Integrating tDNA Epigenomics and Expression with Codon Usage Unravel an Intricate Connection with Protein Expression Dynamics in Trypanosoma cruzi

Abstract

Codon usage bias impacts protein expression across all kingdoms of life, including trypanosomatids. These protozoa, such as the Trypanosoma cruzi, primarily regulate their protein-coding genes through posttranscriptional mechanisms. Here, we integrated analyses of codon usage with multiple high-throughput sequencing data to investigate whether codon usage bias is present into surface virulence factors (disruptive compartment), conserved housekeeping proteins (core compartment), and proteins involved in the developmental stages of T. cruzi. For the first time in trypanosomatids, tRNA sequencing was employed to reveal coadaptation between codon usage and anticodon availability. Despite notable differences in the proteomes of infective and non-infective forms, they exhibited similar pools of tRNAs and similar codon usage preferences. We observed that open chromatin levels of tRNA genes correlate with tRNA expression in non-infective forms, but not in infective forms, suggesting chromatin states do not control the tRNA pool in the latter. Our analysis also revealed a relationship between anticodon:codon pairing modes and protein abundance. Highly expressed mRNAs favored Watson- Crick base pairing, whereas less expressed mRNAs displayed more wobble base pairing. Overall, our findings suggest that protein expression in T. cruzi is influenced by a combination of codon usage bias, tRNA abundance, and anticodon:codon pairing modes. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=79 SRC="FIGDIR/small/602108v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (16K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1f63f77org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1c0abf8org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@5a4988org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1918f49_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG