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Basting, P. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Basting, P. J..

7 recordsLinked to original sources
bioRxiv2023

Reproducible evaluation of short-read transposable element detectors and species-wide data mining of insertion patterns in yeast.

BackgroundMany computational methods have been developed to detect non-reference transposable element (TE) insertions using short-read whole genome sequencing data. The diversity and complexity of such methods often present challenges to new users seeking to reproducibly install, execute or evaluate multiple TE insertion detectors. ResultsWe previously developed the McClintock meta-pipeline to facilitate the installation, execution, and evaluation of six first-generation short-read TE detectors. Here, we report a completely re-implemented version of McClintock written in Python using Snakemake and Conda that improves its installation, error handling, speed, stability, and extensibility. McClintock 2 now includes 12 short-read TE detectors, auxiliary pre-processing and analysis modules, interactive HTML reports, and a simulation framework to reproducibly evaluate the accuracy of component TE detectors. When applied to the model microbial eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we find substantial variation in the ability of McClintock 2 components to identify the precise locations of non-reference TE insertions, with RelocaTE2 showing the highest recall and precision in simulated data. We find that RelocaTE2, TEMP, TEMP2 and TEBreak provide a consistent and biologically meaningful view of non-reference TE insertions in a species-wide panel of ~1000 yeast genomes, as evaluated by coverage-based abundance estimates and expected patterns of tRNA promoter targeting. Finally, we show that best-in-class predictors for yeast have sufficient resolution to reveal a dyad pattern of integration in nucleosome-bound regions upstream of yeast tRNA genes for Ty1, Ty2, and Ty4, allowing us to extend knowledge about fine-scale target preferences first revealed experimentally for Ty1 to natural insertions and related copia-superfamily retrotransposons in yeast. ConclusionMcClintock (https://github.com/bergmanlab/mcclintock/) provides a user-friendly pipeline for the identification of TEs in short-read WGS data using multiple TE detectors, which should benefit researchers studying TE insertion variation in a wide range of different organisms. Application of the improved McClintock system to simulated and empirical yeast genome data reveals best-in-class methods and novel biological insights for one of the most widely-studied model eukaryotes and provides a paradigm for evaluating and selecting non-reference TE detectors for other species.

genomics↗
bioRxiv2022

Local assembly of long reads enables phylogenomics of transposable elements in a polyploid cell line

Animal cell lines cultured for extended periods often undergo extreme genome restructuring events, including polyploidy and segmental aneuploidy that can impede de novo whole-genome assembly (WGA). In Drosophila, many established cell lines also exhibit massive proliferation of transposable elements (TEs) relative to wild-type flies. To better understand the role of transposition during long-term animal somatic cell culture, we sequenced the genome of the tetraploid Drosophila S2R+ cell line using long-read and linked-read technologies. Relative to comparable data from inbred whole flies, WGAs for S2R+ were highly fragmented and generated variable estimates of TE content across sequencing and assembly technologies. We therefore developed a novel WGA-independent bioinformatics method called "TELR" that identifies, locally assembles, and estimates allele frequency of TEs from long-read sequence data (https://github.com/bergmanlab/telr). Application of TELR to a [~]130x PacBio dataset for S2R+ revealed many haplotype-specific TE insertions that arose by somatic transposition in cell culture after initial cell line establishment and subsequent tetraploidization. Local assemblies from TELR also allowed phylogenetic analysis of paralogous TE copies within the S2R+ genome, which revealed that proliferation of different TE families during cell line evolution in vitro can be driven by single or multiple source lineages. Our work provides a model for the analysis of TEs in complex heterozygous or polyploid genomes that are not amenable to WGA and yields new insights into the mechanisms of genome evolution in animal cell culture.

genomics↗
bioRxiv2021

Ongoing transposition in cell culture reveals the phylogeny of diverse Drosophila S2 sub-lines.

Cultured cells are widely used in molecular biology despite poor understanding of how cell line genomes change in vitro over time. Previous work has shown that Drosophila cultured cells have a higher transposable element (TE) content than whole flies, but whether this increase in TE content resulted from an initial burst of transposition during cell line establishment or ongoing transposition in cell culture remains unclear. Here we sequence the genomes of 25 sub-lines of Drosophila S2 cells and show that TE insertions provide abundant markers for the phylogenetic reconstruction of diverse sub-lines in a model animal cell culture system. Analysis of DNA copy number evolution across S2 sub-lines revealed dramatically different patterns of genome organization that support the overall evolutionary history reconstructed using TE insertions. Analysis of TE insertion site occupancy and ancestral states support a model of ongoing transposition dominated by episodic activity of a small number of retrotransposon families. Our work demonstrates that substantial genome evolution occurs during long-term Drosophila cell culture, which may impact the reproducibility of experiments that do not control for sub-line identity.

genomics↗
bioRxiv2021

Transposable element profiles reveal cell line identity and loss of heterozygosity in Drosophila cell culture

Cell culture systems allow key insights into biological mechanisms yet suffer from irreproducible outcomes in part because of cross-contamination or mislabelling of cell lines. Cell line misidentification can be mitigated by the use of genotyping protocols, which have been developed for human cell lines but are lacking for many important model species. Here we leverage the classical observation that transposable elements (TEs) proliferate in cultured Drosophila cells to demonstrate that genome-wide TE insertion profiles can reveal the identity and provenance of Drosophila cell lines. We identify multiple cases where TE profiles clarify the origin of Drosophila cell lines (Sg4, mbn2, and OSS_E) relative to published reports, and also provide evidence that insertions from only a subset of LTR retrotransposon families are necessary to mark Drosophila cell line identity. We also develop a new bioinformatics approach to detect TE insertions and estimate intra-sample allele frequencies in legacy whole-genome shotgun sequencing data (called ngs_te_mapper2), which revealed copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity as a mechanism shaping the unique TE profiles that identify Drosophila cell lines. Our work contributes to the general understanding of the forces impacting metazoan genomes as they evolve in cell culture and paves the way for high-throughput protocols that use TE insertions to authenticate cell lines in Drosophila and other organisms.

genomics↗
bioRxiv2019

Benzoate-Tolerant Escherichia coli Strains from Experimental Evolution Lose the Gad Regulon, Multi-Drug Efflux Pumps, and Hydrogenases

Benzoate, a partial uncoupler of the proton motive force (PMF), selects for sensitivity to chloramphenicol and tetracycline in Escherichia coli K-12. Genetic mechanisms of increased benzoate tolerance and decreased drug resistance were analyzed in strains isolated from experimental evolution with benzoate. Transcriptomes showed reversal of benzoate-dependent regulation, including the Gad regulon for acid resistance and multi-drug resistance (MDR). Benzoate-evolved strains knocked down the nitrate reductase narHJ and the acid-consuming hydrogenase Hyd-3, but upregulated OmpF and other porins that admit nutrients and antibiotics. Mutations were found affecting many genes of aromatic catabolism such as folD and add. Several candidate genes from benzoate-evolved strains had a role in benzoate tolerance. Growth with benzoate or salicylate was increased by deletion of the Gad activator ariR, or by deletion of the slp-gadX acid fitness island encoding Gad regulators and the MDR pump MdtEF. Benzoate growth was also increased by deletion of MDR component emrA, the RpoS post-transcriptional regulator cspC, or the adenosine deaminase add. Growth in chloramphenicol with benzoate was decreased by a point mutation in the RNA polymerase alpha-subunit rpoA, which appeared in one chloramphenicol-sensitive benzoate-evolved strain. Growth in chloramphenicol was also decreased by deletion of Mar activator rob, or of rfaY (lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis). Hydrogenase Hyd-3 deletion increased benzoate tolerance. Overall, long-term culture in the presence of benzoate or salicylate favors loss of MDR efflux pumps and of hydrogenases that generate a futile cycle of PMF; and favors upregulation of large-hole porins that increase uptake of fermentable nutrients and of antibiotics. IMPORTANCEBenzoate is a common food preservative, and salicylate is the active form of aspirin. In E. coli, benzoate derivatives upregulate multiple regulons that export antibiotics and other toxic products, and downregulate large outer-membrane porins that allow antibiotic influx. But benzoate or salicylate exposure causes energy stress by depleting the proton motive force. In the absence of antibiotics, long-term benzoate exposure selects against energy-spending systems such as multi-drug efflux pumps and the proton-consuming hydrogenase. Selection favors upregulation of porins that admit fermentable substrates but also allow entry of antibiotics. Thus, evolution with benzoate requires a tradeoff for antibiotic sensitivity. Benzoate and salicylate are naturally occurring plant signal molecules that may influence the evolution of microbiomes in plants and in animal digestive tracts. Effects on hydrogenase activity may be relevant to the biotechnology of hydrogen production.

microbiology↗
bioRxiv2018

CCCP experimental evolution of Escherichia coli K-12 selects for mutations that increase EmrA activity or that downregulate other PMF-driven drug efflux pumps

ABSTRACTExperimental evolution was conducted with Escherichia coli K-12 W3110 in the presence of carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), an uncoupler of the proton motive force (PMF). Cultures were serially diluted daily 1:100 in broth medium containing 20-150 M CCCP at pH 6.5 or at pH 8.0. After 1,000 generations, all populations showed 5- to 10-fold increase in CCCP resistance. Sequenced isolates showed mutations in emrAB or in its negative repressor mprA; the EmrAB-TolC multidrug efflux pump confers resistance to CCCP and nalidixic acid. Deletion of emrA abolished the CCCP resistance of these strains. One CCCP-evolved isolate lacked emrA or mprA mutations; this strain (C-B11-1) showed mutations in drug efflux regulators cecR (ybiH) (upregulates drug pumps YbhG and YbhFSR) and gadE (upregulates drug pump mdtEF). A cecR::kanR deletion conferred partial resistance to CCCP. A later evolved descendant of the C-B11 population showed mutations in ybhR (MDR efflux). Another isolate showed acrB (MDR efflux pump). The acrB isolate was sensitive to chloramphenicol and tetracycline, which are effluxed by AcrAB. Other mutant genes in CCCP-evolved strains include adhE (alcohol dehydrogenase), rng (ribonuclease G), and cyaA (adenylate cyclase). Overall, experimental evolution revealed a CCCP fitness advantage for mutations increasing its own efflux via EmrA; and for mutations that may decrease proton-driven pumps that efflux other drugs not present (cecR, gadE, acrB, ybhR). These results are consistent with our previous report of drug sensitivity associated with evolved tolerance to a partial uncoupler (benzoate or salicylate).\n\nIMPORTANCEThe genetic responses of bacteria to depletion of proton motive force, and their effects on drug resistance, are poorly understood. Our evolution experiment reveals genetic mechanisms of adaptation to the PMF uncoupler CCCP, including selection for and against various multidrug efflux pumps. The results have implications for our understanding of the gut microbiome, which experiences high levels of organic acids that decrease PMF. Organic acid uncouplers may select against multidrug resistance in evolving populations of enteric bacteria.

microbiology↗