Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 13, 2026

In Vivo Monitoring of Transcriptional Activity During Metabolic Transition Using a Bioluminescent Reporter in Yeast
Published on: February 21, 2025
Rapid expansion and functional divergence of subtelomeric gene families in yeasts
Chris A Brown1, Andrew W Murray, Kevin J Verstrepen
1Faculty of Arts and Sciences Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Background:
Subtelomeres, regions proximal to telomeres, exhibit characteristics unique to eukaryotic genomes. Genes residing in these loci are subject to epigenetic regulation and elevated rates of both meiotic and mitotic recombination. However, most genome sequences do not contain assembled subtelomeric sequences, and, as a result, subtelomeres are often overlooked in comparative genomics.
Results:
We studied the evolution and functional divergence of subtelomeric gene families in the yeast lineage. Our computational results show that subtelomeric families are evolving and expanding much faster than families that do not contain subtelomeric genes. Focusing on three related subtelomeric MAL gene families involved in disaccharide metabolism that show typical patterns of rapid expansion and evolution, we show experimentally how frequent duplication events followed by functional divergence yield novel alleles that allow the metabolism of different carbohydrates.
Conclusions:
Taken together, our computational and experimental analyses show that the extraordinary instability of eukaryotic subtelomeres supports rapid adaptation to novel niches by promoting gene recombination and duplication followed by functional divergence of the alleles.
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.
Yeast Signaling
Gene Families
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Protein Complexes with Interchangeable Parts
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order to...

