How Gene Duplication Affects Splicing Elements
Author Information
Author(s): Zhang Zhenguo, Zhou Li, Wang Ping, Liu Yang, Chen Xianfeng, Hu Landian, Kong Xiangyin
Primary Institution: The Key Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (SJTUSM)
Hypothesis
New gene structures may originate through the evolution of alternative splicing isoforms after gene duplication.
Conclusion
Exonic splicing enhancer and silencer changes after gene duplication play important roles in alternative splicing divergence and contribute to the generation of new gene structures.
Supporting Evidence
- About 10% of paralogous exons show significant asymmetric evolution of exonic splicing enhancers.
- The divergence of ESEs and ESSs increases with the age of duplication.
- ESE and ESS changes are mainly caused by synonymous mutations.
Takeaway
When genes duplicate, the parts that help them splice can change a lot, which helps create new versions of those genes.
Methodology
The study analyzed the divergence of exonic splicing enhancers and silencers in duplicated genes and their contributions to new splicing isoforms.
Limitations
The study does not include intronic elements and focuses only on relatively young duplicates.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.05
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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