title: Genome instability: a mechanistic view of its causes and consequences.
abstract: Genomic instability in the form of mutations and chromosome rearrangements is usually associated with pathological disorders, and yet it is also crucial for evolution. Two types of elements have a key role in instability leading to rearrangements: those that act in trans to prevent instability--among them are replication, repair and S-phase checkpoint factors--and those that act in cis--chromosomal hotspots of instability such as fragile sites and highly transcribed DNA sequences. Taking these elements as a guide, we review the causes and consequences of instability with the aim of providing a mechanistic perspective on the origin of genomic instability.
authors.affiliation: Centro Andaluz de Biologia Molecular y Medicina Regenerativa CABIMER, Universidad de Sevilla-CSIC, Avd. Américo Vespucio s/n, 41092 Sevilla, Spain. aguilo@us.es
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aguilera
authors.forename: Belén
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gómez-González
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D053960:DNA Breaks; D004261:DNA Replication; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching