Propensity for proto-gene emergence in bacteria.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The birth of new genes from non-coding sequences has been postulated to be preceded by a proto-gene phase, in which a sequence is translated into protein but does not exhibit hallmarks of a clear function. Despite the abundance of such proto-genes in bacterial genomes, the frequency of their emergence and whether they actually act as precursors of new genes in natural populations are still open questions.

Results

To address these issues, we applied a combination of transcriptomic, proteomic, and comparative genomic approaches to identify and analyze hundreds of novel bacterial protein-coding genes that have previously escaped annotation. These novel proteins, including many that are widely conserved across genera, display sequence properties indistinguishable from

SUBMITTER: Uz-Zaman MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12542359 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature