Enhancers and genome conformation provide complex transcriptional control of a herpesviral gene

Abstract Complex transcriptional control is a conserved feature of both eukaryotes and the viruses that infect them. Despite viral genomes being smaller and more gene dense than their hosts, we generally lack a sense of scope for the features governing the transcriptional output of individual viral...

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Main Authors: David W Morgens, Leah Gulyas, Xiaowen Mao, Alejandro Rivera-Madera, Annabelle S Souza, Britt A Glaunsinger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2024-11-01
Series:Molecular Systems Biology
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s44320-024-00075-0
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author David W Morgens
Leah Gulyas
Xiaowen Mao
Alejandro Rivera-Madera
Annabelle S Souza
Britt A Glaunsinger
author_facet David W Morgens
Leah Gulyas
Xiaowen Mao
Alejandro Rivera-Madera
Annabelle S Souza
Britt A Glaunsinger
author_sort David W Morgens
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Complex transcriptional control is a conserved feature of both eukaryotes and the viruses that infect them. Despite viral genomes being smaller and more gene dense than their hosts, we generally lack a sense of scope for the features governing the transcriptional output of individual viral genes. Even having a seemingly simple expression pattern does not imply that a gene’s underlying regulation is straightforward. Here, we illustrate this by combining high-density functional genomics, expression profiling, and viral-specific chromosome conformation capture to define with unprecedented detail the transcriptional regulation of a single gene from Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). We used as our model KSHV ORF68 – which has simple, early expression kinetics and is essential for viral genome packaging. We first identified seven cis-regulatory regions involved in ORF68 expression by densely tiling the ~154 kb KSHV genome with dCas9 fused to a transcriptional repressor domain (CRISPRi). A parallel Cas9 nuclease screen indicated that three of these regions act as promoters of genes that regulate ORF68. RNA expression profiling demonstrated that three more of these regions act by either repressing or enhancing other distal viral genes involved in ORF68 transcriptional regulation. Finally, we tracked how the 3D structure of the viral genome changes during its lifecycle, revealing that these enhancing regulatory elements are physically closer to their targets when active, and that disrupting some elements caused large-scale changes to the 3D genome. These data enable us to construct a complete model revealing that the mechanistic diversity of this essential regulatory circuit matches that of human genes.
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spelling doaj-art-2fcdc7064be84947abdabdf1a5f30ecb2025-01-05T12:50:42ZengSpringer NatureMolecular Systems Biology1744-42922024-11-01211305810.1038/s44320-024-00075-0Enhancers and genome conformation provide complex transcriptional control of a herpesviral geneDavid W Morgens0Leah Gulyas1Xiaowen Mao2Alejandro Rivera-Madera3Annabelle S Souza4Britt A Glaunsinger5Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, UC BerkeleyDepartment of Plant and Microbial Biology, UC BerkeleyDepartment of Plant and Microbial Biology, UC BerkeleyDepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology, UC BerkeleyDepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology, UC BerkeleyDepartment of Plant and Microbial Biology, UC BerkeleyAbstract Complex transcriptional control is a conserved feature of both eukaryotes and the viruses that infect them. Despite viral genomes being smaller and more gene dense than their hosts, we generally lack a sense of scope for the features governing the transcriptional output of individual viral genes. Even having a seemingly simple expression pattern does not imply that a gene’s underlying regulation is straightforward. Here, we illustrate this by combining high-density functional genomics, expression profiling, and viral-specific chromosome conformation capture to define with unprecedented detail the transcriptional regulation of a single gene from Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV). We used as our model KSHV ORF68 – which has simple, early expression kinetics and is essential for viral genome packaging. We first identified seven cis-regulatory regions involved in ORF68 expression by densely tiling the ~154 kb KSHV genome with dCas9 fused to a transcriptional repressor domain (CRISPRi). A parallel Cas9 nuclease screen indicated that three of these regions act as promoters of genes that regulate ORF68. RNA expression profiling demonstrated that three more of these regions act by either repressing or enhancing other distal viral genes involved in ORF68 transcriptional regulation. Finally, we tracked how the 3D structure of the viral genome changes during its lifecycle, revealing that these enhancing regulatory elements are physically closer to their targets when active, and that disrupting some elements caused large-scale changes to the 3D genome. These data enable us to construct a complete model revealing that the mechanistic diversity of this essential regulatory circuit matches that of human genes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s44320-024-00075-0Capture Hi-CCRISPR InterferenceGene RegulationHerpesvirusKSHV
spellingShingle David W Morgens
Leah Gulyas
Xiaowen Mao
Alejandro Rivera-Madera
Annabelle S Souza
Britt A Glaunsinger
Enhancers and genome conformation provide complex transcriptional control of a herpesviral gene
Molecular Systems Biology
Capture Hi-C
CRISPR Interference
Gene Regulation
Herpesvirus
KSHV
title Enhancers and genome conformation provide complex transcriptional control of a herpesviral gene
title_full Enhancers and genome conformation provide complex transcriptional control of a herpesviral gene
title_fullStr Enhancers and genome conformation provide complex transcriptional control of a herpesviral gene
title_full_unstemmed Enhancers and genome conformation provide complex transcriptional control of a herpesviral gene
title_short Enhancers and genome conformation provide complex transcriptional control of a herpesviral gene
title_sort enhancers and genome conformation provide complex transcriptional control of a herpesviral gene
topic Capture Hi-C
CRISPR Interference
Gene Regulation
Herpesvirus
KSHV
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s44320-024-00075-0
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AT alejandroriveramadera enhancersandgenomeconformationprovidecomplextranscriptionalcontrolofaherpesviralgene
AT annabellessouza enhancersandgenomeconformationprovidecomplextranscriptionalcontrolofaherpesviralgene
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