DNA double-strand break repair and the evolution of intron density

The density of introns is both an important feature of genome architecture and a highly variable trait across eukaryotes. This heterogeneity has posed an evolutionary puzzle for the last 30 years. Recent evidence is consistent with novel introns being the outcome of the error-prone repair of DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) via non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Here we suggest that deletion of pre-existing introns could occur via the same pathway. We propose a novel framework in which species-specific differences in the activity of NHEJ and homologous recombination (HR) during the repair of DSBs underlie changes in intron density.