Volume 53 Issue 5, May 2021

RNA is dynamic and can fold into multiple alternative conformations. A new study shows that cells control mRNA translation by regulating the stoichiometry of alternative RNA structures formed from extremely conserved sequences of 5′ untranslated regions and that this control may contribute to embryonic development.

Cells resembling human fetal adrenal neuroblasts have been identified as major neuroblastoma cancer cells through single-cell mRNA comparison. Tumor risk stratification correlates with the differentiation of neuroblast-like neuroblastoma cells.

This Perspective on crop genomics discusses the promises of new technologies and approaches to help minimize food insecurity and to lay the foundation for sustainable agricultural systems needed to feed the world.

Recent technologies allow experimental manipulation of chromatin conformation. This Perspective discusses the insights obtained from gain-of-function studies that engineer the three-dimensional genome.

Analysis of the three-dimensional architecture of the dinoflagellate Breviolum minutum genome identifies large topological domains (dinoTADs) demarcated by convergent gene array boundaries. Transcriptional inhibition disrupts dinoTADs.

Genome assembly of the coral endosymbiont Symbiodinium microadriaticum shows that genes are arranged in alternating unidirectional blocks and are enriched at the ends of chromosomes. Chromosomes are composed of structural domains separated by boundaries that disappear when transcription is blocked.

Gene expression, alternative splicing and DNA methylation profiles from human kidney samples provide insights into the effects of common variants influencing blood pressure. Mendelian randomization uncovers the effects of blood pressure on renal outcomes.

A new statistical approach to gene co-essentiality mapping identifies a genome-wide set of functional modules. This analysis predicts the functions of 108 uncharacterized genes.

Enhancer–promoter three-dimensional interactions at oncogenic loci are modulated by H3K27ac dynamics. Enhancer hijacking mediated by chromosomal translocations leads to distinct chromatin states, intrachromosomal interactions and allele-specific gene expression.

Genetic analyses identify widespread sex-differential participation bias in population-based studies and show how this bias can lead to incorrect inferences. These findings highlight new challenges for association studies as sample sizes continue to grow.

MPHOSPH8 loss inhibits acute myeloid leukemia (AML) development by reactivating LINE-1 retrotransposons. LINE-1 suppression is associated with therapy resistance and poor prognosis in patients with AML.

A single-cell transcriptomic analysis of neuroblastomas and healthy adrenal glands defines cell types and lineage trajectories during different developmental stages. Comparisons with the transcriptomes of neuroblastoma cells show that their transcriptomes most closely resemble those of developing neuroblasts of the adrenal gland.

Single-cell transcriptome profiling of human embryonic sympathoadrenal tissues identifies developmental transitions and suggests that intra-adrenal sympathoblasts arising from Schwann cell precursors are a potential neuroblastoma cell of origin.

Loss of function of the minor spliceosome component ZRSR2 enhances hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal through minor intron retention of its target LZTR1, which is a regulator of RAS-related GTPases. Minor intron retention of LZTR1 was also identified in Noonan syndrome and diverse solid tumor types.

A CRISPR screen combined with in vivo data identify ZNF410 as an indirect repressor of fetal hemoglobin. ZNF410 binds to and regulates CHD4 expression, which in turn silences fetal hemoglobin.

Extremely conserved 5′ UTRs act as cis-regulatory elements, playing an unsuspected role in translation regulation. A new in-cell mutational method, icM², shows that these 5′ UTRs adopt alternative structures that depend on RNA helicase activity.

Analysis of 11 flatfish genomes indicates that Pleuronectoidei and Psettodoidei are not a monophyletic group. Genomic and transcriptomic data suggest that the WNT and RA pathways played a role in the evolution of the specialized body of flatfish.

Whole-genome resequencing of 445 Lactuca accessions, including major lettuce crop types and wild relative species, provides a comprehensive map of lettuce genome variations and sheds light on the domestication history of cultivated lettuce.