title: Preferential expression of scores of functionally and evolutionarily diverse DNA and RNA-binding proteins during Oxytricha trifallax macronuclear development.
abstract: During its sexual reproduction, the stichotrichous ciliate Oxytricha trifallax orchestrates a remarkable transformation of one of the newly formed germline micronuclear genomes. Hundreds of thousands of gene pieces are stitched together, excised from chromosomes, and replicated dozens of times to yield a functional somatic macronuclear genome composed of ~16,000 distinct DNA molecules that typically encode a single gene. Little is known about the proteins that carry out this process. We profiled mRNA expression as a function of macronuclear development and identified hundreds of mRNAs preferentially expressed at specific times during the program. We find that a disproportionate number of these mRNAs encode proteins that are involved in DNA and RNA functions. Many mRNAs preferentially expressed during macronuclear development have paralogs that are either expressed constitutively or are expressed at different times during macronuclear development, including many components of the RNA polymerase II machinery and homologous recombination complexes. Hundreds of macronuclear development-specific genes encode proteins that are well-conserved among multicellular eukaryotes, including many with links to germline functions or development. Our work implicates dozens of DNA and RNA-binding proteins with diverse evolutionary trajectories in macronuclear development in O. trifallax. It suggests functional connections between the process of macronuclear development in unicellular ciliates and germline specialization and differentiation in multicellular organisms, and argues that gene duplication is a key source of evolutionary innovation in this process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology and Center for Molecular Biology of RNA, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Zachary T
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8930-3574
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Neeb
authors.affiliation: Tocagen Inc., San Diego, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5828-0381
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hogan
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sol
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katzman
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology and Center for Molecular Biology of RNA, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Alan M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0027-1647
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zahler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D048648:Macronucleus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016813:Oxytricha / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins