April 2020

Meiotic recombination is initiated by generating DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) via SPO11, a topoisomerase-related enzyme. The activity of SPO11 protein must be tightly regulated, given its potential threat to genome integrity. The surface-rendering image of a maize meiocyte shows that numerous SPO11-1 foci (green) are located within chromatin (blue) which is partially displayed, whereas only a small fraction of SPO11-1, correlating with DSB number, is loaded on DSY2-labeled chromosome axes (red). The analysis of maize spo11-1 mutants further suggests a possible SPO11-1-dependent mechanism which mediates conformational changes of meiotic chromosome axes. See Ku et al.

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Image Credit: Chiting Wang, Jeremy Catinot and Chung-Ju Rachel Wang.

Perspective

XPF–ERCC1: Linchpin of DNA crosslink repair

Peter J. McHugh

PLOS Genetics: published April 9, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008616

Reviews

Is imprinting the result of “friendly fire” by the host defense system?

Miroslava Ondičová, Rebecca J. Oakey, Colum P. Walsh

PLOS Genetics: published April 9, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008599

Deconstructing cerebellar development cell by cell

Max J. van Essen, Samuel Nayler, Esther B. E. Becker, John Jacob

PLOS Genetics: published April 16, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008630

Technical and social issues influencing the adoption of preprints in the life sciences

Naomi C. Penfold, Jessica K. Polka

PLOS Genetics: published April 20, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008565

Waking up quiescent neural stem cells: Molecular mechanisms and implications in neurodevelopmental disorders

Wei Yung Ding, Jiawen Huang, Hongyan Wang

PLOS Genetics: published April 23, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008653

Placental imprinting: Emerging mechanisms and functions

Courtney W. Hanna

PLOS Genetics: published April 23, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008709

Research Articles

High expression in maize pollen correlates with genetic contributions to pollen fitness as well as with coordinated transcription from neighboring transposable elements

Cedar Warman, Kaushik Panda, Zuzana Vejlupkova, Sam Hokin, Erica Unger-Wallace, Rex A. Cole, Antony M. Chettoor, Duo Jiang, Erik Vollbrecht, Matthew M. S. Evans, R. Keith Slotkin, John E. Fowler

PLOS Genetics: published April 1, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008462

The nanophthalmos protein TMEM98 inhibits MYRF self-cleavage and is required for eye size specification

Sally H. Cross, Lisa Mckie, Toby W. Hurd, Sam Riley, Jimi Wills, Alun R. Barnard, Fiona Young, Robert E. MacLaren, Ian J. Jackson

PLOS Genetics: published April 1, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008583

The MAPK substrate MASS proteins regulate stomatal development in Arabidopsis

Xueyi Xue, Chao Bian, Xiaoyu Guo, Rong Di, Juan Dong

PLOS Genetics: published April 2, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008706

Loss-of-function tolerance of enhancers in the human genome

Duo Xu, Omer Gokcumen, Ekta Khurana

PLOS Genetics: published April 3, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008663

Is adaptation limited by mutation? A timescale-dependent effect of genetic diversity on the adaptive substitution rate in animals

Marjolaine Rousselle, Paul Simion, Marie-Ka Tilak, Emeric Figuet, Benoit Nabholz, Nicolas Galtier

PLOS Genetics: published April 6, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008668

Postglacial migration shaped the genomic diversity and global distribution of the wild ancestor of lager-brewing hybrids

Quinn K. Langdon, David Peris, Juan I. Eizaguirre, Dana A. Opulente, Kelly V. Buh, Kayla Sylvester, Martin Jarzyna, María E. Rodríguez, Christian A. Lopes, Diego Libkind, Chris Todd Hittinger

PLOS Genetics: published April 6, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008680

FANCJ helicase promotes DNA end resection by facilitating CtIP recruitment to DNA double-strand breaks

Sarmi Nath, Ganesh Nagaraju

PLOS Genetics: published April 6, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008701

Fluorescence fluctuation analysis reveals PpV dependent Cdc25 protein dynamics in living embryos

Boyang Liu, Ingo Gregor, H.-Arno Müller, Jörg Großhans

PLOS Genetics: published April 6, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008735

Inference of past demography, dormancy and self-fertilization rates from whole genome sequence data

Thibaut Paul Patrick Sellinger, Diala Abu Awad, Markus Moest, Aurélien Tellier

PLOS Genetics: published April 6, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008698

O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine transferase plays an essential role in heart development through regulating angiopoietin-1

Yongxin Mu, Houzhi Yu, Tongbin Wu, Jianlin Zhang, Sylvia M. Evans, Ju Chen

PLOS Genetics: published April 6, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008730

Pathological mechanism and antisense oligonucleotide-mediated rescue of a non-coding variant suppressing factor 9 RNA biogenesis leading to hemophilia B

Simon Krooss, Sonja Werwitzke, Johannes Kopp, Alice Rovai, Dirk Varnholt, Amelie S. Wachs, Aurelie Goyenvalle, Annemieke Aarstma-Rus, Michael Ott, Andreas Tiede, Jörg Langemeier, Jens Bohne

PLOS Genetics: published April 8, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008690

Molecular genetics of maternally-controlled cell divisions

Elliott W. Abrams, Ricardo Fuentes, Florence L. Marlow, Manami Kobayashi, Hong Zhang, Sumei Lu, Lee Kapp, Shai R. Joseph, Amy Kugath, Tripti Gupta, Virginia Lemon, Greg Runke, Amanda A. Amodeo, Nadine L. Vastenhouw, Mary C. Mullins

PLOS Genetics: published April 8, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008652

XPF-ERCC1 protects liver, kidney and blood homeostasis outside the canonical excision repair pathways

Lee Mulderrig, Juan I. Garaycoechea

PLOS Genetics: published April 9, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008555

Loss of FOXM1 in macrophages promotes pulmonary fibrosis by activating p38 MAPK signaling pathway

Chinmayee Goda, David Balli, Markaisa Black, David Milewski, Tien Le, Vladimir Ustiyan, Xiaomeng Ren, Vladimir V. Kalinichenko, Tanya V. Kalin

PLOS Genetics: published April 9, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008692

Tryptamine accumulation caused by deletion of MrMao-1 in Metarhizium genome significantly enhances insecticidal virulence

Xiwen Tong, Yundan Wang, Pengcheng Yang, Chengshu Wang, Le Kang

PLOS Genetics: published April 9, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008675

The transcription and export complex THO/TREX contributes to transcription termination in plants

Ghazanfar Abbas Khan, Jules Deforges, Rodrigo S. Reis, Yi-Fang Hsieh, Jonatan Montpetit, Wojciech Antosz, Luca Santuari, Christian S. Hardtke, Klaus D. Grasser, Yves Poirier

PLOS Genetics: published April 13, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008732

C9orf72/ALFA-1 controls TFEB/HLH-30-dependent metabolism through dynamic regulation of Rag GTPases

Yon Ju Ji, Janet Ugolino, Tao Zhang, Jiayin Lu, Dohoon Kim, Jiou Wang

PLOS Genetics: published April 13, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008738

A missense variant in Mitochondrial Amidoxime Reducing Component 1 gene and protection against liver disease

Connor A. Emdin, Mary E. Haas, Amit V. Khera, Krishna Aragam, Mark Chaffin, Derek Klarin, George Hindy, Lan Jiang, Wei-Qi Wei, Qiping Feng, Juha Karjalainen, Aki Havulinna, Tuomo Kiiskinen, Alexander Bick, Diego Ardissino, James G. Wilson, Heribert Schunkert, Ruth McPherson, Hugh Watkins, Roberto Elosua, Matthew J. Bown, Nilesh J. Samani, Usman Baber, Jeanette Erdmann, Namrata Gupta, John Danesh, Danish Saleheen, Kyong-Mi Chang, Marijana Vujkovic, Ben Voight, Scott Damrauer, Julie Lynch, David Kaplan, Marina Serper, Philip Tsao, Million Veteran Program, Josep Mercader, Craig Hanis, Mark Daly, Joshua Denny, Stacey Gabriel, Sekar Kathiresan

PLOS Genetics: published April 13, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008629

Conserved nuclear hormone receptors controlling a novel plastic trait target fast-evolving genes expressed in a single cell

Bogdan Sieriebriennikov, Shuai Sun, James W. Lightfoot, Hanh Witte, Eduardo Moreno, Christian Rödelsperger, Ralf J. Sommer

PLOS Genetics: published April 13, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008687

The plant mobile domain proteins MAIN and MAIL1 interact with the phosphatase PP7L to regulate gene expression and silence transposable elements in Arabidopsis thaliana

Melody Nicolau, Nathalie Picault, Julie Descombin, Yasaman Jami-Alahmadi, Suhua Feng, Etienne Bucher, Steven E. Jacobsen, Jean-Marc Deragon, James Wohlschlegel, Guillaume Moissiard

PLOS Genetics: published April 14, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008324

Loss of Cdc13 causes genome instability by a deficiency in replication-dependent telomere capping

Rachel E. Langston, Dominic Palazzola, Erin Bonnell, Raymund J. Wellinger, Ted Weinert

PLOS Genetics: published April 14, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008733

Variants encoding a restricted carboxy-terminal domain of SLC12A2 cause hereditary hearing loss in humans

Hideki Mutai, Koichiro Wasano, Yukihide Momozawa, Yoichiro Kamatani, Fuyuki Miya, Sawako Masuda, Noriko Morimoto, Kiyomitsu Nara, Satoe Takahashi, Tatsuhiko Tsunoda, Kazuaki Homma, Michiaki Kubo, Tatsuo Matsunaga

PLOS Genetics: published April 15, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008643

An integrated analysis of cell-type specific gene expression reveals genes regulated by REVOLUTA and KANADI1 in the Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem

Hasthi Ram, Sudeep Sahadevan, Nittaya Gale, Monica Pia Caggiano, Xiulian Yu, Carolyn Ohno, Marcus G. Heisler

PLOS Genetics: published April 15, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008661

Functional diversification of Paramecium Ku80 paralogs safeguards genome integrity during precise programmed DNA elimination

Arthur Abello, Vinciane Régnier, Olivier Arnaiz, Romain Le Bars, Mireille Bétermier, Julien Bischerour

PLOS Genetics: published April 16, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008723

Parallelism in eco-morphology and gene expression despite variable evolutionary and genomic backgrounds in a Holarctic fish

Arne Jacobs, Madeleine Carruthers, Andrey Yurchenko, Natalia V. Gordeeva, Sergey S. Alekseyev, Oliver Hooker, Jong S. Leong, David R. Minkley, Eric B. Rondeau, Ben F. Koop, Colin E. Adams, Kathryn R. Elmer

PLOS Genetics: published April 17, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008658

Relaxed constraint and functional divergence of the progesterone receptor (PGR) in the human stem-lineage

Mirna Marinić, Vincent J. Lynch

PLOS Genetics: published April 17, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008666

The Drosophila FUS ortholog cabeza promotes adult founder myoblast selection by Xrp1-dependent regulation of FGF signaling

Marica Catinozzi, Moushami Mallik, Marie Frickenhaus, Marije Been, Céline Sijlmans, Divita Kulshrestha, Ioannis Alexopoulos, Manuela Weitkunat, Frank Schnorrer, Erik Storkebaum

PLOS Genetics: published April 17, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008731

Discovery of novel hepatocyte eQTLs in African Americans

Yizhen Zhong, Tanima De, Cristina Alarcon, C. Sehwan Park, Bianca Lec, Minoli A. Perera

PLOS Genetics: published April 20, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008662

Dynamic localization of SPO11-1 and conformational changes of meiotic axial elements during recombination initiation of maize meiosis

Jia-Chi Ku, Arnaud Ronceret, Inna Golubovskaya, Ding Hua Lee, Chiting Wang, Ljudmilla Timofejeva, Yu-Hsin Kao, Ana Karen Gomez Angoa, Karl Kremling, Rosalind Williams-Carrier, Robert Meeley, Alice Barkan, W. Zacheus Cande, Chung-Ju Rachel Wang

PLOS Genetics: published April 20, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007881

Leveraging gene co-expression patterns to infer trait-relevant tissues in genome-wide association studies

Lulu Shang, Jennifer A. Smith, Xiang Zhou

PLOS Genetics: published April 20, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008734

The genomic landscape of undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver is typified by C19MC structural rearrangement and overexpression combined with TP53 mutation or loss

Bhuvana A. Setty, Goodwin G. Jinesh, Michael Arnold, Fredrik Pettersson, Chia-Ho Cheng, Ling Cen, Sean J. Yoder, Jamie K. Teer, Elsa R. Flores, Damon R. Reed, Andrew S. Brohl

PLOS Genetics: published April 20, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008642

Eliciting priors and relaxing the single causal variant assumption in colocalisation analyses

Chris Wallace

PLOS Genetics: published April 20, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008720

Spastin mutations impair coordination between lipid droplet dispersion and reticulum

Yoan Arribat, Dogan Grepper, Sylviane Lagarrigue, Timothy Qi, Sarah Cohen, Francesca Amati

PLOS Genetics: published April 21, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008665

Drosophila NUAK functions with Starvin/BAG3 in autophagic protein turnover

David Brooks, Fawwaz Naeem, Marta Stetsiv, Samantha C. Goetting, Simranjot Bawa, Nicole Green, Cheryl Clark, Arash Bashirullah, Erika R. Geisbrecht

PLOS Genetics: published April 22, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008700

Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors are essential for fetal-maternal connection and embryo viability

Feili Yang, Lei Huang, Alexandria Tso, Hong Wang, Li Cui, Lizhu Lin, Xiaohong Wang, Mingming Ren, Xi Fang, Jie Liu, Zhen Han, Ju Chen, Kunfu Ouyang

PLOS Genetics: published April 22, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008739

Ribosome binding protein GCN1 regulates the cell cycle and cell proliferation and is essential for the embryonic development of mice

Hiromi Yamazaki, Shuya Kasai, Junsei Mimura, Peng Ye, Atsushi Inose-Maruyama, Kunikazu Tanji, Koichi Wakabayashi, Seiya Mizuno, Fumihiro Sugiyama, Satoru Takahashi, Tsubasa Sato, Taku Ozaki, Douglas R. Cavener, Masayuki Yamamoto, Ken Itoh

PLOS Genetics: published April 23, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008693

The Drosophila actin nucleator DAAM is essential for left-right asymmetry

Anil Chougule, François Lapraz, István Földi, Delphine Cerezo, József Mihály, Stéphane Noselli

PLOS Genetics: published April 23, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008758

Integrative and quantitative view of the CtrA regulatory network in a stalked budding bacterium

Oliver Leicht, Muriel C. F. van Teeseling, Gaël Panis, Celine Reif, Heiko Wendt, Patrick H. Viollier, Martin Thanbichler

PLOS Genetics: published April 23, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008724

Targeting mitochondrial and cytosolic substrates of TRIT1 isopentenyltransferase: Specificity determinants and tRNA-i⁶A37 profiles

Abdul Khalique, Sandy Mattijssen, Alexander F. Haddad, Shereen Chaudhry, Richard J. Maraia

PLOS Genetics: published April 23, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008330

Translesion synthesis polymerases are dispensable for C. elegans reproduction but suppress genome scarring by polymerase theta-mediated end joining

Ivo van Bostelen, Robin van Schendel, Ron Romeijn, Marcel Tijsterman

PLOS Genetics: published April 24, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008759

UNBRANCHED3 Expression and Inflorescence Development is Mediated by UNBRANCHED2 and the Distal Enhancer, KRN4, in Maize

Yanfang Du, Lei Liu, Yong Peng, Manfei Li, Yunfu Li, Dan Liu, Xingwang Li, Zuxin Zhang

PLOS Genetics: published April 24, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008764

Mutations in SPATA13/ASEF2 cause primary angle closure glaucoma

Naushin H. Waseem, Sancy Low, Amna Z. Shah, Deepa Avisetti, Pia Ostergaard, Michael Simpson, Katarzyna A. Niemiec, Belen Martin-Martin, Hebah Aldehlawi, Saima Usman, Pak Sang Lee, Anthony P. Khawaja, Jonathan B. Ruddle, Ameet Shah, Ege Sackey, Alexander Day, Yuzhen Jiang, Geoff Swinfield, Ananth Viswanathan, Giovanna Alfano, Christina Chakarova, Heather J. Cordell, David F. Garway-Heath, Peng T. Khaw, Shomi S. Bhattacharya, Ahmad Waseem, Paul J. Foster

PLOS Genetics: published April 27, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008721

Analysis of genes within the schizophrenia-linked 22q11.2 deletion identifies interaction of night owl/LZTR1 and NF1 in GABAergic sleep control

Gianna W. Maurer, Alina Malita, Stanislav Nagy, Takashi Koyama, Thomas M. Werge, Kenneth A. Halberg, Michael J. Texada, Kim Rewitz

PLOS Genetics: published April 27, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008727

Dynamic miRNA-mRNA interactions coordinate gene expression in adult Anopheles gambiae

Xiaonan Fu, Pengcheng Liu, George Dimopoulos, Jinsong Zhu

PLOS Genetics: published April 27, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008765

DNA methylation-mediated repression of exosomal miR-652-5p expression promotes oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma aggressiveness by targeting PARG and VEGF pathways

Peng Gao, Dan Wang, Meiyue Liu, Siyuan Chen, Zhao Yang, Jie Zhang, Huan Wang, Yi Niu, Wei Wang, Jilong Yang, Guogui Sun

PLOS Genetics: published April 28, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008592

The coordinate actions of calcineurin and Hog1 mediate the stress response through multiple nodes of the cell cycle network

Cassandra M. Leech, Mackenzie J. Flynn, Heather E. Arsenault, Jianhong Ou, Haibo Liu, Lihua Julie Zhu, Jennifer A. Benanti

PLOS Genetics: published April 28, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008600

Long noncoding RNA PAHAL modulates locust behavioural plasticity through the feedback regulation of dopamine biosynthesis

Xia Zhang, Ya'nan Xu, Bing Chen, Le Kang

PLOS Genetics: published April 29, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008771

Juvenile hormone suppresses aggregation behavior through influencing antennal gene expression in locusts

Wei Guo, Juan Song, Pengcheng Yang, Xiangyong Chen, Dafeng Chen, Dani Ren, Le Kang, Xianhui Wang

PLOS Genetics: published April 29, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008762

ArdC, a ssDNA-binding protein with a metalloprotease domain, overpasses the recipient hsdRMS restriction system broadening conjugation host range

Lorena González-Montes, Irene del Campo, M. Pilar Garcillán-Barcia, Fernando de la Cruz, Gabriel Moncalián

PLOS Genetics: published April 29, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008750

Quantitative live imaging of Venus::BMAL1 in a mouse model reveals complex dynamics of the master circadian clock regulator

Nan Yang, Nicola J. Smyllie, Honor Morris, Cátia F. Gonçalves, Michal Dudek, Dharshika R. J. Pathiranage, Johanna E. Chesham, Antony Adamson, David G. Spiller, Egor Zindy, James Bagnall, Neil Humphreys, Judith Hoyland, Andrew S. I. Loudon, Michael H. Hastings, Qing-Jun Meng

PLOS Genetics: published April 30, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008729

Interaction between host genes and Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineage can affect tuberculosis severity: Evidence for coevolution?

Michael L. McHenry, Jacquelaine Bartlett, Robert P. Igo Jr, Eddie M. Wampande, Penelope Benchek, Harriet Mayanja-Kizza, Kyle Fluegge, Noemi B. Hall, Sebastien Gagneux, Sarah A. Tishkoff, Christian Wejse, Giorgio Sirugo, W. Henry Boom, Moses Joloba, Scott M. Williams, Catherine M. Stein

PLOS Genetics: published April 30, 2020 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1008728