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Related Concept Videos

Gene Duplication and Divergence02:37

Gene Duplication and Divergence

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The seminal work of Ohno in 1970 popularized the idea of gene duplication and divergence. DNA sequence comparison studies reveal that a large portion of the genes in bacteria, archaebacteria, and eukaryotes was  generated by gene duplication and divergence, indicating its critical role in evolution.
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...
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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.
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While every living organism has a genome of some kind (be it RNA, or DNA), there is considerable variation in the sizes of these blueprints. One major factor that impacts genome size is whether the organism is prokaryotic or eukaryotic. In prokaryotes, the genome contains little to no non-coding sequence, such that genes are tightly clustered in groups or operons sequentially along the chromosome. Conversely, the genes in eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of non-coding sequence.
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Gene Families01:57

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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.
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Related Experiment Video

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Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
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Faster Evolving Primate Genes Are More Likely to Duplicate.

Áine N O'Toole1, Laurence D Hurst2, Aoife McLysaght1

  • 1Department of Genetics, Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.

Molecular Biology and Evolution
|November 11, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Gene duplication does not solely drive faster evolution; instead, intrinsically faster-evolving genes are more likely to duplicate. This suggests gene duplication events in mammals often have minimal phenotypic impact.

Keywords:
duplicabilityevolutionary constraintevolutionary ratesgene duplicationprimates

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Genomics
  • Molecular evolution

Background:

  • The gene duplication hypothesis suggests duplicated genes evolve faster due to relaxed constraints.
  • Previous studies observed higher evolutionary rates in duplicated genes compared to singletons.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether intrinsically faster-evolving genes are more prone to duplication.
  • To decouple the measurement of evolutionary rates from the status of gene duplication (duplicated vs. singleton).

Main Methods:

  • Assessed evolutionary rates of singleton genes in primate outgroups.
  • Classified these genes based on duplication status in great apes.
  • Analyzed correlations between gene characteristics (e.g., coding sequence length, expression rate) and duplicability.

Main Results:

  • Genes with higher evolutionary rates prior to duplication were identified as more duplicable.
  • A negative correlation between coding sequence length and evolutionary rate, with smaller genes being more duplicable, partially explains this.
  • Differences in expression rates between duplicable genes and singletons masked the primary effect.
  • No significant increase in dN/dS or rate asymmetry was observed after duplication, contradicting classical assumptions.

Conclusions:

  • High evolutionary rates of duplicated genes are a predictor of duplicability, not solely a consequence of duplication.
  • Successful gene duplication events in mammals appear skewed towards those with minimal phenotypic impact.