Semicoordinated allelic-bursting shape dynamic random monoallelic expression in pregastrulation embryos

Hemant Chandru Naik; Kishore Hari; Deepshikha Chandel; Susmita Mandal; Mohit Kumar Jolly; Srimonta Gayen

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102954

Semicoordinated allelic-bursting shape dynamic random monoallelic expression in pregastrulation embryos

iScience. 2021 Aug 5;24(9):102954. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102954. eCollection 2021 Sep 24.

Authors

Hemant Chandru Naik¹, Kishore Hari², Deepshikha Chandel¹, Susmita Mandal¹, Mohit Kumar Jolly², Srimonta Gayen¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
² Centre for BioSystems Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.

Abstract

Recently, allele-specific single-cell RNA-seq analysis has demonstrated widespread dynamic random monoallelic expression of autosomal genes (aRME) in different cell types. However, the prevalence of dynamic aRME during pregastrulation remains unknown. Here, we show that dynamic aRME is widespread in different lineages of pregastrulation embryos. Additionally, the origin of dynamic aRME remains elusive. It is believed that independent transcriptional bursting from each allele leads to dynamic aRME. Here, we show that allelic burst is not perfectly independent; instead it happens in a semicoordinated fashion. Importantly, we show that semicoordinated allelic bursting of genes, particularly with low burst frequency, leads to frequent asynchronous allelic bursting, thereby contributing to dynamic aRME. Furthermore, we found that coordination of allelic bursting is lineage specific and genes regulating the development have a higher degree of coordination. Altogether, our study provides significant insights into the prevalence and origin of dynamic aRME and their developmental relevance during early development.

Keywords: Bioinformatics; biological sciences; developmental biology.