Repetitive DNA is ubiquitous in eukaryotic genomes, and, in many species, comprises the bulk of the genome. Repeats include transposable elements that can self-mobilize and disperse around the genome, and tandemly-repeated satellite DNAs that increase in copy number due to replication slippage and unequal crossing over. Despite their abundance, repetitive DNA is often ignored in genomic studies due to technical challenges in their identification, assembly, and quantification. New technologies and methods are now providing the unprecedented power to analyze repetitive DNAs across diverse taxa. Repetitive DNA is of particular interest because it can represent distinct modes of genome evolution. Some repetitive DNA forms essential genome structures, such as telomeres and centromeres, which are required for proper chromosome maintenance and segregation, whereas others form piRNA clusters that regulate transposable elements; thus, these elements are expected to evolve under purifying selection. In contrast, other repeats evolve selfishly and produce genetic conflicts with their host species that drive adaptive evolution of host defense systems. However, the majority of repeats likely accumulate in eukaryotes in the absence of selection due to mechanisms of transposition and unequal crossing over. Even these neutral repeats may indirectly influence genome evolution as they reach high abundance. In this Special Issue, the contributing authors explore these questions from a range of perspectives.

The experimental data that have been generated using new molecular techniques associated with the completion of genome projects have changed our perception of the structural features, functional implications and evolutionary dynamics of repetitive DNA sequences. This volume of Genome Dynamics provides a valuable update on recent developments in research into multigene families, centromeres, telomeres, microsatellite DNA, satellite DNA, and transposable elements. Each chapter presents a review by distinguished experts and analyzes repetitive DNA diversity and abundance, as well as the impact on genome structure, function and evolution. This publication is targeted at scientists and scholars at every level, from students to faculty members, and, indeed, anyone involved or interested in genetics, molecular evolution, molecular biology as well as genomics will find it a valuable source of up-to-date information.

'The material included in Heterochromatin is impressively comprehensive and provides timely, authoritative information that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.' BioScience

An extension of the original volume, reflecting the latest advances in understanding these elements. This title is published by the American Society for Microbiology Press and distributed by Taylor and Francis in rest of world territories.

This book gives a comprehensive overview of the unique roles that non-coding repetitive elements such as satellite DNAs play in different physiological and evolutionary processes. It presents the gene-regulatory aspect of satellite DNAs in different model systems including mammals, insects and plants. In addition, evolutionary aspects of activation of satellite DNAs in terms of transcription and proliferation are highlighted, revealing the role of satellite DNAs in the process of adaptation to changing environment and in the speciation process. Finally, the book discusses satellite DNA activation during pathological transformation and the mechanisms by which they affect disease progression. Namely, some satellite DNAs promote the oncogenic processes by affecting genome epigenetic regulation as well as genome integrity. Readers get a full overview of the latest research on satellite DNA.

This book addresses the role of tandem repeat polymorphisms (TRPs) in genetic plasticity, evolution, development, biological processes, neural diversity, brain function, dysfunction and disease. There are hundreds of thousands of unique tandem repeats in the human genome and their polymorphic distributions have the potential to greatly influence functional diversity and disease susceptibility. Recent discoveries in this expanding field are critically reviewed and discussed in a range of subsequent chapters, with a focus on the role of TRPs and their various gene products in evolution, development, diverse molecular and cellular processes, brain function and disease.

A wide range of microbiologists, molecular biologists, and molecular evolutionary biologists will find this new volume of singular interest. It summarizes the present knowledge about the structure and stability of microbial genomes, and reviews the techniques used to analyze and fingerprint them. Maps of approximately thirty important microbes, along with articles on the construction and relevant features of the maps are included. The volume is not intended as a complete compendium of all information on microbial genomes, but rather focuses on approaches, methods and good examples of the analysis of small genomes.

Taxonomy is fundamental to understanding the variety of life forms, and exciting expansions in molecular biology are re- volutionising the obtained data. This volume reviews the ma- jor molecular biological techniques that are applied in ta- xonomy. The chapters are arranged in three main sections:1) Overviews of important topics in molecular taxonomy; 2) Case studies of the successful application of molecular methods to taxonomic and evolutionary questions; 3) Protocols for a range of generally applicable methods. The described techni- ques include DNA-DNA hybridization, DNA fingerprinting, RFLP analysis, and PCR sequencing.

Genome Stability: From Virus to Human Application, Second Edition, a volume in the Translational Epigenetics series, explores how various species maintain genome stability and genome diversification in response to environmental factors. Here, across thirty-eight chapters, leading researchers provide a deep analysis of genome stability in DNA/RNA viruses, prokaryotes, single cell eukaryotes, lower multicellular eukaryotes, and mammals, examining how epigenetic factors contribute to genome stability and how these species pass memories of encounters to progeny. Topics also include major DNA repair mechanisms, the role of chromatin in genome stability, human diseases associated with genome instability, and genome stability in response to aging. This second edition has been fully revised to address evolving research trends, including CRISPRs/Cas9 genome editing; conventional versus transgenic genome instability; breeding and genetic diseases associated with abnormal DNA repair; RNA and extrachromosomal DNA; cloning, stem cells, and embryo development; programmed genome instability; and conserved and divergent features of repair. This volume is an essential resource for geneticists, epigeneticists, and molecular biologists who are looking to gain a deeper understanding of this rapidly expanding field, and can also be of great use to advanced students who are looking to gain additional expertise in genome stability. - A deep analysis of genome stability research from various kingdoms, including epigenetics and transgenerational effects - Provides comprehensive coverage of mechanisms utilized by different organisms to maintain genomic stability - Contains applications of genome instability research and outcomes for human disease - Features all-new chapters on evolving areas of genome stability research, including CRISPRs/Cas9 genome editing, RNA and extrachromosomal DNA, programmed genome instability, and conserved and divergent features of repair

From the author of the acclaimed The Epigenetics Revolution (‘A book that would have had Darwin swooning’ – Guardian) comes another thrilling exploration of the cutting edge of human science. For decades after the structure of DNA was identified, scientists focused purely on genes, the regions of the genome that contain codes for the production of proteins. Other regions – 98% of the human genome – were dismissed as ‘junk’. But in recent years researchers have discovered that variations in this ‘junk’ DNA underlie many previously intractable diseases, and they can now generate new approaches to tackling them. Nessa Carey explores, for the first time for a general audience, the incredible story behind a controversy that has generated unusually vituperative public exchanges between scientists. She shows how junk DNA plays an important role in areas as diverse as genetic diseases, viral infections, sex determination in mammals, human biological complexity, disease treatments, even evolution itself – and reveals how we are only now truly unlocking its secrets, more than half a century after Crick and Watson won their Nobel prize for the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1962.