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Martin EC, Le Targa L, Tsakou-Ngouafo L, Fan TP, Lin CY, Xiao J, Huang Z, Yuan S, Xu A, Su YH, Petrescu AJ, Pontarotti P, Schatz DG. Insights into RAG Evolution from the Identification of "Missing Link" Family A RAGL Transposons. Mol Biol Evol 2023; 40:msad232. [PMID: 37850912 PMCID: PMC10629977 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
A series of "molecular domestication" events are thought to have converted an invertebrate RAG-like (RAGL) transposase into the RAG1-RAG2 (RAG) recombinase, a critical enzyme for adaptive immunity in jawed vertebrates. The timing and order of these events are not well understood, in part because of a dearth of information regarding the invertebrate RAGL-A transposon family. In contrast to the abundant and divergent RAGL-B transposon family, RAGL-A most closely resembles RAG and is represented by a single orphan RAG1-like (RAG1L) gene in the genome of the hemichordate Ptychodera flava (PflRAG1L-A). Here, we provide evidence for the existence of complete RAGL-A transposons in the genomes of P. flava and several echinoderms. The predicted RAG1L-A and RAG2L-A proteins encoded by these transposons intermingle sequence features of jawed vertebrate RAG and RAGL-B transposases, leading to a prediction of DNA binding, catalytic, and transposition activities that are a hybrid of RAG and RAGL-B. Similarly, the terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) of the RAGL-A transposons combine features of both RAGL-B transposon TIRs and RAG recombination signal sequences. Unlike all previously described RAG2L proteins, RAG2L-A proteins contain an acidic hinge region, which we demonstrate is capable of efficiently inhibiting RAG-mediated transposition. Our findings provide evidence for a critical intermediate in RAG evolution and argue that certain adaptations thought to be specific to jawed vertebrates (e.g. the RAG2 acidic hinge) actually arose in invertebrates, thereby focusing attention on other adaptations as the pivotal steps in the completion of RAG domestication in jawed vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliza C Martin
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8011, USA
| | - Lorlane Le Targa
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille 13005, France
| | - Louis Tsakou-Ngouafo
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille 13005, France
| | - Tzu-Pei Fan
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Che-Yi Lin
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Jianxiong Xiao
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8011, USA
| | - Ziwen Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Shaochun Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
- Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Anlong Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
- School of Life Sciences, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Yi-Hsien Su
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Andrei-Jose Petrescu
- Department of Bioinformatics and Structural Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, 060031 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Pierre Pontarotti
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille 13005, France
- CNRS SNC 5039, 13005 Marseille, France
| | - David G Schatz
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8011, USA
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Martin EC, Le Targa L, Tsakou-Ngouafo L, Fan TP, Lin CY, Xiao J, Su YH, Petrescu AJ, Pontarotti P, Schatz DG. Insights into RAG evolution from the identification of "missing link" family A RAGL transposons. bioRxiv 2023:2023.08.20.553239. [PMID: 37645967 PMCID: PMC10462144 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.20.553239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
A series of "molecular domestication" events are thought to have converted an invertebrate RAG-like (RAGL) transposase into the RAG1-RAG2 (RAG) recombinase, a critical enzyme for adaptive immunity in jawed vertebrates. The timing and order of these events is not well understood, in part because of a dearth of information regarding the invertebrate RAGL-A transposon family. In contrast to the abundant and divergent RAGL-B transposon family, RAGL-A most closely resembles RAG and is represented by a single orphan RAG1-like (RAG1L) gene in the genome of the hemichordate Ptychodera flava (PflRAG1L-A). Here, we provide evidence for the existence of complete RAGL-A transposons in the genomes of P. flava and several echinoderms. The predicted RAG1L-A and RAG2L-A proteins encoded by these transposons intermingle sequence features of jawed vertebrate RAG and RAGL-B transposases, leading to a prediction of DNA binding, catalytic, and transposition activities that are a hybrid of RAG and RAGL-B. Similarly, the terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) of the RAGL-A transposons combine features of both RAGL-B transposon TIRs and RAG recombination signal sequences. Unlike all previously described RAG2L proteins, PflRAG2L-A and echinoderm RAG2L-A contain an acidic hinge region, which we demonstrate is capable of efficiently inhibiting RAG-mediated transposition. Our findings provide evidence for a critical intermediate in RAG evolution and argue that certain adaptations thought to be specific to jawed vertebrates (e.g., the RAG2 acidic hinge) actually arose in invertebrates, thereby focusing attention on other adaptations as the pivotal steps in the completion of RAG domestication in jawed vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliza C. Martin
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, 300 Cedar Street, Box 208011, New Haven, CT, 06520-8011, United States
| | - Lorlane Le Targa
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille France
| | - Louis Tsakou-Ngouafo
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille France
| | - Tzu-Pei Fan
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Rd., Sec. 2, Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Che-Yi Lin
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Rd., Sec. 2, Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Jianxiong Xiao
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, 300 Cedar Street, Box 208011, New Haven, CT, 06520-8011, United States
| | - Yi Hsien Su
- Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, 128 Academia Rd., Sec. 2, Nankang, Taipei 11529, Taiwan
| | - Andrei-Jose Petrescu
- Department of Bioinformatics and Structural Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Splaiul Independentei 296, 060031, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Pierre Pontarotti
- Aix-Marseille Université, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille France
- CNRS SNC 5039, 13005 Marseille, France
| | - David G. Schatz
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, 300 Cedar Street, Box 208011, New Haven, CT, 06520-8011, United States
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Helou L, Beauclair L, Dardente H, Piégu B, Tsakou-Ngouafo L, Lecomte T, Kentsis A, Pontarotti P, Bigot Y. The piggyBac-derived protein 5 (PGBD5) transposes both the closely and the distantly related piggyBac-like elements Tcr-pble and Ifp2. J Mol Biol 2021; 433:166839. [PMID: 33539889 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.166839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The vertebrate piggyBac derived transposase 5 (PGBD5) encodes a domesticated transposase, which is active and able to transpose its distantly related piggyBac-like element (pble), Ifp2. This raised the question whether PGBD5 would be more effective at mobilizing a phylogenetically closely related pble element. We aimed to identify the pble most closely related to the pgbd5 gene. We updated the landscape of vertebrate pgbd genes to develop efficient filters and identify the most closely related pble to each of these genes. We found that Tcr-pble is phylogenetically the closest pble to the pgbd5 gene. Furthermore, we evaluated the capacity of two murine and human PGBD5 isoforms, Mm523 and Hs524, to transpose both Tcr-pble and Ifp2 elements. We found that both pbles could be transposed by Mm523 with similar efficiency. However, integrations of both pbles occurred through both proper transposition and improper PGBD5-dependent recombination. This suggested that the ability of PGBD5 to bind both pbles may not be based on the primary sequence of element ends, but may involve recognition of inner DNA motifs, possibly related to palindromic repeats. In agreement with this hypothesis, we identified internal palindromic repeats near the end of 24 pble sequences, which display distinct sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Helou
- UMR INRAE 0085, CNRS 7247, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Centre INRA Val de Loire, 37380 Nouzilly, France
| | - Linda Beauclair
- UMR INRAE 0085, CNRS 7247, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Centre INRA Val de Loire, 37380 Nouzilly, France
| | - Hugues Dardente
- UMR INRAE 0085, CNRS 7247, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Centre INRA Val de Loire, 37380 Nouzilly, France
| | - Benoît Piégu
- UMR INRAE 0085, CNRS 7247, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Centre INRA Val de Loire, 37380 Nouzilly, France
| | - Louis Tsakou-Ngouafo
- UMR MEPHI D-258, I, IRD, Aix Marseille Université, 19-21 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France; CNRS SNC 5039, 13005 Marseille, France
| | | | - Alex Kentsis
- Molecular Pharmacology Program, Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA; Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Pierre Pontarotti
- UMR INRAE 0085, CNRS 7247, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Centre INRA Val de Loire, 37380 Nouzilly, France; CNRS SNC 5039, 13005 Marseille, France
| | - Yves Bigot
- UMR INRAE 0085, CNRS 7247, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Centre INRA Val de Loire, 37380 Nouzilly, France.
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Tsakou-Ngouafo L, Paganini J, Kaufman J, Pontarotti P. Origins of the RAG Transposome and the MHC. Trends Immunol 2020; 41:561-571. [PMID: 32467030 DOI: 10.1016/j.it.2020.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2020] [Revised: 05/04/2020] [Accepted: 05/06/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
How innate immunity gave rise to adaptive immunity in vertebrates remains unknown. We propose an evolutionary scenario beginning with pathogen-associated molecular pattern(s) (PAMPs) being presented by molecule(s) on one cell to specific receptor(s) on other cells, much like MHC molecules and T cell receptors (TCRs). In this model, mutations in MHC-like molecule(s) that bound new PAMP(s) would not be recognized by original TCR-like molecule(s), and new MHC-like gene(s) would be lost by neutral drift. Integrating recombination activating gene (RAG) transposon(s) in a TCR-like gene would result in greater recognition diversity, with new MHC-like variants recognized and selected, along with a new RAG/TCR-like system. MHC genes would be selected to present many peptides, through multigene families, allelic polymorphism, and peptide-binding promiscuity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louis Tsakou-Ngouafo
- Aix Marseille University IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille France 3, 19-21 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France
| | | | - Jim Kaufman
- University of Cambridge, Department of Pathology, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK; University of Cambridge, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB2 0ES, UK; University of Edinburgh, Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, Charlotte Auerbach Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK.
| | - Pierre Pontarotti
- Aix Marseille University IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille France 3, 19-21 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France; SNC5039 CNRS, 19-21 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseilles, France.
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Martin EC, Vicari C, Tsakou-Ngouafo L, Pontarotti P, Petrescu AJ, Schatz DG. Identification of RAG-like transposons in protostomes suggests their ancient bilaterian origin. Mob DNA 2020; 11:17. [PMID: 32399063 PMCID: PMC7204232 DOI: 10.1186/s13100-020-00214-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background V(D) J recombination is essential for adaptive immunity in jawed vertebrates and is initiated by the RAG1-RAG2 endonuclease. The RAG1 and RAG2 genes are thought to have evolved from a RAGL (RAG-like) transposon containing convergently-oriented RAG1-like (RAG1L) and RAG2-like (RAG2L) genes. Elements resembling this presumptive evolutionary precursor have thus far only been detected convincingly in deuterostomes, leading to the model that the RAGL transposon first appeared in an early deuterostome. Results We have identified numerous RAGL transposons in the genomes of protostomes, including oysters and mussels (phylum Mollusca) and a ribbon worm (phylum Nemertea), and in the genomes of several cnidarians. Phylogenetic analyses are consistent with vertical evolution of RAGL transposons within the Bilateria clade and with its presence in the bilaterian ancestor. Many of the RAGL transposons identified in protostomes are intact elements containing convergently oriented RAG1L and RAG2L genes flanked by terminal inverted repeats (TIRs) and target site duplications with striking similarities with the corresponding elements in deuterostomes. In addition, protostome genomes contain numerous intact RAG1L-RAG2L adjacent gene pairs that lack detectable flanking TIRs. Domains and critical active site and structural amino acids needed for endonuclease and transposase activity are present and conserved in many of the predicted RAG1L and RAG2L proteins encoded in protostome genomes. Conclusions Active RAGL transposons were present in multiple protostome lineages and many were likely transmitted vertically during protostome evolution. It appears that RAGL transposons were broadly active during bilaterian evolution, undergoing multiple duplication and loss/fossilization events, with the RAGL genes that persist in present day protostomes perhaps constituting both active RAGL transposons and domesticated RAGL genes. Our findings raise the possibility that the RAGL transposon arose earlier in evolution than previously thought, either in an early bilaterian or prior to the divergence of bilaterians and non-bilaterians, and alter our understanding of the evolutionary history of this important group of transposons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliza C Martin
- 1Department of Bioinformatics and Structural Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Splaiul Independentei 296, 060031 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Célia Vicari
- 2Evolutionary biology team, Aix Marseille Université IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Louis Tsakou-Ngouafo
- 2Evolutionary biology team, Aix Marseille Université IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Pierre Pontarotti
- 2Evolutionary biology team, Aix Marseille Université IRD, APHM, MEPHI, IHU Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France.,SNC5039 CNRS, 19-21 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France
| | - Andrei J Petrescu
- 1Department of Bioinformatics and Structural Biochemistry, Institute of Biochemistry of the Romanian Academy, Splaiul Independentei 296, 060031 Bucharest, Romania
| | - David G Schatz
- 4Department of Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, 300 Cedar Street, Box 208011, New Haven, CT 06520-8011 USA
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