Quadruplex-Forming Motif Inserted into 3′UTR of <i>Ty1his3-AI</i> Retrotransposon Inhibits Retrotransposition in Yeast

oleh: Viktor Tokan, Jose Luis Rodriguez Lorenzo, Pavel Jedlicka, Iva Kejnovska, Roman Hobza, Eduard Kejnovsky

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2021-04-01

Deskripsi

Guanine quadruplexes (G4s) serve as regulators of replication, recombination and gene expression. G4 motifs have been recently identified in LTR retrotransposons, but their role in the retrotransposon life-cycle is yet to be understood. Therefore, we inserted G4s into the 3′UTR of <i>Ty1his3-AI</i> retrotransposon and measured the frequency of retrotransposition in yeast strains BY4741, Y00509 (without Pif1 helicase) and with G4-stabilization by N-methyl mesoporphyrin IX (NMM) treatment. We evaluated the impact of G4s on mRNA levels by RT-qPCR and products of reverse transcription by Southern blot analysis. We found that the presence of G4 inhibited <i>Ty1his3-AI</i> retrotransposition. The effect was stronger when G4s were on a transcription template strand which leads to reverse transcription interruption. Both NMM and Pif1p deficiency reduced the retrotransposition irrespective of the presence of a G4 motif in the <i>Ty1his3-AI</i> element. Quantity of mRNA and products of reverse transcription did not fully explain the impact of G4s on <i>Ty1his3-AI</i> retrotransposition indicating that G4s probably affect some other steps of the retrotransposon life-cycle (e.g., translation, VLP formation, integration). Our results suggest that G4 DNA conformation can tune the activity of mobile genetic elements that in turn contribute to shaping the eukaryotic genomes.