Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 1, 2026

Genome-wide Purification of Extrachromosomal Circular DNA from Eukaryotic Cells
Published on: April 4, 2016
Widespread conservation of genetic redundancy during a billion years of eukaryotic evolution
Tanya Vavouri1, Jennifer I Semple, Ben Lehner
1EMBL-CRG Systems Biology Unit, Centre for Genomic Regulation, UPF, Barcelona 08003, Spain.
Abstract:
Genetic redundancy means that two genes can perform the same function. Using a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis, we show here in both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Caenorhabditis elegans that genetic redundancy is not just a transient consequence of gene duplication, but is often an evolutionary stable state. In multiple examples, genes have retained redundant functions since the divergence of the animal, plant and fungi kingdoms over a billion years ago. The stable conservation of genetic redundancy contrasts with the more rapid evolution of genetic interactions between unrelated genes and can be explained by theoretical models including a 'piggyback' mechanism in which overlapping redundant functions are co-selected with nonredundant ones.
Related Concept Videos
Gene Duplication and Divergence
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are characterized.
Multi-species Conserved Sequences
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved DNA...
The Central Dogma
RNA is the Missing Link Between DNA and Proteins
In the early 1900s, scientists discovered that DNA stores all the information needed for cellular functions and that proteins perform most of these functions. However, the mechanisms of converting genetic information into functional proteins remained unknown for many years. Initially, it was believed that a single gene is...
The Central Dogma
Eukaryotic Evolution
Contrary to the endosymbiont theory, the eukaryote-first hypothesis proposes that the simpler prokaryotic and...
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

