P-element transformants of a single rRNA gene (rDNA) were used to investigate the relationship between the organization of the nucleolus organizer (NO) and rDNA function in Drosophila melanogaster. In situ hybridization to rRNA in polytene nuclei of salivary glands demonstrated that an rRNA gene can be transcribed at a high rate when inserted into chromosomal sites other than the NO. Structures...

The recent introduction of molecular techniques in eukaryotic microbial diversity studies, in particular those based in the amplification and sequencing of small-subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA), has revealed the existence of an unexpected variety of new phylotypes. The taxonomic ascription of the organisms bearing those sequences is generally deduced from phylogenetic analysis. Unfortunately, ...

In the budding yeast of Saccharomyces cerevisiae the tandem repeated of rDNA genes are located onchromosome XII, which is in the nucleolus. There are different types of proteins in the nucleoluskeleton,silencing proteins have got important role in nucleolus.It is shown that meiotic recombination between nonsister chromatids in the rDNA genes are stronglysuppressed, and s...

Homologous recombination (HR)-mediated instability of the repetitively organized ribosomal DNA (rDNA) has been proposed as a mediator of cell senescence in yeast triggering the DNA damage response. High individual variability in the content of human rDNA suggests that this genomic region remained relatively unstable throughout evolution. Therefore, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reacti...

The physical location of the rDNA repeating units (25 S, 18 S and 5.8 S rRNA genes and the intergenic spacer sequences) was investigated in rye (Secale cereale L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) root tip meristematic cells by in situ hybridization using light and electron microscopy. The rDNA sequences are organized differently in the two related and intercrossable species. In rye (2n = 14, o...

Half-smooth tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) is an important aquaculture flatfish in China. Cytogenetic analysis has revealed that its sex determination system is female heterogametic (ZZ/ZW). The W chromosome is morphologically larger and has been considered evolutionarily younger than any other chromosome in the set. However, the genetic origin and evolution process of this neo-chromosome...

The ATP-dependent chromatin remodeling complex NoRC silences a fraction of mammalian ribosomal RNA genes (rDNA) by establishing heterochromatic structures at the rDNA promoter. Here we show that NoRC also plays a role in replication timing of rDNA. rDNA is replicated in a biphasic manner, active genes ( approximately 60%) replicating early and silent ones ( approximately 40%) replicating late i...

In Drosophila melanogaster, the rDNA loci function in ribosome biogenesis and nucleolar formation and also as sex chromosome pairing sites in male meiosis. These activities are not dependent on the heterochromatic location of the rDNA, because euchromatic transgenes are competent to form nucleoli and restore pairing to rDNA-deficient X chromosomes. These transgene studies, however, do not addre...