The relationship among gene expression, the evolution of gene dosage, and the rate of protein evolution.

ABSTRACT: The understanding of selective constraints affecting genes is a major issue in biology. It is well established that gene expression level is a major determinant of the rate of protein evolution, but the reasons for this relationship remain highly debated. Here we demonstrate that gene expression is also a major determinant of the evolution of gene dosage: the rate of gene losses after whole genome duplications in the Paramecium lineage is negatively correlated to the level of gene expression, and this relationship is not a byproduct of other factors known to affect the fate of gene duplicates. This indicates that changes in gene dosage are generally more deleterious for highly expressed genes. This rule also holds for other taxa: in yeast, we find a clear relationship between gene expressi

SUBMITTER: Gout JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2869310 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature