摘要
近年来发展起来的染色体多维结构研究很快就遇到了概念盲区和技术瓶颈,有必要在较高级的思维层次加以澄清和深入探讨.虽然生命可能起源于操作(基因组DNA以外的大小生物分子)而非信息(基因组DNA),但是当DNA被选择来承载信息后(或同时),其操作和平衡功能又分别在不同层面上(不同谱系、物种、细胞、染色质、基因)以不同程度体现出来,比如参与平衡的物质不仅包括DNA和RNA大分子也包括脱氧核苷酸、核苷酸、修饰核苷衍生物等小分子以及可识别的结构单元包括染色质区域、转座子、染色体结构元件等.正是这些物质和结构的动态变化和交叉关联构成了多维度的生命活动.这些活动的机械化学、时间空间界定及对其规律的探索和研究,构成了复杂的基因调控体系,从中衍生出由简到繁、由表及里、纵横交错的核心生物学元素和这些元素所构成的科学问题.
Multi-dimensional structural studies of chromosomes have met some conceptual hurdles and technical bottlenecks, albeit making significant headways in recent years, so that it is necessary to discuss and clarify several key relevant concepts in a top-down fashion.Life might have started with molecular operations(RNAs, proteins and other macromolecules) rather than information and its inheritability(DNA). Therefore, when DNA became the Chosen One to shoulder genetic information, its multi-potential nature as a set of intracellular macromolecules has been exploited in time and space since, whose operational and homeostatic roles at all levels form a substantial network of harmonious molecular mechanisms and cellular processes. Such a network, defined in molecular details at mechanochemical and spatiotemporal dimensions, along with its rules and complications, has made up the core themes and countless scenarios of modern biology.
作者
于军
YU Jun(CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information,Beijing Institute of Genomics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China)
出处
《中国科学：生命科学》
CSCD
北大核心
2020年第5期538-548,共11页
Scientia Sinica(Vitae)
基金
国家自然科学基金(批准号:31671350)资助。
关键词
基因组
染色体
基因表达调控
多维基因组信息
genome
chromosome
gene expression regulation
multi-dimensional genome information
