| Abstract |
Retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements which are found in the genomes of all eukaryotic organisms including humans. They are structurally and functionally related to retroviruses such as HIV and have the potential to be very harmful to the host organism because they may disrupt genes, alter their expression and can also drive genomic rearrangements. Indeed, occasionally retrotransposons can cause genetic disease and so all organisms must carefully control the expression of such elements. Therefore, the aims of this work are firstly, to study the mechanisms that control the expression of retrotransposons and secondly, to determine the outcomes when these controls are impaired. Retrotransposons that are related to those present in humans are also found in simple organisms such as yeast. Therefore, this study will use the fission yeast to study the control of retrotransposons as this unicellular organism is much easier to study and manipulate than complex multicellular organisms such as a humans. |
