Arkhipova Irina R.

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Last Name
Arkhipova
First Name
Irina R.
ORCID
0000-0002-4805-1339

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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Preprint
    Telomere-associated endonuclease-deficient Penelope-like retroelements in diverse eukaryotes
    ( 2007-02-27) Gladyshev, Eugene A. ; Arkhipova, Irina R.
    The evolutionary origin of telomerases, enzymes that maintain the ends of linear chromosomes in most eukaryotes, is a subject of debate. Penelope-like elements (PLEs) are a recently described class of eukaryotic retroelements characterized by a GIY-YIG endonuclease domain and by a reverse transcriptase domain with similarity to telomerases and group II introns. Here we report that a subset of PLEs found in bdelloid rotifers, basidiomycete fungi, stramenopiles, and plants, representing four different eukaryotic kingdoms, lack the endonuclease domain and are located at telomeres. The 5' truncated ends of these elements are telomereoriented and typically capped by species-specific telomeric repeats. Most of them also carry several shorter stretches of telomeric repeats at or near their 3’ ends, which could facilitate utilization of the telomeric G-rich 3’ overhangs to prime reverse transcription. Many of these telomere-associated PLEs occupy a basal phylogenetic position close to the point of divergence from the telomerase-PLE common ancestor, and may descend from the missing link between early eukaryotic retroelements and present-day telomerases.
  • Preprint
    Mobile genetic elements : in silico, in vitro, in vivo
    ( 2015-11-30) Arkhipova, Irina R. ; Rice, Phoebe A.
    Mobile genetic elements (MGEs), also called transposable elements (TEs), represent universal components of most genomes and are intimately involved in nearly all aspects of genome organization, function, and evolution. However, there is currently a gap between fast-paced TE discovery in silico, stimulated by exponential growth of comparative genomic studies, and a limited number of experimental models amenable to more traditional in vitro and in vivo studies of structural, mechanistic, and regulatory properties of diverse MGEs. Experimental and computational scientists came together to bridge this gap at a recent conference, “Mobile Genetic Elements: in silico, in vitro, in vivo,” held at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA, USA.
  • Preprint
    Genome structure of bdelloid rotifers : shaped by asexuality or desiccation?
    ( 2010-01) Gladyshev, Eugene A. ; Arkhipova, Irina R.
    Bdelloid rotifers are microscopic invertebrate animals best known for their ancient asexuality and the ability to survive desiccation at any life stage. Both factors are expected to have a profound influence on their genome structure. Recent molecular studies demonstrated that, while the gene-rich regions of bdelloid genomes are organized as co-linear pairs of closely related sequences and depleted in repetitive DNA, subtelomeric regions harbor diverse transposable elements and horizontally acquired genes of foreign origin. While asexuality is expected to result in depletion of deleterious transposons, only desiccation appears to have the power to produce all of the uncovered genomic peculiarities. Repair of desiccation-induced DNA damage would require the presence of a homologous template, maintaining co-linear pairs in gene-rich regions, and selecting against insertion of repetitive DNA which might cause chromosomal rearrangements. Desiccation may also induce a transient state of competence in recovering animals, allowing them to acquire environmental DNA. Even if bdelloids engage in rare or obscure forms of sexual reproduction, all these features could still be present. The relative contribution of asexuality and desiccation to genome organization may be clarified by analyzing whole-genome sequences and comparing foreign gene and transposon content in species which lost the ability to survive desiccation.