Reality-and-desire in ciliates

Abstract

The theory of gene assembly in ciliates has a number of similarities with the theory of sorting by reversal. Both theories model processes that are based on splicing, and have a fixed begin and end product. The main difference is the type of splicing operations used to obtain the end product from the begin product. In this overview paper, we show how the concept of breakpoint graph, known from the theory of sorting by reversal, can be used in the theory of gene assembly. Our aim is to present the material in an intuitive and informal manner to allow for an efficient introduction into the subject.