Shedding light on the 'dark matter' of the genome
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - 13:00
in Biology & Nature
Most of the time, Stefano Torriani is a plant pathologist. His most recent research project revolved around the fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola where he analyzed a special class of genes that encode cell wall degrading enzymes. A virulent fungus relies heavily on these enzymes when attacking a plant. But while investigating these genes, Torriani came across something odd; one gene came in different sizes in different individuals.