Metabolic stress-induced long ncRNA transcription governs the formation of meiotic DNA breaks in the fission yeast fbp1 gene.

Meiotic recombination is a pivotal process that ensures faithful chromosome segregation and contributes to the generation of genetic diversity in offspring, which is initiated by the formation of double-strand breaks (DSBs). The distribution of meiotic DSBs is not uniform and is clustered at hotspots, which can be affected by environmental conditions. Here, we show that non-coding RNA (ncRNA) transcription creates meiotic DSBs through local chromatin remodeling in the fission yeast fbp1 gene. The fbp1 gene is activated upon glucose starvation stress, in which a cascade of ncRNA-transcription in the fbp1 upstream region converts the chromatin configuration into an open structure, leading to the subsequent binding of transcription factors. We examined the distribution of meiotic DSBs around the fbp1 upstream region in the presence and absence of glucose and observed several new DSBs after chromatin conversion under glucose starvation conditions. Moreover, these DSBs disappeared when cis-elements required for ncRNA transcription were mutated. These results indicate that ncRNA transcription creates meiotic DSBs in response to stress conditions in the fbp1 upstream region. This study addressed part of a long-standing unresolved mechanism underlying meiotic recombination plasticity in response to environmental fluctuation.

Application of microbial risk assessment on a residentially-operated bio-toilet.

The Sustainable Sanitation System is a new wastewater treatment system that incorporates a non-flushing toilet (Bio-toilet) that converts excreta into a reusable resource (as fertilizer or humus for organic agriculture) and reduces the pollution load to environments of the rivers, the lakes, and the sea. However, the risk of exposure to pathogens should be considered, because excrement is stored in the Bio-toilet. The aim of the present work is to analyze the health risk of dealing with the matrix (excreta and urine mixed with sawdust) of the Bio-toilet. Therefore, the fate of pathogenic viruses was investigated using coliphages as a virus index, and the modeling of the die-off rate in matrix was introduced. Then the microbial risk assessment was applied to a Bio-toilet that was actually used in a residential house; the infection risks of rotavirus and enterovirus as reference pathogens were calculated. According to the lab-scale experiment using coliphages for investing the die-off rate of viruses in the Bio-toilet, Qbeta had a higher die-off, which was greatly influenced by the water content and temperature. On the other hand, T4 showed a lower rate and was independent of water content. Therefore, these two phages' data were used as critical examples, such as viruses having high or low possibilities of remaining in the Bio-toilet during the risk assessment analysis. As the result of the risk assessment, the storage time required for an acceptable infectious risk level has wide variations in both rotavirus and enterovirus cases depending on the phage that was used. These were 0-260 days' and 0-160 days' difference, respectively.