The major evolutionary transition from single-celled to multicellular life is believed to have occurred independently of the main metazoan lineages in the cellular slime moulds, of which Dictyostelium discoideum is the ...

A hallmark feature of Dictyostelium development is the establishment and maintenance of precise cell-type proportions. In the case of D. discoideum, roughly 20% of the cells that aggregate form the stalk while the remaining ...

The binding of different proteins involved in processes such as transcription, replication and chromatin compaction to regions of the genome is regulated by the structure of DNA. Thus, DNA structure acts as the crucial ...

For survival and successful propagation, every organism has to maintain the genomic integrity of the cell. The information content, in the form of nucleotide bases, is constantly threatened by endogenous agents and ...

Restriction endonucleases occur ubiquitously among bacteria, archaea and in viruses of certain unicellular algae, and they are usually accompanied by a modification enzyme of identical specificity; together, the two ...

DNA repair pathways have evolved to protect the genome from damage caused by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Although numerous DNA repair mechanisms have been studied and reported, information regarding how they coordinate ...