The life cycle of Drosophila orphan genes
Orphans are genes restricted to a single phylogenetic lineage and emerge at high rates. While this predicts an accumulation of genes, the gene number has remained remarkably constant through evolution. This paradox has not yet been resolved. Because orphan genes have been mainly analyzed over long e...
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2014-02-01
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doaj-e935f90e624a4866844355c41a7dcbee2021-05-04T23:00:38ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2014-02-01310.7554/eLife.01311The life cycle of Drosophila orphan genesNicola Palmieri0Carolin Kosiol1Christian Schlötterer2Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, AustriaInstitut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, AustriaInstitut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Vienna, AustriaOrphans are genes restricted to a single phylogenetic lineage and emerge at high rates. While this predicts an accumulation of genes, the gene number has remained remarkably constant through evolution. This paradox has not yet been resolved. Because orphan genes have been mainly analyzed over long evolutionary time scales, orphan loss has remained unexplored. Here we study the patterns of orphan turnover among close relatives in the Drosophila obscura group. We show that orphans are not only emerging at a high rate, but that they are also rapidly lost. Interestingly, recently emerged orphans are more likely to be lost than older ones. Furthermore, highly expressed orphans with a strong male-bias are more likely to be retained. Since both lost and retained orphans show similar evolutionary signatures of functional conservation, we propose that orphan loss is not driven by high rates of sequence evolution, but reflects lineage-specific functional requirements.https://elifesciences.org/articles/01311gene gaingene losssex-biased expressionevolutionary rateD. pseudoobscurapseudogenes |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Nicola Palmieri Carolin Kosiol Christian Schlötterer |
spellingShingle |
Nicola Palmieri Carolin Kosiol Christian Schlötterer The life cycle of Drosophila orphan genes eLife gene gain gene loss sex-biased expression evolutionary rate D. pseudoobscura pseudogenes |
author_facet |
Nicola Palmieri Carolin Kosiol Christian Schlötterer |
author_sort |
Nicola Palmieri |
title |
The life cycle of Drosophila orphan genes |
title_short |
The life cycle of Drosophila orphan genes |
title_full |
The life cycle of Drosophila orphan genes |
title_fullStr |
The life cycle of Drosophila orphan genes |
title_full_unstemmed |
The life cycle of Drosophila orphan genes |
title_sort |
life cycle of drosophila orphan genes |
publisher |
eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
series |
eLife |
issn |
2050-084X |
publishDate |
2014-02-01 |
description |
Orphans are genes restricted to a single phylogenetic lineage and emerge at high rates. While this predicts an accumulation of genes, the gene number has remained remarkably constant through evolution. This paradox has not yet been resolved. Because orphan genes have been mainly analyzed over long evolutionary time scales, orphan loss has remained unexplored. Here we study the patterns of orphan turnover among close relatives in the Drosophila obscura group. We show that orphans are not only emerging at a high rate, but that they are also rapidly lost. Interestingly, recently emerged orphans are more likely to be lost than older ones. Furthermore, highly expressed orphans with a strong male-bias are more likely to be retained. Since both lost and retained orphans show similar evolutionary signatures of functional conservation, we propose that orphan loss is not driven by high rates of sequence evolution, but reflects lineage-specific functional requirements. |
topic |
gene gain gene loss sex-biased expression evolutionary rate D. pseudoobscura pseudogenes |
url |
https://elifesciences.org/articles/01311 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT nicolapalmieri thelifecycleofdrosophilaorphangenes AT carolinkosiol thelifecycleofdrosophilaorphangenes AT christianschlotterer thelifecycleofdrosophilaorphangenes AT nicolapalmieri lifecycleofdrosophilaorphangenes AT carolinkosiol lifecycleofdrosophilaorphangenes AT christianschlotterer lifecycleofdrosophilaorphangenes |
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