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Updated: Apr 19, 2026
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High-throughput Screening for Protein-based Inheritance in S. cerevisiae
Published on: August 8, 2017
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[Compulsive molecular hoarding enables the evolution of protein-coding DNA from non-coding DNA]
Didier Casane1, Patrick Laurenti1
1Laboratoire évolution, génome et spéciation, UPR 9034 CNRS, avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France université Paris-Diderot, UFR des sciences du vivant, Paris, France.
Medecine Sciences : M/S
|December 25, 2014
Summary
New protein-coding genes can now be identified originating from non-coding DNA. This discovery challenges traditional gene evolution theories, highlighting genome dynamics and natural selection in novel gene formation.
Area of Science:
- Genomics and Evolutionary Biology
- Molecular Biology
Context:
- Traditional gene evolution models focused on pre-existing genes, recombination, or horizontal gene transfer.
- Recent genomic and transcriptomic studies have uncovered novel sources for gene creation.
Purpose:
- To present evidence for non-coding DNA as a significant source of new protein-coding genes.
- To elucidate the mechanism of de novo gene formation from non-coding DNA.
Summary:
- Genomic and transcriptomic data reveal that non-coding DNA is a substantial source of protein-coding genes.
- A universal mechanism involving a proto-gene gradient between coding and non-coding DNA, influenced by selection and genetic drift, has been identified across eukaryotes.
- This process suggests that mutation and natural selection drive the "out of the blue" formation of new genes from previously non-coding regions.
Impact:
- Challenges established concepts of gene evolution and genome dynamics.
- Provides a new framework for understanding how genetic novelty arises.
- Suggests that non-coding DNA plays a more active role in genome evolution than previously understood.
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