Figures
Assembly of a mating type gene in Tetrahymena
The germline nucleus contains a tandem array of six incomplete gene pairs (MTA and MTB), one pair for each mating type. The MTA genes have a common terminal exon (color coded), which is truncated in every gene except mating type II (blue). A complete gene is assembled by joining to the mating type II terminal exon (ribbons). Joining occurs within regions (ribbon width) delineated by polymorphic nucleotides (radial lines). The MTB genes undergo a similar process. Mating type is determined when every incomplete gene pair has been deleted and one complete gene pair remains. See Cervantes, et al., in this issue.
Image Credit: Michael J. Lawson using Circos (M. Krzywinski, http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/circos/)
Citation: (2013) PLoS Biology Issue Image | Vol. 11(3) March 2013. PLoS Biol 11(3): ev11.i03. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pbio.v11.i03
Published: March 26, 2013
Copyright: © 2013 Lawson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
The germline nucleus contains a tandem array of six incomplete gene pairs (MTA and MTB), one pair for each mating type. The MTA genes have a common terminal exon (color coded), which is truncated in every gene except mating type II (blue). A complete gene is assembled by joining to the mating type II terminal exon (ribbons). Joining occurs within regions (ribbon width) delineated by polymorphic nucleotides (radial lines). The MTB genes undergo a similar process. Mating type is determined when every incomplete gene pair has been deleted and one complete gene pair remains. See Cervantes, et al., in this issue.
Image Credit: Michael J. Lawson using Circos (M. Krzywinski, http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/circos/)