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DNA processing in ciliates - a computational point of view

DNA processing in ciliates is one of the most sophisticated in all living organisms. Ciliates have developed a unique nuclear dualism: the micro nucleus contains the (very long) chromosome with all the genes in it, separated by spacer DNA, while in the macro nucleus each gene is on its ”own” (short) chromosome. The genes in the macro nucleus are expressed, providing all the necessary RNA in proteins, while the genes in the micro nucleus get ”activated” only during sexual reproduction. During this process, a very involved processing takes place that translates ”syntactic”, non-functionally arranged genes into their ”semantically” expressible form in the macro nucleus. This elegant, but partially mysterious process, is very interesting from the computational point of view. In our lecture (of tutorial nature) we will discuss the computational aspects of gene processing in ciliates. We will demonstrate how the study of this process contributes to the understanding of the biology of ciliates and to creating interesting concepts for computer science.