Discovery of prions—proteins that are able to convert between structurally distinct states, of which one or more is transmissible, led to the concept of “protein-based inheritance”. According to this concept, the formation of prion fibrils causes DNA-independent heritable traits in microorganisms. Recently, we described a new and unusual type of prion inheritance. We showed that the yeast prions [PIN+] and [SWI+], like classical genes, demonstrate complementary interaction that causes a phenotypic change in yeast cells. Here, we discuss the possible mechanisms of such polyprionic inheritance and the perspectives in the identification of prions in various organisms using universal proteomic approaches.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)799-802
Number of pages4
JournalCurrent Genetics
Volume63
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 2017

    Scopus subject areas

  • Genetics

    Research areas

  • Amyloid, Polyprionic inheritance, Prion, Proteomic screen, Yeast

ID: 88151346