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Transcription and splicing dynamics during early Drosophila development

Prudêncio, Pedro,Savisaar, Rosina,Rebelo, Kenny,Martinho, Rui Goncalo,Carmo-Fonseca, Maria

Abstract

Widespread cotranscriptional splicing has been demonstrated from yeast to human. However, most studies to date addressing the kinetics of splicing relative to transcription used either Saccharomyces cerevisiae or metazoan cultured cell lines. Here, we adapted native elongating transcript sequencing technology (NET-seq) to measure cotranscriptional splicing dynamics during the early developmental stages of Drosophila melanogaster embryos. Our results reveal the position of RNA polymerase II (Pol II) when both canonical and recursive splicing occur. We found heterogeneity in splicing dynamics, with some RNAs spliced immediately after intron transcription, whereas for other transcripts no splicing was observed over the first 100 nt of the downstream exon. Introns that show splicing completion before Pol II has reached the end of the downstream exon are necessarily intron-defined. We studied the splicing dynamics of both nascent pre-mRNAs transcribed in the early embryo, which have few and short introns, as well as pre-mRNAs transcribed later in embryonic development, which contain multiple long introns. As expected, we found a relationship between the proportion of spliced reads and intron size. However, intron definition was observed at all intron sizes. We further observed that genes transcribed in the early embryo tend to be isolated in the genome whereas genes transcribed later are often overlapped by a neighboring convergent gene. In isolated genes, transcription termination occurred soon after the polyadenylation site, while in overlapped genes, Pol II persisted associated with the DNA template after cleavage and polyadenylation of the nascent transcript. Taken together, our data unravel novel dynamic features of Pol II transcription and splicing in the developing Drosophila embryo.

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T ansc ip ion and splicing dynamics du ing ea ly D osophila de elopmen PEDRO PRUDÊNCIO, 1,2,5 ROSINA SAVISAAR, 1,5 KENNY REBELO, 1,4 , 5 RUI GONÇALO MARTINHO, 1,2,3 and MARIA CARMO-FONSECA 1 1 Ins i u o de Medicina Molecula João Lobo An unes, Faculdade de Medicina, Uni e sidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisboa, Po ugal 2 Alga e Biomedical Cen e Resea ch Ins i u e (ABC-RI), Uni e sidade do Alga e, 8005-139 Fa o, Po ugal 3 Depa men o Medical Sciences and Ins i u e o Biomedicine (iBiMED), Uni e sidade de A ei o, 3810-193 A ei o, Po ugal ABSTRACT Widesp ead co ansc ip ional splicing has been demons a ed om yeas o human. Howe e , mos s udies o da e ad- d essing he kine ics o splicing ela i e o ansc ip ion used ei he Saccha omyces ce e isiae o me azoan cul u ed cell lines. He e, we adap ed na i e elonga ing ansc ip sequencing echnology (NET-seq) o measu e co ansc ip ional splic- ing dynamics du ing he ea ly de elopmen al s ages o D osophila melanogas e emb yos. Ou esul s e eal he posi ion o RNA polyme ase II (Pol II) when bo h canonical and ecu si e splicing occu . We ound he e ogenei y in splicing dynam- ics, wi h some RNAs spliced immedia ely a e in on ansc ip ion, whe eas o o he ansc ip s no splicing was obse ed o e he i s 100 n o he downs eam exon. In ons ha show splicing comple ion be o e PolII has eached he end o he downs eam exon a e necessa ily in on-de ined. We s udied he splicing dynamics o bo h nascen p e-mRNAs an- sc ibed in he ea ly emb yo, which ha e ew and sho in ons, as well as p e-mRNAs ansc ibed la e in emb yonic de el- opmen , which con ain mul iple long in ons. As expec ed, we ound a ela ionship be ween he p opo ion o spliced eads and in on size. Howe e , in on de ini ion was obse ed a all in on sizes. We u he obse ed ha genes an- sc ibed in he ea ly emb yo end o be isola ed in he genome whe eas genes ansc ibed la e a e o en o e lapped by a neighbo ing con e gen gene. In isola ed genes, ansc ip ion e mina ion occu ed soon a e he polyadenyla ion si e, while in o e lapped genes, Pol II pe sis ed associa ed wi h he DNA empla e a e clea age and polyadenyla ion o he nascen ansc ip . Taken oge he , ou da a un a el no el dynamic ea u es o Pol II ansc ip ion and splicing in he de eloping D osophila emb yo. Keywo ds: D osophila melanogas e emb yo; NET-seq; ansc ip ion e mina ion; splicing kine ics INTRODUCTION I is by now la gely accep ed ha splicing can happen, and o en does happen, while ansc ip ion is s ill in p og ess (Beye and Osheim 1988; Ca illo Oes e eich e al. 2010; Ameu e al. 2011; Khodo e al. 2011; Windhage e al. 2012; B ugiolo e al. 2013; Nojima e al. 2015; Alpe e al. 2017). I is also known ha he p ocesses o splicing and ansc ip ion a e igh ly in e linked. The RNA polyme ase II (Pol II) elonga ion a e can a ec exon inclu- sion (de la Ma a e al. 2003; Fong e al. 2014; Aslanzadeh e al. 2018; Maslon e al. 2019), and many o he p o eins in ol ed in splicing associa e wi h he Pol II la ge subuni ca boxy- e minal domain (CTD) (Mo is and G eenlea 2000; Emili e al. 2002; Da id e al. 2011; Gö nemann e al. 2011; Hsin and Manley 2012; Nojima e al. 2018). Con e sely, splicing may also a ec ansc ip ion, wi h e idence sugges ing ha Pol II slows down a exons (Alexande e al. 2010; Ca illo Oes e eich e al. 2010; Jonke s e al. 2014; Veloso e al. 2014; Maye e al. 2015), po en ially o allow o splicing o comple e. Se e al s udies ha e add essed he iming o in on exci- sion ela i e o Pol II elonga ion. A nascen RNA sequencing s udy (Ca illo Oes e eich e al. 2016) showed ha in Saccha omyces ce e isiae, splicing could occu as soon as he 3′splice si e had eme ged om he ansc ip ion machin- e y, sugges ing ha splicing may be comple ed immedia ely a e in on ansc ip ion. P e ious a emp s o de e mine he du a ion o splicing in i o had e u ned es ima es anging om a ew seconds o se e al minu es (Alpe e al. 2017). The lowes o hese es ima es, such as he ew-second es i- ma e epo ed in Ma in e al. (2013), a e consis en wi h 4 P esen add ess: Donnelly Cen e, Uni e si y o To on o, To on o, On a io M5S 3E1, Canada 5 These au ho s con ibu ed equally o his wo k. Co esponding au ho s: ca mo. [email protected] , [email p o ec ed] A icle is online a h p://www. najou nal.o g/cgi/doi/10.1261/ na. 078933.121. F eely a ailable online h ough he RNA Open Access op ion. © 2022 P udêncio e al. This a icle, published in RNA, is a ailable unde a C ea i e Commons License (A ibu ion 4.0 In e na ional), as desc ibed a h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/. RNA (2022) 28:139–161; Published by Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess o he RNA Socie y 139 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om splicing being comple ed igh a e he 3′splice si e is an- sc ibed. The mos ecen b eak h oughs in he ield ollowed he de elopmen o long- ead nascen RNA sequencing echnologies (D exle e al. 2020; Reime e al. 2021; Sousa-Luís e al. 2021). Collec i ely, hese s udies pe o med in human and D osophila cul u ed cell lines show ha al- hough many in ons a e immedia ely excised as soon as he downs eam exon eme ges om Pol II, a subse emains unspliced and p og essi ely unde goes delayed splicing while Pol II ansc ibes u he (D exle e al. 2020; Reime e al. 2021; Sousa-Luís e al. 2021). He e, we s udied he dynamic p ope ies o ansc ip ion and co ansc ip ional splicing du ing he ea ly s ages o de elopmen in D osophila melanogas e emb yos using na i e elonga ing ansc ip sequencing (NET-seq) (Chu chman and Weissman 2011; Nojima e al. 2015). An ad an age o using D osophila emb yos is ha hey a e mo e physiological han cul u ed cell lines. Mo eo e , compa ed o human, he D osophila genome is mo e com- pac (G a eley e al. 2011) and hus he co e age o NET- seq eads on in agenic egions is highe . Ano he ad an- age o he D osophila model is ha genes ansc ibed ini- ially in he emb yo ha e ew and sho in ons (like yeas genes), whe eas genes ansc ibed la e con ain mul iple long in ons (mo e simila o human genes). An addi ional ea u e o D osophila is he p esence o many genes wi h excep ionally long in ons ha a e subdi ided by a nonca- nonical mechanism e med ecu si e splicing (Du e al. 2015; Joseph e al. 2018; Pai e al. 2018). Fo all hese ea- sons, D osophila is an a ac i e model o s udy co an- sc ip ional splicing dynamics. D osophila ea ly de elopmen is cha ac e ized by apid mi o ic cycles ha lack cy okinesis, esul ing in nuclea p o- li e a ion in a syncy ial cy oplasm (Campos-O ega 1985; La e e al. 2015). Du ing hese ini ial mi o ic di isions, which impose signi ican cons ain s on ansc ip ion and splicing (She moen and O’Fa ell 1991; Ro he e al. 1992; Guilgu e al. 2014; Ma inho e al. 2015; Sandle e al. 2018; Kwasnieski e al. 2019), he emb yo la gely e- lies on ma e nally deposi ed mRNAs. Subsequen ly, he du a ion o he cell cycle is p og essi ely expanded, mem- b anes o m be ween he nuclei and seg ega e hem in o cells, and he zygo ic ansc ip ome s a s o be ully ex- p essed (Campos-O ega 1985; Bly he and Wieschaus 2015; Yuan e al. 2016). By pe o ming dNET-seq in he de eloping D osophila emb yo, we ha e un a eled no el dynamic ea u es o Pol II ansc ip ion and splicing. RESULTS Na i e elonga ing ansc ip sequencing in D osophila emb yos (dNET-seq) Ou i s ask was o adap he NET-seq echnology o use in D osophila emb yos (hence o h e e ed o as dNET- seq). The NET-seq echnique in ol es isola ion o an- sc ip ion complexes o med by Pol II, he DNA empla e and he nascen RNA by immunop ecipi a ion, wi hou c osslinking (Chu chman and Weissman 2011; Nojima e al. 2015). A e solubiliza ion o Pol II complexes unde na i e condi ions by ex ensi e mic ococcal nuclease (MNase) diges ion o isola ed na i e ch oma in, elonga ion complexes we e immunop ecipi a ed using an ibodies ha speci ically ecognize di e en phospho yla ion s a es o he Pol II CTD (Nojima e al. 2015). We collec ed emb yos a 2–3 h a e e iliza ion ( e- e ed o as ea ly emb yos) and 4–6 h a e e iliza ion ( e- e ed o as la e emb yos) (Fig. 1A). Analysis o emb yos s ained wi h a luo escen dye o isualize DNA (Fig. 1B) e- ealed ha ea ly emb yos we e p edominan ly in mi o ic cycle 14 (s age 5), which is when massi e ac i a ion o zy- go ic ansc ip ion occu s (Campos-O ega 1985; La e e al. 2015). The majo i y o la e emb yos we e in he la e s age o ge m-band ex ension (s age 10; Fig. 1C), when he emb yo unk (also known as he ge m-band) elonga es in he an e o-pos e io axis and na ows in he do so- en- al axis (Campos-O ega 1985; La e e al. 2015). In adap ing mNET-seq o D osophila emb yos, we op i- mized bu e s and washing condi ions o pu i y he ch o- ma in ac ion om manually so ed emb yos, solubilize he ansc ip ion complexes wi h MNase diges ion and im- munop ecipi a e Pol II wi h an ibodies. We used abbi polyclonal an ibodies aised agains syn he ic pep ides o he YSPTSPS epea o he CTD o he la ges Pol II sub- uni in Saccha omyces ce e isiae, phospho yla ed a ei he S5 (ab5131 Abcam) o S2 (ab5095 Abcam). Bo h an ibod- ies ha e been ex ensi ely used o ch oma in immunop e- cipi a ion expe imen s in D osophila melanogas e (Yan e al. 2014; Dahlbe g e al. 2015; Lee e al. 2015; Boija e al. 2017; Vizcaya-Molina e al. 2018; Akh a e al. 2019; A za e-Mejía e al. 2020). To enable di ec ional sequencing, he 5′hyd oxyl (OH) gene a ed by MNase diges ion o RNA was i s con e ed o a 5′phospha e by T4 polynucleo ide kinase (Fig. 1D). RNA was hen pu i ied om he immunop ecipi a ed Pol II complexes and size-selec ed using an RNA pu i ica ion ki p ocedu e ha combines a unique bu e sys em wi h a column echnology (see he Ma e ials and Me hods sec- ion o mo e de ail). RNAs wi h a size abo e 60 n we e used o subsequen liga ion o speci ic adap e s o he 5′P and 3′OH ends o each RNA agmen ollowed by PCR-based p epa a ion o a cDNA lib a y o high- h oughpu Illumina sequencing (Fig. 1D). A e sequenc- ing, adap e sequences we e immed and pai ed-end eads wi h sequence o e laps we e me ged in o a single ead ha spans he ull leng h o he o iginal RNA agmen (da k o ange; Fig. 1E). The esul ing single eads we e aligned o he D osophila e e ence genome. The nucleo- ide a he 3′end o each RNA agmen was iden i ied and i s genomic posi ion eco ded (as e isk; Fig. 1E). P udêncio e al. 140 RNA (2022) Vol. 28, No. 2 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om Two o h ee dNET-seq lib a ies we e independen ly p epa ed om ea ly and la e emb yos using S5P an ibody; h ee addi ional lib a ies we e p epa ed om la e emb yos using S2P an ibody. Each lib a y was sequenced o a high co e age wi h a ead leng h o 150 bp (Supplemen al Fig. S1; see he Ma e ials and Me hods sec ion o mo e de ail). Expe imen al ep oducibili y was demons a ed by s ong ag eemen o uniquely aligned ead densi y be ween bio- logical eplica es p epa ed wi h an ibodies aised agains he CTD phospho yla ed on ei he se ine 5 (S5P) o se ine 2 (S2P) posi ions (Supplemen al Fig. S1B–E). This sugges s ha bo h S5P and S2P an ibodies ecognize he CTD o elonga ing Pol II in D osophila emb yos. dNET-seq cap u es splicing in e media es and spliceosomal snRNAs NET-seqcap u esno only he inal(3′OHend)nucleo ideo nascen RNA bu also he 3′OH end o RNAs ha associa e wi h he PolII elonga ion complex (Nojima e al. 2015, 2018; Schlackowe al.2017).No ably,inhumans,mNET-seqo Pol II phospho yla ed on CTD se ine 5 de ec ed splicing in e - media es o med by clea age a he 5′splice si e a e he i s splicing eac ion. The p esence o such in e media es mani es s as an en ichmen o eads whose 3′ends map p e- cisely o he las nucleo ide o anexon. In bo h ea ly and la e D osophila emb yos, we indeed obse ed la ge peaks o dNET-seq/S5P eads mapping o he las nucleo ide o spliced exons, as shown o he kuk gene (g een as e isk; Fig. 2A). We also de ec ed dNET-seq/S5P peaks a he las nucleo ide o in ons, as shown o he eEF1alpha1 gene (pink as e isk; Fig. 2B); en ichmen o hese eads esul s om coimmunop ecipi a ion o eleased in on la ia s a e comple ion o he splicing eac ion (Fig. 2B). In addi ion, we obse ed eads co esponding o ma u e snRNAs en- gaged in co ansc ip ional spliceosome assembly, sugges - ing ha dNET-seq was cap u ing he ee 3′OH ends o he snRNAs (blue as e isk; Fig. 2C). We ound p ominen peaks a he end o spliceosomal U1, U2, U4, and U5 snRNAs. As expec ed, no peak was de ec ed mapping o he end o he U3 snRNA, which is in ol ed in he p ocessing o p e- RNA syn hesized by Pol I. No ewo hy, we obse ed an ac- cumula ion o dNET-seq signal a he end o U6 snRNA (Supplemen al Fig. S2A), con as ing wi h a lack o peak ob- se edinmammaliancells(Nojimae al.2018).Thisisconsis- en wi h he inding ha mos mammalian U6 snRNAs con ain a 2′,3′-cyclic phospha e e minal g oup a he 3′ end, whe eas U6 3′ends in D osophila cells consis o ei he acyclic2 ′,3′-phospha e, a 3′-phospha e o a 2′,3′-hyd oxyl g oup (Lund and Dahlbe g 1992). To quan i y how many cons i u i ely spliced exons ha e dNET-seq peaks a he end, we applied an algo i hm ha inds nucleo ides whe e he NET-seq ead densi y is a leas h ee s anda d de ia ions abo e he ansc ip mean in a local egion de ined by 100 bp ups eam and downs eam (Chu chman and Weissman 2011; P udêncio e al. 2020). Upon analyzing eplica es o dNET-seq/S5P and dNET-seq/S2P lib a ies, we iden i ied o e 10,000 exons showing splicing in e media e peaks (Fig. 2D). As peaks we e mo e equen ly de ec ed on ex- ons o genes wi h highe ead densi y (Supplemen al Fig. S2B), we classi ied he exons in o ou g oups (qua iles) based on he dNET-seq ead densi y o he co espond- ing gene and es ic ed he analysis o exons in he ou h qua ile, ha is, om genes wi h he highes ead densi y. E B A C D FIGURE 1. Na i e elonga ing ansc ip sequencing in D osophila emb yos. (A) Timeline o D osophila ea ly emb yonic de elopmen , which s a s wi h 13 apid syncy ial mi o ic cycles. Du ing in e phase o cycle 14, memb anes o m be ween he nuclei loca ed a he pe- iphe y o he emb yo (cellula iza ion). The new cells s a mo phoge- ne ic mo emen s leading o elonga ion o he emb yo unk (ge m- band ex ension). (B) Rep esen a i e images (s ained o DNA) o em- b yos in mi o ic cycle 14 (s age 5) and la e ge m-band expansion (s age 10). (C) The g aph depic s he de elopmen al s age o emb yos so ed in o he “ea ly”and “la e”g oups. App oxima ely 30,000 ea ly emb yos and 15,000 la e emb yos we e analyzed. (D) Ou line o he dNET-seq expe imen al p o ocol. (E) Ou line o dNET-seq da a analysis. T ansc ip ion and splicing dynamics in D osophila www. najou nal.o g 141 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om The esul s show ha splicing in e media e peaks a e de- ec ed in ∼80% o all cons i u i ely spliced exons. We u - he analyzed he so-called p e-MBT (mid-blas ula ansi ion) genes, which a e he i s zygo ic genes o be- come ansc ip ionally ac i e in ea ly emb yos (Chen e al. 2013), and genes exp essed in la e emb yos. We ound simila p opo ions o splicing in e media e peaks associ- a ed wi h p e-MBT and la e genes in he S5P and he S2P da a se s (Fig. 2E). We hen used he same me hodology and he same se o genes o de ec peaks a he las in onic nucleo ide, co esponding o eleased in on la ia s. Such peaks we e de ec ed in <10% o in ons (Fig. 2F). Taken oge he , hese esul s demons a e ha dNET- seq wi h an ibodies ha ecognize he Pol II CTD phos- pho yla ed a ei he S5 o S2 posi ions is capable o de ec ing splicing in e media es and spliceosomal snRNAs in D osophila emb yos, as p e iously epo ed in mammalian cells (Nojima e al. 2015, 2018; Schlackow e al. 2017). dNET-seq speci ically cap u es nascen RNA To alida e ha we we e de ec ing nascen ansc ip ion in D osophila emb yos, we analyzed ma e nal mRNAs ha a e ansc ibed du ing oogenesis and loaded in o he egg (Fig. 3A). As expec ed, ma e nal ansc ip s such as bicoid (Fig. 3B), nanos (Supplemen al Fig. S3A), gu ken (Supplemen al Fig, S3B), and Rab32 (Supplemen- al Fig. S3C) we e de ec ed by RNA-seq in emb yos col- lec ed 2–3 h a e e iliza ion, bu he dNET-seq signal o e hese genes was negligible. Howe e , a obus dNET-seq/S5P signal was ound a he pumilio gene (Fig. 3C). Exp ession o his gene was conside ed o be exclu- si ely ma e nal based on RNA-seq (Lo e al. 2011) and Pol II ChIP-seq da a (Chen e al. 2013), bu a GRO-seq s udy de ec ed pumilio nascen ansc ip s in emb yos col- lec ed 2–2.5 h pos e iliza ion (Saunde s e al. 2013). The de ec ion o pumilio RNA in ea ly emb yos by GRO-seq and dNET-seq/S5P highligh s he sensi i i y o hese wo echniques in cap u ing low-le el nascen ansc ip s. EF BAC D FIGURE 2. dNET-seq cap u es splicing in e media es and spliceosomal snRNAs. (A–C) The diag ams ou line he 3′OH ends gene a ed by co ansc ip ional clea age a he 5′splice si e (A), he 3′splice si e (B), and he ee 3′OH end o spliceosomal snRNAs (C). Below each diag am, dNET-seq/S5P p o iles o e he indica ed genes a e depic ed (da a om la e emb yos). The g een as e isk deno es he peak a he end o he exon (A). The pink as e isk deno es he peak a he end o he in on (B). The blue as e isk deno es he peak a he end o he U2 snRNA gene (C). A ows indica e he di ec ion o ansc ip ion. Exons a e ep esen ed by boxes. Thinne boxes ep esen UTRs. In ons a e ep esen ed by lines connec ing he exons. (D) Compa ison (Venn diag ams) o exons wi h a splicing in e media e peak de ec ed in biological eplica es o dNET-seq/S5P and dNET-seq/S2P lib a ies. (E,F) F equency o peaks co esponding o splicing in e media es (E) and eleased in on la ia s (F) in p e-MBT genes and genes exp essed in la e emb yos. Only genes wi h he highes ead densi y ( ou h qua ile) we e conside ed. P udêncio e al. 142 RNA (2022) Vol. 28, No. 2 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om E F B A CD G HI FIGURE 3. dNET-seq p o iles in ea ly and la e emb yos. (A) The diag am illus a es he empo al exp ession o ma e nal, p e-MBT, MBT, and pos - MBT genes du ing D osophila emb yonic de elopmen . dNET-seq/S5P and RNA-seq p o iles o e he ma e nal genes bicoid (B) and pumilio (pum) (C), he p e-MBT gene snail (D), and he pos -MBT gene Akap200 (E). Reads ha aligned o he posi i e s and a e in blue, and eads ha aligned o he nega i e s and a e in ed. (F) Me a-analysis o mean dNET-seq/S5P ead densi y a ound he ansc ip ion s a si e (TSS) in ma- e nalandp e-MBTgenes( eplica e1).(G–I) No malized me agene analysis in a bi a y uni s (A.U.). ThedNET-seq/S5P signalisdepic edalong he no malized gene leng h (g ay backg ound), as well as 500 bp ups eam o he ansc ip ion s a si e (TSS) and 500 bp downs eam om he poly- adenyla ion (pA) si e. (G) P e-MBT genes in ea ly emb yos. (H) T ansc ip ionally ac i e genes in la e emb yos; he signal o e genes ha ha e he 3′- UTR o e lapped by an an isense gene is depic ed in da k ed, while he signal o e genes wi h no o he genes wi hin 500 bp is depic ed in ligh ed. (I) T ansc ip ionallyac i egenesin la eemb yos; he signal o e genes ha ha e he 3′-UTR o e lapped by a ansc ip ionally ac i e an isense gene is depic ed in da k ed, while he signal o e genes wi h he 3′-UTRo e lapped by a ansc ip ionally inac i e an isense geneis depic ed in ligh ed. www. najou nal.o g 143 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om The s age a which he emb yo swi ches om elying on ma e nally deposi ed mRNAs and p o eins o unde going i s own ansc ip ion is e med he mid-blas ula ansi ion (MBT). Howe e , a ew genes (known as p e-MBT genes) become ansc ip ionally ac i e be o e MBT (Kwasnieski e al. 2019). A s ong dNET-seq signal was de ec ed in ea - ly emb yos o e he bodies o p e-MBT genes such as snail (Fig. 3D), ushi a azu (Supplemen al Fig. S3D) and odd skipped (Supplemen al Fig. S3E). Al oge he , we exam- ined 117 p e iously iden i ied p e-MBT genes and 35 ma- e nal mRNAs (Fig. 3F; Supplemen al Fig. S3F). The inding ha a obus dNET-seq/S5P signal was eco e ed om zygo ically bu no om ma e nally exp essed an- sc ip s indica es ha dNET-seq is speci ically a ge ing he nascen ansc ip ome. dNET-seq e eals di e ences in ansc ip ion e mina ion p o iles be ween genes exp essed in ea ly and la e emb yos Ha ing con i med ha dNET-seq was cap u ing nascen RNA, we nex in es iga ed he dis ibu ion o Pol II densi y o e ansc ip egions in ea ly and la e emb yos. dNET- seq/S5P p o iles (Fig. 3C–E; Supplemen al Fig. S3A–E) do no show he cha ac e is ic highe ead densi y nea he p omo e , as p e iously desc ibed in mammalian cells (Maye e al. 2015; Nojima e al. 2015). This is mos likely because Pol II ypically pauses ∼30–60 bp downs eam om he ansc ip ion s a si e (TSS) (Kwak e al. 2013) and in ou dNET-seq app oach we en ich o RNAs longe han 60 n (Supplemen al Fig. S1F); hus, we only eco d he posi ion o polyme ases ha ha e ansc ibed a leas 60 bp pas he TSS. We hen u ned ou a en ion o he dNET-seq signal a ound he polyadenyla ion (pA) si e. We ound ha in p e-MBT genes such as snail (Fig. 3D), ailless ( ll) (Supplemen al Fig. S4A), and nullo (Supplemen al Fig. S4B), he dNET-seq/S5P signal ends soon a e he pA si e. In con as , genes exp essed in la e emb yos such as Akap200 (Fig. 3E), His3.3A (Supplemen al Fig. S3H) and s (Supplemen al Fig. S3I), ha e a widesp ead dNET-seq/ S5P signal on in ons and egions downs eam om he pA si e. Analysis o RNA-seq da a se s e ealed ha mRNAs encoded by hese genes a e e icien ly spliced and 3′-end p ocessed (Supplemen al Fig. S3H,I). Thus, dNET-seq/S5P is cap u ing newly syn hesized ansc ip s ha ha e no ye been spliced, as well as RNAs syn hesized by Pol II complexes ha con inued o ansc ibe he DNA empla e a e he mRNA was clea ed and polyadenyla ed a he pA si e. We u he no ed ha he 3′-UTR o genes wi h a dNET-seq signal ex ending pas he pA si e is o e - lapped by ano he gene (gu ken,Nepl3, and In S1, espec- i ely), which is ansc ibed in he opposi e di ec ion. Nex , we gene a ed dNET-seq me ap o iles o p e-MBT and la e genes. Me agene analysis o he dNET-seq/S5P signal on p e-MBT genes exp essed in ea ly emb yos con- i med ha in his g oup o genes, he dNET-seq signal is sha ply educed pas he pA si e (Fig. 3G). The majo i y (65) o p e-MBT genes a e isola ed in he genome, wi h no o he gene on ei he s and wi hin a egion o 500 bp downs eam om he pA si e, as shown o ailless ( ll) (Supplemen al Fig. S4A). Ano he 26 p e-MBT genes a e embedded in la ge genes, as shown o nullo, which is lo- ca ed wi hin a long in on o he CG12541 gene (Supplemen al Fig. S4B). A smalle g oup o p e-MBT genes (21) ha e neighbo ing genes loca ed on ei he s and wi hin a egion o 500 bp downs eam om he pA si e, as shown o Elba2 (Supplemen al Fig. S4C). We u - he iden i ied 5 p e-MBT genes ha ha e he 3′-UTR o e - lapped by an an isense con e gen gene, as shown o spook (spo) (Supplemen al Fig. S4D). No ably, in hese genes, he dNET-seq/S5P signal ex ended pas he pA si e (Supplemen al Fig. S4C,D). To iden i y all he genes ha a e ansc ip ionally ac i e in la e emb yos, we used a s a egy adap ed om GRO- seq analysis (Co e e al. 2008) ha elies on ead densi y in gene dese egions as backg ound e e ence o ab- sence o ansc ip ion. Ve y la ge in e genic egions (gene dese s) we e di ided in o 50 kb windows, and ead densi ies we e calcula ed by di iding ead coun s in each window by he window leng h in bp (Supplemen al Fig. S4E). Genes wi h dNET-seq signal o e he gene body (in RPKM) abo e he 90 h pe cen ile o ead densi y o all in e genic egions analyzed we e conside ed o be ansc ip ionally ac i e (Supplemen al Fig. S4F). We iden i ied ∼7000 ac i e genes, wi h simila esul s ob ained om dNET-seq/S5P and dNET-seq/S2P da a se s (Supplemen al Fig. S4G). This se o ac i e genes includes o e 85% o he 3500 genes p e iously iden i ied as ac i ely ansc ibed a e he mid-blas ula ansi ion (MBT) based on ChIP-seq expe imen s (Chen e al. 2013). Nex , we di ided he genes ansc ibed in la e emb yos in o wo g oups, depending on whe he hei 3′-UTR was o was no o e lapped by ano he con- e gen gene. The me agene analysis shows ha when a e aged ac oss all ansc ibed genes, a e y low dNET- seq signal is de ec ed a he pA si e (Fig. 3H; Supplemen al Fig. S3G), as expec ed assuming ha when Pol II eaches his si e, he nascen ansc ip is clea ed and polyadenyla ed and he e o e he e is no RNA le a ached o he polyme ase o be sequenced. Howe e , in he case o la e genes ha ha e he 3′-UTR o e lapped by an an isense (con e gen ) gene, he dNET-seq/S5P and dNET-seq/S2P signals inc ease again a e he pA si e (Fig. 3H; Supplemen al Fig. S3G). Using he me hodology desc ibed abo e o iden i y ansc ibed genes, we ound ha he as majo i y (>80%) o o e lap- ping con e gen genes we e ansc ip ionally ac i e and only 219 genes we e silen . The me agene analysis shown in Figu e 3I clea ly indica es ha he de ec ion o dNET- P udêncio e al. 144 RNA (2022) Vol. 28, No. 2 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om seq/S5P signal pas he pA si e is independen om an- sc ip ion o he con e gen o e lapping gene. In conclusion, he dis ibu ion p o iles o dNET-seq/S5P and dNET-seq/S2P eads a ound he pA si e sugges dis- inc pa e ns o ansc ip ion e mina ion o genes ha a e ei he isola ed in he genome o o e lapped by ano h- e con e gen gene. Howe e , we canno exclude he pos- sibili y ha speci ically in isola ed genes, he lack o dNET- seq signal esul s om loss o CTD phospho yla ion as Pol II ansc ibes pas he pA si e. Analysis o dNET-seq ead densi y p o iles We nex ocused on he dis ibu ion o dNET-seq eads on exons and in ons. The numbe o nascen RNA eads whose 3′ends map a a pa icula genomic posi ion is p o- po ional o he numbe o Pol II molecules a ha posi ion. Thus, Pol II pause si es can be de ec ed as local peaks in NET-seq ead densi y (Chu chman and Weissman 2011; La son e al. 2014). Howe e , because we pe o med dNET-seq wi h an ibodies ha ecognize he Pol II CTD phospho yla ed a ei he S5 o S2 posi ions, changes in ead densi y may e lec dynamic phospho yla ion o he CTD a he han Pol II pausing. We excluded signal esul - ing om splicing in e media es (i.e., eads ha map o he e y las nucleo ide o in ons and exons we e disca ded) in o de o analyze only eads whose 3′ends associa e wi h he Pol II ac i e si e. We analyzed bo h S5P and S2P da a. Howe e , wewe e pa icula ly in e es ed in explo ing he mul iple peaks o dNET-seq/S5P signal obse ed on bo h exons and in ons (Fig. 4A), because co ansc ip ional splicing has been linked o S5P in humans (Nojima e al. 2015). A di icul y when pe o ming he sys ema ic iden i ica- ion o dNET-seq peaks is ha ansc ip s wi h highe ini i- a ion a es will con ain mo e eads and hus peaks a e mo e likely o be de ec ed han in mo e lowly ansc ibed genes. To con ol o his con ound, we de eloped a peak calling algo i hm ha de ec s egions whe e he local ead densi y is signi ican ly highe han expec ed by chance, gi en he o e -all ead densi y o he ansc ip (Fig. 4A; see also he Ma e ials and Me hods sec ion). We emphasize ha o de- ec ing eads co esponding o splicing in e media es (Fig. 2D–F), we used a peak calling me hod ha looks o signi - ican single-nucleo ide posi ions (Chu chman and Weissman 2011), whe eas his new me hod de ec s highe ead egions o a iable leng h. We hen aligned exons and in ons on he splice si es and calcula ed he a e age peak densi y a each posi ion. Exons ha e a highe o e -all peak densi y han in ons (mean p opo ion o nucleo ides in peaks ∼0.022/∼0.015 o eplica e 1/ eplica e 2 in ons and ∼0.043/∼0.034 o eplica e 1/ eplica e 2 exons; P< 2.2 × 10 −16 o bo h ep- lica es; wo- ailed Mann–Whi ney U- es wi h he peak densi ies o indi idual in ons/exons as da a poin s) (Fig. 4B). This is consis en wi h p e ious epo s indica ing ha he Pol II elonga ion a e is dec eased o e exons in mammalian (Jonke s e al. 2014; Maye e al. 2015) and D osophila cells (Kwak e al. 2013). In addi ion, peak den- si y is sha ply inc eased a ound he 5′splice si e (Fig. 4C). This could indica e ei he Pol II pausing o inc eased S5 phospho yla ion associa ed wi h splice si e ecogni ion. We also canno exclude ha misaligned splicing in e me- dia e eads a e con ibu ing o he obse ed inc ease in peak densi y a ound he 5′splice si e. The dNETseq/S5P p o ile a ound he 3′splice si e shows a highe peak den- si y egion jus a e he in on-exon bounda y, and a p o- g essi e inc ease in a e age exonic peak densi y is u he obse ed s a ing oughly 60 n a e he 3′splice si e (Fig. 4C). A e y simila peak densi y me ap o ile is obse ed wi h he dNETseq/S2P da a se (Fig. 4D). A po en ial ca ea o ead densi y analysis is ha nucle- o ide composi ion a ies sys ema ically ac oss exons and in ons. Fo example, exons end o ha e a highe GC con- en han in ons (Zhu e al. 2009). This could be p oblem- a ic as NET-seq elies on MNase diges ion o DNA and RNA o solubilize ch oma in. MNase diges ion o DNA is known o be sequence-biased, wi h mos no ably a p e e - ence o clea ing jus 5′o an adenine (Dingwall e al. 1981; Hö z and Al enbu ge 1981; Ga ney e al. 2012). An anal- ysis o he 5′ends o ou eads e ealed simila biases o MNase diges ion o RNA (Fig. 4D). This sequence p e e - ence could lead o a e ac ual a ia ion in ead densi y, wi h mo e eads being sampled om ansc ip s and an- sc ip egions whose nucleo ide composi ion is mo e sim- ila o MNase diges ion biases. To e i y o wha ex en ou esul s we e a ec ed by his con ound, we pe o med a simula ion o de e mine he expec ed dis ibu ion o eads based on he diges ion bias alone (Supplemen al Me hods). We concluded ha MNase biases a e unlikely o explain ei he he en ichmen o peaks in exons o he gene al p o ile o peak densi ies pas he 3′splice si e. dNET-seq cap u es ecu si e splicing in e media es Ha ing shown ha he spliceosome o ms a complex wi h he elonga ing Pol II in D osophila emb yos, we asked when splicing akes place ela i e o ansc ip ion. We i s looked a ecu si e splicing o long in ons because his p ocess in ol es he o ma ion o inhe en ly uns able in e - media es ha a e mo e likely o be o med soon a e he ansc ip ion o each in onic splice si e (Pai e al. 2018). In ecu si e splicing, long in ons a e emo ed by sequen- ial excision o adjacen sec ions in ol ing sepa a e splic- ing eac ions, each p oducing a dis inc la ia (Ha on e al. 1998). Recu si ely spliced in on segmen s a e bounded a one o bo h ends by ecu si e si es o a che poin s (Bu ne e e al. 2005), which co espond o ze o nu- cleo ide exons consis ing o jux aposed 3′and 5′splice T ansc ip ion and splicing dynamics in D osophila www. najou nal.o g 145 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om si es a ound a cen al AG|GT mo i , whe e he e ical line ep esen s he splice junc ion (Fig. 5A). To cap u e ecu si e splicing in e media es using dNET-seq, i is essen ial o ha e a good co e age o eads co esponding o nascen ansc ip s and spanning he splice junc ions. The o al numbe o eads esul ing om nascen RNA in each dNET-seq da a se is depic ed in Supplemen al Figu e S1G. By me ging he sequencing in o ma ion o o e lapped pai ed-end eads (Fig. 1E), we we e able o sequence on a e age ∼103 n pe nascen RNA (Supplemen al Fig. S1F,H). Focusing on p e iously iden i ied D osophila a che poin s (Du e al. 2015; Joseph e al. 2018), we ound dNET-seq/S5P eads ha span he junc ion be ween he canonical 5′splice si e a he end o he exon and he i s a che poin (RP1) in- e nal o he downs eam in on, as shown o he second in on o he Megalin gene (Fig. 5B). Reads spanning he subsequen in onic RPs we e also obse ed (Fig. 5B). O e all, we de ec ed dNET-seq/S5P and dNET-seq/S2P spliced eads suppo ing mos o he p e iously iden i ied ecu si e splicing e en s (Fig. 5C; Supplemen al Fig. S5A). Analysis o dNET-seq p o iles a ound a RP e eals an en ichmen o eads in a egion loca ed a ew nucleo ides EB AC D FIGURE 4. Analysis o dNET-seq ead densi y p o iles. (A)dNET-seq/S5P and RNA-seq p o iles o e he pos -MBT gene smoke ala m (smal). The ead numbe is depic ed a wo magni ica ion le els in wo biological eplica es. Fo eplica e 1, he line “Peak Calle 1”shows peaks called using he “la ge peaks”se ing, which is app op ia e o de ec ing la ge egions o pu a i e Pol II pausing. The line “Peak Calle 2”shows peaks called using he “small peaks”se ing, which p o ides highe spa ial esolu ion and has been used o subsequen analyses. RNA-seq da a o he same egions is also shown. (B) Peak densi y in he exons and in ons o ansc ip ionally ac i e genes (dNET-seq/S5P, eplica e 1). Peak densi y has been de ined as he pe cen age o nucleo ides wi hin a gi en exon o in on ha o e lap wi h a signi ican peak. (C,D) Me agene analysis o peak den- si y es ima ed om dNET-seq/S5P (C) and dNET-seq/S2P (D) da a om la e emb yos. To calcula e peak densi y o each posi ion, we di ided he numbe o in ons ha o e lap wi h a peak a ha posi ion by he o al numbe o in ons. The las 50 n o exons, he i s 50 n o in ons, he las 25 n o in ons, and he i s 100 n o exons a e shown. Only in e nal and ully coding exons om ansc ip ionally ac i e genes ha a e a leas 100 n long a e shown. Exons sho e han 150 n con ibu e o bo h he exon end and s a . Only in ons ha we e a leas 50 n long we e conside ed. (E) Sequence logo o nucleo ide equencies wi hin a 10-n window a ound he 5′ends o NET-seq eads. The combined heigh o he bases a each posi ion is p opo ional o he in o ma ion con en . Posi ion 6 co esponds o he 5′-mos nucleo ide o he ead. Pu a i e in e nal p iming eads, as well as eads mapping o he las nucleo ide o exons o in ons (possible splice in e media e and in on la ia eads) we e igno ed. P udêncio e al. 146 RNA (2022) Vol. 28, No. 2 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om downs eam om he RP, as shown o RP2 in he i s in- on o he Tenascin majo gene (Fig. 5D). No ewo hy, mos o hese eads a e al eady spliced o he p e ious RP (Fig. 5D). A me a-analysis o dNET-seq/S5P eads a ound 137 RPs con i ms ha many spliced eads can be obse ed jus downs eam om RPs (Fig. 5E,F), dem- ons a ing ha splicing occu s soon a e he ansc ip ion o in onic ecu si e si es. The obse ed en ichmen o dNET-seq/S5P eads a ound RPs u he sugges s ha e- cu si e splicing and Pol II elonga ion a e may be kine i- cally coupled. In ag eemen wi h his iew, a slow Pol II mu an enhanced ecu si e splicing o Ubx ansc ip s in D osophila emb yos (de la Ma a e al. 2003). Splicing akes place as Pol II ansc ibes pas he 3′′′′′ splice si e Ha ing es ablished ha dNET-seq cap u es ecu si e splic- ing, we hen asked whe he dNET-seq eads spanning ca- nonical exon-exon junc ions we e also de ec ed (Fig. 6A). To iden i y splicing e en s, we conside ed all in e nal and ully coding exons ha a e a leas 100 n long in ac i ely ansc ibed genes in ea ly and la e emb yos. Fo each splice junc ion, we coun ed how many eads had he 3′end mapped o he i s 100 n o he exon. Only exons wi h a leas 10 eads mapping o his egion we e conside ed (see he Ma e ials and Me hods sec ion o jus i ica ion o EF B A C D FIGURE 5. dNET-seq cap u es ecu si e splicing in e media es. (A) Schema ic illus a ing ecu si e splicing. A a che poin (RP) wi h jux aposed accep o and dono splice si e mo i s is indica ed. (B) Visualiza ion o dNET-seq/S5P eads ha align o he second in on o he Megalin (mgl) gene. Recu si ely spliced eads align o exon 2 (da k blue) and he in on a e RP1 (ligh blue). Unspliced eads a e depic ed in g ay. The numbe o spliced and unspliced eads a each RP in he in on is indica ed. (C) Venn diag am compa ing RPs iden i ied in wo dNET-seq/S5P biological eplica es and in p e iously epo ed s udies (Du e al. 2015; Joseph e al. 2018). (D) Numbe o dNET-seq/S5P eads ha ha e he 3′end mapped a ound RP2 in he i s in on o Tenascin majo (Ten-m) gene. The op panel depic s all eads, and he bo om panel depic s only eads ha ha e been spliced o RP1. (E,F) Me a-analysis wi h single nucleo ide esolu ion o no malized dNET-seq/S5P eads a ound RPs (n= 137) using all eads (E) o only eads spliced o he p e ious RP o exon (F). T ansc ip ion and splicing dynamics in D osophila www. najou nal.o g 147 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om MATERIALS AND METHODS Emb yo collec ion D osophila melanogas e lies (O egon R [O R] s ain) we e aised a 25°C, in polyp opylene ials con aining s anda d en iched cul- u e medium (co nmeal, molasses, yeas , soya lou , and bee oo sy up). Th ee-day-old lies (coun ing om pupae eclosion) we e a ened in cul u e medium supplemen ed wi h esh yeas o 2 d. Emb yos we e collec ed in o apple juice-aga pla es supple- men ed wi h esh yeas using app op ia e cages con aining ∼200 lies each. To a oid emale e en ion o olde emb yos, h ee p ecollec ions o 30 min each we e made be o e he i s collec ion o emb yos. To maximize egg laying, and a oid la ae con amina ion, adul lies we e ans e ed o clean emb yo col- lec ion cages e e y day o e 5 d. Fo ea ly s age emb yos (2–3 h a e egg-laying), adul emales we e allowed o lay eggs o 1 h in apple juice-aga pla es. Pla es we e subsequen ly collec ed and emb yos we e aged a 25°C o 90 min. Du ing he ollowing 30 min, emb yos we e ha es ed om he pla es, decho iona ed in 50% bleach solu ion o 2 min, and washed once in Phospha e Bu e ed Saline supplemen ed wi h 0.1% Tween-20 (PBT) and wice in deionized wa e . In o de o disca d olde emb yos (s age 6 and olde ), manual s aging o collec ed emb yos was pe o med wi h he help o o ceps and unde a magni ie scope. Emb yos we e hen esuspended in a solu ion con aining 120 mM NaCl and 0.04% T i on, and washed wice wi h 120 mM NaCl solu ion. A he end o he 3 h collec ion, he solu ion was emo ed and emb yos we e ozen in liquid ni ogen and s o ed a −80°C. Fo he la e s age (4–6 h), eggs we e laid o 2 h and aged a 25°C o 3.5 h. Emb yo collec ion and p ocessing was simila o he ea ly s age emb yos, bu in his case, no manual s aging was pe o med. Emb yo DNA s aining Fo each emb yo collec ion, and a e decho iona ion, a ep esen- a i e emb yo sample was collec ed om he o al pool and ixed in a scin illa ion lask, using a solu ion con aining one olume o 4% o maldehyde in PBT and ou olumes o hep ane, o 20 min a 100 pm. The lowe aqueous phase solu ion was subse- quen ly emo ed, 4 mL o me hanol was added and emb yos we e shaken igo ously o 1 min. Emb yos we e hen collec ed om he bo om o he scin illa ion lask, washed wice wi h me h- anol, and ozen a −20°C in me hanol. To ehyd a e he emb yos, hey we e washed o 5 min each, wi h 3:1, 1:1, and 1:3 mix solu- ions o me hanol:PBT. Emb yos we e subsequen ly washed wice in PBT and incuba ed wi h 1:5000 Sy ox g een (In i ogen), sup- plemen ed wi h 5 µg/mL RNase A (Sigma-Ald ich) in PBT o 15 min. A e washing wi h PBT, emb yos we e moun ed in luo es- cence moun ing medium (Dako) and examined in a Zeiss AxioZoom V16 Fluo escence S e eo Mic oscope o image acqui- si ion and emb yo s aging. Images we e p ocessed using ImageJ so wa e (NIH). dNET-seq and lib a y p epa a ion The dNET-seq p o ocol was adap ed om mNET-seq (Nojima e al. 2016). B ie ly, 300 µL o ozen emb yos was esuspended in 3.5 mL o Bu e B1 (15 mM HEPES-KOH, pH 7.6; 10 mM KCl; 5 mM MgCl 2 ; 1 mM DTT; 0.1 mM EDTA; 0.35 M suc ose; 4 µg/mL peps a in; 10 mM sodium ne abisul i e; 0.5 mM EGTA sup- plemen ed wi h comple e EDTA ee p o ease inhibi o [Roche] and PhoSTOP [Roche]). Emb yos we e homogenized in a Dounce homogenize wi h 11× s okes using a igh pes le on ice. The suspension was cen i uged a 7700g o 15 min a 4°C, he supe na an was disca ded, and he whi e pelle con aining he nuclei was esuspended in 500 µL o Bu e B1. The suspen- sion was again homogenized in he Dounce wi h 4× s okes and loaded wi hou mixing on he op o bu e B2 (15 mM HEPES- KOH, pH 7.6; 10 mM KCl; 5 mM MgCl 2 ; 1 mM DTT; 0.1 mM EDTA; 0.8 M suc ose; 4 µg/mL peps a in; 10 mM sodium me abi- sul i e; 0.5 mM EGTA supplemen ed wi h comple e EDTA ee p o ease inhibi o [Roche] and PhosSTOP [Roche]). The suspen- sion was cen i uged a 1310g o 30 min a 4°C, and he pelle was esuspended wi h 125 µL o NUN1 bu e (20 mM T is-HCl [pH 7.9]; 75 mM NaCl; 0.5 mM EDTA and 50% Glyce ol). An amoun o 1.2 mL o Bu e NUN2 (300 mM NaCl, 7.5 mM MgCl 2 , 1% NP-40, 1 M U ea supplemen ed wi h comple e EDTA ee p o ease inhibi o [Roche] and PhoSTOP [Roche]) was mixed wi h he nuclei and incuba ed on ice o 15 min p e- o ming a sho o ex e e y 3 min. Ch oma in was hen cen i- uged a 10,000g o 10 min a 4°C, washed wi h 100 µL o 1× MNase Bu e , and incuba ed in 100 µL o MNase eac ion mixing (1× MNase bu e and 30 gel uni /µL MNase [New England Biolabs]) o 3 min a 37°C wi h mixing a 1400 pm. The eac ion was s opped wi h 10 µL o 250 mM EGTA, cen i uged a 10,000g o 5 min a 4°C, and he supe na an con aining he solubilized ch oma in was eco e ed. Fo he ea ly emb yos sample, 2 × 300 µL o emb yos we e p epa ed in pa allel and pooled oge he a e he ch oma in solubiliza ion. Immunop ecipi a ion o Pol II– RNA complexes was pe o med using 50 µL o P o ein G Dynabeads (The mo Fishe Scien i ic), p eincuba ed o e nigh wi h 5 µg o he co esponden an ibody: an i-Pol II CTD S5P (ab5131 Abcam) o an i-Pol II CTD S2P (ab5095 Abcam) in 100 µL NET2 (50 mM T is-HCl pH 7.4; 150 mM NaCl and 0.05% NP-40) and washed h ee imes wi h NET2. Beads we e incuba ed wi h he solubilized ch oma in in 1 mL o al olume o NET2 o 1 h a 4°C, washed se en imes wi h 500 µL o NET2 and once wi h 100 µL o PNKT (1× PNK bu e and 0.1% ween) be o e incuba ion o 6 min in 50 µL o PNK eac- ion mix (1× PNKT, 1 mM ATP and 0.05 U/mL T4 PNK 3′phospha ase minus [NEB] in a he momixe a 37°C and 1400 pm. A e washing he beads wi h NET2, long RNA ag- men s we e isola ed using Quick-RNA Mic oP ep (Zymo e- sea ch): 300 µL o RNA Lysis Bu e in 33% E OH was mixed o he beads by pipe ing. Beads we e disca ded and he sus- pension was loaded in o a Zymo spin column ha was cen i- uged a 10,000g o 30 sec. The column was washed once wi h 400 µL RNA p ep bu e and wice wi h 700 µL and 400 µL RNA wash bu e , espec i ely. RNA was hen elu ed in 15 µL o DNase/RNase- ee wa e (Zymo) and s o ed a −80°C. An amoun o 100 ng o RNA was used o p epa e each lib a y, ollowing he s anda d p o ocol o he T uSeq Small RNA Lib a y P ep ki (Illumina). A e adap e liga ion and e e se ansc ip- ion, he lib a ies we e PCR ampli ied using 16 PCR cycles, and cDNA lib a ies we e ac iona ed in he gel be ween 130 o 300 bp. The lib a ies we e sequenced using PE-150 on he Illumina HiSeq X pla o m by No ogene Co., L d. P udêncio e al. 154 RNA (2022) Vol. 28, No. 2 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om Quan i ica ion and s a is ical analysis dNET-seq da a p ocessing Adap e sequences we e emo ed om all dNET-seq pai ed-end samples using Cu adap ( e sion 1.18) (Ma in 2011) wi h he ol- lowing pa ame e s: -a TGGAATTCTCGGGTGCCAAGG -A GATCGTCGGACTGTAGAACTCTGAAC -m 10 -e 0.05 –ma ch- ead-wildca ds -n 1. Pai ed-end ead me ging was pe o med us- ing bbme ge.sh om BBMap (Bushnell e al. 2017) wi h he “xloose”pa ame e . Me ged eads we e hen aligned o he D osophila e e ence genome (dm6; Ensembl elease 95) (Cunningham e al. 2019) using STAR ( e sion 2.6.0b) (Dobin e al. 2013) wi h –chimSegmen Min se o 20. Only uniquely mapped eads we e conside ed, ex ac ed using SAM ools ( e - sion 1.7) (Li e al. 2009) wi h -q se o 255. Excep ionally, in Supplemen al Figu e S2A, HiSa 2 was used, using he same dm6 genome anno a ion ile o genome indexing and using de- aul pa ame e s, wi h he –no-disco dan –no-mixed lags se . PCR in e nal p iming e en s gene a ed du ing lib a y p epa a ion we e emo ed using a cus om Py hon sc ip (P udêncio e al. 2020) wi h he ollowing pa ame e s: -a TGG.. -s pai ed. To ob ain single-nucleo ide esolu ion, a cus om Py hon sc ip (P udêncio e al. 2020) was used o ex ac he 5′end nucleo ide o ead 2 (a - e imming) in each sequencing pai , wi h he di ec ionali y indi- ca ed by ead 1 (Fig. 1E). Publicly a ailable RNA-seq da a se s used Publicly a ailable D osophila emb yonic ansc ip ome sequenc- ing da a [Poly(A) RNA-seq], pe o med in de elopmen al s ages simila o he dNET-seq ea ly and la e samples, we e used in his s udy. RNA-seq da a se s co esponding o cycle 14B (Lo e al. 2011) we e ob ained om he Gene Exp ession Omnibus (GEO) (samples GSM618409, GSM618410, GSM618421, and GSM618422 om da a se GSE25180). RNA-seq da a se s om 4–6 h old emb yos we e ob ained om modENCODE p ojec PRJNA75285 (G a eley e al. 2011) (accessions SRR023696, SRR023746, SRR023836, SRR035220, SRR023669, SRR035405, SRR035406, SRR024014, and SRR023539). RNA-seq da a p ocessing Adap e s we e emo ed om all da a se s using T im Galo e ( e - sion 0.4.4) (h p://www.bioin o ma ics.bab aham.ac.uk/p ojec s/ im_galo e/; las accessed 26 Ap il 2020). Da a se s om modENCODE and GEO we e aligned o he dm6 D osophila e - e ence genome (Ensembl elease 95) (Cunningham e al. 2019) using STAR ( e sion 2.6.0b) (Dobin e al. 2013) wi h –chimSegmen Min se o 20. S ing ie ( e sion 1.3.3b) (Pe ea e al. 2015) was used o quan i y no malized gene exp ession as T ansc ip s Pe Kilobase Million (TPM) alues wi h he ollowing pa ame e s: -a 5 -e. In addi ion, he iso o m lis was p o ided o- ge he wi h he -G pa ame e co esponding o he dm6 (Ensembl elease 95) GTF ile. Genes wi h TPM alues abo e 2 we e consid- e ed o be exp essed. Selec ion o genes and iso o ms o analysis Simila o a p e ious GRO-seq analysis (Co e e al. 2008), we used he ead densi y o e y la ge in e genic egions (gene dese e- gions) o de ine he e e ence o absence o ansc ip ion. Gene dese s we e di ided in o 50kb windows, and dNET-seq ead densi ies we e calcula ed by di iding he ead coun s in each win- dow by he window leng h (in bp). Read coun s pe window we e ob ained wi h bed ools genome co e age ( e sion 2.27.1-1- gb87c465) (Quinlan and Hall 2010), and an a bi a y densi y h eshold was de ined as he 90 h pe cen ile o he ead densi y dis ibu ion (Supplemen al Fig. S4A). T ansc ip s whose gene body dNETseq ead densi y exceeded his h eshold we e con- side ed o be ansc ip ionally ac i e (Supplemen al Fig. S4B). Fo all o he analyses pe o med on la e genes, only ansc ip ion- ally ac i e genes we e conside ed. In addi ion, only one iso o m pe gene was conside ed o all analysis, selec ed as he iso o m wi h he highes RPKM alue in he RNA-seq da a se o he co - esponding de elopmen al s age. The coo dina es o p e iously iden i ied p e-MBT genes we e ob ained om Chen e al. (2013) and con e ed o dm6 coo di- na es using he li O e ool (h ps://genome.ucsc.edu/cgi-bin/ hgLi O e ). The mos ep esen a i e iso o m o each gene was manually selec ed h ough isualiza ion o indi idual p o iles. Splicing in e media e and la ia de ec ion Exons con aining splicing in e media es o in ons con aining la - ia s we e iden i ied using a peak inde algo i hm (NET_sn Peak- Finde ) (Chu chman and Weissman 2011; P udêncio e al. 2020) ha de ec s he p esence o a peak in he las nucleo ide o an exon (splicing in e media e) o an in on (la ia ), by compa ing he accumula ion o 3′end eads mapping a ha posi ion wi h he mean ead densi y o he lanking 200 n . A peak is called when he ead densi y a he peak is supe io o he mean o his su ounding egion plus 3 s anda d de ia ions (Chu chman and Weissman 2011). Since gene ead densi y in luences peak de ec- ion, he exons we e di ided in o qua iles based on he dNET-seq ead densi y o he co esponding gene. Only exons om he highes qua ile (i.e., om genes wi h he highes ead densi y) we e conside ed in Figu e 2 o dNET-seq La e analysis. Analysis o ead densi y and peak calling RPKM alues o he me ged dNET-seq da a se s we e calcula ed in he ollowing manne : RPKM ( ansc ip ) = eads ×104×106 ( o al uniquely mapped eads) ×(gene leng h in bp) , whe e 10 4 no malizes o gene leng h and 10 6 no malizes o se- quencing dep h. Que ies o gene 3′UTR o e laps (Fig. 3) be ween genes we e pe o med wi h bed ools in e sec ( e sion 2.27.1-1- gb87c465) (Quinlan and Hall 2010). To de ec splicing in e media e and in on la ia peaks, he al- go i hm om Chu chman and Weissman (2011) was adap ed as desc ibed in P udêncio e al. (2020). To be able o call la ge e- gions as peaks, a cus om algo i hm was de eloped and imple- men ed in Py hon 3.7. No e ha like o all o he cus om Py hon code epo ed he e, he e is hea y eliance on bed ools 2.29.0 (Quinlan and Hall 2010) o ope a ions on coo dina e in- e als. In addi ion, NumPy 1.17.2 (Ha is e al. 2020) and SciPy 1.4.0 (Vi anen e al. 2020) we e used. Ou peak calle de ec s T ansc ip ion and splicing dynamics in D osophila www. najou nal.o g 155 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om egions whe e he local ead densi y is signi ican ly highe han expec ed by chance gi en he o e all ead densi y o he an- sc ip . Almos all o he nume ical pa ame e s used by he peak calle can be adjus ed. In Figu e 4A, esul s ob ained wi h wo pa - icula pa ame e iza ions a e shown. Peak Calle 1 (“la ge peaks”) is adap ed o de ec ing la ge peaks and p o ides esul s ha a e mo e in ui i e o a human obse e . Peak Calle 2 (“small peaks”) p o ides a ine spa ial esolu ion, and co esponds o he se ings used in all o he analyses in his s udy. The peak calle akes as inpu a BED ile wi h he 3′ends o eads (single-nucleo ide eso- lu ion), as well as a GTF ile wi h ansc ip and exon anno a ions and a lis o ansc ip s o analyze. I unc ions by calcula ing a slid- ing a e age o ead densi y wi hin each ansc ip (window size 5/ 21 o small/la ge; only eads mapping o he same s and as he anno a ed ansc ip a e conside ed). I hen andomly shu les he posi ions o he eads wi hin he ansc ip and ecalcula es he sliding a e ages o de e mine he andom expec a ion. This can be epea ed se e al imes ( i e in his s udy) o mo e obus ness. Windows ob ained wi h he ue ead dis ibu ion a e called as signi ican i hei ead densi y is highe han he 99 h pe cen ile o he simula ed windows. No e ha in his s udy, we used a se - ing whe eby his h eshold is calcula ed sepa a ely o each exon (and i s ups eam in on, o exons o he han he i s ), by exclud- ing he in on-exon pai o in e es and eads o e lapping i du ing he simula ion s ep. This is necessa y so ha when calling peaks wi hin a gi en exon (and i s ups eam in on), he h eshold se would no be a ec ed by he eads wi hin ha pa icula exon and i s ups eam in on. This way, o ins ance, he calling o a peak in he beginning o he exon is no a ec ed by he calling o a peak in he middle o he same exon (excep h ough po en- ial me ging, see below). A e he ini ial peaks a e called, hey a e il e ed o emo e peaks whe e mo e han 90% o he eads come om a single nucleo ide (p obable PCR duplica es), ha a e sho - e han 5 n , o ha o e lap wi h ewe eads han a speci ied h eshold (10/5 o la ge/small). Finally, peaks ha a e wi hin a speci ied dis ance o each-o he (21/5 n o la ge/small) a e me ged oge he . Indi idual gene p o iles Indi idual dNET-seq gene p o iles we e gene a ed by sepa a ing eads by s and using SAM ools ( e sion 1.7) (Li e al. 2009). S and-sepa a ed ead da a was con e ed o bedG aph o ma using bed ools genomeco wi h he -bg lag ( e sion 2.27.1-1- gb87c465) (Quinlan and Hall 2010). Co e age alues we e no - malized pe nucleo ide accoun ing o he o al numbe o uniquely aligned eads and wi h he scale se o eads pe 10 8 se- quences. The ou come was con e ed o bigwig iles h ough he bedG aphToBigWig ool (Ken e al. 2010) and uploaded o he UCSC Genome B owse (James Ken e al. 2002). Me agene analysis The ead densi y me agene plo s in Figu e 3F–I and Figu e 5E,F we e c ea ed wi h deepTools ( e sion 3.0.2) (Ramí ez e al. 2016). Me agenes wi h no malized gene size (Fig. 3) ha e bins o 10 bp while all o he me agene plo s in his s udy ha e single nucleo ide esolu ion. No malized gene and in on leng hs (Fig. 3F–I) we e ob ained h ough he scale- egions op ion. Exon-in- on junc ions wi hou no malized leng hs we e ob ained using he e e ence-op ion se o he 3′SS o he 5′SS. Fo no maliza- ion, we di ided he numbe o eads a each nucleo ide (o bin) by he o al numbe o eads in he en i e genomic egion unde analysis. These alues we e hen used o calcula e he mean o each nucleo ide, and he esul s we e plo ed in a bi a y uni s (A.U.) anging om 0 o 1. The peak o ead densi y me agene plo s in Figu es 3D, 4B and 7D, and Supplemen al Figu es S3G, S7A–G, and S7E–Jwe e p e- pa ed using cus om Py hon and R sc ip s (h ps://gi hub.com/ osinaSa /dNETseq_code). The peak densi y alue ep esen s he p opo ion o in ons/exons ha o e lap wi h a peak a ha posi ion. Only in e nal ully coding exons ha we e a leas 100 n long we e included. In addi ion, he in on jus ups eam o he exon had o be a leas 50 n long. Fo Figu e 7D, Supplemen al Figu es S7A–G and S7E–H, u he il e ing based on ead co e age was pe o med (see below). No e ha exons sho e han 150 nucleo ides con ibu e bo h o he ups eam and downs eam exonic p opo ion o he plo . Immedia e splicing analysis The immedia e splicing analysis was pe o med solely on he S5P da a se s. Only he 117 p e iously anno a ed p e-MBT genes (Chen e al. 2013) we e analyzed o ea ly da a se s. Reads we e conside ed as spliced i hey con ained “N”s in he CIGAR s ing, in a posi ion co esponding o an anno a ed in on. Reads ha o e lapped bo h he (unspliced) in on and he downs eam exon we e conside ed as unspliced. In bo h cases, only eads whe e he 3′end was loca ed a leas 5 n downs eam om he 3′ss we e included, o a oid analyzing misaligned eads whose 3′end should ha e mapped o he end o he ups eam exon in- s ead. Spliced eads ha had he 5′end mapped o he ups eam exon and he 3′end mapped o he in on we e conside ed indic- a i e o ecu si e splicing i he i s nucleo ide o he downs eam end (indica i e o he a che poin posi ion) ma ched he second G in he AGGT canonical splicing mo i . I he las nucleo ide o a ead ma ched he las nucleo ide o an exon, i was conside ed a splicing in e media e ead and no ep esen a i e o nascen RNA. A splicing a io was calcula ed by di iding he numbe o na- scen RNA spliced eads by he sum o he numbe o spliced and unspliced nascen RNA eads, only including eads whose 3′ends mapped o he i s 100 n o he downs eam exon. Only ully coding in e nal exons a leas 100 n long we e conside ed (ex- cep ionally, in Fig. 6E and K and Supplemen al Fig. S6O–Q, he 3′mos coding exon was also analyzed). Finally, we pe o med il- e ing o emo e exons whe e he ead co e age was oo low o allow o obus es ima ion o he splicing a io. The ele an h eshold was calcula ed o each da a se sepa a ely. We calcu- la ed he o al p opo ion o spliced eads ou o all spliced/ unspliced eads o he da a se o ob ain he expec ed splicing a io. We hen pe o med a binomial es o know he p obabili y o sampling only spliced/unspliced eads by chance unde he null ha he ue splicing a io equaled his expec a ion. We se he h eshold as he lowes numbe o eads ha had o be sam- pled o he p obabili y o be below 0.01. Th ough his p ocedu e, he h eshold was se a ≥10 eads o eplica e 1 and 2 o he la e da a se (no e minal coding exons), a ≥11/10 eads o eplica e 1/2 o he la e da a se including e minal coding exons, and a ≥14/9 eads o eplica e 1/2 o he ea ly da a se ( e minal coding exons always included). P udêncio e al. 156 RNA (2022) Vol. 28, No. 2 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om Gene a chi ec u e and nucleo ide composi ion analysis Gene a chi ec u e and nucleo ide composi ion pa ame e s we e calcula ed using cus om Py hon and R sc ip s based on Ensembl anno a ions o dm6.18 (Cunningham e al. 2019). Splice si e s eng h sco es we e calcula ed using MaxEn Scan (Yeo and Bu ge 2004) wi h de aul pa ame e s. Signi icance es - ing was pe o med using K uskal–Wallis es s wi h a Bon e oni co ec ion o mul iple compa isons, wi h he co ec ion applied sepa a ely o ei he eplica e. Fo p edic o s whe e he co ec ed P- alue was <0.05, Dunn’s es was pe o med on he pai wise compa isons using Rpackage dunn. es (Dinno 2017). The se- quence logo in Figu e 4E was gene a ed using he seqLogo pack- age e sion 1.52.0 in R (Bembom 2019). DATA DEPOSITION All aw and p ocessed sequencing da a gene a ed in his s udy ha e been submi ed o he NCBI Gene Exp ession Omnibus (GEO; h ps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go /geo/) unde accession num- be GSE152585. The Py hon code used is a ailable a h ps:// gi hub.com/ osinaSa /dNETseq_code and h ps://gi hub.com/ kenny ebelo. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL Supplemen al ma e ial is a ailable o his a icle. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We hank Takayuki Nojima and Nicholas P oud oo (Uni e si y o Ox o d, UK) o c i ical discussions. This wo k was suppo ed by unding o M.C.-F. (Fundação pa a a Ciência e Tecnologia, FCT/Minis é io da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Supe io - Fundos do O çamen o de Es ado [UIDB/50005/2020], and FCT/ FEDER/POR Lisboa 2020, P og ama Ope acional Regional de Lisboa PORTUGAL 2020, g an LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER- 016394) and o R.G.M (FCT g an PTDC/BIA-BID/28441/2017). P.P. was a ecipien o an FCT ellowship (SFRH/BD/109689/ 2015). R.S. was a ecipien o an EMBO Long-Te m Fellowship (EMBO ALTF 101-2019). This p ojec has ecei ed unding om he Eu opean Union’s Ho izon 2020 esea ch and inno a ion p o- g amme unde g an ag eemen s no. 842695 (Ma ie Skłodowska- Cu ie Ac ions) and no. 857119 (RiboMed). Au ho con ibu ions: P.P. pe o med all molecula biology ex- pe imen s. R.S. pe o med he majo i y o splicing kine ics analy- ses and de eloped he peak calle o de ec ing pu a i e pause si es. K.R. pe o med addi ional bioin o ma ics analyses. P.P., R. S., R.G.M., and M.C.-F concei ed he s udy and w o e he pape . 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Ped o P udêncio, Rosina Sa isaa , and Kenny Rebelo a e co- i s au- ho s o his pape , “T ansc ip ion and splicing dynamics du ing ea ly D osophila de elopmen .”Ped o is a pos doc o al ellow a he Ins i u e o Molecula Medicine, Lisbon in he lab o D . Ca mo-Fonseca, wi h a ocus on he in e play be ween an- sc ip ion and splicing. Rosina is also a pos doc o al ellow in he Ca mo-Fonsecag oup, wi hanin e es in hekine icso splicing and how i is linked o he e olu ion o splicing egula o y in o - ma ion. Kenny is a molecula gene ics g adua e s uden a he Uni e si y o To on o in he lab o Benjamin Blencowe, wi h an in e es in unde s anding how nuclea p o ein complexes p o- cess RNA o enable cellula unc ion. Wha a e he majo esul s desc ibed in you pape and how do hey impac his b anch o he ield? In his pape , we b ough he NET-seq me hod ou o he cell dish and in o whole D osophila emb yos (dNETseq), allowing us o ex- plo e se e al aspec s o RNA biology in his model. We s udied ansc ip ion e mina ion and ound e idence ha his p ocess may exhibi mechanis ic di e ences depending on whe he he ansc ip ion uni is isola ed o o e laps a con e gen gene. As genes exp essed ea lie in emb yonic de elopmen a e mo e likely o be isola ed, his means ha p e e ed mechanisms o ansc ip- ion e mina ion may e ol e as de elopmen p og esses. We also add essed p oblems o splicing kine ics. We obse ed ha many in ons a e spliced immedia ely a e ansc ip ion, including e y la ge in ons, sugges ing ha splicing ia in on de ini ion is no limi ed o small in ons. Con inued P udêncio e al. 160 RNA (2022) Vol. 28, No. 2 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om Wha led you o s udy RNA o his aspec o RNA science? PP: My desi e is o unde s and he complex egula ion o gene ex- p ession. I s a ed my scien i ic ca ee wo king in D osophila em- b yogenesis in Rui Ma inho’s lab, whe e we came ac oss an obse a ion ha led o ques ions ha we didn’ ha e he ools o answe . Luckily, and in collabo a ion wi h he Ca mo-Fonseca lab, I had he oppo uni y o lea n his inc edible echnique and o adap i o D osophila emb yos, and wi h his, ha e he chance o look a gene exp ession om a pe spec i e ne e done be o e in his sys em. RS: Splicing is inc edibly complex and inc edibly con using o s udy, and his is wha always a ac ed me o he ield. Fo my PhD, I wo ked on he molecula e olu ion o splicing signals. Se e al g oups, including he Ca mo-Fonseca lab, we e making ascina ing no el indings ega ding he kine ics o splicing. I became cu ious as o how he dynamic na u e o splicing was a - ec ing hese e olu iona y p ocesses, and hence decided o ocus on splicing kine ics o my pos doc o al wo k. KR: Fascina ion o e how simila o ganized and egula ed biolog- ical p ocesses can be o assembly lines in a ac o y. I joined he Ca mo-Fonseca lab du ing my M.Sc. whe e I was able o explo e his in e es when analyzing da a ha opened he cell’s“ ac o y doo ” o s udy ansc ip ion and splicing. Du ing he cou se o hese expe imen s, we e he e any su p ising esul s o pa icula di icul ies ha al e ed you hinking and subsequen ocus? RS: AdNETseq expe imen gi es ise o a bo omless easu e o e o in o ma ion. Howe e , he analysis equi ed o con e ha in o ma ion in o insigh is complex and w ough wi h pe ils. Fo ins ance, an inc ease in he ansc ip ion ini ia ion a e, a dec ease in he elonga ion a e, and a phospho yla ion ho spo can all lead o simila signa u es in he sequencing da a, and one mus be e y ca e ul o keep all o hese al e na i es in mind when pe o ming he analysis. Being con on ed wi h he complex- i y o his da a has made me ealize how much mo e insigh I could gain i I had a la ge oolki o my analyses. I ha e hus sough ou aining in mo e ad anced s a is ical modeling echniques, some- hing ha I may ha e ne e done i I had no encoun e ed dNETseq da a. PP: Explo ing he ea u es o nascen RNA wi h dNETseq equi es a signi ican amoun o biological sample. This made he analysis o ea lie D osophila de elopmen al s ages as planned ex emely di icul . We he e o e ocused on la e s ages o de elopmen . Howe e , NET-seq da a is so ull o in o ma ion ha we s ill ended up e ealing se e al exci ing new ea u es o RNA ansc ip ion and p ocessing. Wha a e some o he landma k momen s ha p o oked you in e es in science o you de elopmen as a scien is ? KR: I was imp essed, in mo e han one unique momen , by my col- leagues’ eadiness o adap and p oduce solu ions when con on - ed wi h unexpec ed o con ounding esul s. By cons an ly challenging mysel and keeping an open mind, I aspi e o ma ch his p oblem-sol ing abili y, which is co e o spea heading you own esea ch. I you we e able o gi e one piece o ad ice o you younge sel , wha would ha be? KR: De elop a p o essional and e icien communica ion me hod. I belie e his is one o he mos pe inen skill se s o es ablish ea ly on because i can wo k o p oac i ely a oid misunde s andings. Fo example, when p esen ing an idea o a colleague o you supe iso be su e o no imply ha you idea is be e and ins ead explain he esul s/e idence o guide he o he pe son o connec he same do s ha you did. Wha a e you subsequen nea - o long- e m ca ee plans? RS: I am cu en ly looking o ways o keep on doing he kinds o hings ha scien is s do, bu as a eelance , away om he classical academic ca ee pa h. This is so as o ha e mo e lexibili y wi h ega d o whe e in he wo ld I can li e bu also o be able o ake on mo e di e se p ojec s. My p ima y in e es a he momen is in me hods o eaching s a is ics, and I am in he p ocess o o - ganizing a ga gan uan s a is ics cou se a my ins i u e. Exci ing imes! PP: The ield has exci ing open ques ions, and al hough echnol- ogy is de eloping exponen ially, di e en echniques a e s ill poin ing in di e en di ec ions. This means ha he e is s ill wo k o be done in he ield o unde s and how hese inc edible and complex mac omolecules ha syn hesize and modi y RNA a e eg- ula ed. Taking ad an age o he la es echnology o analyze hese p ocesses, I expec o use he nex yea s o my pos doc o explo e hese ea u es in mo e de ail and speci ically in he con ex o a mul icellula o ganism. Wha we e he s onges aspec s o you collabo a ion as co- i s au ho s? This was an amazing collabo a ion, p ima ily because ou back- g ounds a e so complemen a y. Each o us was lea ning new hings in e e y con e sa ion ha we had. T ansc ip ion and splicing dynamics in D osophila www. najou nal.o g 161 Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om 10.1261/ na.078933.121Access he mos ecen e sion a doi: 2022 28: 139-161 o iginally published online Oc obe 19, 2021RNA Ped o P udêncio, Rosina Sa isaa , Kenny Rebelo, e al. de elopmen D osophilaT ansc ip ion and splicing dynamics du ing ea ly Ma e ial Supplemen al h p:// najou nal.cshlp.o g/con en /suppl/2021/10/19/ na.078933.121.DC1 Re e ences h p:// najou nal.cshlp.o g/con en /28/2/139. ull.h ml# e -lis -1 This a icle ci es 103 a icles, 30 o which can be accessed ee a : Open Access Open Access op ion.RNAF eely a ailable online h ough he License Commons C ea i e .h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/ (A ibu ion 4.0 In e na ional), as desc ibed a , is a ailable unde a C ea i e Commons LicenseRNAThis a icle, published in Se ice Email Ale ing click he e. op igh co ne o he a icle o Recei e ee email ale s when new a icles ci e his a icle - sign up in he box a he h p:// najou nal.cshlp.o g/subsc ip ions go o: RNATo subsc ibe o © 2022 P udêncio e al.; Published by Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess o he RNA Socie y Cold Sp ing Ha bo Labo a o y P ess on No embe 11, 2022 - Published by najou nal.cshlp.o gDownloaded om