Programmed Loss of Millions of Base Pairs from a Vertebrate Genome

In general, the strict preservation of broad-scale structure is thought to be critical for maintaining the precisely tuned functionality of vertebrate genomes, although nearly all vertebrate species undergo a small number of programmed local rearrangements during development (e. g., remodeling of ad...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2009-07, Vol.106 (27), p.11212-11217
Main Authors: Smith, Jeramiah J., Antonacci, Francesca, Eichler, Evan E., Amemiya, Chris T., Jeffreys, Alec
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Base Pairing - genetics
Base pairs
Base Sequence
Biological Sciences
Blood
Cell Nucleus - genetics
Cells
DNA
DNA - analysis
Embryogenesis
Evolution & development
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Gene loci
Genome - genetics
Genomes
Genomics
Germ cells
Germ Cells - metabolism
Metazoa
Molecular Sequence Data
Mutation - genetics
Organ Specificity - genetics
Petromyzon - genetics
Petromyzon marinus
Petromyzontidae
Preservation
Ribosomal DNA
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
Somatic cells
Spermatozoa
Testes
Vertebrates
Vertebrates - genetics
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Summary:In general, the strict preservation of broad-scale structure is thought to be critical for maintaining the precisely tuned functionality of vertebrate genomes, although nearly all vertebrate species undergo a small number of programmed local rearrangements during development (e. g., remodeling of adaptive immune receptor loci). However, a limited number of metazoan species undergo much more extensive reorganizations as a normal feature of their development. Here, we show that the sea lamprey (Petromyzon mannus), a jawless vertebrate, undergoes a dramatic remodeling of its genome, resulting in the elimination of hundreds of millions of base pairs (and at least one transcribed locus) from many somatic cell lineages during embryonic development. These studies reveal the highly dynamic nature of the lamprey genome and provide the first example of broad-scale programmed rearrangement of a definitively vertebrate genome. Understanding the mechanisms by which this vertebrate species regulates such extensive remodeling of its genome will provide invaluable insight into factors that can promote stability and change in vertebrate genomes.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0902358106