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Related Concept Videos

Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?02:05

Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?

The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...
Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?02:05

Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?

The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
Gene Families01:57

Gene Families

Gene families consist of groups of genes proposed to have originated from a common ancestor. Typically these arise through events in which a gene or genes are mistakenly duplicated during cell division. Unlike their parent genes (which are subject to selection pressure to maintain function), these gene copies do not need to preserve their sequences and may evolve at a relatively faster rate.
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Gene Families01:57

Gene Families

Gene families consist of groups of genes proposed to have originated from a common ancestor. Typically these arise through events in which a gene or genes are mistakenly duplicated during cell division. Unlike their parent genes (which are subject to selection pressure to maintain function), these gene copies do not need to preserve their sequences and may evolve at a relatively faster rate.
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Synteny and Evolution02:31

Synteny and Evolution

John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...

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A Bioinformatics Pipeline for Investigating Molecular Evolution and Gene Expression using RNA-seq
07:09

A Bioinformatics Pipeline for Investigating Molecular Evolution and Gene Expression using RNA-seq

Published on: May 28, 2021

Evolutionary rate covariation reveals shared functionality and coexpression of genes.

Nathan L Clark1, Eric Alani, Charles F Aquadro

  • 1Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. nclark@pitt.edu

Genome Research
|January 31, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Evolutionary rate covariation (ERC) between proteins indicates shared function and coexpression, not necessarily coevolution. This finding helps identify protein interactions and map genetic pathways.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genomics
  • Proteomics

Background:

  • Evolutionary rate covariation (ERC) is a phylogenetic signature reflecting protein covariation over evolutionary time.
  • ERC is often linked to interacting proteins and used to infer molecular interactions.
  • The precise biological drivers of ERC, particularly the role of intermolecular coevolution, remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the biological factors driving Evolutionary Rate Covariation (ERC) in a large proteome-wide dataset.
  • To determine if direct physical interaction or intermolecular coevolution is necessary for ERC.
  • To establish a comprehensive interpretation of ERC for functional genomics applications.

Main Methods:

  • Proteome-wide analysis of 4459 proteins across 18 budding yeast species.
  • Multivariate statistical analysis to correlate ERC with biological factors.
  • Examination of protein interaction status, co-functionality, and expression level coevolution.

Main Results:

  • ERC is observed between noninteracting but co-functional enzymes, challenging the necessity of direct physical interaction.
  • ERC is uniformly distributed across protein sequences, suggesting intermolecular coevolution is not the primary driver.
  • Shared biological function and coevolution of expression levels are key predictors of ERC between protein pairs.

Conclusions:

  • Evolutionary Rate Covariation (ERC) primarily signifies shared function and coexpression, rather than site-specific coevolution.
  • ERC is a robust indicator of functional relatedness and coexpression patterns.
  • This refined understanding of ERC enhances its utility for assigning functions to uncharacterized proteins and mapping pathway interconnectedness.