All Outputs (15)

Compensating for over-production inhibition of the Hsmar1 transposon in Escherichia coli using a series of constitutive promoters (2020)
Journal Article
Tellier, M., & Chalmers, R. (2020). Compensating for over-production inhibition of the Hsmar1 transposon in Escherichia coli using a series of constitutive promoters. Mobile DNA, 11(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13100-020-0200-5

© 2020 The Author(s). Background: Transposable elements (TEs) are a diverse group of self-mobilizing DNA elements. Transposition has been exploited as a powerful tool for molecular biology and genomics. However, transposition is sometimes limited bec... Read More about Compensating for over-production inhibition of the Hsmar1 transposon in Escherichia coli using a series of constitutive promoters.

Targeted DNA transposition in vitro using a dCas9-transposase fusion protein (2019)
Journal Article
Bhatt, S., & Chalmers, R. (2019). Targeted DNA transposition in vitro using a dCas9-transposase fusion protein. Nucleic Acids Research, 47(15), 8126–8135. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkz552

Homology-directed genome engineering is limited by transgene size. Although DNA transposons are more efficient with large transgenes, random integrations are potentially mutagenic. Here we present an in vitro mechanistic study that demonstrates effic... Read More about Targeted DNA transposition in vitro using a dCas9-transposase fusion protein.

The roles of the human SETMAR (Metnase) protein in illegitimate DNA recombination and non-homologous end joining repair (2019)
Journal Article
Tellier, M., & Chalmers, R. (2019). The roles of the human SETMAR (Metnase) protein in illegitimate DNA recombination and non-homologous end joining repair. DNA Repair, 80, 26-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dnarep.2019.06.006

SETMAR is a fusion between a SET-domain methyltransferase gene and a mariner-family transposase gene, which is specific to anthropoid primates. However, the ancestral SET gene is present in all other mammals and birds. SETMAR is reported to be involv... Read More about The roles of the human SETMAR (Metnase) protein in illegitimate DNA recombination and non-homologous end joining repair.

Human SETMAR is a DNA sequence-specific histone-methylase with a broad effect on the transcriptome (2018)
Journal Article
Tellier, M., & Chalmers, R. (2019). Human SETMAR is a DNA sequence-specific histone-methylase with a broad effect on the transcriptome. Nucleic Acids Research, 47(1), 122–133. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gky937

Transposons impart dynamism to the genomes they inhabit and their movements frequently rewire the control of nearby genes. Occasionally, their proteins are domesticated when they evolve a new function. SETMAR is a protein methylase with a sequence-sp... Read More about Human SETMAR is a DNA sequence-specific histone-methylase with a broad effect on the transcriptome.

Transposase subunit architecture and its relationship to genome size and the rate of transposition in prokaryotes and eukaryotes (2018)
Journal Article
Blundell-Hunter, G., Tellier, M., & Chalmers, R. (2018). Transposase subunit architecture and its relationship to genome size and the rate of transposition in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Nucleic Acids Research, 46(18), 9637-9646. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gky794

Cut-and-paste transposons are important tools for mutagenesis, gene-delivery and DNA sequencing applications. At the molecular level, the most thoroughly understood are Tn5 and Tn10 in bacteria, and mariner and hAT elements in eukaryotes. All bacteri... Read More about Transposase subunit architecture and its relationship to genome size and the rate of transposition in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

A single active site in the mariner transposase cleaves DNA strands of opposite polarity (2017)
Journal Article
Claeys Bouuaert, C., & Chalmers, R. (in press). A single active site in the mariner transposase cleaves DNA strands of opposite polarity. Nucleic Acids Research, gkx826, https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkx826

The RNase H structural fold defines a large family of nucleic acid metabolizing enzymes that catalyze phosphoryl transfer reactions using two divalent metal ions in the active site. Almost all of these reactions involve only one strand of the nucleic... Read More about A single active site in the mariner transposase cleaves DNA strands of opposite polarity.

The invertebrate lysozyme effector ILYS-3 is systemically activated in response to danger signals and confers antimicrobial protection in C. elegans (2016)
Journal Article
Gravato-Nobre, M. J., Vaz, F., Filipe, S., Chalmers, R., & Hodgkin, J. (2016). The invertebrate lysozyme effector ILYS-3 is systemically activated in response to danger signals and confers antimicrobial protection in C. elegans. PLoS Pathogens, 12(8), Article e1005826. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005826

Little is known about the relative contributions and importance of antibacterial effectors in the nematode C. elegans, despite extensive work on the innate immune responses in this organism. We report an investigation of the expression, function and... Read More about The invertebrate lysozyme effector ILYS-3 is systemically activated in response to danger signals and confers antimicrobial protection in C. elegans.

One to rule them all: A highly conserved motif in mariner transposase controls multiple steps of transposition (2014)
Journal Article
Bouuaert, C. C., Chalmers, R., & Tellier, M. (2014). One to rule them all: A highly conserved motif in mariner transposase controls multiple steps of transposition. Mobile Genetic Elements, 4(2), Article e28807. https://doi.org/10.4161/mge.28807

The development of transposon-based genome manipulation tools can benefit greatly from understanding transposons’ inherent regulatory mechanisms. The Tc1-mariner transposons, which are being widely used in biotechnological applications, are subject t... Read More about One to rule them all: A highly conserved motif in mariner transposase controls multiple steps of transposition.

Crosstalk between transposase subunits during cleavage of the mariner transposon (2014)
Journal Article
Claeys Bouuaert, C., Walker, N., Liu, D., & Chalmers, R. (2014). Crosstalk between transposase subunits during cleavage of the mariner transposon. Nucleic Acids Research, 42(9), https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gku172

Mariner transposition is a complex reaction that involves three recombination sites and six strand breaking and joining reactions. This requires precise spatial and temporal coordination between the different components to ensure a productive outcome... Read More about Crosstalk between transposase subunits during cleavage of the mariner transposon.

Hyperactive mariner transposons are created by mutations that disrupt allosterism and increase the rate of transposon end synapsis (2013)
Journal Article
Liu, D., & Chalmers, R. (2014). Hyperactive mariner transposons are created by mutations that disrupt allosterism and increase the rate of transposon end synapsis. Nucleic Acids Research, 42(4), https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkt1218

New applications for transposons in vertebrate genetics have spurred efforts to develop hyperactive variants. Typically, a genetic screen is used to identify several hyperactive point mutations, which are then incorporated in a single transposase gen... Read More about Hyperactive mariner transposons are created by mutations that disrupt allosterism and increase the rate of transposon end synapsis.

Identification of multiple binding sites for the THAP domain of the Galileo transposase in the long terminal inverted-repeats (2013)
Journal Article
Marzo, M., Liu, D., Ruiz, A., & Chalmers, R. (2013). Identification of multiple binding sites for the THAP domain of the Galileo transposase in the long terminal inverted-repeats. Gene, 525(1), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2013.04.050

Galileo is a DNA transposon responsible for the generation of several chromosomal inversions in Drosophila. In contrast to other members of the P-element superfamily, it has unusually long terminal inverted-repeats (TIRs) that resemble those of Foldb... Read More about Identification of multiple binding sites for the THAP domain of the Galileo transposase in the long terminal inverted-repeats.

Hsmar1 transposition is sensitive to the topology of the transposon donor and the target (2013)
Journal Article
Claeys Bouuaert, C., & Chalmers, R. (2013). Hsmar1 transposition is sensitive to the topology of the transposon donor and the target. PLoS ONE, 8(1), Article 0053690. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053690

Hsmar1 is a member of the Tc1-mariner superfamily of DNA transposons. These elements mobilize within the genome of their host by a cut-and-paste mechanism. We have exploited the in vitro reaction provided by Hsmar1 to investigate the effect of DNA su... Read More about Hsmar1 transposition is sensitive to the topology of the transposon donor and the target.

H-NS mediates the dissociation of a refractory protein–DNA complex during Tn10/IS10 transposition (2011)
Journal Article
Liu, D., Haniford, D. B., & Chalmers, R. (2011). H-NS mediates the dissociation of a refractory protein–DNA complex during Tn10/IS10 transposition. Nucleic Acids Research, 39(15), https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkr309

Tn10/IS10 transposition takes place in the context of a protein–DNA complex called a transpososome. During the reaction, the transpososome undergoes several conformational changes. The host proteins IHF and H-NS, which also are global regulators of g... Read More about H-NS mediates the dissociation of a refractory protein–DNA complex during Tn10/IS10 transposition.

The transposon-like correia elements encode numerous strong promoters and provide a potential new mechanism for phase variation in the meningococcus (2011)
Journal Article
Siddique, A., Buisine, N., & Chalmers, R. (2011). The transposon-like correia elements encode numerous strong promoters and provide a potential new mechanism for phase variation in the meningococcus. PLoS Genetics, 7(1), Article 13. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1001277

Neisseria meningitidis is the primary causative agent of bacterial meningitis. The genome is rich in repetitive DNA and almost 2% is occupied by a diminutive transposon called the Correia element. Here we report a bioinformatic analysis defining eigh... Read More about The transposon-like correia elements encode numerous strong promoters and provide a potential new mechanism for phase variation in the meningococcus.

Base flipping in Tn10 transposition: an active flip and capture mechanism (2009)
Journal Article
Bischerour, J., & Chalmers, R. (2009). Base flipping in Tn10 transposition: an active flip and capture mechanism. PLoS ONE, 4(7), Article e6201. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0006201

The bacterial Tn5 and Tn10 transposases have a single active site that cuts both strands of DNA at their respective transposon ends. This is achieved using a hairpin intermediate that requires the DNA to change conformation during the reaction. In Tn... Read More about Base flipping in Tn10 transposition: an active flip and capture mechanism.