RNA sequencing strategies, small RNA antagonists, and locked nucleic acid sequence-specific RNA probes advancing the studies on these small RNA are described. Initial insights into the regulation of the small RNA expression and putative processing enzymes required for their synthesis and function are discussed. There are many open questions remaining about the biological and pathogenic roles of these small non-coding RNAs, and potential research directions needed to define the role of these mycobacterial noncoding RNAs are summarized.
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21
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Negi I, Mahmi AS, Seelam Prabhakar P, Sharma P. Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Aptamer Domain of Guanidinium Ion Binding Riboswitch ykkC-III: Structural Insights into the Discrimination of Cognate and Alternate Ligands. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:5243-5255. [PMID: 34609872 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.1c01022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Guanidinium ion is a toxic cellular metabolite. The ykkC-III riboswitch, an mRNA stretch, regulates the gene expression by undergoing a conformational change in response to the binding of a free guanidinium ion and thereby plays a potentially important role in alleviating guanidinium toxicity in cells. An experimental crystal structure of the guanidinium-bound aptamer domain of the riboswitch from Thermobifida Fusca revealed the overall RNA architecture and mapped the specific noncovalent interactions that stabilize the ligand within the binding pocket aptamer. However, details of how the aptamer domain discriminates the cognate ligand from its closest structurally analogous physiological metabolites (arginine and urea), and how the binding of cognate ligand arrays information from the aptamer domain to the expression platform for regulating the gene expression, are not well understood. To fill this void, we perform a cumulative of 2 μs all-atom explicit-solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on the full aptamer domain, augmented with quantum-chemical calculations on the ligand-binding pocket, to compare the structural and dynamical details of the guanidinium-bound state with the arginine or urea bound states, as well as the unbound (open) state. Analysis of the ligand-binding pocket reveals that due to unfavorable interactions with the binding-pocket residues, urea cannot bind the aptamer domain and thereby cannot alter the gene expression. Although interaction of the guanidyl moiety of arginine within the binding pocket is either comparable or stronger than the guanidinium ion, additional non-native hydrogen-bonding networks, as well as differences in the dynamical details of the arginine-bound state, explain why arginine cannot transmit the information from the aptamer domain to the expression platform. Based on our simulations, we propose a mechanism of how the aptamer domain communicates with the expression platform. Overall, our work provides interesting insights into the ligand recognition by a specific class of riboswitches and may hopefully inspire future studies to further understand the gene regulation by riboswitches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Indu Negi
- Computational Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Amanpreet Singh Mahmi
- Computational Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Preethi Seelam Prabhakar
- Center for Computational Natural Sciences and Bioinformatics, International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-H), Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana 500032, India
| | - Purshotam Sharma
- Computational Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Chemistry and Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
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22
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Sanbonmatsu K. Getting to the bottom of lncRNA mechanism: structure-function relationships. Mamm Genome 2021; 33:343-353. [PMID: 34642784 PMCID: PMC8509902 DOI: 10.1007/s00335-021-09924-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
While long non-coding RNAs are known to play key roles in disease and development, relatively few structural studies have been performed for this important class of RNAs. Here, we review functional studies of long non-coding RNAs and expose the need for high-resolution 3-D structural studies, discussing the roles of long non-coding RNAs in the cell and how structure–function relationships might be used to elucidate further understanding. We then describe structural studies of other classes of RNAs using chemical probing, nuclear magnetic resonance, small-angle X-ray scattering, X-ray crystallography, and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Next, we review early structural studies of long non-coding RNAs to date and describe the way forward for the structural biology of long non-coding RNAs in terms of cryo-EM.
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23
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Brewer KI, Gaffield GJ, Puri M, Breaker RR. DIMPL: a bioinformatics pipeline for the discovery of structured noncoding RNA motifs in bacteria. Bioinformatics 2021; 38:533-535. [PMID: 34524415 PMCID: PMC8723152 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btab624] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
SUMMARY Recent efforts to identify novel bacterial structured noncoding RNA (ncRNA) motifs through searching long, GC-rich intergenic regions (IGRs) have revealed several new classes, including the recently validated HMP-PP riboswitch. The DIMPL (Discovery of Intergenic Motifs PipeLine) discovery pipeline described herein enables rapid extraction and selection of bacterial IGRs that are enriched for structured ncRNAs. Moreover, DIMPL automates the subsequent computational steps necessary for their functional identification. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION The DIMPL pipeline is freely available as a Docker image with an accompanying set of Jupyter notebooks. Full instructions for download and use are available at https://github.com/breakerlab/dimpl. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth I Brewer
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA
| | - Glenn J Gaffield
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA
| | - Malavika Puri
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8103, USA
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24
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Siblings or doppelgängers? Deciphering the evolution of structured cis-regulatory RNAs beyond homology. Biochem Soc Trans 2021; 48:1941-1951. [PMID: 32869842 PMCID: PMC7609027 DOI: 10.1042/bst20191060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 08/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Structured cis-regulatory RNAs have evolved across all domains of life, highlighting the utility and plasticity of RNA as a regulatory molecule. Homologous RNA sequences and structures often have similar functions, but homology may also be deceiving. The challenges that derive from trying to assign function to structure and vice versa are not trivial. Bacterial riboswitches, viral and eukaryotic IRESes, CITEs, and 3′ UTR elements employ an array of mechanisms to exert their effects. Bioinformatic searches coupled with biochemical and functional validation have elucidated some shared and many unique ways cis-regulators are employed in mRNA transcripts. As cis-regulatory RNAs are resolved in greater detail, it is increasingly apparent that shared homology can mask the full spectrum of mRNA cis-regulator functional diversity. Furthermore, similar functions may be obscured by lack of obvious sequence similarity. Thus looking beyond homology is crucial for furthering our understanding of RNA-based regulation.
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25
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Steuer J, Kukharenko O, Riedmiller K, Hartig JS, Peter C. Guanidine-II aptamer conformations and ligand binding modes through the lens of molecular simulation. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:7954-7965. [PMID: 34233001 PMCID: PMC8373139 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 06/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Regulation of gene expression via riboswitches is a widespread mechanism in bacteria. Here, we investigate ligand binding of a member of the guanidine sensing riboswitch family, the guanidine-II riboswitch (Gd-II). It consists of two stem–loops forming a dimer upon ligand binding. Using extensive molecular dynamics simulations we have identified conformational states corresponding to ligand-bound and unbound states in a monomeric stem–loop of Gd-II and studied the selectivity of this binding. To characterize these states and ligand-dependent conformational changes we applied a combination of dimensionality reduction, clustering, and feature selection methods. In absence of a ligand, the shape of the binding pocket alternates between the conformation observed in presence of guanidinium and a collapsed conformation, which is associated with a deformation of the dimerization interface. Furthermore, the structural features responsible for the ability to discriminate against closely related analogs of guanidine are resolved. Based on these insights, we propose a mechanism that couples ligand binding to aptamer dimerization in the Gd-II system, demonstrating the value of computational methods in the field of nucleic acids research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Steuer
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.,Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Oleksandra Kukharenko
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.,Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Kai Riedmiller
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Jörg S Hartig
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.,Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Christine Peter
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.,Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
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26
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Gao W, Jones TA, Rivas E. Discovery of 17 conserved structural RNAs in fungi. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:6128-6143. [PMID: 34086938 PMCID: PMC8216456 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 03/25/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Many non-coding RNAs with known functions are structurally conserved: their intramolecular secondary and tertiary interactions are maintained across evolutionary time. Consequently, the presence of conserved structure in multiple sequence alignments can be used to identify candidate functional non-coding RNAs. Here, we present a bioinformatics method that couples iterative homology search with covariation analysis to assess whether a genomic region has evidence of conserved RNA structure. We used this method to examine all unannotated regions of five well-studied fungal genomes (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans, Neurospora crassa, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Schizosaccharomyces pombe). We identified 17 novel structurally conserved non-coding RNA candidates, which include four H/ACA box small nucleolar RNAs, four intergenic RNAs and nine RNA structures located within the introns and untranslated regions (UTRs) of mRNAs. For the two structures in the 3' UTRs of the metabolic genes GLY1 and MET13, we performed experiments that provide evidence against them being eukaryotic riboswitches.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Gao
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
| | - Thomas A Jones
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
| | - Elena Rivas
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
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27
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Brewer KI, Greenlee EB, Higgs G, Yu D, Mirihana Arachchilage G, Chen X, King N, White N, Breaker RR. Comprehensive discovery of novel structured noncoding RNAs in 26 bacterial genomes. RNA Biol 2021; 18:2417-2432. [PMID: 33970790 PMCID: PMC8632094 DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2021.1917891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Comparative sequence analysis methods are highly effective for uncovering novel classes of structured noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) from bacterial genomic DNA sequence datasets. Previously, we developed a computational pipeline to more comprehensively identify structured ncRNA representatives from individual bacterial genomes. This search process exploits the fact that genomic regions serving as templates for the transcription of structured RNAs tend to be present in longer than average noncoding 'intergenic regions' (IGRs) that are enriched in G and C nucleotides compared to the remainder of the genome. In the present study, we apply this computational pipeline to identify structured ncRNA candidates from 26 diverse bacterial species. Numerous novel structured ncRNA motifs were discovered, including several riboswitch candidates, one whose ligand has been identified and others that have yet to be experimentally validated. Our findings support recent predictions that hundreds of novel ribo-switch classes and other ncRNAs remain undiscovered among the limited number of bacterial species whose genomes have been completely sequenced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth I Brewer
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Etienne B Greenlee
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Gadareth Higgs
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Diane Yu
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Xi Chen
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Nicholas King
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Neil White
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Ronald R Breaker
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.,Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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28
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Hou L, Xie J, Wu Y, Wang J, Duan A, Ao Y, Liu X, Yu X, Yan H, Perreault J, Li S. Identification of 11 candidate structured noncoding RNA motifs in humans by comparative genomics. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:164. [PMID: 33750298 PMCID: PMC7941889 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-07474-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Only 1.5% of the human genome encodes proteins, while large part of the remaining encodes noncoding RNAs (ncRNA). Many ncRNAs form structures and perform many important functions. Accurately identifying structured ncRNAs in the human genome and discovering their biological functions remain a major challenge. Results Here, we have established a pipeline (CM-line) with the following features for analyzing the large genomes of humans and other animals. First, we selected species with larger genetic distances to facilitate the discovery of covariations and compatible mutations. Second, we used CMfinder, which can generate useful alignments even with low sequence conservation. Third, we removed repetitive sequences and known structured ncRNAs to reduce the workload of CMfinder. Fourth, we used Infernal to find more representatives and refine the structure. We reported 11 classes of structured ncRNA candidates with significant covariations in humans. Functional analysis showed that these ncRNAs may have variable functions. Some may regulate circadian clock genes through poly (A) signals (PAS); some may regulate the elongation factor (EEF1A) and the T-cell receptor signaling pathway by cooperating with RNA binding proteins. Conclusions By searching for important features of RNA structure from large genomes, the CM-line has revealed the existence of a variety of novel structured ncRNAs. Functional analysis suggests that some newly discovered ncRNA motifs may have biological functions. The pipeline we have established for the discovery of structured ncRNAs and the identification of their functions can also be applied to analyze other large genomes. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-021-07474-9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijuan Hou
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Jin Xie
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Yaoyao Wu
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Jiaojiao Wang
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Anqi Duan
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Yaqi Ao
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Xuejiao Liu
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Xinmei Yu
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Hui Yan
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China
| | - Jonathan Perreault
- INRS - Institut Armand-Frappier, 531 boul des Prairies, Laval, Québec, H7V1B7, Canada
| | - Sanshu Li
- Medical School, Molecular Medicine Engineering and Research Center of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis of Fujian Universities, Institute of Genomics, School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, 361021, P. R. China.
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29
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Sinn M, Hauth F, Lenkeit F, Weinberg Z, Hartig JS. Widespread bacterial utilization of guanidine as nitrogen source. Mol Microbiol 2021; 116:200-210. [PMID: 33590553 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.14702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 02/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Guanidine is sensed by at least four different classes of riboswitches that are widespread in bacteria. However, only very few insights into physiological roles of guanidine exist. Genes predominantly regulated by guanidine riboswitches are Gdx transporters exporting the compound from the bacterial cell. In addition, urea/guanidine carboxylases and associated hydrolases and ABC transporters are often found combined in guanidine-inducible operons. We noted that the associated ABC transporters are configured to function as importers, challenging the current view that riboswitches solely control the detoxification of guanidine in bacteria. We demonstrate that the carboxylase pathway enables utilization of guanidine as sole nitrogen source. We isolated three enterobacteria (Raoultella terrigena, Klebsiella michiganensis, and Erwinia rhapontici) that utilize guanidine efficiently as N-source. Proteome analyses show that the expression of a carboxylase, associated hydrolases and transport genes is strongly induced by guanidine. Finding two urea/guanidine carboxylase enzymes in E. rhapontici, we demonstrate that the riboswitch-controlled carboxylase displays specificity toward guanidine, whereas the other enzyme prefers urea. We characterize the distribution of riboswitch-associated carboxylases and Gdx exporters in bacterial habitats by analyzing available metagenome data. The findings represent a paradigm shift from riboswitch-controlled detoxification of guanidine to the uptake and assimilation of this enigmatic nitrogen-rich compound.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malte Sinn
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Franziskus Hauth
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Felina Lenkeit
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Zasha Weinberg
- Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jörg S Hartig
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.,Konstanz Research School Chemical Biology (KoRS-CB), University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
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30
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Shrestha P, Han SR, Lee JH, Park H, Oh TJ. A computational approach to identify CRISPR-Cas loci in the complete genomes of the lichen-associated Burkholderia sp. PAMC28687 and PAMC26561. Genomics 2021; 113:881-888. [PMID: 33524499 DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.01.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Revised: 10/31/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The genus Burkholderia and its strains PAMC28687 and PAMC26561 are lichen-associated bacteria isolated from the Antarctic region. Our study is the first to provide the genome sequence of the Burkholderia sp. PAMC26561 strain. The genus Burkholderia includes bacteria that are pathogenic to plants, animals, and humans. Computational analysis of complete genomes of strains from the uncategorized Burkholderia group was performed using the NCBI databank and PATRIC (for genome sequence information) and CRISPRCasFinder (online and offline versions) software in order to predict the CRISPR loci and Cas genes. The RNAfold Webserver online software was used to predict RNA secondary structures. Our study showed that strain MSMB0852 (plasmid) possesses CRISPR-Cas system Class 2, and two lichen-associated strains, PAMC28687 (chromosome I) and PAMC26561 (chromosome I), possess CRISPR-Cas system Class 1. Additionally, only the two lichen-associated strains possess a variety of Cas genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prasansah Shrestha
- Department of Life Science and Biochemical Engineering, Graduate School, SunMoon University, Asan 31460, South Korea
| | - So-Ra Han
- Department of Life Science and Biochemical Engineering, Graduate School, SunMoon University, Asan 31460, South Korea
| | - Jun Hyuck Lee
- Unit of Research for Practical Application, Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon 21990, South Korea; Department of Polar Sciences, University of Science and Technology, Incheon 21990, South Korea
| | - Hyun Park
- Division of Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 02841, South Korea.
| | - Tae-Jin Oh
- Department of Life Science and Biochemical Engineering, Graduate School, SunMoon University, Asan 31460, South Korea; Genome-based BioIT Convergence Institute, Asan 31460, South Korea; Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Biotechnology, SunMoon University, Asan 31460, South Korea.
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31
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Lenkeit F, Eckert I, Hartig JS, Weinberg Z. Discovery and characterization of a fourth class of guanidine riboswitches. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 48:12889-12899. [PMID: 33237283 PMCID: PMC7736828 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa1102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 10/20/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Riboswitches are RNAs that specifically sense a small molecule and regulate genes accordingly. The recent discovery of guanidine-binding riboswitches revealed the biological significance of this compound, and uncovered genes related to its biology. For example, certain sugE genes encode guanidine exporters and are activated by the riboswitches to reduce toxic levels of guanidine in the cell. In order to study guanidine biology and riboswitches, we applied a bioinformatics strategy for discovering additional guanidine riboswitches by searching for new candidate motifs associated with sugE genes. Based on in vitro and in vivo experiments, we determined that one of our six best candidates is a new structural class of guanidine riboswitches. The expression of a genetic reporter was induced 80-fold in response to addition of 5 mM guanidine in Staphylococcus aureus. This new class, called the guanidine-IV riboswitch, reveals additional guanidine-associated protein domains that are extremely rarely or never associated with previously established guanidine riboswitches. Among these protein domains are two transporter families that are structurally distinct from SugE, and could represent novel types of guanidine exporters. These results establish a new metabolite-binding RNA, further validate a bioinformatics method for finding riboswitches and suggest substrate specificities for as-yet uncharacterized transporter proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felina Lenkeit
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Iris Eckert
- Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics, Leipzig University, Härtelstraße 16-18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jörg S Hartig
- Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Zasha Weinberg
- Bioinformatics Group, Department of Computer Science and Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics, Leipzig University, Härtelstraße 16-18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany
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32
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Sherlock ME, Hartwick EW, MacFadden A, Kieft JS. Structural diversity and phylogenetic distribution of valyl tRNA-like structures in viruses. RNA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2021; 27:27-39. [PMID: 33008837 PMCID: PMC7749636 DOI: 10.1261/rna.076968.120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 09/26/2020] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Viruses commonly use specifically folded RNA elements that interact with both host and viral proteins to perform functions important for diverse viral processes. Examples are found at the 3' termini of certain positive-sense ssRNA virus genomes where they partially mimic tRNAs, including being aminoacylated by host cell enzymes. Valine-accepting tRNA-like structures (TLSVal) are an example that share some clear homology with canonical tRNAs but have several important structural differences. Although many examples of TLSVal have been identified, we lacked a full understanding of their structural diversity and phylogenetic distribution. To address this, we undertook an in-depth bioinformatic and biochemical investigation of these RNAs, guided by recent high-resolution structures of a TLSVal We cataloged many new examples in plant-infecting viruses but also in unrelated insect-specific viruses. Using biochemical and structural approaches, we verified the secondary structure of representative TLSVal substrates and tested their ability to be valylated, confirming previous observations of structural heterogeneity within this class. In a few cases, large stem-loop structures are inserted within variable regions located in an area of the TLS distal to known host cell factor binding sites. In addition, we identified one virus whose TLS has switched its anticodon away from valine, causing a loss of valylation activity; the implications of this remain unclear. These results refine our understanding of the structural and functional mechanistic details of tRNA mimicry and how this may be used in viral infection.
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MESH Headings
- Anticodon/chemistry
- Anticodon/metabolism
- Base Sequence
- Binding Sites
- Computational Biology
- Genetic Variation
- Insect Viruses/classification
- Insect Viruses/genetics
- Insect Viruses/metabolism
- Models, Molecular
- Molecular Mimicry
- Phylogeny
- Plant Viruses/classification
- Plant Viruses/genetics
- Plant Viruses/metabolism
- RNA Folding
- RNA, Transfer, Val/chemistry
- RNA, Transfer, Val/genetics
- RNA, Transfer, Val/metabolism
- RNA, Viral/chemistry
- RNA, Viral/genetics
- RNA, Viral/metabolism
- Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
- Valine/metabolism
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeline E Sherlock
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA
| | - Erik W Hartwick
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA
| | - Andrea MacFadden
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Kieft
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA
- RNA BioScience Initiative, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA
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33
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Michaux C, Hansen EE, Jenniches L, Gerovac M, Barquist L, Vogel J. Single-Nucleotide RNA Maps for the Two Major Nosocomial Pathogens Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2020; 10:600325. [PMID: 33324581 PMCID: PMC7724050 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.600325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Enterococcus faecalis and faecium are two major representative clinical strains of the Enterococcus genus and are sadly notorious to be part of the top agents responsible for nosocomial infections. Despite their critical implication in worldwide public healthcare, essential and available resources such as deep transcriptome annotations remain poor, which also limits our understanding of post-transcriptional control small regulatory RNA (sRNA) functions in these bacteria. Here, using the dRNA-seq technique in combination with ANNOgesic analysis, we successfully mapped and annotated transcription start sites (TSS) of both E. faecalis V583 and E. faecium AUS0004 at single nucleotide resolution. Analyzing bacteria in late exponential phase, we capture ~40% (E. faecalis) and 43% (E. faecium) of the annotated protein-coding genes, determine 5′ and 3′ UTR (untranslated region) length, and detect instances of leaderless mRNAs. The transcriptome maps revealed sRNA candidates in both bacteria, some found in previous studies and new ones. Expression of candidate sRNAs is being confirmed under biologically relevant environmental conditions. This comprehensive global TSS mapping atlas provides a valuable resource for RNA biology and gene expression analysis in the Enterococci. It can be accessed online at www.helmholtz-hiri.de/en/datasets/enterococcus through an instance of the genomic viewer JBrowse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Michaux
- Institute for Molecular Infection Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Elisabeth E Hansen
- Institute for Molecular Infection Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Laura Jenniches
- Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI), Würzburg, Germany
| | - Milan Gerovac
- Institute for Molecular Infection Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Lars Barquist
- Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI), Würzburg, Germany.,Faculty of Medicine, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Jörg Vogel
- Institute for Molecular Infection Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.,Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI), Würzburg, Germany
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34
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Wuebben C, Vicino MF, Mueller M, Schiemann O. Do the P1 and P2 hairpins of the Guanidine-II riboswitch interact? Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:10518-10526. [PMID: 32857846 PMCID: PMC7544219 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa703] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2020] [Revised: 08/08/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Riboswitches regulate genes by adopting different structures in responds to metabolite binding. The guanidine-II riboswitch is the smallest representative of the ykkC class with the mechanism of its function being centred on the idea that its two stem loops P1 and P2 form a kissing hairpin interaction upon binding of guanidinium (Gdm+). This mechanism is based on in-line probing experiments with the full-length riboswitch and crystal structures of the truncated stem loops P1 and P2. However, the crystal structures reveal only the formation of the homodimers P1 | P1 and P2 | P2 but not of the proposed heterodimer P1 | P2. Here, site-directed spin labeling (SDSL) in combination with Pulsed Electron–Electron Double Resonance (PELDOR or DEER) is used to study their structures in solution and how they change upon binding of Gdm+. It is found that both hairpins adopt different structures in solution and that binding of Gdm+ does indeed lead to the formation of the heterodimer but alongside the homodimers in a statistical 1:2:1 fashion. These results do thus support the proposed switching mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Wuebben
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Bonn, Wegelerstr. 12, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Maria F Vicino
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Bonn, Wegelerstr. 12, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Marcel Mueller
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Bonn, Wegelerstr. 12, 53115 Bonn, Germany
| | - Olav Schiemann
- Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, University of Bonn, Wegelerstr. 12, 53115 Bonn, Germany
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35
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Li B, Cao Y, Westhof E, Miao Z. Advances in RNA 3D Structure Modeling Using Experimental Data. Front Genet 2020; 11:574485. [PMID: 33193680 PMCID: PMC7649352 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.574485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA is a unique bio-macromolecule that can both record genetic information and perform biological functions in a variety of molecular processes, including transcription, splicing, translation, and even regulating protein function. RNAs adopt specific three-dimensional conformations to enable their functions. Experimental determination of high-resolution RNA structures using x-ray crystallography is both laborious and demands expertise, thus, hindering our comprehension of RNA structural biology. The computational modeling of RNA structure was a milestone in the birth of bioinformatics. Although computational modeling has been greatly improved over the last decade showing many successful cases, the accuracy of such computational modeling is not only length-dependent but also varies according to the complexity of the structure. To increase credibility, various experimental data were integrated into computational modeling. In this review, we summarize the experiments that can be integrated into RNA structure modeling as well as the computational methods based on these experimental data. We also demonstrate how computational modeling can help the experimental determination of RNA structure. We highlight the recent advances in computational modeling which can offer reliable structure models using high-throughput experimental data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bing Li
- Center of Growth, Metabolism and Aging, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yang Cao
- Center of Growth, Metabolism and Aging, Key Laboratory of Bio-Resource and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Eric Westhof
- Architecture et Réactivité de l’ARN, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Zhichao Miao
- Translational Research Institute of Brain and Brain-Like Intelligence, Department of Anesthesiology, Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Newcastle Fibrosis Research Group, Institute of Cellular Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Cambridge, United Kingdom
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36
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Sherlock ME, Breaker RR. Former orphan riboswitches reveal unexplored areas of bacterial metabolism, signaling, and gene control processes. RNA (NEW YORK, N.Y.) 2020; 26:675-693. [PMID: 32165489 PMCID: PMC7266159 DOI: 10.1261/rna.074997.120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Comparative sequence analyses have been used to discover numerous classes of structured noncoding RNAs, some of which are riboswitches that specifically recognize small-molecule or elemental ion ligands and influence expression of adjacent downstream genes. Determining the correct identity of the ligand for a riboswitch candidate typically is aided by an understanding of the genes under its regulatory control. Riboswitches whose ligands were straightforward to identify have largely been associated with well-characterized metabolic pathways, such as coenzyme or amino acid biosynthesis. Riboswitch candidates whose ligands resist identification, collectively known as orphan riboswitches, are often associated with genes coding for proteins of unknown function, or genes for various proteins with no established link to one another. The cognate ligands for 16 former orphan riboswitch motifs have been identified to date. The successful pursuit of the ligands for these classes has provided insight into areas of biology that are not yet fully explored, such as ion homeostasis, signaling networks, and other previously underappreciated biochemical or physiological processes. Herein we discuss the strategies and methods used to match ligands with orphan riboswitch classes, and overview the lessons learned to inform and motivate ongoing efforts to identify ligands for the many remaining candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeline E Sherlock
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
| | - Ronald R Breaker
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
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37
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Discovery of 20 novel ribosomal leader candidates in bacteria and archaea. BMC Microbiol 2020; 20:130. [PMID: 32448158 PMCID: PMC7247131 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-020-01823-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND RNAs perform many functions in addition to supplying coding templates, such as binding proteins. RNA-protein interactions are important in multiple processes in all domains of life, and the discovery of additional protein-binding RNAs expands the scope for studying such interactions. To find such RNAs, we exploited a form of ribosomal regulation. Ribosome biosynthesis must be tightly regulated to ensure that concentrations of rRNAs and ribosomal proteins (r-proteins) match. One regulatory mechanism is a ribosomal leader (r-leader), which is a domain in the 5' UTR of an mRNA whose genes encode r-proteins. When the concentration of one of these r-proteins is high, the protein binds the r-leader in its own mRNA, reducing gene expression and thus protein concentrations. To date, 35 types of r-leaders have been validated or predicted. RESULTS By analyzing additional conserved RNA structures on a multi-genome scale, we identified 20 novel r-leader structures. Surprisingly, these included new r-leaders in the highly studied organisms Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Our results reveal several cases where multiple unrelated RNA structures likely bind the same r-protein ligand, and uncover previously unknown r-protein ligands. Each r-leader consistently occurs upstream of r-protein genes, suggesting a regulatory function. That the predicted r-leaders function as RNAs is supported by evolutionary correlations in the nucleotide sequences that are characteristic of a conserved RNA secondary structure. The r-leader predictions are also consistent with the locations of experimentally determined transcription start sites. CONCLUSIONS This work increases the number of known or predicted r-leader structures by more than 50%, providing additional opportunities to study structural and evolutionary aspects of RNA-protein interactions. These results provide a starting point for detailed experimental studies.
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38
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Rational engineering of transcriptional riboswitches leads to enhanced metabolite levels in Bacillus subtilis. Metab Eng 2020; 61:58-68. [PMID: 32413407 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2020.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2020] [Revised: 04/17/2020] [Accepted: 05/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Many metabolic pathways in bacteria are regulated by metabolite sensing riboswitches that exert their control at the level of transcription employing a termination-antitermination mechanism. These riboswitches represent engineering targets to modulate expression of genes and operons relevant for the biotechnological production of commercially relevant compounds. We show that removal of the transcriptional riboswitches that control purine biosynthesis and riboflavin biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis leads to auxotrophic strains. As an alternative, we report a rational approach for engineering transcriptional riboswitches independently from the availability of structural data. This approach consists in the identification and deletion of a key nucleotide sequence exclusively involved in transcription termination without affecting formation of other secondary and tertiary structures, which can be involved in other functions. To demonstrate the efficacy of our approach, we tested it with regard to deregulation of the purine and the riboflavin biosynthetic pathways in B. subtilis. Following validation of the engineered transcriptional riboswitches using specialized reporter strains, our approach was implemented into a B. subtilis wild-type strain employing CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing. The resulting purine and riboflavin production strains were characterized at the level of gene expression, metabolite synthesis and growth, and a substantial enhancement was measured at each level. Moreover, applying our approach to deregulate the purine pathway of an industrial riboflavin overproducing strain with impaired growth led to an increase in biomass by 53%, which resulted in an enhanced total production of riboflavin in the culture.
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39
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Dutta D, Wedekind JE. Nucleobase mutants of a bacterial preQ 1-II riboswitch that uncouple metabolite sensing from gene regulation. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:2555-2567. [PMID: 31659117 PMCID: PMC7049981 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra119.010755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Revised: 10/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Riboswitches are a class of nonprotein-coding RNAs that directly sense cellular metabolites to regulate gene expression. They are model systems for analyzing RNA-ligand interactions and are established targets for antibacterial agents. Many studies have analyzed the ligand-binding properties of riboswitches, but this work has outpaced our understanding of the underlying chemical pathways that govern riboswitch-controlled gene expression. To address this knowledge gap, we prepared 15 mutants of the preQ1-II riboswitch-a structurally and biochemically well-characterized HLout pseudoknot that recognizes the metabolite prequeuosine1 (preQ1). The mutants span the preQ1-binding pocket through the adjoining Shine-Dalgarno sequence (SDS) and include A-minor motifs, pseudoknot-insertion helix P4, U·A-U base triples, and canonical G-C pairs in the anti-SDS. As predicted-and confirmed by in vitro isothermal titration calorimetry measurements-specific mutations ablated preQ1 binding, but most aberrant binding effects were corrected by compensatory mutations. In contrast, functional analysis in live bacteria using a riboswitch-controlled GFPuv-reporter assay revealed that each mutant had a deleterious effect on gene regulation, even when compensatory changes were included. Our results indicate that effector binding can be uncoupled from gene regulation. We attribute loss of function to defects in a chemical interaction network that links effector binding to distal regions of the fold that support the gene-off RNA conformation. Our findings differentiate effector binding from biological function, which has ramifications for riboswitch characterization. Our results are considered in the context of synthetic ligands and drugs that bind tightly to riboswitches without eliciting a biological response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debapratim Dutta
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Center for RNA Biology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York 14642
| | - Joseph E Wedekind
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Center for RNA Biology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York 14642.
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40
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Budell WC, Germain GA, Janisch N, McKie-Krisberg Z, Jayaprakash AD, Resnick AE, Quadri LEN. Transposon mutagenesis in Mycobacterium kansasii links a small RNA gene to colony morphology and biofilm formation and identifies 9,885 intragenic insertions that do not compromise colony outgrowth. Microbiologyopen 2020; 9:e988. [PMID: 32083796 PMCID: PMC7142372 DOI: 10.1002/mbo3.988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium kansasii (Mk) is a resilient opportunistic human pathogen that causes tuberculosis‐like chronic pulmonary disease and mortality stemming from comorbidities and treatment failure. The standard treatment of Mk infections requires costly, long‐term, multidrug courses with adverse side effects. The emergence of drug‐resistant isolates further complicates the already challenging drug therapy regimens and threatens to compromise the future control of Mk infections. Despite the increasingly recognized global burden of Mk infections, the biology of this opportunistic pathogen remains essentially unexplored. In particular, studies reporting gene function or generation of defined mutants are scarce. Moreover, no transposon (Tn) mutagenesis tool has been validated for use in Mk, a situation limiting the repertoire of genetic approaches available to accelerate the dissection of gene function and the generation of gene knockout mutants in this poorly characterized pathogen. In this study, we validated the functionality of a powerful Tn mutagenesis tool in Mk and used this tool in conjunction with a forward genetic screen to establish a previously unrecognized role of a conserved mycobacterial small RNA gene of unknown function in colony morphology features and biofilm formation. We also combined Tn mutagenesis with next‐generation sequencing to identify 12,071 Tn insertions that do not compromise viability in vitro. Finally, we demonstrated the susceptibility of the Galleria mellonella larva to Mk, setting the stage for further exploration of this simple and economical infection model system to the study of this pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- William C Budell
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA.,Biology Ph.D. Program, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gabrielle A Germain
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA.,Biology Ph.D. Program, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Niklas Janisch
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA.,Biology Ph.D. Program, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
| | - Zaid McKie-Krisberg
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | | | - Andrew E Resnick
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Luis E N Quadri
- Department of Biology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA.,Biology Ph.D. Program, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.,Biochemistry Ph.D. Program, Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
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41
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Golabi F, Shamsi M, Sedaaghi MH, Barzegar A, Hejazi MS. Classification of Riboswitch Families Using Block Location-Based Feature Extraction (BLBFE) Method. Adv Pharm Bull 2020; 10:97-105. [PMID: 32002367 PMCID: PMC6983983 DOI: 10.15171/apb.2020.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2019] [Revised: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 09/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose: Riboswitches are special non-coding sequences usually located in mRNAs' un-translated regions and regulate gene expression and consequently cellular function. Furthermore, their interaction with antibiotics has been recently implicated. This raises more interest in development of bioinformatics tools for riboswitch studies. Herein, we describe the development and employment of novel block location-based feature extraction (BLBFE) method for classification of riboswitches. Methods: We have already developed and reported a sequential block finding (SBF) algorithm which, without operating alignment methods, identifies family specific sequential blocks for riboswitch families. Herein, we employed this algorithm for 7 riboswitch families including lysine, cobalamin, glycine, SAM-alpha, SAM-IV, cyclic-di-GMP-I and SAH. Then the study was extended toward implementation of BLBFE method for feature extraction. The outcome features were applied in various classifiers including linear discriminant analysis (LDA), probabilistic neural network (PNN), decision tree and k-nearest neighbors (KNN) classifiers for classification of the riboswitch families. The performance of the classifiers was investigated according to performance measures such as correct classification rate (CCR), accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and f-score. Results: As a result, average CCR for classification of riboswitches was 87.87%. Furthermore, application of BLBFE method in 4 classifiers displayed average accuracies of 93.98% to 96.1%, average sensitivities of 76.76% to 83.61%, average specificities of 96.53% to 97.69% and average f-scores of 74.9% to 81.91%. Conclusion: Our results approved that the proposed method of feature extraction; i.e. BLBFE method; can be successfully used for classification and discrimination of the riboswitch families with high CCR, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and f-score values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faegheh Golabi
- Genomic Signal Processing Laboratory, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran
- School of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Mousa Shamsi
- Genomic Signal Processing Laboratory, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran
| | | | - Abolfazl Barzegar
- School of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
- Research Institute for Fundamental Sciences (RIFS), University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
| | - Mohammad Saeid Hejazi
- Molecular Medicine Research Center, Biomedicine Institute, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
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42
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Zhang K, Li S, Kappel K, Pintilie G, Su Z, Mou TC, Schmid MF, Das R, Chiu W. Cryo-EM structure of a 40 kDa SAM-IV riboswitch RNA at 3.7 Å resolution. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5511. [PMID: 31796736 PMCID: PMC6890682 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13494-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Specimens below 50 kDa have generally been considered too small to be analyzed by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The high flexibility of pure RNAs makes it difficult to obtain high-resolution structures by cryo-EM. In bacteria, riboswitches regulate sulfur metabolism through binding to the S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) ligand and offer compelling targets for new antibiotics. SAM-I, SAM-I/IV, and SAM-IV are the three most commonly found SAM riboswitches, but the structure of SAM-IV is still unknown. Here, we report the structures of apo and SAM-bound SAM-IV riboswitches (119-nt, ~40 kDa) to 3.7 Å and 4.1 Å resolution, respectively, using cryo-EM. The structures illustrate homologies in the ligand-binding core but distinct peripheral tertiary contacts in SAM-IV compared to SAM-I and SAM-I/IV. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of resolving small RNAs with enough detail to enable detection of their ligand-binding pockets and suggest that cryo-EM could play a role in structure-assisted drug design for RNA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaiming Zhang
- Department of Bioengineering, and James H. Clark Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Shanshan Li
- Department of Bioengineering, and James H. Clark Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Kalli Kappel
- Biophysics Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Grigore Pintilie
- Department of Bioengineering, and James H. Clark Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Zhaoming Su
- Department of Bioengineering, and James H. Clark Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Tung-Chung Mou
- Center for Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA
| | - Michael F Schmid
- Division of CryoEM and Bioimaging, SSRL, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA
| | - Rhiju Das
- Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
- Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
| | - Wah Chiu
- Department of Bioengineering, and James H. Clark Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
- Division of CryoEM and Bioimaging, SSRL, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Menlo Park, CA, 94025, USA.
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43
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Mai J, Rao C, Watt J, Sun X, Lin C, Zhang L, Liu J. Mycobacterium tuberculosis 6C sRNA binds multiple mRNA targets via C-rich loops independent of RNA chaperones. Nucleic Acids Res 2019; 47:4292-4307. [PMID: 30820540 PMCID: PMC6486639 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are the most abundant class of post-transcriptional regulators and have been well studied in Gram-negative bacteria. Little is known about the functions and mechanisms of sRNAs in high GC Gram-positive bacteria including Mycobacterium and Streptomyces. Here, we performed an in-depth study of 6C sRNA of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is conserved among high GC Gram-positive bacteria. Forty-seven genes were identified as possible direct targets of 6C sRNA and 15 of them were validated using an in vivo translational lacZ fusion system. We found that 6C sRNA plays a pleotropic role and regulates genes involved in various cellular processes, including DNA replication and protein secretion. Mapping the interactions of 6C sRNA with mRNA targets panD and dnaB revealed that the C-rich loops of 6C sRNA act as direct binding sites to mRNA targets. Unlike in Gram-negative bacteria where RNA binding proteins Hfq and ProQ are required, the interactions of 6C sRNA with mRNAs appear to be independent of RNA chaperones. Our findings suggest that the multiple G–C pairings between single stranded regions are sufficient to establish stable interactions between 6C sRNA and mRNA targets, providing a mechanism for sRNAs in high GC Gram-positive bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juntao Mai
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Chitong Rao
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jacqueline Watt
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Xian Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Genetics, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chen Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Genetics, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Lu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Genetics, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Industrial Microorganisms, Shanghai, China
| | - Jun Liu
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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44
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Regulation of Bacterial Gene Expression by Transcription Attenuation. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2019; 83:83/3/e00019-19. [PMID: 31270135 DOI: 10.1128/mmbr.00019-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
A wide variety of mechanisms that control gene expression in bacteria are based on conditional transcription termination. Generally, in these mechanisms, a transcription terminator is located between a promoter and a downstream gene(s), and the efficiency of the terminator is controlled by a regulatory effector that can be a metabolite, protein, or RNA. The most common type of regulation involving conditional termination is transcription attenuation, in which the primary regulatory target is an essential element of a single terminator. The terminator can be either intrinsic or Rho dependent, with each presenting unique regulatory targets. Transcription attenuation mechanisms can be divided into five classes based primarily on the manner in which transcription termination is rendered conditional. This review summarizes each class of control mechanisms from a historical perspective, describes important examples in a physiological context and the current state of knowledge, highlights major advances, and discusses expectations of future discoveries.
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45
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Manzourolajdad A, Spouge JL. Structural prediction of RNA switches using conditional base-pair probabilities. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0217625. [PMID: 31188853 PMCID: PMC6561571 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2018] [Accepted: 05/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
An RNA switch triggers biological functions by toggling between two conformations. RNA switches include bacterial riboswitches, where ligand binding can stabilize a bound structure. For RNAs with only one stable structure, structural prediction usually just requires a straightforward free energy minimization, but for an RNA switch, the prediction of a less stable alternative structure is often computationally costly and even problematic. The current sampling-clustering method predicts stable and alternative structures by partitioning structures sampled from the energy landscape into two clusters, but it is very time-consuming. Instead, we predict the alternative structure of an RNA switch from conditional probability calculations within the energy landscape. First, our method excludes base pairs related to the most stable structure in the energy landscape. Then, it detects stable stems (“seeds”) in the remaining landscape. Finally, it folds an alternative structure prediction around a seed. While having comparable riboswitch classification performance, the conditional-probability computations had fewer adjustable parameters, offered greater predictive flexibility, and were more than one thousand times faster than the sampling step alone in sampling-clustering predictions, the competing standard. Overall, the described approach helps traverse thermodynamically improbable energy landscapes to find biologically significant substructures and structures rapidly and effectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amirhossein Manzourolajdad
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - John L. Spouge
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
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46
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van Hoek ML, Hoang KV, Gunn JS. Two-Component Systems in Francisella Species. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2019; 9:198. [PMID: 31263682 PMCID: PMC6584805 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacteria alter gene expression in response to changes in their environment through various mechanisms that include signal transduction systems. These signal transduction systems use membrane histidine kinase with sensing domains to mediate phosphotransfer to DNA-binding proteins that alter the level of gene expression. Such regulators are called two-component systems (TCSs). TCSs integrate external signals and information from stress pathways, central metabolism and other global regulators, thus playing an important role as part of the overall regulatory network. This review will focus on the knowledge of TCSs in the Gram-negative bacterium, Francisella tularensis, a biothreat agent with a wide range of potential hosts and a significant ability to cause disease. While TCSs have been well-studied in several bacterial pathogens, they have not been well-studied in non-model organisms, such as F. tularensis and its subspecies, whose canonical TCS content surprisingly ranges from few to none. Additionally, of those TCS genes present, many are orphan components, including KdpDE, QseC, QseB/PmrA, and an unnamed two-component system (FTN_1452/FTN_1453). We discuss recent advances in this field related to the role of TCSs in Francisella physiology and pathogenesis and compare the TCS genes present in human virulent versus. environmental species and subspecies of Francisella.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monique L van Hoek
- School of Systems Biology, George Mason University, Manassas, VA, United States
| | - Ky V Hoang
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, United States.,Infectious Diseases Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - John S Gunn
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, United States.,Infectious Diseases Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.,Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, United States
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47
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Guanidine Riboswitch-Regulated Efflux Transporters Protect Bacteria against Ionic Liquid Toxicity. J Bacteriol 2019; 201:JB.00069-19. [PMID: 30988034 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00069-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Plant cell walls contain a renewable, nearly limitless supply of sugar that could be used to support microbial production of commodity chemicals and biofuels. Imidazolium ionic liquid (IIL) solvents are among the best reagents for gaining access to the sugars in this otherwise recalcitrant biomass. However, the sugars from IIL-treated biomass are inevitably contaminated with residual IILs that inhibit growth in bacteria and yeast, blocking biochemical production by these organisms. IIL toxicity is, therefore, a critical roadblock in many industrial biosynthetic pathways. Although several IIL-tolerant (IILT) bacterial and yeast isolates have been identified in nature, few genetic mechanisms have been identified. In this study, we identified two IILT Bacillus isolates as well as a spontaneous IILT Escherichia coli lab strain that are tolerant to high levels of two widely used IILs. We demonstrate that all three IILT strains contain one or more pumps of the small multidrug resistance (SMR) family, and two of these strains contain mutations that affect an adjacent regulatory guanidine riboswitch. Furthermore, we show that the regulation of E. coli sugE by the guanidine II riboswitch can be exploited to promote IIL tolerance by the simple addition of guanidine to the medium. Our results demonstrate the critical role that transporter genes play in IIL tolerance in their native bacterial hosts. The study presented here is another step in engineering IIL tolerance into industrial strains toward overcoming this key gap in biofuels and industrial biochemical production processes.IMPORTANCE This study identifies bacteria that are tolerant to ionic liquid solvents used in the production of biofuels and industrial biochemicals. For industrial microbiology, it is essential to find less-harmful reagents and microbes that are resistant to their cytotoxic effects. We identified a family of small multidrug resistance efflux transporters, which are responsible for the tolerance of these strains. We also found that this resistance can be caused by mutations in the sequences of guanidine-specific riboswitches that regulate these efflux pumps. Extending this knowledge, we demonstrated that guanidine itself can promote ionic liquid tolerance. Our findings will inform genetic engineering strategies that improve conversion of cellulosic sugars into biofuels and biochemicals in processes where low concentrations of ionic liquids surpass bacterial tolerance.
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48
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Abstract
The family Geobacteraceae, with its only valid genus Geobacter, comprises deltaproteobacteria ubiquitous in soil, sediments, and subsurface environments where metal reduction is an active process. Research for almost three decades has provided novel insights into environmental processes and biogeochemical reactions not previously known to be carried out by microorganisms. At the heart of the environmental roles played by Geobacter bacteria is their ability to integrate redox pathways and regulatory checkpoints that maximize growth efficiency with electron donors derived from the decomposition of organic matter while respiring metal oxides, particularly the often abundant oxides of ferric iron. This metabolic specialization is complemented by versatile metabolic reactions, respiratory chains, and sensory networks that allow specific members to adaptively respond to environmental cues to integrate organic and inorganic contaminants in their oxidative and reductive metabolism, respectively. Thus, Geobacteraceae are important members of the microbial communities that degrade hydrocarbon contaminants under iron-reducing conditions and that contribute, directly or indirectly, to the reduction of radionuclides, toxic metals, and oxidized species of nitrogen. Their ability to produce conductive pili as nanowires for discharging respiratory electrons to solid-phase electron acceptors and radionuclides, or for wiring cells in current-harvesting biofilms highlights the unique physiological traits that make these organisms attractive biological platforms for bioremediation, bioenergy, and bioelectronics application. Here we review some of the most notable physiological features described in Geobacter species since the first model representatives were recovered in pure culture. We provide a historical account of the environmental research that has set the foundation for numerous physiological studies and the laboratory tools that had provided novel insights into the role of Geobacter in the functioning of microbial communities from pristine and contaminated environments. We pay particular attention to latest research, both basic and applied, that has served to expand the field into new directions and to advance interdisciplinary knowledge. The electrifying physiology of Geobacter, it seems, is alive and well 30 years on.
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49
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Pavlova N, Penchovsky R. Genome-wide bioinformatics analysis of FMN, SAM-I, glmS, TPP, lysine, purine, cobalamin, and SAH riboswitches for their applications as allosteric antibacterial drug targets in human pathogenic bacteria. Expert Opin Ther Targets 2019; 23:631-643. [DOI: 10.1080/14728222.2019.1618274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nikolet Pavlova
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Robert Penchovsky
- Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria
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50
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Stav S, Atilho RM, Mirihana Arachchilage G, Nguyen G, Higgs G, Breaker RR. Genome-wide discovery of structured noncoding RNAs in bacteria. BMC Microbiol 2019; 19:66. [PMID: 30902049 PMCID: PMC6429828 DOI: 10.1186/s12866-019-1433-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Structured noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) play essential roles in many biological processes such as gene regulation, signaling, RNA processing, and protein synthesis. Among the most common groups of ncRNAs in bacteria are riboswitches. These cis-regulatory, metabolite-binding RNAs are present in many species where they regulate various metabolic and signaling pathways. Collectively, there are likely to be hundreds of novel riboswitch classes that remain hidden in the bacterial genomes that have already been sequenced, and potentially thousands of classes distributed among various other species in the biosphere. The vast majority of these undiscovered classes are proposed to be exceedingly rare, and so current bioinformatics search techniques are reaching their limits for differentiating between true riboswitch candidates and false positives. Results Herein, we exploit a computational search pipeline that can efficiently identify intergenic regions most likely to encode structured ncRNAs. Application of this method to five bacterial genomes yielded nearly 70 novel genetic elements including 30 novel candidate ncRNA motifs. Among the riboswitch candidates identified is an RNA motif involved in the regulation of thiamin biosynthesis. Conclusions Analysis of other genomes will undoubtedly lead to the discovery of many additional novel structured ncRNAs, and provide insight into the range of riboswitches and other kinds of ncRNAs remaining to be discovered in bacteria and archaea. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12866-019-1433-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shira Stav
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, USA
| | - Ruben M Atilho
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, USA
| | | | - Giahoa Nguyen
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, USA
| | - Gadareth Higgs
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, USA
| | - Ronald R Breaker
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, USA. .,Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, USA. .,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
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