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Detecting RNA base methylations in single cells by in situ hybridization.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Ranasinghe, Rohan T  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9227-4110
Ganzinger, Kristina A  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9106-9406
Softley, Charlotte 

Abstract

Methylated bases in tRNA, rRNA and mRNA control a variety of cellular processes, including protein synthesis, antimicrobial resistance and gene expression. Currently, bulk methods that report the average methylation state of ~104-107 cells are used to detect these modifications, obscuring potentially important biological information. Here, we use in situ hybridization of Molecular Beacons for single-cell detection of three methylations (m62A, m1G and m3U) that destabilize Watson-Crick base pairs. Our method-methylation-sensitive RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization-detects single methylations of rRNA, quantifies antibiotic-resistant bacteria in mixtures of cells and simultaneously detects multiple methylations using multicolor fluorescence imaging.

Description

Keywords

Adenine, Escherichia coli, Escherichia coli Proteins, Guanine, In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence, Methylation, Methyltransferases, Microscopy, Fluorescence, RNA, RNA, Ribosomal, Single-Cell Analysis, Uridine

Journal Title

Nat Commun

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2041-1723
2041-1723

Volume Title

9

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
European Commission (216027)
European Commission (115153)