Abstract
The ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia must eliminate ∼60,000 short sequences from its genome to generate uninterrupted coding sequences in its somatic macronucleus. In this issue of Genes & Development, Baudry and colleagues (pp. 2478-2483) identify the protein that excises these noncoding sequences: a domesticated piggyBac transposase that has been adapted to remove what are likely the remnants of transposon insertions. This new study reveals how addition of a transposase to small RNA-directed silencing machinery can guide major genome reorganization.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2455-2460 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Genes and Development |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 21 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2009 |
Keywords
- Chromosome fragmentation
- IES excision
- Oligohymenophorean ciliates
- Transposase domestication