How pervasive are defective genes?

How eukaryotic genes are transcribed.

Regulation of eukaryotic gene expression is far more complex than one might have imagined 30 years ago. However, progress towards understanding gene regulatory mechanisms has been rapid and comprehensive, which has made the integration of detailed observations into broadly connected concepts a challenge. This review attempts to integrate the following concepts: (1) a well-defined organization o...

Pervasive domestication of defective prophages by bacteria.

Integrated phages (prophages) are major contributors to the diversity of bacterial gene repertoires. Domestication of their components is thought to have endowed bacteria with molecular systems involved in secretion, defense, warfare, and gene transfer. However, the rates and mechanisms of domestication remain unknown. We used comparative genomics to study the evolution of prophages within the ...

P30: Are There Anxious Genes?

Anxiety comprises many clinical descriptions and phenotypes. A genetic predisposition to anxiety is undoubted; however, the nature and extent of that contribution is still unclear. Extensive genetic studies of the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) transporter (5-HTT) gene have revealed how variation in gene expression can be correlated with anxiety phenotypes. Complete genome-wide linkage s...

Food Taxes: How Likely Are Likely Effects?

SnoPatrol: how many snoRNA genes are there?

Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are among the most evolutionarily ancient classes of small RNA. Two experimental screens published in BMC Genomics expand the eukaryotic snoRNA catalog, but many more snoRNAs remain to be found.