The cytochrome bc1 is one of the three major respiratory enzyme complexes residing in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Cytochrome bc1 transfers electrons from ubiquinol to cytochrome c and uses the energy thus released to form an electrochemical gradient across the inner membrane. Our X-ray crystal structures of the complex from chicken, cow and rabbit in both the presence and absence of inhibitors of quinone oxidation, reveal two different locations for the extrinsic domain of one component of the enzyme, an iron-sulphur protein. One location is close enough to the supposed quinol oxidation site to allow reduction of the Fe-S protein by ubiquinol. The other site is close enough to cytochrome c1 to allow oxidation of the Fe-S protein by the cytochrome. As neither location will allow both reactions to proceed at a suitable rate, the reaction mechanism must involve movement of the extrinsic domain of the Fe-S component in order to shuttle electrons from ubiquinol to cytochrome c1. Such a mechanism has not previously been observed in redox protein complexes.

Historically, N6-methyladenosine (m6A) has been identified as the most abundant internal modification of messenger RNA (mRNA) in eukaryotes 1. Its mammalian function remained unknown until recently, when it was reported that thousands of mammalian mRNAs and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) show m6A modification 2,3 and that m6A demethylases are required for mammalian energy homeostasis and fertility 4,5. As yet, the identity of m6A methyltransferases (MTase) and the molecular mechanisms regulated by m6A remains unclear. Here, we show that two proteins, the putative m6A MTase, methyltransferase-like 3 (Mettl3) 6, and a related but uncharacterized protein Mettl14, function synergistically to control m6A formation in mammalian cells. Since m6A modification is involved in cell fate determination in yeast 7,8 and embryo development in plant 9,10, we knocked down Mettl3 and Mettl14, respectively, in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). The resulting cells displayed equivalent phenotypes characterized by lack of m6A RNA methylation and lost self-renewal capability. We also observed that a large number of transcripts, including many encoding developmental regulators, showed m6A methylation inversely correlated with mRNA stability and gene expression. Further analysis suggested that some of these effects were mediated through Human antigen R (HuR) and microRNA pathways. Overall our work provides first experimental evidence of mammalian m6A MTases and reveals a previously unknown gene regulatory mechanism operating in mESCs through m6A methylation. This mechanism is required to keep mESCs at their ground state and may be relevant to thousands of mRNAs and lncRNAs in various cell types.

Using next-generation sequencing technology alone, we have successfully generated and assembled a draft sequence of the giant panda genome. The assembled contigs (2.25 gigabases (Gb)) cover approximately 94% of the whole genome, and the remaining gaps (0.05 Gb) seem to contain carnivore-specific repeats and tandem repeats. Comparisons with the dog and human showed that the panda genome has a lower divergence rate. The assessment of panda genes potentially underlying some of its unique traits indicated that its bamboo diet might be more dependent on its gut microbiome than its own genetic composition. We also identified more than 2.7 million heterozygous single nucleotide polymorphisms in the diploid genome. Our data and analyses provide a foundation for promoting mammalian genetic research, and demonstrate the feasibility for using next-generation sequencing technologies for accurate, cost-effective and rapid de novo assembly of large eukaryotic genomes.

Conditional temperature-sensitive (ts) mutations are valuable reagents for studying essential genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We constructed 787 ts strains, covering 497 (~45%) of the 1,101 essential yeast genes, with ~30% of the genes represented by multiple alleles. All of the alleles are integrated into their native genomic locus in the S288C common reference strain and are linked to a kanMX selectable marker, allowing further genetic manipulation by synthetic genetic array (SGA)–based, high-throughput methods. We show two such manipulations: barcoding of 440 strains, which enables chemical-genetic suppression analysis, and the construction of arrays of strains carrying different fluorescent markers of subcellular structure, which enables quantitative analysis of phenotypes using high-content screening. Quantitative analysis of a GFP-tubulin marker identified roles for cohesin and condensin genes in spindle disassembly. This mutant collection should facilitate a wide range of systematic studies aimed at understanding the functions of essential genes.