SRNAs as possible regulators of retrotransposon activity in Cryptococcus gattii VGII.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The absence of Argonaute genes in the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus gattii R265 and other VGII strains indicates that yeasts of this genotype cannot have a functional RNAi pathway, an evolutionarily conserved gene silencing mechanism performed by small RNAs. The success of the R265 strain as a pathogen that caused the Pacific Northwest and Vancouver Island outbreaks may imply that RNAi machinery loss could be beneficial under certain circumstances during evolution. As a result, a hypermutant phenotype would be created with high rates of genome retrotransposition, for instance. This study therefore aimed to evaluate in silicio the effect of retrotransposons and their control mechanisms by small RNAs on genomic stability and synteny loss of C. gattii R265 through retrotrans

SUBMITTER: Ferrareze PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5389150 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature