Nuclear Genome Organization in Fungi: From Gene folding to Rabl Chromosomes

We discuss the current knowledge on the fungal genome organization, from the association of chromosomes within the nucleus to topological structures at individual genes and the genetic factors required for the hierarchical organization. Chromosome conformation capture followed by high-throughput sequencing (Hi-C) has elucidated how fungal genomes are globally organized in Rabl configuration where centromere or telomere bundles are associated with opposite faces of the nuclear envelope. Here, we explore the presence, in fungal taxa, of the typical proteins associated with genome organization in eukaryotes

The genome organization of <i>Neurospora crassa</i> at high resolution uncovers principles of fungal chromosome topology

AbstractThe eukaryotic genome must be precisely organized for its proper function, as genome topology impacts transcriptional regulation, cell division, replication, and repair, among other essential processes. Disruptions to human genome topology can lead to diseases, including cancer. The advent of chromosome conformation capture with high-throughput sequencing (Hi-C) to assess genome organization has revolutionized the study of nuclear genome topology; Hi-C has elucidated numerous genomic structures, including chromosomal territories, active/silent chromatin compartments, Topologically Associated Domains, and chromatin loops. While low-resolution heatmaps can provide important insights into chromosomal level contacts, high-resolution Hi-C datasets are required to reveal folding principles of individual genes. Of particular interest are high-resolution chromosome conformation datasets of organisms modeling the human genome. Here, we report the genome topology of the fungal model organism Neurospora crassaDpnMseDpnMs