N(1)-meA and N(3)-meC are cytotoxic DNA base methylation lesions that can accumulate in the genomes of various organisms in the presence of S(N)2 type methylating agents. We report here the structural characterization of these base lesions in duplex DNA using a cross-linked protein-DNA crystallization system. The crystal structure of N(1)-meA:T pair shows an unambiguous Hoogsteen base pair with a syn conformation adopted by N(1)-meA, which exhibits significant changes in the opening, roll and twist angles as compared to the normal A:T base pair. Unlike N(1)-meA, N(3)-meC does not establish any interaction with the opposite G, but remains partially intrahelical. Also, structurally characterized is the N(6)-meA base modification that forms a normal base pair with the opposite T in duplex DNA. Structural characterization of these base methylation modifications provides molecular level information on how they affect the overall structure of duplex DNA. In addition, the base pairs containing N(1)-meA or N(3)-meC do not share any specific characteristic properties except that both lesions create thermodynamically unstable regions in a duplex DNA, a property that may be explored by the repair proteins to locate these lesions.

Faithful genome integrity maintenance plays an essential role in cell survival. Here, we identify the RNA demethylase ALKBH5 as a key regulator that protects cells from DNA damage and apoptosis during reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced stress. We find that ROS significantly induces global mRNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) levels by modulating ALKBH5 post-translational modifications (PTMs), leading to the rapid and efficient induction of thousands of genes involved in a variety of biological processes including DNA damage repair. Mechanistically, ROS promotes ALKBH5 SUMOylation through activating ERK/JNK signaling, leading to inhibition of ALKBH5 m6A demethylase activity by blocking substrate accessibility. Moreover, ERK/JNK/ALKBH5-PTMs/m6A axis is activated by ROS in hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) in vivo in mice, suggesting a physiological role of this molecular pathway in the maintenance of genome stability in HSPCs. Together, our study uncovers a molecular mechanism involving ALKBH5 PTMs and increased mRNA m6A levels that protect genomic integrity of cells in response to ROS.

Traditional epitranscriptomics relies on capturing a single RNA modification by antibody or chemical treatment, combined with short-read sequencing to identify its transcriptomic location. This approach is labor-intensive and may introduce experimental artifacts. Direct sequencing of native RNA using Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) can allow for directly detecting the RNA base modifications, although these modifications might appear as sequencing errors. The percent Error of Specific Bases (%ESB) was higher for native RNA than unmodified RNA, which enabled the detection of ribonucleotide modification sites. Based on the %ESB differences, we developed a bioinformatic tool, epitranscriptional landscape inferring from glitches of ONT signals (ELIGOS), that is based on various types of synthetic modified RNA and applied to rRNA and mRNA. ELIGOS is able to accurately predict known classes of RNA methylation sites (AUC > 0.93) in rRNAs from Escherichiacoli, yeast, and human cells, using either unmodified in vitro transcription RNA or a background error model, which mimics the systematic error of direct RNA sequencing as the reference. The well-known DRACH/RRACH motif was localized and identified, consistent with previous studies, using differential analysis of ELIGOS to study the impact of RNA m6A methyltransferase by comparing wild type and knockouts in yeast and mouse cells. Lastly, the DRACH motif could also be identified in the mRNA of three human cell lines. The mRNA modification identified by ELIGOS is at the level of individual base resolution. In summary, we have developed a bioinformatic software package to uncover native RNA modifications.

XPC/Rad4 initiates eukaryotic nucleotide excision repair on structurally diverse helix-destabilizing/distorting DNA lesions by selectively 'opening' these sites while rapidly diffusing along undamaged DNA. Previous structural studies showed that Rad4, when tethered to DNA, could also open undamaged DNA, suggesting a 'kinetic gating' mechanism whereby lesion discrimination relied on efficient opening versus diffusion. However, solution studies in support of such a mechanism were lacking and how 'opening' is brought about remained unclear. Here, we present crystal structures and fluorescence-based conformational analyses on tethered complexes, showing that Rad4 can indeed 'open' undamaged DNA in solution and that such 'opening' can largely occur without one or the other of the β-hairpin motifs in the BHD2 or BHD3 domains. Notably, the Rad4-bound 'open' DNA adopts multiple conformations in solution notwithstanding the DNA's original structure or the β-hairpins. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal compensatory roles of the β-hairpins, which may render robustness in dealing with and opening diverse lesions. Our study showcases how fluorescence-based studies can be used to obtain information complementary to ensemble structural studies. The tethering-facilitated DNA 'opening' of undamaged sites and the dynamic nature of 'open' DNA may shed light on how the protein functions within and beyond nucleotide excision repair in cells.

N(6)-methyladenosine (m(6)A) is the most abundant internal modification in eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA). Recent discoveries of demethylases and specific binding proteins of m(6)A as well as m(6)A methylomes obtained in mammals, yeast and plants have revealed regulatory functions of this RNA modification. Although m(6)A is present in the ribosomal RNA of bacteria, its occurrence in mRNA still remains elusive. Here, we have employed ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled with triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QQQ-MS/MS) to calculate the m(6)A/A ratio in mRNA from a wide range of bacterial species, which demonstrates that m(6)A is an abundant mRNA modification in tested bacteria. Subsequent transcriptome-wide m(6)A profiling in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa revealed a conserved m(6)A pattern that is distinct from those in eukaryotes. Most m(6)A peaks are located inside open reading frames and carry a unique consensus motif of GCCAU. Functional enrichment analysis of bacterial m(6)A peaks indicates that the majority of m(6)A-modified genes are associated with respiration, amino acids metabolism, stress response and small RNAs, suggesting potential functional roles of m(6)A in these pathways.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa harbors sophisticated transcription factor (TF) networks to coordinately regulate cellular metabolic states for rapidly adapting to changing environments. The extraordinary capacity in fine-tuning the metabolic states enables its success in tolerance to antibiotics and evading host immune defenses. However, the linkage among transcriptional regulation, metabolic states and antibiotic tolerance in P. aeruginosa remains largely unclear. By screening the P. aeruginosa TF mutant library constructed by CRISPR/Cas12k-guided transposase, we identify that rccR (PA5438) is a major genetic determinant in aminoglycoside antibiotic tolerance, the deletion of which substantially enhances bacterial tolerance. We further reveal the inhibitory roles of RccR in pyruvate metabolism (aceE/F) and glyoxylate shunt pathway (aceA and glcB), and overexpression of aceA or glcB enhances bacterial tolerance. Moreover, we identify that 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phosphogluconate (KDPG) is a signal molecule that directly binds to RccR. Structural analysis of the RccR/KDPG complex reveals the detailed interactions. Substitution of the key residue R152, K270 or R277 with alanine abolishes KDPG sensing by RccR and impairs bacterial growth with glycerol or glucose as the sole carbon source. Collectively, our study unveils the connection between aminoglycoside antibiotic tolerance and RccR-mediated central carbon metabolism regulation in P. aeruginosa, and elucidates the KDPG-sensing mechanism by RccR.

Pseudomonas syringae uses the two-component system RhpRS to regulate the expression of type III secretion system (T3SS) genes and bacterial virulence. However, the molecular mechanisms and the regulons of RhpRS have yet to be fully elucidated. Here, we show that RhpS functions as a kinase and a phosphatase on RhpR and as an autokinase upon itself. RhpR is phosphorylated by the small phosphodonor acetyl phosphate. A specific RhpR-binding site containing the inverted repeat (IR) motif GTATC-N6-GATAC, was mapped to its own promoter by a DNase I footprint analysis. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay indicated that P-RhpR has a higher binding affinity to the IR motif than RhpR. To identify additional RhpR targets in P. syringae, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) and detected 167 enriched loci including the hrpR promoter, suggesting the direct regulation of T3SS cascade genes by RhpR. A genome-wide microarray analysis showed that, in addition to the T3SS cascade genes, RhpR differentially regulates a large set of genes with various functions in response to different growth conditions. Together, these results suggested that RhpRS is a global regulator that allows P. syringae to sense and respond to environmental changes by coordinating T3SS expression and many other biological processes.

Restriction-modification (R-M) systems pose a major barrier to DNA transformation and genetic engineering of bacterial species. Systematic identification of DNA methylation in R-M systems, including N(6)-methyladenine (6mA), 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and N(4)-methylcytosine (4mC), will enable strategies to make these species genetically tractable. Although single-molecule, real time (SMRT) sequencing technology is capable of detecting 4mC directly for any bacterial species regardless of whether an assembled genome exists or not, it is not as scalable to profiling hundreds to thousands of samples compared with the commonly used next-generation sequencing technologies. Here, we present 4mC-Tet-assisted bisulfite-sequencing (4mC-TAB-seq), a next-generation sequencing method that rapidly and cost efficiently reveals the genome-wide locations of 4mC for bacterial species with an available assembled reference genome. In 4mC-TAB-seq, both cytosines and 5mCs are read out as thymines, whereas only 4mCs are read out as cytosines, revealing their specific positions throughout the genome. We applied 4mC-TAB-seq to study the methylation of a member of the hyperthermophilc genus, Caldicellulosiruptor, in which 4mC-related restriction is a major barrier to DNA transformation from other species. In combination with MethylC-seq, both 4mC- and 5mC-containing motifs are identified which can assist in rapid and efficient genetic engineering of these bacteria in the future.

Forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) is an FKHD family protein that plays pioneering roles in lineage-specific enhancer activation and gene transcription. Through genome-wide location analyses, here we show that FOXA1 expression and occupancy are, in turn, required for the maintenance of these epigenetic signatures, namely DNA hypomethylation and histone 3 lysine 4 methylation. Mechanistically, this involves TET1, a 5-methylcytosine dioxygenase. We found that FOXA1 induces TET1 expression via direct binding to its cis-regulatory elements. Further, FOXA1 physically interacts with the TET1 protein through its CXXC domain. TET1 thus co-occupies FOXA1-dependent enhancers and mediates local DNA demethylation and concomitant histone 3 lysine 4 methylation, further potentiating FOXA1 recruitment. Consequently, FOXA1 binding events are markedly reduced following TET1 depletion. Together, our results suggest that FOXA1 is not only able to recognize but also remodel the epigenetic signatures at lineage-specific enhancers, which is mediated, at least in part, by a feed-forward regulatory loop between FOXA1 and TET1.