During the sexual cycle of the ciliate Paramecium, assembly of the somatic genome includes the precise excision of tens of thousands of short, non-coding germline sequences (Internal Eliminated Sequences or IESs), each one flanked by two TA dinucleotides. It has been reported previously that these genome rearrangements are initiated by the introduction of developmentally programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), which depend on the domesticated transposase PiggyMac. These DSBs all exhibit a characteristic geometry, with 4-base 5′ overhangs centered on the conserved TA, and may readily align and undergo ligation with minimal processing. However, the molecular steps and actors involved in the final and precise assembly of somatic genes have remained unknown. We demonstrate here that Ligase IV and Xrcc4p, core components of the non-homologous end-joining pathway (NHEJ), are required both for the repair of IES excision sites and for the circularization of excised IESs. The transcription of LIG4 and XRCC4 is induced early during the sexual cycle and a Lig4p-GFP fusion protein accumulates in the developing somatic nucleus by the time IES excision takes place. RNAi–mediated silencing of either gene results in the persistence of free broken DNA ends, apparently protected against extensive resection. At the nucleotide level, controlled removal of the 5′-terminal nucleotide occurs normally in LIG4-silenced cells, while nucleotide addition to the 3′ ends of the breaks is blocked, together with the final joining step, indicative of a coupling between NHEJ polymerase and ligase activities. Taken together, our data indicate that IES excision is a “cut-and-close” mechanism, which involves the introduction of initiating double-strand cleavages at both ends of each IES, followed by DSB repair via highly precise end joining. This work broadens our current view on how the cellular NHEJ pathway has cooperated with domesticated transposases for the emergence of new mechanisms involved in genome dynamics.
The micronuclear DNA of Paramecium tetraurelia is estimated to contain over 50,000 short DNA elements that are precisely removed during the formation of the transcriptionally active macronucleus. Ciliated protozoa provide a unique biological system for the study of DNA rearrangements. During sexual reproduction, a transcriptionally active macronucleus is formed from the germ line DNA in the micronucleus. The precise details of the process vary among different ciliates, but common features include fragmentation of germ line chromosomes, elimination of specific DNA elements, and amplification of the macronucleusdestined linear fragments (reviewed in references 2, 13, and 21). Elimination of relatively small regions of the genome (14 bp to several kilobases) followed by rejoining of the adjacent sequences has been observed in a wide variety of ciliate species. These excised DNA elements are commonly referred to as internal eliminated sequences (IESs) to distinguish them from elimination that results from fragmentation events.In Paramecium tetraurelia, the micronuclear genome contains relatively short IESs (26 bp to about 1 kb) that always begin and end with a 5Ј-TA-3Ј dinucleotide. Excision results in precise removal of the element, leaving a single TA within the macronuclear DNA (4,5,15,23,26,27). No significant open reading frames are encoded by these elements, and comparison of evolutionarily related IESs within the variable surface antigen genes of P. tetraurelia revealed substantial variation in the size and sequence of an IES relative to the adjacent macronuclear DNA (23). The ends of the element generally include a perfect inverted repeat that includes the TA and extends either into the IES or out toward the macronucleusdestined DNA (26). Statistical analysis of 20 IESs from P. tetraurelia identified an 8-bp consensus inverted terminal repeat that includes the invariant TA dinucleotide (12). This consensus repeat is inside the IES and therefore does not necessarily include the perfect inverted repeats. The functional significance of the consensus repeat is supported by the analysis of Paramecium mutant cell lines defective in IES excision.Isolated cell lines that are unable to excise a specific IES contain single nucleotide mutations in the consensus region (16,17).The structure of a Paramecium IES can be complex. There are at least two examples in which one IES is located inside a larger IES (6,16,17). In this report (which focuses on one of the complex IESs), we will refer to the smaller IES located inside another as an internal IES. The enzymatic machinery responsible for IES excision has not been identified, but analysis of a pleiotropic mutant line has shown that excision of one IES (or a small subclass) is inhibited by a mutation in an unlinked locus (19).Paramecium is not the only ciliate that contains TA IESs (IESs bounded by TA repeats). Euplotes crassus contains IESs bounded by 5Ј-TA-3Ј direct repeats, and they have similar consensus terminal inverted repeats (reviewed in reference 11). Interesting...
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