Mechanisms of eukaryotic transcription

A new study identifies the long noncoding RNA Pint as a regulator of cellular proliferation and a target of the p53 pathway. See related Research, http://genomebiology.com/2013/14/9/R104     

The complex binding of PRDM9

A recent study investigates the in vitro DNA binding behavior of PRDM9, a zinc finger protein involved in the localization of recombination hotspots in mammals.Please see related research article: http://genomebiology.com/2013/14/4/R35     

Rising from the crypt: decreasing DNA methylation during differentiation of the small intestine

The differentiation of intestinal stem cells involves few DNA methylation changes, assayed by bisulfite sequencing, in contrast to other adult somatic stem cell hierarchies.Please see related Research article: http://genomebiology.com/2013/14/5/R50     

International plant molecular biology: a bright future for green science

A new study in this issue of Genome Biology sheds light on why some pseudogenes persist in rodent, and other mammalian, genomes. Please see related Research article by Marques et al http://genomebiology.com/2012/13/11/R102     

Identification of evolutionarily meaningful information within the mammalian RNA editing landscape

A large comparative genomic sequence study has determined the extent of conservation between RNA editing sites within the mammalian evolutionary tree.See related research by Pinto et al., http://genomebiology.com/2014/15/1/R5     

Birds do it,bees do it,worms and ciliates do it too: DNA methylation from unexpected corners of the tree of life

Studies describing intricate patterns of DNA methylation in nematode and ciliate are controversial due to the uncertainty of genomic evolutionary conservation of DNA methylation enzymes.See related research articles http://genomebiology.com/2012/13/10/R99 and http://genomebiology.com/2012/13/10/R100     

Timber! Felling the loblolly pine genome

Conventional short read sequences derived from haploid DNA were extended into long super-reads enabling assembly of the massive 22 Gbp loblolly pine, Pinus taeda, genome.See related research http://genomebiology.com/2014/15/3/R59     

GWAS is going to the dogs

Genome-wide association studies in canine models may help locate genomic susceptibility regions that are relevant to human disease. See related Research: http://genomebiology.com/2014/15/3/R25     

What can epigenomics do for you?

Genome-wide 5-hydroxymethylome analysis of a rodent hepatocarcinogen model reveals that 5-hydroxymethylcytosine-dependent active DNA demethylation may be functionally important in the early stages of carcinogenesis. See research article http://genomebiology.com/2012/13/10/R93     

An enigmatic satellite

McLaughlin and Chadwick describe an X-linked tandem repeat that is transcribed, conserved and defies X inactivation. Is it selfish, functional or just an oddity?See research article: http://genomebiology.com/2011/12/4/R37     

Of RNA-binding proteins and their targets: interaction determines expression

Combining the prediction of interactions between mRNAs and RNA-binding proteins with experimental expression profiles uncovers novel regulatory paradigms concerning proliferation and differentiation processes.See related research, http://genomebiology.com/2014/15/1/R13     

Insecticide resistance comes of age

A new study integrates biochemistry, genetics and structural biology to reveal the mechanism of metabolic resistance in a vector mosquito in unprecedented detail.See related research http://genomebiology.com/2014/15/2/R27     

Smaug destroys a huge treasure

Smaug, a protein repressing translation and inducing mRNA decay, directly controls an unexpectedly large number of maternal mRNAs driving early Drosophila development.See related research, http://genomebiology.com/2014/15/1/R4Regulation of translation and mRNA stability is a key aspect of early metazoan development. One of the best studied factors involved in these processes is the Drosophila protein Smaug. In this issue of Genome Biology, Chen et al. [1] report that a large number of maternal mRNAs in the fly embryo are probably regulated directly by Smaug.     

Binding the boundaries of chromatin domains

A new study proposes an integrated framework to improve our understanding of the multiple functions of insulator elements, and their architectural role in the genome.See related research; http://genomebiology.com/2014/15/6/R82     

Genome Informatics 2014

Whole-genome sequencing of Mauritian cynomolgus macaques reveals novel candidate loci for controlling simian immunodeficiency virus replication. See related Research, http://genomebiology.com/2014/15/11/478     

SNES makes sense? Single-cell exome sequencing evolves

Technologies for single-cell sequencing are improving steadily. A recent study describes a new method for interrogating all coding sequences of the human genome at single-cell resolution.See related research by Leung et al., http://genomebiology.com/2015/16/1/55