Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 25, 2025

An Integrated Approach for Microprotein Identification and Sequence Analysis
Published on: July 12, 2022
Formation of human long intergenic non-coding RNA genes, pseudogenes, and protein genes: Ancestral sequences are key
1Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, N.Y., United States of America.
Abstract:
Pathways leading to formation of non-coding RNA and protein genes are varied and complex. We report finding a conserved repeat sequence present in human and chimpanzee genomes that appears to have originated from a common primate ancestor. This sequence is repeatedly copied in human chromosome 22 (chr22) low copy repeats (LCR22) or segmental duplications and forms twenty-one different genes, which include the human long intergenic non-coding RNA (lincRNA) family FAM230, a newly discovered lincRNA gene family termed conserved long intergenic non-coding RNAs (clincRNA), pseudogene families, as well as the gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) protein gene family and the RNA pseudogenes that originate from GGT sequences. Of particular interest are the GGT5 and USP18 protein genes that appear to have formed from an homologous repeat sequence that also forms the clincRNA gene family. The data point to ancestral DNA sequences, conserved through evolution and duplicated in humans by chromosomal repeat sequences that may serve as functional genomic elements in the development of diverse genes.
Related Concept Videos
Multi-species Conserved Sequences
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved...
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...
Non-LTR Retrotransposons
Organization of Genes
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon...
Gene Families
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...

