NMD is required for timely cell fate transitions by fine-tuning gene expression and regulating translation.

Cell fate transitions depend on balanced rewiring of transcription and translation programs to mediate ordered developmental progression. Components of the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway have been implicated in regulating embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation, but the exact mechanism is unclear. Here we show that NMD controls expression levels of the translation initiation factor Eif4a2 and its premature termination codon-encoding isoform (Eif4a2PTC ). NMD deficiency leads to translation of the truncated eIF4A2PTC protein. eIF4A2PTC elicits increased mTORC1 activity and translation rates and causes differentiation delays. This establishes a previously unknown feedback loop between NMD and translation initiation. Furthermore, our results show a clear hierarchy in the severity of target deregulation and differentiation phenotypes between NMD effector KOs (Smg5 KO > Smg6 KO > Smg7 KO), which highlights heterodimer-independent functions for SMG5 and SMG7. Together, our findings expose an intricate link between mRNA homeostasis and mTORC1 activity that must be maintained for normal dynamics of cell state transitions.

Molecular circadian rhythms are robust in marine annelids lacking rhythmic behavior.

The circadian clock controls behavior and metabolism in various organisms. However, the exact timing and strength of rhythmic phenotypes can vary significantly between individuals of the same species. This is highly relevant for rhythmically complex marine environments where organismal rhythmic diversity likely permits the occupation of different microenvironments. When investigating circadian locomotor behavior of Platynereis dumerilii, a model system for marine molecular chronobiology, we found strain-specific, high variability between individual worms. The individual patterns were maintained for several weeks. A diel head transcriptome comparison of behaviorally rhythmic versus arrhythmic wild-type worms showed that 24-h cycling of core circadian clock transcripts is identical between both behavioral phenotypes. While behaviorally arrhythmic worms showed a similar total number of cycling transcripts compared to their behaviorally rhythmic counterparts, the annotation categories of their transcripts, however, differed substantially. Consistent with their locomotor phenotype, behaviorally rhythmic worms exhibit an enrichment of cycling transcripts related to neuronal/behavioral processes. In contrast, behaviorally arrhythmic worms showed significantly increased diel cycling for metabolism- and physiology-related transcripts. The prominent role of the neuropeptide pigment-dispersing factor (PDF) in Drosophila circadian behavior prompted us to test for a possible functional involvement of Platynereis pdf. Differing from its role in Drosophila, loss of pdf impacts overall activity levels but shows only indirect effects on rhythmicity. Our results show that individuals arrhythmic in a given process can show increased rhythmicity in others. Across the Platynereis population, rhythmic phenotypes exist as a continuum, with no distinct "boundaries" between rhythmicity and arrhythmicity. We suggest that such diel rhythm breadth is an important biodiversity resource enabling the species to quickly adapt to heterogeneous or changing marine environments. In times of massive sequencing, our work also emphasizes the importance of time series and functional tests.

Coproheme decarboxylases - Phylogenetic prediction versus biochemical experiments.

Coproheme decarboxylases (ChdCs) are enzymes responsible for the catalysis of the terminal step in the coproporphyrin-dependent heme biosynthesis pathway. Phylogenetic analyses confirm that the gene encoding for ChdCs is widespread throughout the bacterial world. It is found in monoderm bacteria (Firmicutes, Actinobacteria), diderm bacteria (e. g. Nitrospirae) and also in Archaea. In order to test phylogenetic prediction ChdC representatives from all clades were expressed and examined for their coproheme decarboxylase activity. Based on available biochemical data and phylogenetic analyses a sequence motif (-Y-P-M/F-X-K/R-) is defined for ChdCs. We show for the first time that in diderm bacteria an active coproheme decarboxylase is present and that the archaeal ChdC homolog from Sulfolobus solfataricus is inactive and its physiological role remains elusive. This shows the limitation of phylogenetic prediction of an enzymatic activity, since the identified sequence motif is equally conserved across all previously defined clades.