Lab-Grown Life - BBC Sounds

Caroline Steel explores how synthetic biology is helping us to engineer life.

bbc.co.uk

Conserved and divergent DNA methylation features of extraembryonic tissues between human, mouse and chicken - BMC Genomics

Background The first cell fate decisions in embryogenesis give rise to extraembryonic tissues, such as the yolk sac and placenta, which are essential for embryo survival. In mammals, extraembryonic cell types arising from these first lineage decisions show distinct DNA methylation patterning, including large partially methylated domains, gene body methylation and accumulation across developmental CpG island (CGI) promoters. Analysis of extraembryonic membranes beyond mammalian species has been limited. Using bisulphite-seq and RNA-seq, we comparatively define these epigenetic characteristics of extraembryonic tissues in both mouse and human. We then tested whether these features are conserved in the chicken extraembryonic membranes (EEMs) including the yolk sac, chorion and chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). Results Transcriptomic analysis revealed that embryonic day (E)4 yolk sac/chorion and E14 CAM express similar marker genes to the mouse chorionic trophoblast, supporting that the chicken chorionic ectoderm shares a ‘trophoblast-like’ cell identity. We find that partially methylated domains and transcription-linked gene body methylation patterning are highly conserved between mouse and human proliferative multipotent trophoblast cells but were not evident in the chicken EEMs. However, we find that methylation of CGIs associated with developmental genes was a conserved feature of mouse, human and chicken EEMs. Conclusions These findings support that features of the extraembryonic DNA methylation landscape have distinct underlying mechanisms. We find that only one feature is conserved across extant amniotes, suggesting distinct evolutionary pressures are associated with different features of EEM epigenetic landscape.

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Identifying critical lysines in mammalian histone H3 with high-throughput CRISPR prime editing - Nature Genetics

This study uses a precise and efficient clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) prime editing system to substitute lysine residues in histone H3, individually or in combinat...

nature.com

In preprints – housekeeping the housekeeping genes

The term ‘housekeeping gene’ evokes a sense of banality. These are the boring genes that hum in the background, impervious to cell state or stress. For a developmental biologist captivated by the impa...

journals.biologists.com

MBD8 is required for LDL2-mediated transcriptional repression downstream of H3K9me2 in Arabidopsis

Abstract. Histone H3 lysine 9 methylation (H3K9me) is a conserved epigenetic mark for transcriptional gene repression. In Arabidopsis, H3K9 dimethylation (

academic.oup.com

Designing and testing CRISPRi-based synthetic gene circuits in plants - Nature Protocols

This protocol details the design principles and procedures for building programmable CRISPRi-based gene circuits, and for testing individual components and the assembled circuits in various plant spec...

nature.com

SET1/MLL complexes control transcription independently of H3K4me3

Histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) at gene promoters is thought to play a central role in gene transcription. H3K4 methylation is deposited by the SET1 (A/B) and MLL (1-4) multi-protein comp...

biorxiv.org

Bioluminescent sentinel plants enable autonomous diagnostics of viral infections

Plants engineered with synthetic genetic programs can transform how we monitor and manage the extension of crop pests and diseases. Here, we establish a bioluminescent platform in Nicotiana benthamian...

biorxiv.org

New tool unlocks non-GM routes to fast-track breeding and crop innovation | Department of Plant Sciences

A new tool to fine-tune plant genomes without changing their DNA could offer a fast and precise alternative to GM breeding and play a key role in developing resilient crops in response to climate chan...

tinyurl.com

CRISPR targeting of H3K4me3 activates gene expression and unlocks centromere-proximal crossover recombination in Arabidopsis

Nature Communications - Binenbaum et al. demonstrate that precise CRISPR-based targeting of a key chromatin mark (H3K4me3) can switch on genes, boost disease resistance, and unlock meiotic...

rdcu.be

Bryophytes hold a larger gene family space than vascular plants - Nature Genetics

A super-pangenome analysis incorporating 123 newly sequenced bryophyte genomes reveals that bryophytes exhibit a larger number of unique and lineage-specific gene families than vascular plants.

nature.com

Transposable elements are vectors of recurrent transgenerational epigenetic inheritance

DNA methylation loss at transposable elements (TEs) can affect neighboring genes and be epigenetically inherited in plants, yet the determinants and significance of this additional system of inheritan...

science.org

HDAC3 prevents enhancer hyperactivation to enable developmental transitions

Dynamic gene regulation requires precise cooperation between transcription factors and chromatin modifiers at regulatory elements to achieve not only activation or repression, but also appropriate tra...

biorxiv.org

Mutation of a stromal C-terminal threonine residue of Photosystem II subunit S slows down NPQ induction and speeds up relaxation

In order to prevent damage by excess light, photosystem antennae can switch to an energy dissipative mode (termed non-photochemical quenching, NPQ). In higher plants, this switch is facilitated by the...

biorxiv.org

Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge

Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

jobs.cam.ac.uk

H3K4me3 binding ALFIN-LIKE proteins recruit SWR1 for gene-body deposition of H2A.Z

rdcu.be

Construction of multi-targeted CRISPR libraries in tomato to overcome functional redundancy at genome-scale level - Nature Communications

Genetic variance is vital for breeding programs and mutant screening, yet traditional mutagenesis methods wrestle with genetic redundancy and a lack of specificity in gene targeting. Here the authors ...

nature.com

Research Laboratory Technician (Fixed Term) - Job Opportunities - University of Cambridge

Research Laboratory Technician (Fixed Term) in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

jobs.cam.ac.uk

Data-driven mathematical modelling explains altered timing of EARLY FLOWERING 3 in the wheat circadian oscillator

Circadian rhythms, daily oscillations with a free-running period of approximately 24 hours, have evolved in organisms across the kingdoms of life, enabling organisms to anticipate and adapt to environ...

biorxiv.org