The DNA sequence and biology of human chromosome 19
Chromosome 19 has the highest gene density of all human chromosomes, more than double the genome-wide average. The large clustered gene families, corresponding high G+C content, CpG islands and density of repetitive DNA indicate a chromosome rich in biological and evolutionary significance. Here we describe 55.8 million base pairs of highly accurate finished sequence representing… [Read More]
Basal chromatin modification at the IL-4 gene in helper T cells
Chromatin immunoprecipitations in naive CD4, but not CD8, T cells, demonstrated association of the IL-4 promoter with acetylated histone. Histone modifications and rapid IL-4 transcription were absent in conserved noncoding sequence 1 (CNS-1)(-/-) cells lacking an 8-kb-distant enhancer in the IL-4/IL-13 intergenic region, but also in CD4(-/-) and Itk(-/-) cells, which have similar Th2 deficiencies…. [Read More]
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii at the crossroads of genomics
Identification of methyl coenzyme M reductase A (mcrA) genes associated with methane-oxidizing archaea
Phylogenetic and stable-isotope analyses implicated two methanogen-like archaeal groups, ANME-1 and ANME-2, as key participants in the process of anaerobic methane oxidation. Although nothing is known about anaerobic methane oxidation at the molecular level, the evolutionary relationship between methane-oxidizing archaea (MOA) and methanogenic archaea raises the possibility that MOA have co-opted key elements of the… [Read More]