O presente trabalho teve por objetivo compreender e analisar os mecanismos genéticos e epigenéticos da expressão diferencial de regiões organizadoras do nucléolo - RONs através do estudo de dois acessos (CRT-1 e CRT-2) de Crotalaria retusa. O acesso CRT-1 é uma cultivar, enquanto que o acesso CRT-2 é proveniente de uma população periférica da orla marítima de Ilhéus BA. Por serem temporalmente e espacialmente separados, acredita-se que os acessos foram submetidos a pressões seletivas diferentes, resultando em alterações dos padrões epigenéticos, principalmente nas RONs. Para o desenvolvimento deste trabalho foram realizadas medidas cromossômicas e nucleolares a partir de células coradas pelo método de Feulgen e por nitrato de prata, coloração com fluorocromos específicos às regiões cromossômicas ricas em nucleotídeos GC e AT, mapeamento físico dos locos de DNA ribossômico 45S por hibridação in situ fluorescente, análise qualitativa e quantitativa de modificações pós-traducionais de histonas por Western blot e eletroforese bidimensional de extrato protéico radicular com enfoque em proteínas envolvidas nos mecanismos epigenéticos. As análises citológicas demonstraram uma grande semelhança nos cariótipos dos dois acessos, diferindo apenas no tamanho do segmento proximal do braço curto do cromossomo 1. Em ambos os acessos foi observada uma expressão nucleolar diferencial em, aproximadamente, 50% das células; contudo, a expressão diferencial em CRT-2 apresentou-se consideravelmente maior. Além disso, os dois acessos demonstraram diferenças quantitativas nas modificações pós-traducionais de histonas e em proteínas possivelmente envolvidas em mecanismos epigenéticos. Uma vez que as variações epigenéticas podem ser modificadas por fatores ambientais, sugere-se que as diferenças nos padrões de modificações de histonas e nos perfis protéicos encontradas entre os acessos, como também a expressão diferencial mais expressiva em CRT-2, sejam devidas às diferentes pressões seletivas as quais as populações originais foram submetidas. O estudo dos mecanismos genéticos e epigenéticos na dominância nucleolar possibilita uma maior compreensão da ação do remodelamento da cromatina no controle da expressão gênica do rDNA, como também da expressão gênica em geral. / The aim of this present work was to understand and analyze the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of differential expression of the nucleolus organizer regions - NORs through the study of two accesses (CRT-1 and CRT-2) of Crotalaria retusa. Access CRT-1 is a cultivar, while access CRT-2 is from a peripheral population of the shoreline of Ilhéus BA. Because they are temporally and spatially separated, it is believed that the accesses were submitted to different selective pressures, resulting in changes in epigenetic patterns, primarily in NORs. To develop this work, it was carried out chromosomal and nucleolar measurements from cell stained by Feulgen method and silver nitrate, staining with specific fluorochromes to chromosomal regions rich in GC and AT nucleotides, physical mapping of 45S ribosomal DNA loci by fluorescent in situ hybridization, qualitative and quantitative analysis of post-translational histone modifications by western blot, and two-dimensional electrophoresis of root extract protein focusing on proteins involved in epigenetic mechanisms. The cytological analysis showed a great similarity in karyotypes of two accessions, differing only in size of the proximal segment of the sort arm of chromosome 1. In both accesses, it was observed a differential nucleolar expression in approximately 50% of the cells; however, the differential expression in CRT-2 showed considerably larger. Furthermore, the two accesses showed quantitative differences in the posttranslational histone modifications, and in a protein possibly involved in epigenetic mechanisms. Since epigenetic variations can be modified by environmental factors, it is suggested that differences in patterns of histone modifications and protein profiles found between the accesses, but also the most significant differential expression in CRT-2, are due to different selective pressures to which the original populations were submitted. Studies of the epigenetic mechanisms in nucleolar dominance allows a better understanding of the action of the remodeling of chromatin in controlling the dosage of rRNA genes, but also in the control of gene expression in general.

The class Arachnida is not thoroughly explored from the cytogenetic point of view. Previous studies suggest a high diversity of karyotypes and sex determination in arachnids. This study deals with the evolution of sex chomosomes, nucleolar organizer regions (NOR), and telomeric repeats in the tetrapulmonate clade of arachnids, particularly in groups of ancient origin. Sex chromosomes were detected in two orders. Detection of NORs in a large set of species supports the hypothesis that the ancestral karyotype of arachnids contained NOR on one pair of autosomes only. The number of NORs has increased during the evolution of some groups of Pedipalpi. The NORs are located in terminal or subterminal chromosomal regions in most tetrapulmonates. The occurrence of the "insect" telomeric motif was confirmed in majority of tetrapulmonates. Interstitital telomeric repeats were not detected with the exception of one species. Keywords: arachnids, meiosis, sex chromosomes, telomeres, nucleolar organizer, heterochromatin

Orientador: Mary Massumi Itoyama / Banca: Satiko Nanya / Banca: Maria Aparecida Marin Morales / Resumo: Os aspectos da espermatogênese e do comportamento nucleolar foram analisados em Brachymetra albinerva, Cylindrostethus palmaris, Halobatopsis platensis, Limnogonus aduncus (Gerridae), Martarega sp. (Notonectidae), Rhagovelia whitei e Rhagovelia sp. (Veliidae). Os testículos são arredondados (Veliidae), alongados (Gerridae) ou espiralados (Notonectidae) e apresentam membrana transparente recobrindo-os. O complemento cromossômico encontrado foi de 2n = 23 (22A + X0, L. aduncus e R. sp.); 25 (24A + X0, B. albinerva e H. platensis); 26 (22A + 2m + XY, Martarega sp.); 29 (28A + X0, C. palmaris) ou 39 (38A + X0, R. whitei) cromossomos, sendo que a única espécie com sistema cromossômico do sexo diferente foi M. sp., que apresentou sistema XY, além de ser, também, a única espécie com m-cromossomos. O comportamento meiótico de todas as espécies foi semelhante, isto é, apresentaram: cromossomos holocêntricos, material heteropicnótico na prófase; quiasmas intersticiais e/ou terminais; primeira divisão reducional para os autossomos e o inverso para os cromossomos sexuais. A única diferença observada foi com relação ao tamanho extremamente maior das células de M. sp., em todas as fases da espermatogênese. Com relação ao comportamento nucleolar as espécies não apresentaram diferenças, somente M. sp. que possui nucléolos maiores que as demais espécies. A única espécie na qual foi possível identificar com clareza a região da RON foi L. aduncus, na região terminal de um autossomo. Confirmou-se, também, através da espécie L. aduncus, que as associações teloméricas não ocorrem ao acaso. Nas demais espécies a marcação da RON foi bastante discreta, não sendo possível afirmar com clareza onde ela está localizada. / Abstract: The aspects of spermatogenesis and nucleolar behaviour were analyzed in Brachymetra albinerva, Cylindrostethus palmaris, Halobatopsis platensis, Limnogonus aduncus (Gerridae), Martarega sp. (Notonectidae), Rhagovelia whitei and Rhagovelia sp. (Veliidae). The testicles are rounded (Veliidae), elongated (Gerridae) or spiral (Notonectidae) and have a transparent membrane covering them. The complement chromosome was 2n = 23 (22A + X0, L. aduncus and R. sp.), 25 (24A + X0, B. albinerva and H. platensis), 26 (22A + 2m + XY, Martarega sp.), 29 (28A + X0, C. palmaris) or 39 (38A + X0, R. whitei) chromosomes, and the only specie with different sex chromosome system was M. sp., which presented XY system and m-chromosomes. The meiotic behavior of all species was similar: holocentric chromosomes, heteropicnotic material at prophase; chiasmas interstitial and/or terminal; first reductional division for the autosomes and the reverse for the sex chromosomes. The only difference observed was related to the very largest size of the cells M. sp. in all stages of spermatogenesis. With regard to the nucleolar behavior, the species did not show differences, only M. sp. which has nucleoli larger than the other species. The only species in which it was clearly possible to identify the region of NOR was L. aduncus, in the region of a terminal autosome. It was also confirmed that the telomeric associations do not occur at random. In other species the marking was very discreet, no one can clearly say where NOR is located. / Mestre

Orientador: Mary Massumi Itoyama / Banca: Ester Tartarotti / Banca: Maria Aparecida Marin Morales / Resumo: Clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo / Abstract: Click electronic access below / Mestre

Comme le nucléole joue un rôle fondamental dans l’expression des protéines, via la synthèse des ARN ribosomiques, il n’est donc pas surprenant que des études aient révélé un lien étroit, entre des dysfonctionnements nucléolaires et l’origine de certaines maladies humaines. La découverte, il y a plusieurs années, d’un taux anormalement élevé de protéines nucléolaires dites argyrophiles ou AgNORs, dans les cellules tumorales, a permis d’envisager leur utilisation comme outil diagnostique ou pronostique du cancer. Détectées, de manière in vitro grâce à leur affinité pour l’argent, l’identification de quelques protéines AgNORs n’a pourtant pas permis d’établir une caractéristique commune à toutes les protéines argyrophiles détectées dans les extraits nucléolaires. Ainsi, bien que le test colorimétrique AgNOR soit utilisé dans de nombreux laboratoires académiques, l’absence d’identification de protéines AgNORs spécifiques du processus de cancérisation, a limité son utilisation en laboratoire clinique. Comme certaines limites technologiques et expérimentales ont limité leur caractérisation chez l’humain, nous avons donc décidé de reprendre les recherches sur ce sujet et de le réactualiser grâce aux avancées technologiques et scientifiques. Les protéines AgNORs étant étroitement liées à la biogenèse des ribosomes, nous avons donc décidé d’amorcer nos recherches chez la levure Saccharomyces cerevisiae, dans laquelle, la voie de biosynthèse des ribosomes a été particulièrement bien décrite. Devant l’intérêt biologique et médical de ces protéines, l’objectif de ce projet a donc été triple : 1-identifier des protéines AgNORs chez la levure 2-caractériser les propriétés physico-fonctionnelles et physico-chimiques de ces protéines AgNORs. 3-utiliser ces caractéristiques physico-chimiques pour rechercher de nouvelles AgNORs humaines, spécifiques de processus de cancérisation et potentiellement utilisables comme marqueurs tumoraux./The nucleolus is a subnuclear compartment that organized around ribosomal gene (rDNA) repeats NORs, which encode for ribosomal RNA. A peculiar group of acidic proteins which are highly argyrophilic are also localized at the same sites as NORs, thus allowing NORs to be very clearly and rapidly visualized by silver nitrate staining procedures. However, if three human argyrophilic proteins, UBF, C23 (nucleolin) and B23 (nucleophosmin), have been associated for staining of NOR, the exact number of AgNOR proteins and their intrinsic biochemical feature are unclear. Here, we have performed an heterologous screen in a genetically tractable eukaryotic organism (budding yeast) for the identification of novel AgNOR proteins and in vitro characterized an intrinsic feature that underlies silver binding and offers a strong predictive value for the identification of novel human AgNOR proteins.

The 5’ external transcribed spacer (5’ ETS) of pre-ribosomal RNA, although highly variable in size and sequence, has been shown to be critical for the initiation of rRNA processing. This study further examined the 5’ ETS in Schizosaccharomyces pombe with respect to structural elements that underlie rRNA maturation. Initially, the 5’ ETS/18S rRNA junction region was examined by mutational analyses to detect cis-acting elements critical to known cleavage sites. The results indicated that sequence/structure in the junction region does not direct or strongly influence cleavage at the 5’ end of 18S rRNA. Systematic mutations also were used to examine the significance of previously suggested putative ribosomal protein binding sites or U3 snoRNA binding sites as well as other stem-loop sequences of regions IV, V and VI in the 5’ ETS. The results indicated that the putative U3 snoRNA binding sites were less critical than previously anticipated but have identified elements in regions IV and V with significant influence on the production of mature ribosomal RNA. In vitro studies of interactions between these elements and the U3 snoRNA or cellular protein also were initiated. The results of electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicated a strong interaction between region IV and the U3 snoRNA, suggesting that region IV probably contributes to the function of an important structure in the nucleolar precursor particle, which together with region V and probably other hairpins, may act to organize a stable processing domain. In contrast to the previous studies, which suggested as many as six intermediate cleavage sites in the 5’ ETS of S. pombe, re-examination of termini using hybridization and ligation-mediated RT-PCR indicated only two major cleavage sites. In general the 5’ ETS sequence mutants did not seem to influence the rRNA processing profile significantly but could dramatically affect the quantity of the product, an observation that provided further evidence of quality control, which helps ensure that only functional RNA is incorporated into mature ribosomes. Taken together the results illustrated that various sequence/structural elements in the 5’ ETS could influence or be critical for the maturation of rRNA. The results also support the possibility that the precursor molecule is first organized into one or more processing domains that direct the actual maturation processes. / This study was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Dictyostelium is a model eukaryote for the study of a multitude of fundamental cellular processes as well as several human diseases. Despite its extensive study relatively little is known about its nucleolus. Only three nucleolar proteins have been identified. The nucleolus in Dictyostelium is different than that of other eukaryotes since it is neither bipartite nor tripartite, possessing no visible subcompartments at the ultrastructural level. Moreover, it exists as two to four patches adjacent to the inner nuclear envelope instead of within the nucleoplasm. The aim of this study was thus to identify and characterize novel nucleolar proteins in Dictyostelium in order to better understand the structure and function of its nucleolus. Previous work had shown that NumA1, a protein linked to cell cycle in Dictyostelium, localizes to similar intranuclear patches suggesting it may be nucleolar. NumA1-binding partners Ca2+-binding protein (CBP) 4a and puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase A may therefore also reside in the nucleolus. Based on the function of a potential NumA1 homologue in other organisms, BRG1-associated factor 60a homologue Snf12 and checkpoint kinase 2 (Rad53 in yeast) homologue forkhead-associated kinase (Fhk) A were chosen as potential nucleolar proteins in Dictyostelium that may also be involved in cell cycle events. Using a diversity of approaches, this study found that NumA1, CBP4a, Snf12, and FhkA are nucleolar proteins in Dictyostelium while puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase A is nucleoplasmic. Several nuclear localization signals (NLSs) were identified in these proteins some of which also act as nucleolar localization signals (NoLSs). These NLS/NoLSs (within NumA1 and Snf12) represent the first NoLSs and first NLS/NoLSs identified in Dictyostelium. Treatment with the rDNA transcription inhibitor AM-D led to the budding of nucleolar CBP4a, Snf12, and FhkA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, a phenomenon not previously observed in any organism. This study also examined for the first time the redistribution of nucleolar proteins during mitosis, a time when the nucleolus disassembles into its component parts. The nuclear envelope was also shown to become permeable at this time. Finally, multiple nucleolar subcompartments were identified suggesting compartmentalization of different functions in the Dictyostelium nucleolus.

Dictyostelium is a model eukaryote for the study of a multitude of fundamental cellular processes as well as several human diseases. Despite its extensive study relatively little is known about its nucleolus. Only three nucleolar proteins have been identified. The nucleolus in Dictyostelium is different than that of other eukaryotes since it is neither bipartite nor tripartite, possessing no visible subcompartments at the ultrastructural level. Moreover, it exists as two to four patches adjacent to the inner nuclear envelope instead of within the nucleoplasm. The aim of this study was thus to identify and characterize novel nucleolar proteins in Dictyostelium in order to better understand the structure and function of its nucleolus. Previous work had shown that NumA1, a protein linked to cell cycle in Dictyostelium, localizes to similar intranuclear patches suggesting it may be nucleolar. NumA1-binding partners Ca2+-binding protein (CBP) 4a and puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase A may therefore also reside in the nucleolus. Based on the function of a potential NumA1 homologue in other organisms, BRG1-associated factor 60a homologue Snf12 and checkpoint kinase 2 (Rad53 in yeast) homologue forkhead-associated kinase (Fhk) A were chosen as potential nucleolar proteins in Dictyostelium that may also be involved in cell cycle events. Using a diversity of approaches, this study found that NumA1, CBP4a, Snf12, and FhkA are nucleolar proteins in Dictyostelium while puromycin-sensitive aminopeptidase A is nucleoplasmic. Several nuclear localization signals (NLSs) were identified in these proteins some of which also act as nucleolar localization signals (NoLSs). These NLS/NoLSs (within NumA1 and Snf12) represent the first NoLSs and first NLS/NoLSs identified in Dictyostelium. Treatment with the rDNA transcription inhibitor AM-D led to the budding of nucleolar CBP4a, Snf12, and FhkA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm, a phenomenon not previously observed in any organism. This study also examined for the first time the redistribution of nucleolar proteins during mitosis, a time when the nucleolus disassembles into its component parts. The nuclear envelope was also shown to become permeable at this time. Finally, multiple nucleolar subcompartments were identified suggesting compartmentalization of different functions in the Dictyostelium nucleolus.

No description available.

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Departamento de Ciência da Computação, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Informática, 2016. / Submitted by Albânia Cézar de Melo (albania@bce.unb.br) on 2016-08-03T13:45:05Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_JoaoVictorAraujoOliveira.pdf: 3385598 bytes, checksum: 87023d9eae07bd39a3d1cb8613c3d33f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Patrícia Nunes da Silva(patricia@bce.unb.br) on 2016-12-06T13:01:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_JoaoVictorAraujoOliveira.pdf: 3385598 bytes, checksum: 87023d9eae07bd39a3d1cb8613c3d33f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-06T13:01:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_JoaoVictorAraujoOliveira.pdf: 3385598 bytes, checksum: 87023d9eae07bd39a3d1cb8613c3d33f (MD5) / Métodos de aprendizagem de máquina vêm sendo amplamente usados na identificação e classificação de diferentes famílias de RNAs não-codificadores (ncRNAs). Muitos desses métodos são baseados na aprendizagem supervisionada, onde atributos anteriormente conhecidos, chamados features, são extraídos de uma sequência e usados em um classificador. Nesta dissertação, apresentamos dois métodos para a identificação das duas classes principais de snoRNAs, C/D box e H/ACA box snoRNAs: snoReport 2.0, uma melhoria significativa da primeira versão do snoReport; e o snoRNA-EDeN, um novo método baseado no EDeN, que é um kernel decomposicional de grafos. O snoReport 2.0 é um método que, usando features extraídas de sequências candidatas em genomas, combina predição de estrutura secundária de ncRNAs com Máquina de Vetores de Suporte (Support Vector Machine - SVM), para identificar C/D box e H/ACA box snoRNAs. Seu classificador de H/ACA box snoRNA mostrou um F-score de 93% (uma melhoria de 10% em relação à primeira versão do snoReport), enquanto o classificador de C/D box snoRNA obteve F-score de 94% (melhoria de 14%). Alem disso, ambos os classificadores tiveram todas as medidas de performances acima de 90%. Na fase de validação, o snoReport 2.0 identificou 67,43% dos snoRNAs de vertebrados de ambas as classes. Em Nematóides, o snoReport 2.0 identificou 29,6% dos C/D box snoRNAs e 69% dos H/ACA box snoRNAs. Para as Drosofilídeas, foram identificados 3,2% dos C/D box snoRNAs e 76,7% dos H/ACA box snoRNAs. Esses resultados mostram que o snoReport 2.0 é eficiente na identificação de snoRNAs em organismos vertebrados, e também para H/ACA box snoRNAs de organismos invertebrados. Por outro lado, em vez de usar features de uma sequência (em geral, difíceis de identificar), uma abordagem recente de aprendizagem de máquina é descrita a seguir. Dada uma região de interesse de uma sequencia, o objetivo é gerar um vetor esparso que pode ser usado como micro-features em algum algoritmo de aprendizado de máquina, ou pode ser usado para a criação de features poderosas. Essa abordagem é usada no EDeN (Explicit Decomposition with Neighbourhoods), um kernel decomposicional de grafos baseado na técnica Neighborhood Subgraph Pairwise Distance Kernel (NSPDK). O EDeN transforma um grafo em um vetor esparso, decompondo-o em todos os pares de subgrafos vizinhos de raios pequenos, a distâncias crescentes. Baseado no EDeN, foi desenvolvido um método chamado snoRNA-EDeN. Na fase de testes, para C/D box snoRNAs, o snoRNA-EDeN obteve um F-score de 93,4%, enquanto que para H/ACA box snoRNAs o F-score foi de 85.12%. Na fase de validação, para C/D box snoRNA, o snoRNA-EDeN mostrou uma grande capacidade de generalização, identificando 94,61% de snoRNAs de vertebrados e 63,52% de invertebrados, um resultado significantemente melhor em comparação ao snoReport 2.0, que identificou apenas 52,92% dos vertebrados e 14,6% dos invertebrados. Para o H/ACA box, o snoReport 2.0 identificou 79,9% dos snoRNAs de vertebrados e 73,3% dos snoRNAs de Nematóides e Drosofilídeos, enquanto que o snoRNA-EDeN identificou 95,4% dos vertebrados e 57.8% dos nematóides e drosofilas. Ambos os métodos estão disponíveis em: http://www.biomol.unb.br/snoreport e http://www.biomol.unb.br/snorna_eden. ___________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT / Machine learning methods have been widely used to identify and classify different families of non-coding RNAs. Many of these methods are based on supervised learning, where some previous known attributes, called features, are extracted from a sequence, and then used in a classifier. In this work, we present two methods to identify the two main classes of snoRNAs, C/D box and H/ACA box: snoReport 2.0, a significant improvement of the original snoReport version; and snoRNA-EDeN, a new method based on EDeN, a decompositional graph kernel. On one hand, snoReport 2.0 is a method that, using features extracted from candidate sequences in genomes, combines secondary structure prediction with Support Vector Machine (SVM) to identify C/D box and H/ACA box snoRNAs. H/ACA box snoRNA classifier showed a F-score of 93% (an improvement of 10% regarding to the previous version), while C/D box snoRNA classifier a F-Score of 94% (improvement of 14%). Besides, both classifiers exhibited performance measures above 90%. In the validation phase, snoReport 2.0 predicted 67.43% of vertebrate organisms for both classes. SnoReport 2.0 predicted: for Nematodes, 29.6% of C/D box and 69% of H/ACA box snoRNAs; and for Drosophilids, 3.2% of C/D box and 76.7% of H/ACA box snoRNAs. These results show that snoReport 2.0 is efficient to identify snoRNAs in vertebrates, and also H/ACA box snoRNAs in invertebrates organisms. On the other hand, instead of using known features from a sequence (difficult to find in general), a recent approach in machine learning is described as follows. Given a region of interest of a sequence, the objective is to generate a sparse vector that can be used as micro-features in a specific machine learning algorithm, or it can be used to create powerful features. This approach is used in EDeN (Explicit Decomposition with Neighbourhoods), a decompositional graph kernel based on Neighborhood Subgraph Pairwise Distance Kernel (NSPDK). EDeN transforms one graph in a sparse vector, decomposing it in all pairs of neighborhood subgraphs of small radius at increasing distances. Based on EDeN, we developed a method called snoRNA-EDeN. On the test phase, for C/D box snoRNAs, snoRNA-EDeN showed a F-score of 93.4%, while for H/ACA box snoRNAs, the F-score was 72%. On the validation phase, for C/D box snoRNAs, snoRNA-EDeN showed a better capacity of generalization, predicting 94.61% of vertebrate C/D box snoRNAs and 63.52% of invertebrates, a significantly better result compared to snoReport 2.0, which predicted only 52.92% of vertebrates and 14.6% of invertebrates. For H/ACA box snoRNAs, snoReport 2.0 predicted 79.9% of vertebrate snoRNAs and 73.3% of Nematode and Drosophilid sequences, while snoRNA-EDeN predicted 95.4% of vertebrate snoRNAs and 57.8% of Nematode and Drosophilid sequences. Both methods are available at http://www.biomol.unb.br/snoreport and http://www.biomol.unb.br/snorna_eden.