Turnover of ribosome-associated transcripts from de novo ORFs produces gene-like characteristics available for de novo gene emergence in wild yeast populations.

ABSTRACT: Little is known about the rate of emergence of de novo genes, what their initial properties are, and how they spread in populations. We examined wild yeast populations (Saccharomyces paradoxus) to characterize the diversity and turnover of intergenic ORFs over short evolutionary timescales. We find that hundreds of intergenic ORFs show translation signatures similar to canonical genes, and we experimentally confirmed the translation of many of these ORFs in laboratory conditions using a reporter assay. Compared with canonical genes, intergenic ORFs have lower translation efficiency, which could imply a lack of optimization for translation or a mechanism to reduce their production cost. Translated intergenic ORFs also tend to have sequence properties that are generally close to those

SUBMITTER: Durand E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6581059 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature