scholarly journals Set1-dependent H3K4 methylation becomes critical for DNA replication fork progression in response to changes in S phase dynamics in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christophe de La Roche Saint-André ◽  
Vincent Géli

AbstractDNA replication is a highly regulated process that occurs in the context of chromatin structure and is sensitive to several histone post-translational modifications. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the histone methylase Set1 is responsible for the transcription-dependent deposition of H3K4 methylation (H3K4me) throughout the genome. Here we show that a combination of a hypomorphic replication mutation (orc5-1) with the absence of Set1 (set1Δ) compromises the progression through S phase, and this is associated with a large increase in DNA damage. The ensuing DNA damage checkpoint activation, in addition to that of the spindle assembly checkpoint, restricts the growth of orc5-1 set1Δ. Interestingly, orc5-1 set1Δ is sensitive to the lack of RNase H activity while a reduction of histone levels is able to counterbalance the loss of Set1. We propose that the recently described Set1-dependent mitigation of transcription-replication conflicts becomes critical for growth when the replication forks accelerate due to decreased origin firing in the orc5-1 background. Furthermore, we show that an increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, likely a consequence of the elevated DNA damage, is partly responsible for the lethality in orc5-1 set1Δ.Author summaryDNA replication, that ensures the duplication of the genetic material, starts at discrete sites, termed origins, before proceeding at replication forks whose progression is carefully controlled in order to avoid conflicts with the transcription of genes. In eukaryotes, DNA replication occurs in the context of chromatin, a structure in which DNA is wrapped around proteins, called histones, that are subjected to various chemical modifications. Among them, the methylation of the lysine 4 of histone H3 (H3K4) is carried out by Set1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, specifically at transcribed genes. We report that, when the replication fork accelerates in response to a reduction of active origins, the absence of Set1 leads to accumulation of DNA damage. Because H3K4 methylation was recently shown to slow down replication at transcribed genes, we propose that the Set1-dependent becomes crucial to limit the occurrence of conflicts between replication and transcription caused by replication fork acceleration. In agreement with this model, stabilization of transcription-dependent structures or reduction histone levels, to limit replication fork velocity, respectively exacerbates or moderates the effect of Set1 loss. Last, but not least, we show that the oxidative stress associated to DNA damage is partly responsible for cell lethality.

2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (23) ◽  
pp. 10208-10222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Gibson ◽  
Jennifer G. Aparicio ◽  
Fangfang Hu ◽  
Oscar M. Aparicio

ABSTRACT Cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) is required for the initiation of chromosomal DNA replication in eukaryotes. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the Clb5 and Clb6 cyclins activate Cdk1 and drive replication origin firing. Deletion of CLB5 reduces initiation of DNA synthesis from late-firing origins. We have examined whether checkpoints are activated by loss of Clb5 function and whether checkpoints are responsible for the DNA replication defects associated with loss of Clb5 function. We present evidence for activation of Rad53 and Ddc2 functions with characteristics suggesting the presence of DNA damage. Deficient late origin firing in clb5Δ cells is not due to checkpoint regulation, but instead, directly reflects the decreased abundance of S-phase CDK, as Clb6 activates late origins when its dosage is increased. Moreover, the viability of clb5Δ cells depends on Rad53. Activation of Rad53 by either Mrc1 or Rad9 contributes to the survival of clb5Δ cells, suggesting that both DNA replication and damage pathways are responsive to the decreased origin usage. These results suggest that reduced origin usage leads to stress or DNA damage at replication forks, necessitating the function of Rad53 in fork stabilization. Consistent with the notion that decreased S-CDK function creates stress at replication forks, deletion of RRM3 helicase, which facilitates replisome progression, greatly diminished the growth of clb5Δ cells. Together, our findings indicate that deregulation of S-CDK function has the potential to exacerbate genomic instability by reducing replication origin usage.


2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 4374-4382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Yin ◽  
Alexandra Monica Locovei ◽  
Gennaro D'Urso

In the fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, blocks to DNA replication elongation trigger the intra-S phase checkpoint that leads to the activation of the Cds1 kinase. Cds1 is required to both prevent premature entry into mitosis and to stabilize paused replication forks. Interestingly, although Cds1 is essential to maintain the viability of mutants defective in DNA replication elongation, mutants defective in DNA replication initiation require the Chk1 kinase. This suggests that defects in DNA replication initiation can lead to activation of the DNA damage checkpoint independent of the intra-S phase checkpoint. This might result from reduced origin firing that leads to an increase in replication fork stalling or replication fork collapse that activates the G2 DNA damage checkpoint. We refer to the Chk1-dependent, Cds1-independent phenotype as the rid phenotype (for replication initiation defective). Chk1 is active in rid mutants, and rid mutant viability is dependent on the DNA damage checkpoint, and surprisingly Mrc1, a protein required for activation of Cds1. Mutations in Mrc1 that prevent activation of Cds1 have no effect on its ability to support rid mutant viability, suggesting that Mrc1 has a checkpoint-independent role in maintaining the viability of mutants defective in DNA replication initiation.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divya Ramalingam Iyer ◽  
Nicholas Rhind

AbstractIn response to DNA damage during S phase, cells slow DNA replication. This slowing is orchestrated by the intra-S checkpoint and involves inhibition of origin firing and reduction of replication fork speed. Slowing of replication allows for tolerance of DNA damage and suppresses genomic instability. Although the mechanisms of origin inhibition by the intra-S checkpoint are understood, major questions remain about how the checkpoint regulates replication forks: Does the checkpoint regulate the rate of fork progression? Does the checkpoint affect all forks, or only those encountering damage? Does the checkpoint facilitate the replication of polymerase-blocking lesions? To address these questions, we have analyzed the checkpoint in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe using a single-molecule DNA combing assay, which allows us to unambiguously separate the contribution of origin and fork regulation towards replication slowing, and allows us to investigate the behavior of individual forks. Moreover, we have interrogated the role of forks interacting with individual sites of damage by using three damaging agents—MMS, 4NQO and bleomycin—that cause similar levels of replication slowing with very different frequency of DNA lesions. We find that the checkpoint slows replication by inhibiting origin firing, but not by decreasing fork rates. However, the checkpoint appears to facilitate replication of damaged templates, allowing forks to more quickly pass lesions. Finally, using a novel analytic approach, we rigorously identify fork stalling events in our combing data and show that they play a previously unappreciated role in shaping replication kinetics in response to DNA damage.Author SummaryFaithful duplication of the genome is essential for genetic stability of organisms and species. To ensure faithful duplication, cells must be able to replicate damaged DNA. To do so, they employ checkpoints that regulate replication in response to DNA damage. However, the mechanisms by which checkpoints regulate DNA replication forks, the macromolecular machines that contain the helicases and polymerases required to unwind and copy the parental DNA, is unknown. We have used DNA combing, a single-molecule technique that allows us to monitor the progression of individual replication forks, to characterize the response of fission yeast replication forks to DNA damage that blocks the replicative polymerases. We find that forks pass most lesions with only a brief pause and that this lesion bypass is checkpoint independent. However, at a low frequency, forks stall at lesions, and that the checkpoint is required to prevent these stalls from accumulating single-stranded DNA. Our results suggest that the major role of the checkpoint is not to regulate the interaction of replication forks with DNA damage, per se, but to mitigate the consequences of fork stalling when forks are unable to successfully navigate DNA damage on their own.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1701-1705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divya Ramalingam Iyer ◽  
Nicholas Rhind

Cell-cycle checkpoints are generally global in nature: one unattached kinetochore prevents the segregation of all chromosomes; stalled replication forks inhibit late origin firing throughout the genome. A potential exception to this rule is the regulation of replication fork progression by the S-phase DNA damage checkpoint. In this case, it is possible that the checkpoint is global, and it slows all replication forks in the genome. However, it is also possible that the checkpoint acts locally at sites of DNA damage, and only slows those forks that encounter DNA damage. Whether the checkpoint regulates forks globally or locally has important mechanistic implications for how replication forks deal with damaged DNA during S-phase.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 3198-3212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Z. Torres ◽  
Sandra L. Schnakenberg ◽  
Virginia A. Zakian

ABSTRACT Rrm3p is a 5′-to-3′ DNA helicase that helps replication forks traverse protein-DNA complexes. Its absence leads to increased fork stalling and breakage at over 1,000 specific sites located throughout the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome. To understand the mechanisms that respond to and repair rrm3-dependent lesions, we carried out a candidate gene deletion analysis to identify genes whose mutation conferred slow growth or lethality on rrm3 cells. Based on synthetic phenotypes, the intra-S-phase checkpoint, the SRS2 inhibitor of recombination, the SGS1/TOP3 replication fork restart pathway, and the MRE11/RAD50/XRS2 (MRX) complex were critical for viability of rrm3 cells. DNA damage checkpoint and homologous recombination genes were important for normal growth of rrm3 cells. However, the MUS81/MMS4 replication fork restart pathway did not affect growth of rrm3 cells. These data suggest a model in which the stalled and broken forks generated in rrm3 cells activate a checkpoint response that provides time for fork repair and restart. Stalled forks are converted by a Rad51p-mediated process to intermediates that are resolved by Sgs1p/Top3p. The rrm3 system provides a unique opportunity to learn the fate of forks whose progress is impaired by natural impediments rather than by exogenous DNA damage.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. e201900433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anissia Ait-Saada ◽  
Olga Khorosjutina ◽  
Jiang Chen ◽  
Karol Kramarz ◽  
Vladimir Maksimov ◽  
...  

Here, we investigate the function of fission yeast Fun30/Smarcad1 family of SNF2 ATPase-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes in DNA damage repair. There are three Fun30 homologues in fission yeast, Fft1, Fft2, and Fft3. We find that only Fft3 has a function in DNA repair and it is needed for single-strand annealing of an induced double-strand break. Furthermore, we use an inducible replication fork barrier system to show that Fft3 has two distinct roles at blocked DNA replication forks. First, Fft3 is needed for the resection of nascent strands, and second, it is required to restart the blocked forks. The latter function is independent of its ATPase activity.


2004 ◽  
Vol 279 (19) ◽  
pp. 20067-20075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine J. Merrick ◽  
Dean Jackson ◽  
John F. X. Diffley

Eukaryotic cells respond to DNA damage within the S phase by activating an intra-S checkpoint: a response that includes reducing the rate of DNA synthesis. In yeast cells this can occur via checkpoint-dependent inhibition of origin firing and stabilization of ongoing forks, together with a checkpoint-independent slowing of fork movement. In higher eukaryotes, however, the mechanism by which DNA synthesis is reduced is less clear. We have developed strategies based on DNA fiber labeling that allow the quantitative assessment of rates of replication fork movement, origin firing, and fork stalling throughout the genome by examining large numbers of individually labeled replication forks. We show that exposing S phase cells to ionizing radiation induces a transient block to origin firing but does not affect fork rate or fork stalling. Alkylation damage by methyl methane sulfonate causes a slowing of fork movement and a high rate of fork stalling, in addition to inducing a block to new origin firing. Nucleotide depletion by hydroxyurea also reduces replication fork rate and increases stalling; moreover, in contrast to a recent report, we show that hydroxyurea induces a strong block to new origin firing. The DNA fiber labeling strategy provides a powerful new approach to analyze the dynamics of DNA replication in a perturbed S phase.


1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 3315-3322 ◽  
Author(s):  
P A Tavormina ◽  
Y Wang ◽  
D J Burke

Checkpoints prevent inaccurate chromosome segregation by inhibiting cell division when errors in mitotic processes are encountered. We used a temperature-sensitive mutation, dbf4, to examine the requirement for DNA replication in establishing mitotic checkpoint arrest. We used gamma-irradiation to induce DNA damage and hydroxyurea to limit deoxyribonucleotides in cells deprived of DBF4 function to investigate the requirement for DNA replication in DNA-responsive checkpoints. In the absence of DNA replication, mitosis was not inhibited by these treatments, which normally activate the DNA damage and DNA replication checkpoints. Our results support a model that indicates that the assembly of replication structures is critical for cells to respond to defects in DNA metabolism. We show that activating the spindle checkpoint with nocodazole does not require prior progression through S phase but does require a stable kinetochore.


2013 ◽  
Vol 168 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Supady ◽  
Edda Klipp ◽  
Matteo Barberis

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