Small RNAs in genome rearrangement in Tetrahymena

Small RNAs produced by an RNAi-related mechanism are involved in DNA elimination during development of the somatic macronucleus from the germline micronucleus in Tetrahymena. The properties of these small RNAs can explain how the primary sequence of the parental macronucleus epigenetically controls...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current opinion in genetics & development 2004-04, Vol.14 (2), p.181-187
Main Authors: Mochizuki, Kazufumi, Gorovsky, Martin A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cell Nucleus - physiology
Conjugation, Genetic - physiology
Gene Rearrangement
Genes, Protozoan
Genome, Protozoan
Heterochromatin - physiology
RNA Interference - physiology
RNA, Protozoan - physiology
RNA, Small Nuclear - physiology
Tetrahymena
Tetrahymena thermophila - genetics
Tetrahymena thermophila - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Small RNAs produced by an RNAi-related mechanism are involved in DNA elimination during development of the somatic macronucleus from the germline micronucleus in Tetrahymena. The properties of these small RNAs can explain how the primary sequence of the parental macronucleus epigenetically controls genome rearrangement in the new macronucleus and provide the first demonstration of an RNAi-mediated process that directly alters DNA sequence organization. Methylation of histone H3 on lysine 9 and accumulation of chromodomain proteins, hallmarks of heterochromatin, also occur specifically on sequences undergoing elimination and are dependent on the small RNAs. These findings contribute to a new paradigm of chromatin biology: regulation of heterochromatin formation by RNAi-related mechanisms in eukaryotes.
ISSN:0959-437X
1879-0380
DOI:10.1016/j.gde.2004.01.004