Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Hyperactive piggyBac Transposase-mediated Germline Transformation in the Fall Armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda
Published on: September 23, 2021
Six domesticated PiggyBac transposases together carry out programmed DNA elimination in Paramecium
Julien Bischerour1, Simran Bhullar2,3, Cyril Denby Wilkes1
1Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), CEA, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Abstract:
The domestication of transposable elements has repeatedly occurred during evolution and domesticated transposases have often been implicated in programmed genome rearrangements, as remarkably illustrated in ciliates. In Paramecium, PiggyMac (Pgm), a domesticated PiggyBac transposase, carries out developmentally programmed DNA elimination, including the precise excision of tens of thousands of gene-interrupting germline Internal Eliminated Sequences (IESs). Here, we report the discovery of five groups of distant Pgm-like proteins (PgmLs), all able to interact with Pgm and essential for its nuclear localization and IES excision genome-wide. Unlike Pgm, PgmLs lack a conserved catalytic site, suggesting that they rather have an architectural function within a multi-component excision complex embedding Pgm. PgmL depletion can increase erroneous targeting of residual Pgm-mediated DNA cleavage, indicating that PgmLs contribute to accurately position the complex on IES ends. DNA rearrangements in Paramecium constitute a rare example of a biological process jointly managed by six distinct domesticated transposases.
More Related Videos
06:43In Vivo Proximity Biotinylation for Protein Interaction Studies in Paramecium tetraurelia
Published on: September 12, 2025
08:15gDNA Enrichment by a Transposase-based Technology for NGS Analysis of the Whole Sequence of BRCA1, BRCA2, and 9 Genes Involved in DNA Damage Repair
Published on: October 6, 2014
Related Concept Videos
DNA-only Transposons
The donor site from where the transposon is excised is either degraded or...
Energy Carried By Electromagnetic Waves
Elimination Kinetics: First-Order and Zero-Order
Drug clearance depends on the rate of drug elimination and its plasma concentration. Another important parameter is a drug's half-life, which is the time required for its concentration to decrease by half. In most cases, drug clearance follows first-order...
Elimination Reactions
Radical Formation: Elimination
Gaussian Elimination: Problem Solving