Article
Plant Sciences
Ashwin Nair, Chitthavalli Y. Y. Harshith, Anushree Narjala, Padubidri V. V. Shivaprasad
Summary: Chloroplast is the site for converting light energy into chemical energy and producing defense-related molecules. Begomovirus can disrupt chloroplast homeostasis to successfully infect plants, and a viral protein called Beta C1 is responsible for this pathogenicity by interfering with host plastid homeostasis.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chih-Hao Huang, Yu-Chang Liu, Jia-Yi Shen, Fu- Lu, Shyh-Yu Shaw, Hao-Jen Huang, Ching-Chun Chang
Summary: The study developed a cpTALEN technology for chloroplast DNA editing and successfully achieved site-specific editing of the rpoB gene in tobacco leaves. Transgenic plants exhibited varying degrees of chlorotic phenotype, and repairing damaged plastid DNA led to point mutations, large deletions, and small inversions surrounding the rpoB gene through homologous recombination and/or microhomology-mediated recombination.
Article
Biology
Masaki Odahara, Kensuke Nakamura, Yasuhiko Sekine, Taku Oshima
Summary: Destabilization of organelle genomes can lead to abnormal growth in plants and diseases in humans. A study using deep sequencing in HRR knockout mutants of Physcomitrella patens reveals prominent mutant-specific patterns in organelle genome instability. The results suggest that chloroplasts and mitochondria may share common mechanisms for replication-related rearrangements.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Steven J. Sandler, Maxime Leroux, Tricia A. Windgassen, James L. Keck
Summary: This study investigates two biochemical and genetic mechanisms of the PriA-PriB pathway in Escherichia coli, one utilizing PriB-stimulated helicase activity to release a region of ssDNA and the other involving helicase-independent remodeling activity.
MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Carolina L. Gandini, Laura E. Garcia, Cinthia C. Abbona, Luis F. Ceriotti, Sergei Kushnir, Danny Geelen, M. Virginia Sanchez-Puerta
Summary: Somatic hybrids between distant species provide a valuable model for studying genomic recombination after mitochondrial fusion. This study used a sensitive bioinformatic strategy to detect recombination activity in somatic hybrid mitochondria and identified multiple common recombination hotspots. The findings have significant implications for mitogenome editing and the understanding of DNA integration following mitochondrial DNA horizontal transfer events.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Deon Ploessl, Yuxin Zhao, Mingfeng Cao, Saptarshi Ghosh, Carmen Lopez, Maryam Sayadi, Siva Chudalayandi, Andrew Severin, Lei Huang, Marissa Gustafson, Zengyi Shao
Summary: By developing a new CRISPR platform, the limitations caused by NHEJ repair have been successfully addressed, improving the accuracy of genome editing technology. While preserving NHEJ, it is also possible to effectively optimize microbial factories for the production of target compounds.
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Alejandro Penafiel-Ayala, Antolin Peralta-Castro, Josue Mora-Garduno, Paola Garcia-Medel, Angie G. Zambrano-Pereira, Corina Diaz-Quezada, Maria Jazmin Abraham-Juarez, Claudia G. Benitez-Cardoza, Daniel B. Sloan, Luis G. Brieba
Summary: MutS HOMOLOG 1 (MSH1) is an organellar-targeted protein that obstructs ectopic recombination and the accumulation of mutations in plant organellar genomes. It also modulates the epigenetic status of nuclear DNA and prevents recombination between short repeats.
PLANT AND CELL PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
In-Su Choi, Martin F. Wojciechowski, Kelly P. Steele, Andrew Hopkins, Tracey A. Ruhlman, Robert K. Jansen
Summary: Medicago truncatula is a model legume that has been extensively studied in various subdisciplines of plant science. This study investigated the phylogenetic position of different M. truncatula accessions within the genus and found heterogeneity and potential gene flow between closely related species, suggesting mistaken identities.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Philipp Seidel, Anne Rubarth, Kyra Zodel, Asin Peighambari, Felix Neumann, Yannick Federkiel, Hsin Huang, Rouven Hoefflin, Mojca Adlesic, Christian Witt, David J. Hoffmann, Patrick Metzger, Ralph K. Lindemann, Frank T. Zenke, Christoph Schell, Melanie Boerries, Dominik von Elverfeldt, Wilfried Reichardt, Marie Follo, Joachim Albers, Ian J. Frew
Summary: This study identifies ATR inhibition as a potential therapeutic option for ccRCC, showing that the drug M4344 induces antiproliferative effects in ccRCC cells by inhibiting the DNA damage-sensing kinase ATR. The combination of M4344 with chemotherapeutic drugs or a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor demonstrates better efficacy in both mouse and human ccRCC cells.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anna S. Zhuk, Artem G. Lada, Youri I. Pavlov
Summary: Baker's yeast, S. cerevisiae, is widely used as a model organism for studying genome stability mechanisms. The genetic differences among commonly used yeast strains affect DNA replication, repair, and recombination processes. This study compared the genomic DNA sequence variation in five yeast strains used for studying these processes and found significant differences, even in closely related strains. These findings highlight the importance of considering strain polymorphisms when interpreting genome stability studies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Longfu Xu, Matthew T. J. Halma, Gijs J. L. Wuite
Summary: Single-stranded DNA-binding proteins (SSBs) are essential for DNA metabolism and play crucial roles in maintaining genome integrity and coordinating with other proteins involved in DNA replication, recombination, and repair. Recent advances in single-molecule techniques and structural methods have greatly improved our understanding of the binding dynamics and interaction of SSBs with ssDNA and other protein partners. We highlight the central coordination role of SSBs in directly modulating the activities of other proteins and discuss the various modes of interaction between SSBs and their protein partners, providing a comprehensive view of the interaction network shaped by SSBs.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Biology
Thomas J. Etheridge, Desiree Villahermosa, Eduard Campillo-Funollet, Alex David Herbert, Anja Irmisch, Adam T. Watson, Hung Q. Dang, Mark A. Osborne, Antony W. Oliver, Antony M. Carr, Johanne M. Murray
Summary: The Smc5/6 complex is associated with chromatin in unchallenged cells through the non-SMC protein Nse6, involving at least two Nse6-dependent sub-pathways. Mutations in core subunits of the Smc5/6 complex affect chromatin association, with disruption of single-stranded DNA binding activity leading to elevated levels of chromosomal rearrangements during replication restart.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Terrence Hanscom, Nicholas Woodward, Rebecca Batorsky, Alexander J. Brown, Steven A. Roberts, Mitch McVey
Summary: By computational analysis, we have identified sequence characteristics that drive successful SD-MMEJ repair and shown the necessity of DNA polymerase theta in SD-MMEJ repair at Cas9-induced breaks.
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Marina Elez
Summary: This review outlines the importance of Mismatch Repair (MMR) in maintaining genetic information, highlighting Miroslav Radman's significant contributions to the field. It discusses various aspects of MMR, including its role in replication and recombination editing, as well as recent discoveries related to visualization of MMR components and its impact on understanding mismatch recognition and replication coupling. The author explains how visualization of MMR components has opened the door for studying spontaneous mutations in living cells in real time.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Arianna Penzo, Marion Dubarry, Clementine Brocas, Myriam Zheng, Raphael M. Mangione, Mathieu Rougemaille, Coralie Goncalves, Ophelie Lautier, Domenico Libri, Marie-Noelle Simon, Vincent Geli, Karine Dubrana, Benoit Palancade
Summary: Nuclear pore complexes (NPCs) are associated with the accumulation of genotoxic R-loop structures, and their relocation is triggered by R-loop accumulation. R-loop-dependent repositioning involves interactions with the ssDNA-binding protein RPA and NPC-associated factors. Preventing R-loop-dependent relocation leads to lethality, while tethering to NPCs attenuates R-loop-dependent genetic instability.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)