Published in Genetics
Small noncoding RNAs are central regulators of genome activity and stability. Their regulatory function typically involves sequence similarity with their target sites, but understanding the criteria by which they specifically recognize and regulate their targets across the genome remains a major challenge in the field, especially in the face of the...
Published in Genetics
Admixture with archaic hominins has altered the landscape of genomic variation in modern human populations. Several gene regions have been identified previously as candidates of adaptive introgression (AI) that facilitated human adaptation to specific environments. However, simulation-based studies have suggested that population genetic processes o...
Published in Genetics
Targeted degradation of proteins is mediated by E3 ubiquitin ligases and is important for the execution of many biological processes. Redundancy has prevented the genetic characterization of many E3 ubiquitin ligases in plants. Here, we performed a reverse genetic screen in Arabidopsis using a library of dominant-negative U-box-type E3 ubiquitin li...
Published in Genetics
DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are a particularly lethal form of DNA damage that must be repaired to restore genomic integrity. Canonical nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), is a widely conserved pathway that detects and directly ligates the broken ends to repair the DSB. These events globally require the two proteins that form the Ku ring complex, ...
Published in Genetics
In all cells, progression through the cell cycle occurs only when sufficient growth has occurred. Thus, cells must translate growth into a proportional signal that can be used to measure and transmit information about growth. Previous genetic studies in budding yeast suggested that related kinases called Gin4 and Hsl1 could function in mechanisms t...
Published in Genetics
We explore here the cis-regulatory logic that dictates gene expression in specific cell types in the nervous system. We focus on a set of eight genes involved in the synthesis, transport, and breakdown of three neurotransmitter systems: acetylcholine (unc-17 /VAChT, cha-1 /ChAT, cho-1 /ChT, and ace-2 /AChE), glutamate (eat-4 /VGluT), and γ-aminobut...
Published in Genetics
Bacteria often carry "extra DNA" in the form of plasmids in addition to their chromosome. Many plasmids have a copy number greater than one such that the genes encoded on these plasmids are present in multiple copies per cell. This has evolutionary consequences by increasing the mutational target size, by prompting the (transitory) co-occurrence of...
Published in Genetics
TRP channels function in many types of sensory receptor cells. Despite extensive analyses, an open question is whether there exists a family of auxiliary subunits, which could influence localization, trafficking, and function of TRP channels. Here, using Drosophila melanogaster, we reveal a previously unknown TRP interacting protein, INAF-C, which ...
Published in Genetics
The way genes contribute to behavior is complicated. Although there are some single genes with large contributions, most behavioral differences are due to small effects from many interacting genes. This makes it hard to identify the genes that cause behavioral differences. Mutagenesis screens in model organisms, selective breeding experiments in an...
Published in Genetics
Real geography is continuous, but standard models in population genetics are based on discrete, well-mixed populations. As a result, many methods of analyzing genetic data assume that samples are a random draw from a well-mixed population, but are applied to clustered samples from populations that are structured clinally over space. Here, we use si...
