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Updated: Apr 25, 2026
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The Green Monster Process for the Generation of Yeast Strains Carrying Multiple Gene Deletions
Published on: December 15, 2012
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Pervasive and persistent redundancy among duplicated genes in yeast.
E Jedediah Dean1, Jerel C Davis, Ronald W Davis
1Stanford Genome Technology Center, Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America. ejdean@stanford.edu
Plos Genetics
|July 8, 2008
Summary
Gene duplication in yeast maintains functional redundancy for millions of years. Duplicated genes rarely evolve unique functions, suggesting redundancy persists long after duplication events.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Genetics
- Molecular biology
Background:
- Functional redundancy is crucial for gene duplication evolution.
- Understanding redundancy in duplicated genes is key to evolutionary processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically assess functional redundancy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae duplicated genes.
- To determine the duration and extent of functional redundancy post-duplication.
Main Methods:
- Quantified growth rates in rich medium for yeast strains with single and double gene deletions.
- Analyzed duplicated and singleton genes, including those from whole genome and smaller-scale duplications.
Main Results:
- Duplicated genes maintain significant functional redundancy for approximately 100 million years.
- High redundancy observed in genes duplicated via both whole genome and smaller-scale events.
- No substantial fitness increase observed for combined duplicated genes over their ancestral gene.
Conclusions:
- Duplicated genes retain functional redundancy for extended evolutionary periods.
- Duplicate genes in yeast do not frequently evolve distinct functions, remaining largely redundant.
- The evolutionary trajectory of duplicated genes favors sustained redundancy over functional divergence.
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