Even a well-characterized genome, such as that of the Drosophila, the so-called fruit fly, still holds surprises. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, in collaboration with Cornell University (USA) and the University of Groningen (Netherlands), has discovered an RNA coding for a micro-peptide—a very small protein—that plays a crucial role in the competition between spermatozoa from different males with which the female mates. In addition to shedding new light on this biological mechanism, this work, to be read in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), highlights the importance of small peptides, a class of proteins that is now emerging as a key player in complex biological processes.
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Source: Phys.org