PgmNr D216: Translational compensation of segmental aneuploidy in Drosophila melanogaster.

Authors:
Zhenguo Zhang; Daven Presgraves


Institutes
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.


Keyword: translational regulation

Abstract:

Segmental or chromosomal duplications and deletions, i.e., aneuploidy, can cause aberrant gene expression due to altered gene dosage. Previous studies in Drosophila and yeasts showed that the expression of copy-number altered genes can be compensated at the mRNA level, though remaining different from wild type. In this study, we investigate gene dosage compensation in aneuploid S2 cells at the translational level using public data on mRNA translation rates measured with ribosome profiling. We find that on average copy-number increased (decreased) genes have lower (higher) translation rates than normal genes and that the compensation at the translational level is stronger than at the mRNA level.  When combining the compensation effects at both levels, copy-number altered genes have protein synthesis rates (per gene) similar to normal genes— i.e., they are fully compensated. Moreover, we do not find that copy-number altered genes are enriched or depleted in protein-complex genes except for X-linked copy-number-decreased genes, which are depleted in protein-complex genes. Taken together, our results suggest that gene dosage alteration in aneuploids can be further compensated at the translational level.