Maintenance and Loss of Duplicated Genes by Dosage Subfunctionalization.

ABSTRACT: Whole-genome duplications (WGDs) have contributed to gene-repertoire enrichment in many eukaryotic lineages. However, most duplicated genes are eventually lost and it is still unclear why some duplicated genes are evolutionary successful whereas others quickly turn to pseudogenes. Here, we show that dosage constraints are major factors opposing post-WGD gene loss in several Paramecium species that share a common ancestral WGD. We propose a model where a majority of WGD-derived duplicates preserve their ancestral function and are retained to produce enough of the proteins performing this same ancestral function. Under this model, the expression level of individual duplicated genes can evolve neutrally as long as they maintain a roughly constant summed expression, and this allows random gene

SUBMITTER: Gout JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4833079 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature