The Compact Macronuclear Genome of the Ciliate Halteria grandinella: A Transcriptome-Like Genome with 23,000 Nanochromosomes.

ABSTRACT: How to achieve protein diversity by genome and transcriptome processing is essential for organismal complexity and adaptation. The present work identifies that the macronuclear genome of Halteria grandinella, a cosmopolitan unicellular eukaryote, is composed almost entirely of gene-sized nanochromosomes with extremely short nongenic regions. This challenges our usual understanding of chromosomal structure and suggests the possibility of novel mechvanisms in transcriptional regulation. Comprehensive analysis of multiple data sets reveals that Halteria transcription dynamics are influenced by: (i) nonuniform nanochromosome copy numbers correlated with gene-expression level; (ii) dynamic alterations at both the DNA and RNA levels, including alternative internal eliminated sequen

SUBMITTER: Zheng W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7858049 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature