|
PRDM9
PR domainpositive-regulatory domain zinc finger protein 9 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''PRDM9'' gene. PRDM9 is responsible for positioning recombination hotspots during meiosis by binding a DNA sequence motif encoded in its zinc finger domain. PRDM9 is the only speciation gene found so far in mammals, and is one of the fastest evolving genes in the genome. Domain Architecture PRDM9 has multiple domains including KRAB domain, SSXRD, PR/SET domain ( H3K4 & H3K36 trimethyltransferase), and an array of C2H2 Zinc Finger domains (DNA binding). History In 1974 Jiri Forejt and P. Ivanyi identified a locus which they named Hst1 which controlled hybrid sterility. In 1982 a haplotype was identified controlling recombination rate ''wm7'', which would later be identified as PRDM9. In 1991 a protein binding to the minisatelite consensus sequence 5′-CCACCTGCCCACCTCT-3′ was detected and partially purified (named Msbp3 - minisatelite binding protein 3). This would la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PRDM9 Domain Architechture
PR domainpositive-regulatory domain zinc finger protein 9 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''PRDM9'' gene. PRDM9 is responsible for positioning recombination hotspots during meiosis by binding a DNA sequence motif encoded in its zinc finger domain. PRDM9 is the only speciation gene found so far in mammals, and is one of the fastest evolving genes in the genome. Domain Architecture PRDM9 has multiple domains including KRAB domain, SSXRD, PR/SET domain ( H3K4 & H3K36 trimethyltransferase), and an array of C2H2 Zinc Finger domains (DNA binding). History In 1974 Jiri Forejt and P. Ivanyi identified a locus which they named Hst1 which controlled hybrid sterility. In 1982 a haplotype was identified controlling recombination rate ''wm7'', which would later be identified as PRDM9. In 1991 a protein binding to the minisatelite consensus sequence 5′-CCACCTGCCCACCTCT-3′ was detected and partially purified (named Msbp3 - minisatelite binding protein 3). This would la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recombination Hotspot
Recombination hotspots are regions in a genome that exhibit elevated rates of recombination relative to a neutral expectation. The recombination rate within hotspots can be hundreds of times that of the surrounding region. Recombination hotspots result from higher DNA break formation in these regions, and apply to both mitotic and meiotic cells. This appellation can refer to recombination events resulting from the uneven distribution of programmed meiotic double-strand breaks. Meiotic recombination Meiotic recombination through crossing over is thought to be a mechanism by which a cell promotes correct segregation of homologous chromosomes and repair of DNA damages. Crossing over requires a DNA double-stranded break followed by strand invasion of the homolog and subsequent repair. Initiation sites for recombination are usually identified by mapping crossing over events through pedigree analysis or through analysis of linkage disequilibrium. Linkage disequilibrium has identified ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, responding to stimuli, providing structure to cells and organisms, and transporting molecules from one location to another. Proteins differ from one another primarily in their sequence of amino acids, which is dictated by the nucleotide sequence of their genes, and which usually results in protein folding into a specific 3D structure that determines its activity. A linear chain of amino acid residues is called a polypeptide. A protein contains at least one long polypeptide. Short polypeptides, containing less than 20–30 residues, are rarely considered to be proteins and are commonly called peptides. The individual amino acid residues are bonded together by peptide bonds and adjacent amino acid residues. The sequence of amino acid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity and the molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protein-coding genes and noncoding genes. During gene expression, the DNA is first copied into RNA. The RNA can be directly functional or be the intermediate template for a protein that performs a function. The transmission of genes to an organism's offspring is the basis of the inheritance of phenotypic traits. These genes make up different DNA sequences called genotypes. Genotypes along with environmental and developmental factors determine what the phenotypes will be. Most biological traits are under the influence of polygenes (many different genes) as well as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meiosis
Meiosis (; , since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately result in four cells with only one copy of each chromosome ( haploid). Additionally, prior to the division, genetic material from the paternal and maternal copies of each chromosome is crossed over, creating new combinations of code on each chromosome. Later on, during fertilisation, the haploid cells produced by meiosis from a male and female will fuse to create a cell with two copies of each chromosome again, the zygote. Errors in meiosis resulting in aneuploidy (an abnormal number of chromosomes) are the leading known cause of miscarriage and the most frequent genetic cause of developmental disabilities. In meiosis, DNA replication is followed by two rounds of cell division to produce four daughter cells, each with half the number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speciation
Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within lineages. Charles Darwin was the first to describe the role of natural selection in speciation in his 1859 book ''On the Origin of Species''. He also identified sexual selection as a likely mechanism, but found it problematic. There are four geographic modes of speciation in nature, based on the extent to which speciating populations are isolated from one another: allopatric, peripatric, parapatric, and sympatric. Speciation may also be induced artificially, through animal husbandry, agriculture, or laboratory experiments. Whether genetic drift is a minor or major contributor to speciation is the subject of much ongoing discussion. Rapid sympatric speciation can take place through polyploidy, such as by doubling of chromosome numb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Krüppel Associated Box
The Krüppel associated box (KRAB) domain is a category of transcriptional repression domains present in approximately 400 human zinc finger protein-based transcription factors (KRAB zinc finger proteins). The KRAB domain typically consists of about 75 amino acid residues, while the minimal repression module is approximately 45 amino acid residues. It is predicted to function through protein-protein interactions via two amphipathic helices. The most prominent interacting protein is called TRIM28 initially visualized as SMP1, cloned as KAP1 and TIF1-beta. Substitutions for the conserved residues abolish repression. Over 10 independently encoded KRAB domains have been shown to be effective repressors of transcription, suggesting this activity to be a common property of the domain. KRAB domains can be fused with dCas9 CRISPR tools to form even stronger repressors. Evolution The KRAB domain had initially been identified in 1988 as a periodic array of leucine residues separated b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SET Domain
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements * Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electronics and computing * Set (abstract data type), a data type in computer science that is a collection of unique values ** Set (C++), a set implementation in the C++ Standard Library * Set (command), a command for setting values of environment variables in Unix and Microsoft operating-systems * Secure Electronic Transaction, a standard protocol for securing credit card transactions over insecure networks * Single-electron transistor, a device to amplify currents in nanoelectronics * Single-ended triode, a type of electronic amplifier * Set!, a programming syntax in the scheme programming language Biology and psychology * Set (psychology), a set of expectations which shapes perception or thought *Set or sett, a badger's den *Set, a small t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Histone
In biology, histones are highly basic proteins abundant in lysine and arginine residues that are found in eukaryotic cell nuclei. They act as spools around which DNA winds to create structural units called nucleosomes. Nucleosomes in turn are wrapped into 30- nanometer fibers that form tightly packed chromatin. Histones prevent DNA from becoming tangled and protect it from DNA damage. In addition, histones play important roles in gene regulation and DNA replication. Without histones, unwound DNA in chromosomes would be very long. For example, each human cell has about 1.8 meters of DNA if completely stretched out; however, when wound about histones, this length is reduced to about 90 micrometers (0.09 mm) of 30 nm diameter chromatin fibers. There are five families of histones which are designated H1/H5 (linker histones), H2, H3, and H4 (core histones). The nucleosome core is formed of two H2A-H2B dimers and a H3-H4 tetramer. The tight wrapping of DNA around h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zinc Finger
A zinc finger is a small protein structural motif that is characterized by the coordination of one or more zinc ions (Zn2+) in order to stabilize the fold. It was originally coined to describe the finger-like appearance of a hypothesized structure from the African clawed frog (''Xenopus laevis'') transcription factor IIIA. However, it has been found to encompass a wide variety of differing protein structures in eukaryotic cells. ''Xenopus laevis'' TFIIIA was originally demonstrated to contain zinc and require the metal for function in 1983, the first such reported zinc requirement for a gene regulatory protein followed soon thereafter by the Krüppel factor in ''Drosophila''. It often appears as a metal-binding domain in multi-domain proteins. Proteins that contain zinc fingers (zinc finger proteins) are classified into several different structural families. Unlike many other clearly defined supersecondary structures such as Greek keys or β hairpins, there are a number of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Base Pair
A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA and RNA. Dictated by specific hydrogen bonding patterns, "Watson–Crick" (or "Watson–Crick–Franklin") base pairs (guanine–cytosine and adenine–thymine) allow the DNA helix to maintain a regular helical structure that is subtly dependent on its nucleotide sequence. The complementary nature of this based-paired structure provides a redundant copy of the genetic information encoded within each strand of DNA. The regular structure and data redundancy provided by the DNA double helix make DNA well suited to the storage of genetic information, while base-pairing between DNA and incoming nucleotides provides the mechanism through which DNA polymerase replicates DNA and RNA polymerase transcribes DNA into RNA. Many DNA-binding prot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genome
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as regulatory sequences (see non-coding DNA), and often a substantial fraction of 'junk' DNA with no evident function. Almost all eukaryotes have mitochondria and a small mitochondrial genome. Algae and plants also contain chloroplasts with a chloroplast genome. The study of the genome is called genomics. The genomes of many organisms have been sequenced and various regions have been annotated. The International Human Genome Project reported the sequence of the genome for ''Homo sapiens'' in 200The Human Genome Project although the initial "finished" sequence was missing 8% of the genome consisting mostly of repetitive sequences. With advancements in technology that could handle sequen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Speciation")
