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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Demonstration of the Sequence Alignment to Predict Across Species Susceptibility Tool for Rapid Assessment of Protein Conservation

Demonstration of the Sequence Alignment to Predict Across Species Susceptibility Tool for Rapid Assessment of Protein Conservation

Published on: February 10, 2023

Does Sequence Conservation Provide Evidence for Biological Function?

Seila Omer¹, Timothy J Harlow¹, Johann Peter Gogarten²

¹Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, 91 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT 06269-3125, USA.

Trends in Microbiology

|October 25, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Purifying selection may not indicate a gene's function but rather the removal of harmful mutations. This challenges the traditional interpretation of evolutionary genetic data, suggesting a new perspective on gene evolution.

Keywords:

dN/dS gene transfer agents phage domestication prophage purifying selection selection for function selfish gene

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary genetics
Molecular evolution
Population genetics

Background:

Purifying selection is typically interpreted as evidence of a gene's functional importance.
This interpretation assumes selection acts to preserve beneficial functions.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose an alternative hypothesis for the signature of purifying selection.
To challenge the automatic assumption that purifying selection proves a gene's selectable function.

Main Methods:

Theoretical analysis of evolutionary selection pressures.
Review of existing interpretations of genetic data.

Main Results:

Purifying selection may arise from the removal of deleterious mutations.
Mutated genes/proteins can become harmful, interfering with cellular processes or causing toxicity.
This mechanism can mimic the signature of selection for function.

Conclusions:

The presence of purifying selection does not automatically confirm a gene's functional role.
A critical re-evaluation of genetic data is needed to distinguish between selection for function and removal of harm.