Characterization of Bicistronic Transcription in Budding Yeast

ABSTRACT Bicistronic transcripts (operon-like transcripts) have occasionally been reported in eukaryotes, including unicellular yeasts, plants, and humans, despite the fact that they lack trans-splice mechanisms. However, the characteristics of eukaryotic bicistronic transcripts are poorly understoo...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Baojun Wu, Murray P. Cox
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2021
Materias:	yeast bicistronic transcripts modulation of translation trans-splice mechanisms Microbiology QR1-502
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cea67e62e0614367b34b4345d72790da
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:cea67e62e0614367b34b4345d72790da
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cea67e62e0614367b34b4345d72790da2021-12-02T18:20:19ZCharacterization of Bicistronic Transcription in Budding Yeast10.1128/mSystems.01002-202379-5077https://doaj.org/article/cea67e62e0614367b34b4345d72790da2021-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/mSystems.01002-20https://doaj.org/toc/2379-5077ABSTRACT Bicistronic transcripts (operon-like transcripts) have occasionally been reported in eukaryotes, including unicellular yeasts, plants, and humans, despite the fact that they lack trans-splice mechanisms. However, the characteristics of eukaryotic bicistronic transcripts are poorly understood, except for those in nematodes. Here, we describe the genomic, transcriptomic, and ribosome profiling features of bicistronic transcripts in unicellular yeasts. By comparing the expression level of bicistronic transcripts with their monocistronic equivalents, we identify two main categories of bicistronic transcripts: highly and lowly expressed. These two categories exhibit quite different features. First, highly expressed bicistronic transcripts have higher conservation within and between strains and shorter intergenic spacers with higher GC content and less stable secondary structure. Second, genes in highly expressed bicistronic transcripts have lower translation efficiency, with the second gene showing statistically significant lower translation efficiency than the first. Finally, the genes found in these highly expressed bicistronic transcripts tend to be younger, with more recent origins. Together, these results suggest that bicistronic transcripts in yeast are heterogeneous. We further propose that at least some highly expressed bicistronic transcripts appear to play a role in modulating monocistronic translation. IMPORTANCE Operons, where a single mRNA transcript encodes multiple adjacent proteins, are a widespread feature of bacteria and archaea. In contrast, the genes of eukaryotes are generally considered monocistronic. However, a number of studies have revealed the presence of bicistronic transcripts in eukaryotes, including humans. The basic features of these transcripts are largely unknown in eukaryotes, especially in organisms lacking trans-splice mechanisms. Our analyses characterize bicistronic transcripts in one such eukaryotic group, yeasts. We show that highly expressed bicistronic transcripts have unusual features compared to lowly expressed bicistronic transcripts, with several features influencing translational modulation.Baojun WuMurray P. CoxAmerican Society for Microbiologyarticleyeastbicistronic transcriptsmodulation of translationtrans-splice mechanismsMicrobiologyQR1-502ENmSystems, Vol 6, Iss 1 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	yeast bicistronic transcripts modulation of translation trans-splice mechanisms Microbiology QR1-502
spellingShingle	yeast bicistronic transcripts modulation of translation trans-splice mechanisms Microbiology QR1-502 Baojun Wu Murray P. Cox Characterization of Bicistronic Transcription in Budding Yeast
description	ABSTRACT Bicistronic transcripts (operon-like transcripts) have occasionally been reported in eukaryotes, including unicellular yeasts, plants, and humans, despite the fact that they lack trans-splice mechanisms. However, the characteristics of eukaryotic bicistronic transcripts are poorly understood, except for those in nematodes. Here, we describe the genomic, transcriptomic, and ribosome profiling features of bicistronic transcripts in unicellular yeasts. By comparing the expression level of bicistronic transcripts with their monocistronic equivalents, we identify two main categories of bicistronic transcripts: highly and lowly expressed. These two categories exhibit quite different features. First, highly expressed bicistronic transcripts have higher conservation within and between strains and shorter intergenic spacers with higher GC content and less stable secondary structure. Second, genes in highly expressed bicistronic transcripts have lower translation efficiency, with the second gene showing statistically significant lower translation efficiency than the first. Finally, the genes found in these highly expressed bicistronic transcripts tend to be younger, with more recent origins. Together, these results suggest that bicistronic transcripts in yeast are heterogeneous. We further propose that at least some highly expressed bicistronic transcripts appear to play a role in modulating monocistronic translation. IMPORTANCE Operons, where a single mRNA transcript encodes multiple adjacent proteins, are a widespread feature of bacteria and archaea. In contrast, the genes of eukaryotes are generally considered monocistronic. However, a number of studies have revealed the presence of bicistronic transcripts in eukaryotes, including humans. The basic features of these transcripts are largely unknown in eukaryotes, especially in organisms lacking trans-splice mechanisms. Our analyses characterize bicistronic transcripts in one such eukaryotic group, yeasts. We show that highly expressed bicistronic transcripts have unusual features compared to lowly expressed bicistronic transcripts, with several features influencing translational modulation.
format	article
author	Baojun Wu Murray P. Cox
author_facet	Baojun Wu Murray P. Cox
author_sort	Baojun Wu
title	Characterization of Bicistronic Transcription in Budding Yeast
title_short	Characterization of Bicistronic Transcription in Budding Yeast
title_full	Characterization of Bicistronic Transcription in Budding Yeast
title_fullStr	Characterization of Bicistronic Transcription in Budding Yeast
title_full_unstemmed	Characterization of Bicistronic Transcription in Budding Yeast
title_sort	characterization of bicistronic transcription in budding yeast
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cea67e62e0614367b34b4345d72790da
work_keys_str_mv	AT baojunwu characterizationofbicistronictranscriptioninbuddingyeast AT murraypcox characterizationofbicistronictranscriptioninbuddingyeast
_version_	1718378183275839488

Characterization of Bicistronic Transcription in Budding Yeast

Ejemplares similares