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Fact or fiction: updates on how protein-coding genes might emerge de novo from previously non-coding DNA
Over the last few years, there has been an increasing amount of evidence for the de novo emergence of protein-coding genes, i.e. out of non-coding DNA. Here, we review the current literature and summarize the state of the field. We focus specifically on open questions and challenges in the study of...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
F1000Research
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5247788/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28163910 http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.10079.1 |
Sumario: | Over the last few years, there has been an increasing amount of evidence for the de novo emergence of protein-coding genes, i.e. out of non-coding DNA. Here, we review the current literature and summarize the state of the field. We focus specifically on open questions and challenges in the study of de novo protein-coding genes such as the identification and verification of de novo-emerged genes. The greatest obstacle to date is the lack of high-quality genomic data with very short divergence times which could help precisely pin down the location of origin of a de novo gene. We conclude that, while there is plenty of evidence from a genetics perspective, there is a lack of functional studies of bona fide de novo genes and almost no knowledge about protein structures and how they come about during the emergence of de novo protein-coding genes. We suggest that future studies should concentrate on the functional and structural characterization of de novo protein-coding genes as well as the detailed study of the emergence of functional de novo protein-coding genes. |
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