Combinatorial DNA Rearrangement Facilitates the Origin of New Genes in Ciliates.

ABSTRACT: Programmed genome rearrangements in the unicellular eukaryote Oxytricha trifallax produce a transcriptionally active somatic nucleus from a copy of its germline nucleus during development. This process eliminates noncoding sequences that interrupt coding regions in the germline genome, and joins over 225,000 remaining DNA segments, some of which require inversion or complex permutation to build functional genes. This dynamic genomic organization permits some single DNA segments in the germline to contribute to multiple, distinct somatic genes via alternative processing. Like alternative mRNA splicing, the combinatorial assembly of DNA segments contributes to genetic variation and facilitates the evolution of new genes. In this study, we use comparative genomic analysis to demonstrate that

SUBMITTER: Chen X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4684698 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature