The (in)dependence of alternative splicing and gene duplication.

ABSTRACT: Alternative splicing (AS) and gene duplication (GD) both are processes that diversify the protein repertoire. Recent examples have shown that sequence changes introduced by AS may be comparable to those introduced by GD. In addition, the two processes are inversely correlated at the genomic scale: large gene families are depleted in splice variants and vice versa. All together, these data strongly suggest that both phenomena result in interchangeability between their effects. Here, we tested the extent to which this applies with respect to various protein characteristics. The amounts of AS and GD per gene are anticorrelated even when accounting for different gene functions or degrees of sequence divergence. In contrast, the two processes appear to be independent in their influence on varia

SUBMITTER: Talavera D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1808492 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature