Architecture of an RNA polymerase ribozyme illuminates the RNA World
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 13:S0168-9525(24)00049-0. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.008. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACT'Ribo-organisms' of the primordial RNA World would have needed ribozymes that catalyze RNA replication. McRae, Wan, Kristoffersen et al. recently revealed how these RNA replicases might have functioned by solving the structure of an artificial polymerase ribozyme. This work illustrates how complex RNA structures evolve, with implications for the origins of life.PMID:38485607 | DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.008 (Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG)
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 14, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: David M Shechner Source Type: research

PCNA cycling dynamics during DNA replication and repair in mammals
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 13:S0168-9525(24)00042-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.006. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTProliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a eukaryotic replicative DNA clamp. Furthermore, DNA-loaded PCNA functions as a molecular hub during DNA replication and repair. PCNA forms a closed homotrimeric ring that encircles the DNA, and association and dissociation of PCNA from DNA are mediated by clamp-loader complexes. PCNA must be actively released from DNA after completion of its function. If it is not released, abnormal accumulation of PCNA on chromatin will interfere with DNA metabolism. ATAD5 containing ...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 14, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Sukhyun Kang Juyeong Yoo Kyungjae Myung Source Type: research

The heterogeneous genetic architectures of orofacial clefts
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 13:S0168-9525(24)00031-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.004. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTOrofacial clefts (OFCs) are common, affecting 1:1000 live births. OFCs occur across a phenotypic spectrum - including cleft lip (CL), cleft lip and palate (CLP), or cleft palate (CP) - and can be further subdivided based on laterality, severity, or specific structures affected. Herein we review what is known about the genetic architecture underlying each of these subtypes, considering both shared and subtype-specific risks. While there are more known genetic similarities between CL and CLP than CP, recent research...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 13, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Kelsey Robinson Sarah W Curtis Elizabeth J Leslie Source Type: research

The heterogeneous genetic architectures of orofacial clefts
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 13:S0168-9525(24)00031-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.004. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTOrofacial clefts (OFCs) are common, affecting 1:1000 live births. OFCs occur across a phenotypic spectrum - including cleft lip (CL), cleft lip and palate (CLP), or cleft palate (CP) - and can be further subdivided based on laterality, severity, or specific structures affected. Herein we review what is known about the genetic architecture underlying each of these subtypes, considering both shared and subtype-specific risks. While there are more known genetic similarities between CL and CLP than CP, recent research...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 13, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Kelsey Robinson Sarah W Curtis Elizabeth J Leslie Source Type: research

Genetic variation drives differences in obesity-related gene regulation
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 9:S0168-9525(24)00050-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHeikkinen and colleagues recently demonstrated that genetic variation, rather than dietary changes, governs gene regulation in liver. This finding highlights the impact of noncoding variants on chromatin accessibility, histone modifications, transcription factor binding, and gene expression and has implications for future research directions in understanding the genetic basis of disease.PMID:38462400 | DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.009 (Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG)
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 10, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Minna U Kaikkonen Source Type: research

Genetic variation drives differences in obesity-related gene regulation
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 9:S0168-9525(24)00050-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHeikkinen and colleagues recently demonstrated that genetic variation, rather than dietary changes, governs gene regulation in liver. This finding highlights the impact of noncoding variants on chromatin accessibility, histone modifications, transcription factor binding, and gene expression and has implications for future research directions in understanding the genetic basis of disease.PMID:38462400 | DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.009 (Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG)
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 10, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Minna U Kaikkonen Source Type: research

Genetic variation drives differences in obesity-related gene regulation
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 9:S0168-9525(24)00050-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHeikkinen and colleagues recently demonstrated that genetic variation, rather than dietary changes, governs gene regulation in liver. This finding highlights the impact of noncoding variants on chromatin accessibility, histone modifications, transcription factor binding, and gene expression and has implications for future research directions in understanding the genetic basis of disease.PMID:38462400 | DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.009 (Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG)
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 10, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Minna U Kaikkonen Source Type: research

Recombination in bdelloid rotifer genomes: asexuality, transfer and stress
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 7:S0168-9525(24)00028-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.001. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBdelloid rotifers constitute a class of microscopic animals living in freshwater habitats worldwide. Several strange features of bdelloids have drawn attention: their ability to tolerate desiccation and other stresses, a lack of reported males across the clade despite centuries of study, and unusually high numbers of horizontally acquired, non-metazoan genes. Genome sequencing is transforming our understanding of their lifestyle and its consequences, while in turn providing wider insights about recombination and ge...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 8, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Christopher G Wilson Tymoteusz Pieszko Reuben W Nowell Timothy G Barraclough Source Type: research

Recombination in bdelloid rotifer genomes: asexuality, transfer and stress
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 7:S0168-9525(24)00028-3. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.001. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTBdelloid rotifers constitute a class of microscopic animals living in freshwater habitats worldwide. Several strange features of bdelloids have drawn attention: their ability to tolerate desiccation and other stresses, a lack of reported males across the clade despite centuries of study, and unusually high numbers of horizontally acquired, non-metazoan genes. Genome sequencing is transforming our understanding of their lifestyle and its consequences, while in turn providing wider insights about recombination and ge...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 8, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Christopher G Wilson Tymoteusz Pieszko Reuben W Nowell Timothy G Barraclough Source Type: research

Dominance and multi-locus interaction
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 6:S0168-9525(23)00262-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.12.003. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTDominance is usually considered a constant value that describes the relative difference in fitness or phenotype between heterozygotes and the average of homozygotes at a focal polymorphic locus. However, the observed dominance can vary with the genetic background of the focal locus. Here, alleles at other loci modify the observed phenotype through position effects or dominance modifiers that are sometimes associated with pathogen resistance, lineage, sex, or mating type. Theoretical models have illustrated how vari...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 7, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Juan Li Claudia Bank Source Type: research

Dominance and multi-locus interaction
Trends Genet. 2024 Mar 6:S0168-9525(23)00262-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2023.12.003. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTDominance is usually considered a constant value that describes the relative difference in fitness or phenotype between heterozygotes and the average of homozygotes at a focal polymorphic locus. However, the observed dominance can vary with the genetic background of the focal locus. Here, alleles at other loci modify the observed phenotype through position effects or dominance modifiers that are sometimes associated with pathogen resistance, lineage, sex, or mating type. Theoretical models have illustrated how vari...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 7, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Juan Li Claudia Bank Source Type: research

Helitrons: genomic parasites that generate developmental novelties
Trends Genet. 2024 Feb 29:S0168-9525(24)00029-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.002. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHelitrons, classified as DNA transposons, employ rolling-circle intermediates for transposition. Distinguishing themselves from other DNA transposons, they leave the original template element unaltered during transposition, which has led to their characterization as 'peel-and-paste elements'. Helitrons possess the ability to capture and mobilize host genome fragments, with enormous consequences for host genomes. This review discusses the current understanding of Helitrons, exploring their origins, transposition me...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 1, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Daniela Barro-Trastoy Claudia K öhler Source Type: research

Helitrons: genomic parasites that generate developmental novelties
Trends Genet. 2024 Feb 29:S0168-9525(24)00029-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.002. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHelitrons, classified as DNA transposons, employ rolling-circle intermediates for transposition. Distinguishing themselves from other DNA transposons, they leave the original template element unaltered during transposition, which has led to their characterization as 'peel-and-paste elements'. Helitrons possess the ability to capture and mobilize host genome fragments, with enormous consequences for host genomes. This review discusses the current understanding of Helitrons, exploring their origins, transposition me...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 1, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Daniela Barro-Trastoy Claudia K öhler Source Type: research

Helitrons: genomic parasites that generate developmental novelties
Trends Genet. 2024 Feb 29:S0168-9525(24)00029-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.002. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHelitrons, classified as DNA transposons, employ rolling-circle intermediates for transposition. Distinguishing themselves from other DNA transposons, they leave the original template element unaltered during transposition, which has led to their characterization as 'peel-and-paste elements'. Helitrons possess the ability to capture and mobilize host genome fragments, with enormous consequences for host genomes. This review discusses the current understanding of Helitrons, exploring their origins, transposition me...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 1, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Daniela Barro-Trastoy Claudia K öhler Source Type: research

Helitrons: genomic parasites that generate developmental novelties
Trends Genet. 2024 Feb 29:S0168-9525(24)00029-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2024.02.002. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHelitrons, classified as DNA transposons, employ rolling-circle intermediates for transposition. Distinguishing themselves from other DNA transposons, they leave the original template element unaltered during transposition, which has led to their characterization as 'peel-and-paste elements'. Helitrons possess the ability to capture and mobilize host genome fragments, with enormous consequences for host genomes. This review discusses the current understanding of Helitrons, exploring their origins, transposition me...
Source: Trends in Genetics : TIG - March 1, 2024 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Daniela Barro-Trastoy Claudia K öhler Source Type: research