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Related Concept Videos

Gene Evolution - Fast or Slow?02:05

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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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Genetic variation is the diversity in DNA sequences found among individuals of the same species. This diversity is crucial for a species' survival because it helps organisms adapt to environmental changes. Genetic variation begins with fertilization, where an egg and sperm cell merge. Each of these cells carries 23 chromosomes, up to 46 in the fertilized egg. Chromosomes are long DNA strands that contain genes, the basic units of heredity.
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Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

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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...
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Next-generation sequencing technologies have created large genomic databases of a variety of animals and plants. Ever since the human genome project was completed, scientists studied the genome of primates, mammals, and other phylogenetically distant living beings. Such large-scale  studies have provided new insights into the evolutionary relationship between organisms.
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In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).
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Following the Dynamics of Structural Variants in Experimentally Evolved Populations
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Evolution is not Uniform Along Coding Sequences.

Raphaël Bricout1, Dominique Weil2, David Stroebel1

  • 1Département de biologie, École normale supérieure, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS (IBENS), CNRS, INSERM, Paris, France.

Molecular Biology and Evolution
|March 1, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Amino acids evolve nearly twice as fast at protein termini compared to the center. This difference is due to weaker structural and functional constraints at protein ends, impacting evolutionary models.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Molecular biology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Amino acid evolution rates vary due to differing functional and structural roles.
  • Surface-exposed amino acids generally evolve faster than core residues.
  • Protein N- and C-termini are often less structured and more exposed, suggesting faster evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the hypothesis that amino acids at protein termini evolve faster than internal residues.
  • To investigate the influence of structural and functional constraints on terminal residue evolution.
  • To assess the impact of terminal residue evolution on evolutionary models and selection inference.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of amino acid evolutionary rates across protein sequences.
  • Examination of residue solvent accessibility and functional domain distribution.
  • Evaluation of the effect of terminal evolutionary rates on in silico selection inference methods.

Main Results:

  • Amino acids at protein termini evolve approximately twice as fast as those in the protein core.
  • Weaker structural and functional constraints at termini explain the accelerated substitution rates.
  • Positional information, specifically terminus location, significantly influences evolutionary rates.

Conclusions:

  • Protein termini exhibit a distinct topological bias in amino acid evolution.
  • Accounting for positional information, especially termini, is crucial for accurate evolutionary modeling.
  • Inaccurate inference of positive selection sites can arise from ignoring terminal evolutionary rates.