Origin and maintenance of large ribosomal RNA gene repeat size in mammals.

ABSTRACT: The genes encoding ribosomal RNA are highly conserved across life and in almost all eukaryotes are present in large tandem repeat arrays called the rDNA. rDNA repeat unit size is conserved across most eukaryotes but has expanded dramatically in mammals, principally through the expansion of the intergenic spacer region that separates adjacent rRNA coding regions. Here, we used long-read sequence data from representatives of the major amniote lineages to determine where in amniote evolution rDNA unit size increased. We find that amniote rDNA unit sizes fall into two narrow size classes: "normal" (∼11-20 kb) in all amniotes except monotreme, marsupial, and eutherian mammals, which have "large" (∼35-45 kb) sizes. We confirm that increases in intergenic spacer length explain much of this mammal

SUBMITTER: Macdonald E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11373518 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature