Whole genome mapping of DNA G-quadruplexes in multiple species by G4-seq

The identification of DNA G-quadruplexes (G4s) in the genome is important to study different biological processes in which these structures play a role, such as genome rearrangement, transcriptional regulation and DNA replication. G4-seq allowed the high-throughput experimental mapping of G-quadruplexes in the human genome. We developed here an improved version of this method, named G4-seq2, which we applied to generate G-quadruplexes genomic maps for 12 species, selected as important models organism to study development or as pathogens of clinical relevance. Those multi-species maps, publicly available for the community, will allow to further understand the design principle of G-quadruplex formation in genomic context, to study G-quadruplex biology in those model organisms, to predict ligand targeting for therapeutic usage and to design G-quadruplex computational predictors based on genome-wide experimental measurements.基因组中DNA G-四链体（DNA G-quadruplexes, G4s）的识别，对于探究这类结构参与的各类生物学过程具有重要意义，例如基因组重排、转录调控与DNA复制。G4测序（G4-seq）可实现人类基因组中G-四链体的高通量实验图谱绘制。本研究对该方法进行优化升级，开发出改进版G4-seq2，并利用其为12个物种绘制了G-四链体基因组图谱；这些物种均为研究发育过程的关键模式生物，或是具有临床相关性的病原体。这批向科研社群公开共享的多物种G-四链体图谱，将助力进一步解析基因组背景下G-四链体形成的设计原理，研究上述模式生物中的G-四链体生物学功能，预测可应用于治疗的配体靶向靶点，并基于全基因组实验数据开发G-四链体的计算预测工具。