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Updated: Jan 24, 2026

Ultra-long Read Sequencing for Whole Genomic DNA Analysis
Published on: March 15, 2019
ALBA protein complex reads genic R-loops to maintain genome stability in Arabidopsis
Wei Yuan1,2, Jincong Zhou3, Jinjin Tong1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences and Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
Abstract:
The R-loop, composed of a DNA-RNA hybrid and the displaced single-stranded DNA, regulates diverse cellular processes. However, how cellular R-loops are recognized remains poorly understood. Here, we report the discovery of the evolutionally conserved ALBA proteins (AtALBA1 and AtALBA2) functioning as the genic R-loop readers in Arabidopsis. While AtALBA1 binds to the DNA-RNA hybrid, AtALBA2 associates with single-stranded DNA in the R-loops in vitro. In vivo, these two proteins interact and colocalize in the nucleus, where they preferentially bind to genic regions with active epigenetic marks in an R-loop-dependent manner. Depletion of AtALBA1 or AtALBA2 results in hypersensitivity of plants to DNA damaging agents. The formation of DNA breaks in alba mutants originates from unprotected R-loops. Our results reveal that the AtALBA1 and AtALBA2 protein complex is the genic R-loop reader crucial for genome stability in Arabidopsis.
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