Diversity of RNA interference pathways in regulation of endogenous and exogenous sequences expression in ciliates Tetrahymena and Paramecium
RNA interference plays a major role in biology of ciliates. Diverse small RNAs regulate many processes in vegetative cells of ciliates Tetrahymena and Paramecium. Different types of endogenous and exogenous nucleotide sequences induce different RNAi pathways resulting in silencing of the homologous sequences in the macronuclear genome. Likely this way ciliates are able to quickly inactivate heterogeneous sequences and to adapt efficiently to the environmental conditions and external stimuli.