A genome-wide screen for Schizosaccharomyces pombe deletion mutants that affect telomere length

Dear Editor, Both the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae are popular model organisms, and studies using these models have provided many informative clues for solving fundamental biological questions [1], such as DNA replication, cell cycle regulation and gene transcription. Since the completion of genome sequencing of these fungi [2, 3],

Ten1p promotes the telomeric DNA-binding activity of Cdc13p： implication for its function in telomere length regulation

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the essential gene CDC13 encodes a telomeric single-stranded DNA-binding protein that interacts with Stnlp and Tenlp genetically and physically, and is required for telomere end protection and telomere length control. The molecular mechanism by which Tenl participates in telomere length regulation and chromosome end protection remains elusive. In this work, we observed a weak interaction of Cdc13p and Tenlp in a gelfiltration analysis using purified recombinant Cdc13p and Tenlp. Tenlp itself exhibits a weak DNA-binding activity, but enhances the telomeric TG1-3 DNA-binding ability of Cdc13p. Cdc13p is communoprecipitated with Tenlp. In the mutant ten1-55 or ten1-66 cells, the impaired interaction between Tenlp and Cdc13p results in much longer telomeres, as well as a decreased association of Cdc13p with telomeric DNA. Consistently, the Ten1-55 and Ten1-66 mutant proteins fail to stimulate the telomeric DNA-binding activity of Cdc13p in vitro. These results suggest that Tenlp enhances the telomeric DNA-binding activity of Cdc13p to negatively regulate telomere length.

Sua5p is required for telomere recombination in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Telomeres are highly organized DNA-protein struc- tures at the ends of linear eukaryotic chromosomes [ 1 ]. In budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, each chro- mosome end has TG1-3/C1-3A double-stranded telomeric DNA and a G-rich single-stranded tail [2]. The replica- tion of telomere involves both telomerase and recombi- nation pathways [3, 4]. When telomerase is absent, te- lomeric DNA will progressively shorten, and the colony will eventually undergo senescence [4]. Some survivors will escape senescence by maintaining telomeres through a Rad52-dependent homologous recombination mecha- nism [3].

Dynamically lithium-compensated polymer artificial SEI to assist highly stable lithium-rich manganese-based anode-free lithium metal batteries

Owing to the unique structure,anode-free lithium metal batteries(AFLMBs)have higher energy density and lower production cost than traditional lithium metal batteries(LMBs)or lithium-ion batteries(LIBs),However,AFLMBs suffer from an inherently finite Li reservoir and exhibit poor cycle stability,low Coulombic efficiency(CE)and severe dendrite growth.In this work,polydiallyl lithium disulfide(PDS-Li)was successfully synthesized and coated on Cu current collector by electrochemical polymerization.The PDS-Li acts as an additional lithium resource to compensate for the irreversible loss of lithium during cycling.In addition,the special structure and lithiophilicity of PDS-Li contribute to lower nucleation overpotential and uniform lithium deposition.When coupled with Li-rich manganese-based(LRM)cathode of Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2,the anode-free full cell exhibits significantly improved cycle stability over 100 cycles and capacity retention of 63.3%and 57%after 80 and 100 cycles,respectively.We believe that PDS-Li can be used to ensure stable cycling performance and high-energy-density in AFLMBs.

Both combinatorial K4me0-K36me3 marks on sister histone H3s of a nucleosome are required for Dnmt3a-Dnmt3L mediated de novo DNA methylation

A nucleosome contains two copies of each histone H2A,H2B,H3 and H4.Histone H3 K4me0 and K36me3are two key chromatin marks for de novo DNA methylation catalyzed by DNA methyltransferases in mammals.However,it remains unclear whether K4me0 and K36me3 marks on both sister histone H3s regulate de novo DNA methylation independently or cooperatively.Here,taking advantage of the bivalent histone H3 system in yeast,we examined the contributions of K4 and K36 on sister histone H3s to genomic DNA methylation catalyzed by ectopically co-expressed murine Dnmt3a and Dnmt3L.The results show that lack of both K4me0 and K36me3 on one sister H3 tail,or lack of K4me0 and K36me3 on respective sister H3s results in a dramatic reduction of 5mC,revealing a synergy of two sister H3s in DNA methylation regulation.Accordingly,the Dnmt3a or Dnmt3L mutation that disrupts the interaction of Dnmt3aADD domain-H3K4me0,Dnmt3LADD domain-H3K4me0,orDnmt3aPWWP domain-H3K36me3 causes a significant reduction of DNA methylation.These results support the model that each heterodimeric Dnmt3a-Dnmt3L reads both K4me0 and K36me3 marks on one tail of sister H3s,and the dimer of heterodimeric Dnmt3a-Dnmt3L recognizes two tails of sister histone H3s to efficiently execute de novo DNA methylation.

Yeast KEOPS complex regulates telomere length independently of its t6A modification function

In Saccharornyces cerevisiae, the highly conserved Sua5 and KEOPS complex （including five subunits Kael, Bud32, Cgi121, Pccl and Gon7） catalyze a universal tRNA modification, namely N6-threonylcarbamoy- ladenosine （t6A）, and regulate telomere replication and recombination. However, whether telomere regulation function of Sua5 and KEOPS complex depends on the t6A modification activity remains unclear. Here we show that Sua5 and KEOPS regulate telomere length in the same genetic pathway. Interestingly, the telomere length regulation by KEOPS is independent of its t6A biosynthesis activity. Cytoplasmic overexpression of Qri7, a functional counterpart of KEOPS in mitochondria, restores cytosolic tRNA t6A modification and cell growth, but is not sufficient to rescue telomere length in the KEOPS mutant kae1△ cells, indicating that a t6A modification-independent function is responsible for the telomere regulation. The results of our in vitro biochemical and in vivo genetic assays suggest that telomerase RNA TLC1 might not be modified by Sua5 and KEOPS. Moreover, deletion of KEOPS subunits results in a dramatic reduction of telomeric G-overhang, suggesting that KEOPS regulates telomere length by promoting G-overhang generation. These findings support a model in which KEOPS regulates telomere replication independently of its function on tRNA modification.

Molecular dynamics of de novo telomere heterochromatin formation in budding yeast

In the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, heterochromatin structure is found at three chromosome regions, which are homothallic mating-type loci, rDNA regions and telomeres. To address how telomere heterochromatin is assembled under physiological conditions, we employed a de novo telomere addition system, and analyzed the dynamic chromatin changes of the TRPI reporter gene during telomere elongation. We found that integrating a 255-bp, but not an 81-bp telomeric sequence near the TRP1 promoter could trigger Sir2 recruitment, active chromatin mark（s）＇ removal, chromatin compaction and TRP1 gene silencing, indicating that the length of the telomeric sequence inserted in the internal region of a chromosome is critical for determining the chromatin state at the proximal region. Interestingly, Rill but not Rif2 or yKu is indispensable for the formation of intra-chromosomal silent chromatin initiated by telomeric sequence. When an internal short telomeric sequence （e.g., 81 bp） gets exposed to become a de novo telomere, the herterochromatin features, such as Sir recruitment, active chromatin mark（s）＇ removal and chromatin compaction, are detected within a few hours before the de novo telomere reaches a stable length. Our results recapitulate the molecular dynamics and reveal a coherent picture of telomere het- erochromatin formation.

Tel1 and Rif2 oppositely regulate telomere protection at uncapped telomeres in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

It has been well documented that Tel1 positively regulates telomere-end resection by promoting Mre11-Rad50-Xrs2（MRX） activity, while Rif2 negatively regulates telomere-end resection by inhibiting MRX activity. At uncapped telomeres, whether Tel1 or Rif2 plays any role remains largely unknown. In this work, we examined the roles of Tel1 and Rif2 at uncapped telomeres in yku70△ and/or cdc13-1 mutant cells cultured at non-permissive temperature. We found that deletion of TEL1 exacerbates the temperature sensitivity of both yku70△ and cdc13-1 cells. Further epistasis analysis indicated that MRX and Tel1 function in the same pathway in telomere protection. Consistently, TEL1 deletion increases accumulation of Exo1-dependent telomeric single-stranded DNA（ssDNA） at uncapped telomeres, which stimulates checkpoint-dependent cell cycle arrest. Moreover, TEL1 deletion in yku70△ cells facilitates Rad51-dependent Y0 recombination. In contrast, RIF2 deletion in yku70△ cells decreases the accumulation of telomeric ssDNA after 8 h of incubation at the non-permissive temperature of 37℃ and suppresses the temperature sensitivity of yku70△ cells, likely due to the increase of Mre11 association at telomeres.Collectively, our findings indicate that Tel1 and Rif2 regulate telomere protection at uncapped telomeres via their roles in balancing MRX activity in telomere resection.