Articles in 2018

Whole-exome sequencing identifies mutations in CLCN2 in individuals with familial hyperaldosteronism type II or early-onset primary aldosteronism. These gain-of-function mutations cause chloride channel opening and glomerulosa cell depolarization, showing a role for anion channels in aldosterone production.

A gain-of-function mutation in the CLCN2 chloride channel gene (encoding ClC-2) causes primary aldosteronism. The mutation abolishes voltage-dependent gating of ClC-2, highlighting a role for chloride conduction in regulating aldosterone biosynthesis.

A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 58 traits using data from the Biobank Japan Project identifies 1,407 loci, 679 of which are novel. Comparison with disease GWASs and analysis of genetic correlations and cell-type enrichment show that these clinical measurements are relevant to human disease.

The clinical phenotype associated with BRD4 haploinsufficiency overlaps with Cornelia de Lange syndrome, which is often caused by mutations in NIPBL. The authors show that BRD4 and NIPBL physically interact and co-bind at super-enhancers.

Analysis of chromatin accessibility and expression quantitative trait loci in stimulated or naïve macrophages identifies loci that constitutively alter chromatin but affect expression only after stimulation, thus indicating an effect on enhancer priming.

This study investigates the effects of MYCN on the chromatin and transcriptional landscape of neuroblastoma. The authors find that, at oncogenic levels, MYCN binds to canonical E-boxes at promoters and invades enhancers, leading to transcriptional amplification.

Exome-wide analyses identify low-frequency coding variants associated with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. One of the risk variants, in CYP26B1, is associated with enhanced enzymatic activity and lower levels of all-trans retinoic acid in serum.

The reconstruction of the genome of a woman of African ancestry from her European descendants, across eight generations, connects living people to a documented saga, drawing attention to the individuals who participated in historic events at a time when the legal, cultural and ethical implications of individual human rights began to gain currency. It is also a technical achievement that extends the methodologies for understanding our interwoven genomic and social histories.

New genomic analyses indicate that pioneer transcription factors can sample a diverse repertoire of common binding sites among different cell types and become enriched where they cooperate with other factors specific to each cell. Pioneer-factor binding is mechanistically separate from, and is necessary for, subsequent phenomena of chromatin opening and epigenetic memory in vivo.

Two new studies identify rare homozygous variants in ADCY3 that are causal for monogenic obesity in consanguineous families of Pakistani origin and are associated with increased risk of obesity in Greenlandic individuals. Greenlandic carriers of homozygous loss-of-function variants in ADCY3, and individuals from trans-ancestry studies with a burden of rare ADCY3 loss-of-function variants, also have increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Creating large genome/phenome collections can require consortium-scale resources. DNA.Land is a digital biobank that collects genetic data from individuals tested by consumer genomic companies using a fraction of the resources of traditional studies.

The study reports map-based cloning and functional analysis of Bph6, which is associated with resistance to planthoppers in rice. BPH6 localizes to the exocyst and interacts with OsEXO70E1, and suppression of OsExo70E1 expression decreases resistance in Bph6-NIL plants.

Analysis of Pax7 dynamics during pituitary lineage specification shows that Pax7 binds rapidly at uniquely marked heterochromatin pioneer sites and initiates chromatin opening that remains stable after Pax7 withdrawal, with loss of DNA hypermethylation at pioneered enhancers.

Genome assemblies of 13 domesticated and wild rice relatives reveal salient features of genome evolution across the genus Oryza, especially rapid species diversification and turnover of transposons. This study also releases a complete long-read assembly of IR 8 ‘Miracle Rice’.

A GWAS of multi- and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis using 6,465 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates from more than 30 countries identifies novel mutations associated with resistance. The capacity to detect resistance in particular to ethionamide, pyrazinamide, capreomycin, cycloserine and paraaminosalicylic acid was enhanced by inclusion of insertions and deletions.

A new assembly of the sea lamprey germline genome identifies genomic regions that are systematically eliminated from somatic tissue during early development. Comparative analysis gives new insight into vertebrate evolution.

Investigation of FOXA2, GATA4 and OCT4 binding across several cell types provides insights into the genetic determinants and epigenetic effects of pioneer-factor occupancy. The data suggest that FOXA2 samples most of its potential binding sites but is stabilized at only a subset of targets.

Dysregulated lipid metabolism is a prominent feature of prostate cancers. Two papers in this issue identify novel genomic drivers of lipid metabolism in prostate cancer and provide implications for the subtyping and treatment of the disease.

A conserved microRNA targets LTR retrotransposons in Arabidopsis pollen, stimulating epigenetically activated siRNAs in a dose-dependent manner through RNA Pol IV. These miR845b-dependent easiRNAs mediate the interploidy hybridization barrier that leads to seed abortion.

The authors analyze time-resolved changes in genome topology, gene expression, transcription-factor binding, and chromatin state during iPSC generation. They conclude that 3D genome reorganization generally precedes gene expression changes and that removal of locus-specific topological barriers explains why pluripotency genes are activated sequentially during reprogramming.