Qinyu Hao, Minxue Liu, Swapna Vidhur Daulatabad, Saba Gaffari, You Jin Song, Rajneesh Srivastava, Shivang Bhaskar, Anurupa Moitra, Hazel Mangan, Elizabeth Tseng, Rachel B Gilmore, Susan M Frier, Xin Chen, Chengliang Wang, Sui Huang, Stormy Chamberlain, Hong Jin, Jonas Korlach, Brian McStay, Saurabh Sinha, Sarath C Janga, Supriya Prasanth, Kannanganattu V Prasanth
Out of the several hundred copies of rRNA genes arranged in the nucleolar organizing regions (NOR) of the five human acrocentric chromosomes, ~50% remain transcriptionally inactive. NOR-associated sequences and epigenetic modifications contribute to the differential expression of rRNAs. However, the mechanism(s) controlling the dosage of active versus inactive rRNA genes within each NOR in mammals is yet to be determined. We have discovered a family of ncRNAs, SNULs (Single NUcleolus Localized RNA), which form constrained sub-nucleolar territories on individual NORs and influence rRNA expression...
January 19, 2024: ELife