Ribosomal RNA gene silencing in interpopulation hybrids of Tigriopus californicus: nucleolar dominance in the absence of intergenic spacer subrepeats.
Abstract
A common feature of interspecific animal and plant hybrids is the uniparental silencing of ribosomal RNA gene transcription, or nucleolar dominance. A leading explanation for the genetic basis of nucleolar dominance in animal hybrids is the enhancer-imbalance model. The model proposes that limiting transcription factors are titrated by a greater number of enhancer-bearing subrepeat elements in the intergenic spacer (IGS) of the dominant cluster of genes. The importance of subrepeats for nucleolar dominance has repeatedly been supported in competition assays between Xenopus laevis and X. borealis minigene constructs injected into oocytes. However, a more general test of the importance of IGS subrepeats for nuclear dominance in vivo has not been conducted. In this report, rRNA gene expression was examined in interpopulation hybrids of the marine copepod Tigriopus californicus. This species offers a rare opportunity to test the role of IGS subrepeats in nucleolar dominance because the internal subrepeat structure, found in the IGS of virtually all animal and plant species, is absent in T. californicus. Our results clearly establish that nucleolar dominance occurs in F1 and F2 interpopulation hybrids of this species. In the F2 gene...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
CREs: Gene & Cell Therapy
Gene and cell therapy advances have shown promising outcomes for several diseases. The role of cis-regulatory elements (CREs) is crucial in the design of gene therapy vectors. Here is the latest research on CREs in gene and cell therapy.