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. 1991 Feb;11(2):1133–1137. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.2.1133

Macronuclear transformation with specific DNA fragments controls the content of the new macronuclear genome in Paramecium tetraurelia.

Y You 1, K Aufderheide 1, J Morand 1, K Rodkey 1, J Forney 1
PMCID: PMC359794  PMID: 1990269

Abstract

A previously isolated mutant cell line called d48 contains a complete copy of the A surface antigen gene in the micronuclear genome, but the gene is not incorporated into the macronucleus. Previous experiments have shown that a cytoplasmic factor made in the wild-type macronucleus can rescue the mutant. Recently, S. Koizumi and S. Kobayashi (Mol. Cell. Biol. 9:4398-4401, 1989) observed that injection of a plasmid containing the A gene into the d48 macronucleus rescued the cell line after autogamy. It is shown here that an 8.8-kb EcoRI fragment containing only a portion of the A gene coding region is sufficient for the rescue of d48. The inability of other A gene fragments to rescue the mutant shows that this effect is dependent upon specific Paramecium DNA sequences. Rescue results in restoration of the wild-type DNA restriction pattern in the macronucleus. These results are consistent with a model in which the macronuclear A locus normally makes an additional gene product that is required for correct processing of the micronuclear copy of the A gene.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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