Multiple mechanisms promote the retained expression of gene duplicates in the tetraploid frog Xenopus laevis.

ABSTRACT: Gene duplication provides a window of opportunity for biological variants to persist under the protection of a co-expressed copy with similar or redundant function. Duplication catalyzes innovation (neofunctionalization), subfunction degeneration (subfunctionalization), and genetic buffering (redundancy), and the genetic survival of each paralog is triggered by mechanisms that add, compromise, or do not alter protein function. We tested the applicability of three types of mechanisms for promoting the retained expression of duplicated genes in 290 expressed paralogs of the tetraploid clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. Tests were based on explicit expectations concerning the ka/ks ratio, and the number and location of nonsynonymous substitutions after duplication. Functional constraints on the maj

SUBMITTER: Chain FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1449897 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature