Using GRO-seq experiments to determine the mechanism of C. elegans dosage compensation''s control of transcription

Dosage Compensation is required to correct for uneven gene dose between the sexes. We utilized global run-on sequencing (GRO-seq) to examine how Caenorhabditis elegans dosage compensation reduces transcription of X-linked genes. To facilitate these experiments, we required accurate 5’-ends of genes that have been missing due to a co-transcriptional trans-splicing event common in nematodes. We developed a modified GRO-seq protocol to identify TSSs that are supported by transcription, and determined that TSSs lie more than 1 kb upstream of the previously annotated TSS for nearly one-quarter of all genes. We then investigated the changes that occur in transcriptionally engaged RNA Polymerase when dosage compensation is disrupted, and find that dosage compensation controls recruitment of RNA Polymerase to X-linked genes. Overall design: GRO-seq experiments (two biological replicates) were performed in nuclei from many wild-type states and a dosage compensation mutant