水稻中介体亚基OsMed6的表达及进化分析

中介体复合物是真核生物RNA聚合酶Ⅱ(PolⅡ)通用转录装置的重要组成部分,是基因特异性转录因子与启动子信息传递的桥梁.本研究对水稻(Oryza sativa)中一个假定的中介体亚基OsMed6的表达和进化进行了分析.通过整合分析不同来源的基因芯片数据,发现OsMed6在各个组织(器官)里都有表达.构建了OsMed6与...     

Serine-7 of the RNA polymerase II CTD is specifically required for snRNA gene expression

RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcribes genes that encode proteins and noncoding small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs). The carboxyl-terminal repeat domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of mammalian RNA Pol II, comprising tandem repeats of the heptapeptide consensus Tyr1-Ser2-Pro3-Thr4-Ser5-Pro6-Ser7, is required for expression of both gene types. We show that mutation of serine-7 to alanine causes a specific defect in snRNA gene expression. We also present evidence that phosphorylation of serine-7 facilitates interaction with the snRNA gene-specific Integrator complex. These findings assign a biological function to this amino acid and highlight a gene type-specific requirement for a residue within the CTD heptapeptide, supporting the existence of a CTD code.     

Genomics and the irreducible nature of eukaryote cells

Large-scale comparative genomics in harness with proteomics has substantiated fundamental features of eukaryote cellular evolution. The evolutionary trajectory of modern eukaryotes is distinct from that of prokaryotes. Data from many sources give no direct evidence that eukaryotes evolved by genome fusion between archaea and bacteria. Comparative genomics shows that, under certain ecological settings, sequence loss and cellular simplification are common modes of evolution. Subcellular architecture of eukaryote cells is in part a physical-chemical consequence of molecular crowding; subcellular compartmentation with specialized proteomes is required for the efficient functioning of proteins.