Widespread polymorphism in the positions of stop codons in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: The mechanisms underlying evolutionary changes in protein length are poorly understood. Protein domains are lost and gained between species and must have arisen first as within-species polymorphisms. Here, we use Drosophila melanogaster population genomic data combined with between species divergence information to understand the evolutionary forces that generate and maintain polymorphisms causing changes in protein length in D. melanogaster. Specifically, we looked for protein length variations resulting from premature termination codons (PTCs) and stop codon losses (SCLs). We discovered that 438 genes contained polymorphisms resulting in truncation of the translated region (PTCs) and 119 genes contained polymorphisms predicted to lengthen the translated region (SCLs). Stop codon polymorp

SUBMITTER: Lee YC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3342867 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature