G-quadruplexes (G4) are polymorphic four-stranded structures formed by certain G-rich nucleic acids, with various biological roles. However, structural features dictating their formation and/or function in vivo are unknown. In S. cerevisiae, the pathological persistency of G4 within the CEB1 minisatellite induces its rearrangement during leading-strand replication. We now show that several other G4-forming sequences remain stable. Extensive mutagenesis of the CEB25 minisatellite motif reveals that only variants with very short (≤ 4 nt) G4 loops preferentially containing pyrimidine bases trigger genomic instability. Parallel biophysical analyses demonstrate that shortening loop length does not change the monomorphic G4 structure of CEB25 variants but drastically increases its thermal stability, in correlation with the in vivo instability. Finally, bioinformatics analyses reveal that the threat for genomic stability posed by G4 bearing short pyrimidine loops is conserved in C. elegans and humans. This work provides a framework explanation for the heterogeneous instability behavior of G4-forming sequences in vivo, highlights the importance of structure thermal stability, and questions the prevailing assumption that G4 structures with short or longer loops are as likely to form in vivo.

Significance Deficiencies in genome maintenance genes (so-called mutator genes) result in increased mutagenesis that impacts cell evolvability. How the mutational processes drive the evolution of genome structure is not well understood. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing to characterize the mutation events (from punctual mutations to large chromosomal rearrangements) that occurred in mutation accumulation lines derived from a broad set of yeast mutator strains. Establishing genome-wide mutation profiles revealed that each mutator exhibits a unique and sometimes complex mutational signature. Our results also show how the dynamics of mutation accumulation can generate different genomes.