Small things considered: Is a Good Offense the Best Defense?

By volschenkh On 13/12/2011 · Leave a Comment · In General Science

“Most eukaryotes possess an RNA interference system (RNAi) that they use to regulate gene expression and to defend against viruses and other mobile elements. However, some budding yeasts, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, appear to get along just fine without it even though RNAi has benefited other yeasts by silencing transposons in particular. How do these yeasts that lack functional RNAi systems compete with closely related species that do?”