Redundancy and New Function in Duplicate Genes
Author Information
Author(s): Dean E. Jedediah, Davis Jerel C., Davis Ronald W., Petrov Dmitri A.
Primary Institution: Stanford University
Hypothesis
How does functional redundancy among duplicated genes in yeast evolve over time?
Conclusion
Duplicated genes in yeast maintain substantial redundancy for long periods and do not gain significant new functionality.
Supporting Evidence
- Duplicated genes can maintain substantial redundancy for approximately 100 million years.
- High levels of redundancy were found among genes duplicated via whole genome duplication and smaller scale duplications.
- Double deletions of duplicate genes did not significantly impact fitness beyond that of their ancestral progenitor gene.
Takeaway
When genes duplicate, they often still do the same job for a long time, and they don't usually learn to do new things.
Methodology
The study measured growth rates of yeast strains with single and double deletions of duplicated and singleton genes in rich medium.
Potential Biases
Potential bias in the selection of proxy singleton genes for comparison.
Limitations
The study only assessed gene functionality in rich medium, which may not reflect other environmental conditions.
Participant Demographics
The study focused on Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a species of yeast.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.025
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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