The role of the Cer1 transposon in horizontal transfer of transgenerational memory.

Animals face both external and internal dangers: pathogens threaten from the environment, and unstable genomic elements threaten from within. C. elegans protects itself from pathogens by "reading" bacterial small RNAs, using this information to both induce avoidance and transmit memories for four generations. Here, we found that memories can be transferred from either lysed animals or from conditioned media to naive animals via Cer1 retrotransposon-encoded virus-like particles. Moreover, Cer1 functions internally at the step of transmission of information from the germline to neurons and is required for learned avoidance. The presence of the Cer1 retrotransposon in wild C. elegans strains correlates with the ability to learn and inherit small-RNA-induced pathogen avoidance. Together, these results suggest that C. elegans has co-opted a potentially dangerous retrotransposon to instead protect itself and its progeny from a common pathogen through its inter-tissue signaling ability, hijacking this genomic element for its own adaptive immunity benefit.

Kar4, the yeast homolog of METTL14, is required for mRNA m6A methylation and meiosis.

KAR4, the yeast homolog of the mammalian mRNA N6A-methyltransferase complex component METTL14, is required for two disparate developmental programs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: mating and meiosis. To understand KAR4's role in yeast mating and meiosis, we used a genetic screen to isolate 25 function-specific mutant alleles, which map to non-overlapping surfaces on a predicted structure of the Kar4 protein (Kar4p). Most of the mating-specific alleles (Mat-) abolish Kar4p's interaction with the transcription factor Ste12p, indicating that Kar4p's mating function is through Ste12p. In yeast, the mRNA methyltransferase complex was previously defined as comprising Ime4p (Kar4p's paralog and the homolog of mammalian METTL3), Mum2p (homolog of mammalian WTAP), and Slz1p (MIS), but not Kar4p. During meiosis, Kar4p interacts with Ime4p, Mum2p, and Slz1p. Moreover, cells lacking Kar4p have highly reduced levels of mRNA methylation during meiosis indicating that Kar4p is a key member of the methyltransferase complex, as it is in humans. Analysis of kar4Δ/Δ and 7 meiosis-specific alleles (Mei-) revealed that Kar4p is required early in meiosis, before initiation of S-phase and meiotic recombination. High copy expression of the meiotic transcriptional activator IME1 rescued the defect of these Mei- alleles. Surprisingly, Kar4p was also found to be required at a second step for the completion of meiosis and sporulation. Over-expression of IME1 in kar4Δ/Δ permits pre-meiotic S-phase, but most cells remained arrested with a monopolar spindle. Analysis of the function-specific mutants revealed that roughly half became blocked after premeiotic DNA synthesis and did not sporulate (Spo-). Loss of Kar4p's Spo function was suppressed by overexpression of RIM4, a meiotic translational regulator. Overexpression of IME1 and RIM4 together allowed sporulation of kar4Δ/Δ cells. Taken together, these data suggest that Kar4p regulates meiosis at multiple steps, presumably reflecting requirements for methylation in different stages of meiotic gene expression.

Kar4, the Yeast Homolog of METTL14, is Required for mRNA m 6 A Methylation and Meiosis.

KAR4 , the yeast homolog of the mammalian mRNA N 6 A-methyltransferase complex component METTL14 , is required for two disparate developmental programs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae : mating and meiosis. To understand KAR4 's role in yeast mating and meiosis, we used a genetic screen to isolate 25 function-specific mutant alleles, which map to non-overlapping surfaces on a predicted structure of the Kar4 protein (Kar4p). Most of the mating-specific alleles (Mat - ) abolish Kar4p's interaction with the transcription factor Ste12p, indicating that Kar4p's mating function is through Ste12p. In yeast, the mRNA methyltransferase complex was previously defined as comprising Ime4p (Kar4p's paralog and the homolog of mammalian METTL3), Mum2p (homolog of mammalian WTAP), and Slz1p (MIS), but not Kar4p. During meiosis, Kar4p interacts with Ime4p, Mum2p, and Slz1p. Moreover, cells lacking Kar4p have highly reduced levels of mRNA methylation during meiosis indicating that Kar4p is a key member of the methyltransferase complex, as it is in humans. Analysis of kar4 Δ/Δ and 7 meiosis-specific alleles (Mei - ) revealed that Kar4p is required early in meiosis, before initiation of S-phase and meiotic recombination. High copy expression of the meiotic transcriptional activator IME1 rescued the defect of these Mei- alleles. Surprisingly, Kar4p was also found to be required at a second step for the completion of meiosis and sporulation. Over-expression of IME1 in kar4 Δ/Δ permits pre-meiotic S-phase, but most cells remained arrested with a monopolar spindle. Analysis of the function-specific mutants revealed that roughly half became blocked after premeiotic DNA synthesis and did not sporulate (Spo - ). Loss of Kar4p's Spo function was suppressed by overexpression of RIM4 , a meiotic translational regulator. Overexpression of IME1 and RIM4 together allowed sporulation of kar4 Δ/Δ cells. Taken together, these data suggest that Kar4p regulates meiosis at multiple steps, presumably reflecting requirements for methylation in different stages of meiotic gene expression. Author Summary: In yeast, KAR4 is required for mating and meiosis. A genetic screen for function-specific mutations identified 25 alleles that map to different surfaces on a predicted structure of the Kar4 protein (Kar4p). The mating-specific alleles interfere with Kar4p's ability to interact with the transcription factor Ste12p, its known partner in mating. The meiosis-specific alleles revealed an independent function: Kar4p is required for entry into meiosis and initiation of S-phase. During meiosis, Kar4p interacts with all components of the mRNA methyltransferase complex and kar4 Δ/Δ mutants have greatly reduced levels of mRNA methylation. Thus, Kar4p is a member of the yeast methyltransferase complex. Overexpression of the meiotic transcriptional activator IME1 rescued the meiotic entry defect but did not lead to sporulation, implying that Kar4p has more than one meiotic function. Suppression by Ime1p overexpression led to arrest after premeiotic DNA synthesis, but before sporulation. Loss of Kar4's sporulation function can be suppressed by overexpression of a translation regulator, Rim4p. Overexpression of both IME1 and RIM4 allowed sporulation in kar4 Δ/Δ cells.

CrvA and CrvB form a curvature-inducing module sufficient to induce cell-shape complexity in Gram-negative bacteria.

Bacterial species have diverse cell shapes that enable motility, colonization and virulence. The cell wall defines bacterial shape and is primarily built by two cytoskeleton-guided synthesis machines, the elongasome and the divisome. However, the mechanisms producing complex shapes, like the curved-rod shape of Vibrio cholerae, are incompletely defined. Previous studies have reported that species-specific regulation of cytoskeleton-guided machines enables formation of complex bacterial shapes such as cell curvature and cellular appendages. In contrast, we report that CrvA and CrvB are sufficient to induce complex cell shape autonomously of the cytoskeleton in V. cholerae. The autonomy of the CrvAB module also enables it to induce curvature in the Gram-negative species Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Caulobacter crescentus and Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Using inducible gene expression, quantitative microscopy and biochemistry, we show that CrvA and CrvB circumvent the need for patterning via cytoskeletal elements by regulating each other to form an asymmetrically localized, periplasmic structure that binds directly to the cell wall. The assembly and disassembly of this periplasmic structure enables dynamic changes in cell shape. Bioinformatics indicate that CrvA and CrvB may have diverged from a single ancestral hybrid protein. Using fusion experiments in V. cholerae, we find that a synthetic CrvA/B hybrid protein is sufficient to induce curvature on its own, but that expression of two distinct proteins, CrvA and CrvB, promotes more rapid curvature induction. We conclude that morphological complexity can arise independently of cell-shape specification by the core cytoskeleton-guided synthesis machines.