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Castellanos MDP, Wickramasinghe CD, Betrán E. The roles of gene duplications in the dynamics of evolutionary conflicts. Proc Biol Sci 2024; 291:20240555. [PMID: 38865605 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2024.0555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Evolutionary conflicts occur when there is antagonistic selection between different individuals of the same or different species, life stages or between levels of biological organization. Remarkably, conflicts can occur within species or within genomes. In the dynamics of evolutionary conflicts, gene duplications can play a major role because they can bring very specific changes to the genome: changes in protein dose, the generation of novel paralogues with different functions or expression patterns or the evolution of small antisense RNAs. As we describe here, by having those effects, gene duplication might spark evolutionary conflict or fuel arms race dynamics that takes place during conflicts. Interestingly, gene duplication can also contribute to the resolution of a within-locus evolutionary conflict by partitioning the functions of the gene that is under an evolutionary trade-off. In this review, we focus on intraspecific conflicts, including sexual conflict and illustrate the various roles of gene duplications with a compilation of examples. These examples reveal the level of complexity and the differences in the patterns of gene duplications within genomes under different conflicts. These examples also reveal the gene ontologies involved in conflict and the genomic location of the elements of the conflict. The examples provide a blueprint for the direct study of these conflicts or the exploration of the presence of similar conflicts in other lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Esther Betrán
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington , Arlington, TX 76019, USA
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2
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Miller D, Chen J, Liang J, Betrán E, Long M, Sharakhov IV. Retrogene Duplication and Expression Patterns Shaped by the Evolution of Sex Chromosomes in Malaria Mosquitoes. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13060968. [PMID: 35741730 PMCID: PMC9222922 DOI: 10.3390/genes13060968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Genes that originate during evolution are an important source of novel biological functions. Retrogenes are functional copies of genes produced by retroduplication and as such are located in different genomic positions. To investigate retroposition patterns and retrogene expression, we computationally identified interchromosomal retroduplication events in nine portions of the phylogenetic history of malaria mosquitoes, making use of species that do or do not have classical sex chromosomes to test the roles of sex-linkage. We found 40 interchromosomal events and a significant excess of retroduplications from the X chromosome to autosomes among a set of young retrogenes. These young retroposition events occurred within the last 100 million years in lineages where all species possessed differentiated sex chromosomes. An analysis of available microarray and RNA-seq expression data for Anopheles gambiae showed that many of the young retrogenes evolved male-biased expression in the reproductive organs. Young autosomal retrogenes with increased meiotic or postmeiotic expression in the testes tend to be male biased. In contrast, older retrogenes, i.e., in lineages with undifferentiated sex chromosomes, do not show this particular chromosomal bias and are enriched for female-biased expression in reproductive organs. Our reverse-transcription PCR data indicates that most of the youngest retrogenes, which originated within the last 47.6 million years in the subgenus Cellia, evolved non-uniform expression patterns across body parts in the males and females of An. coluzzii. Finally, gene annotation revealed that mitochondrial function is a prominent feature of the young autosomal retrogenes. We conclude that mRNA-mediated gene duplication has produced a set of genes that contribute to mosquito reproductive functions and that different biases are revealed after the sex chromosomes evolve. Overall, these results suggest potential roles for the evolution of meiotic sex chromosome inactivation in males and of sexually antagonistic conflict related to mitochondrial energy function as the main selective pressures for X-to-autosome gene reduplication and testis-biased expression in these mosquito lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duncan Miller
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; (D.M.); (J.L.)
| | - Jianhai Chen
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA;
| | - Jiangtao Liang
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; (D.M.); (J.L.)
| | - Esther Betrán
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA;
| | - Manyuan Long
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA;
- Correspondence: (M.L.); (I.V.S.)
| | - Igor V. Sharakhov
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA; (D.M.); (J.L.)
- Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Tomsk State University, 634050 Tomsk, Russia
- Correspondence: (M.L.); (I.V.S.)
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3
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Ricchio J, Uno F, Carvalho AB. New Genes in the Drosophila Y Chromosome: Lessons from D. willistoni. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12111815. [PMID: 34828421 PMCID: PMC8623413 DOI: 10.3390/genes12111815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Y chromosomes play important roles in sex determination and male fertility. In several groups (e.g., mammals) there is strong evidence that they evolved through gene loss from a common X-Y ancestor, but in Drosophila the acquisition of new genes plays a major role. This conclusion came mostly from studies in two species. Here we report the identification of the 22 Y-linked genes in D. willistoni. They all fit the previously observed pattern of autosomal or X-linked testis-specific genes that duplicated to the Y. The ratio of gene gains to gene losses is ~25 in D. willistoni, confirming the prominent role of gene gains in the evolution of Drosophila Y chromosomes. We also found four large segmental duplications (ranging from 62 kb to 303 kb) from autosomal regions to the Y, containing ~58 genes. All but four of these duplicated genes became pseudogenes in the Y or disappeared. In the GK20609 gene the Y-linked copy remained functional, whereas its original autosomal copy degenerated, demonstrating how autosomal genes are transferred to the Y chromosome. Since the segmental duplication that carried GK20609 contained six other testis-specific genes, it seems that chance plays a significant role in the acquisition of new genes by the Drosophila Y chromosome.
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4
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Yousaf A, Liu J, Ye S, Chen H. Current Progress in Evolutionary Comparative Genomics of Great Apes. Front Genet 2021; 12:657468. [PMID: 34456962 PMCID: PMC8385753 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.657468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The availability of high-quality genome sequences of great ape species provides unprecedented opportunities for genomic analyses. Herein, we reviewed the recent progress in evolutionary comparative genomic studies of the existing great ape species, including human, chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and orangutan. We elaborate discovery on evolutionary history, natural selection, structural variations, and new genes of these species, which is informative for understanding the origin of human-specific phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aisha Yousaf
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Junfeng Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Sicheng Ye
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Hua Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
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5
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Zhao Y, Lu GA, Yang H, Lin P, Liufu Z, Tang T, Xu J. Run or Die in the Evolution of New MicroRNAs-Testing the Red Queen Hypothesis on De Novo New Genes. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:1544-1553. [PMID: 33306129 PMCID: PMC8042761 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msaa317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The Red Queen hypothesis depicts evolution as the continual struggle to adapt. According to this hypothesis, new genes, especially those originating from nongenic sequences (i.e., de novo genes), are eliminated unless they evolve continually in adaptation to a changing environment. Here, we analyze two Drosophila de novo miRNAs that are expressed in a testis-specific manner with very high rates of evolution in their DNA sequence. We knocked out these miRNAs in two sibling species and investigated their contributions to different fitness components. We observed that the fitness contributions of miR-975 in Drosophila simulans seem positive, in contrast to its neutral contributions in D. melanogaster, whereas miR-983 appears to have negative contributions in both species, as the fitness of the knockout mutant increases. As predicted by the Red Queen hypothesis, the fitness difference of these de novo miRNAs indicates their different fates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yixin Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Guang-An Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Hao Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Pei Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhongqi Liufu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Tian Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Jin Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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Zhang JY, Zhou Q. On the Regulatory Evolution of New Genes Throughout Their Life History. Mol Biol Evol 2019; 36:15-27. [PMID: 30395322 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Every gene has a birthplace and an age, that is, a cis-regulatory environment and an evolution lifespan since its origination, yet how the two shape the evolution trajectories of genes remains unclear. Here, we address this basic question by comparing phylogenetically dated new genes in the context of both their ages and origination mechanisms. In both Drosophila and vertebrates, we confirm a clear "out of the testis" transition from the specifically expressed young genes to the broadly expressed old housekeeping genes, observed only in testis but not in other tissues. Many new genes have gained important functions during embryogenesis, manifested as either specific activation at maternal-zygotic transition, or different spatiotemporal expressions from their parental genes. These expression patterns are largely driven by an age-dependent evolution of cis-regulatory environment. We discover that retrogenes are more frequently born in a pre-existing repressive regulatory domain, and are more diverged in their enhancer repertoire than the DNA-based gene duplications. During evolution, new gene duplications gradually gain active histone modifications and undergo more enhancer turnovers when becoming older, but exhibit complex trends of gaining or losing repressive histone modifications in Drosophila or vertebrates, respectively. Interestingly, vertebrate new genes exhibit an "into the testis" epigenetic transition that older genes become more likely to be co-occupied by both active and repressive ("bivalent") histone modifications specifically in testis. Our results uncover the regulatory mechanisms underpinning the stepwise acquisition of novel and complex functions by new genes, and illuminate the general evolution trajectory of genes throughout their life history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia-Yu Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Qi Zhou
- MOE Key Laboratory of Biosystems Homeostasis & Protection, Life Sciences Institute, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Department of Molecular Evolution and Development, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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7
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Shao Y, Chen C, Shen H, He BZ, Yu D, Jiang S, Zhao S, Gao Z, Zhu Z, Chen X, Fu Y, Chen H, Gao G, Long M, Zhang YE. GenTree, an integrated resource for analyzing the evolution and function of primate-specific coding genes. Genome Res 2019; 29:682-696. [PMID: 30862647 PMCID: PMC6442393 DOI: 10.1101/gr.238733.118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The origination of new genes contributes to phenotypic evolution in humans. Two major challenges in the study of new genes are the inference of gene ages and annotation of their protein-coding potential. To tackle these challenges, we created GenTree, an integrated online database that compiles age inferences from three major methods together with functional genomic data for new genes. Genome-wide comparison of the age inference methods revealed that the synteny-based pipeline (SBP) is most suited for recently duplicated genes, whereas the protein-family–based methods are useful for ancient genes. For SBP-dated primate-specific protein-coding genes (PSGs), we performed manual evaluation based on published PSG lists and showed that SBP generated a conservative data set of PSGs by masking less reliable syntenic regions. After assessing the coding potential based on evolutionary constraint and peptide evidence from proteomic data, we curated a list of 254 PSGs with different levels of protein evidence. This list also includes 41 candidate misannotated pseudogenes that encode primate-specific short proteins. Coexpression analysis showed that PSGs are preferentially recruited into organs with rapidly evolving pathways such as spermatogenesis, immune response, mother–fetus interaction, and brain development. For brain development, primate-specific KRAB zinc-finger proteins (KZNFs) are specifically up-regulated in the mid-fetal stage, which may have contributed to the evolution of this critical stage. Altogether, hundreds of PSGs are either recruited to processes under strong selection pressure or to processes supporting an evolving novel organ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Shao
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution and State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Chunyan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution and State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Hao Shen
- College of Computers, Hunan University of Technology, Zhuzhou Hunan 412007, China
| | - Bin Z He
- FAS Center for Systems Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
| | - Daqi Yu
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution and State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Shuai Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences, Center for Bioinformatics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.,Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics (ICG), Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center (BIOPIC), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Shilei Zhao
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Zhiqiang Gao
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,National Center for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Key Laboratory of Random Complex Structures and Data Science, Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Zhenglin Zhu
- School of Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Xi Chen
- Wuhan Institute of Biotechnology, Wuhan 430072, China.,Medical Research Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Yan Fu
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,National Center for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Key Laboratory of Random Complex Structures and Data Science, Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
| | - Hua Chen
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
| | - Ge Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, School of Life Sciences, Center for Bioinformatics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.,Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics (ICG), Biomedical Pioneering Innovation Center (BIOPIC), Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Manyuan Long
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
| | - Yong E Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution and State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
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8
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Guan Y, Liu L, Wang Q, Zhao J, Li P, Hu J, Yang Z, Running MP, Sun H, Huang J. Gene refashioning through innovative shifting of reading frames in mosses. Nat Commun 2018; 9:1555. [PMID: 29674719 PMCID: PMC5908804 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04025-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2017] [Accepted: 03/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Early-diverging land plants such as mosses are known for their outstanding abilities to grow in various terrestrial habitats, incorporating tremendous structural and physiological innovations, as well as many lineage-specific genes. How these genes and functional innovations evolved remains unclear. In this study, we show that a dual-coding gene YAN/AltYAN in the moss Physcomitrella patens evolved from a pre-existing hemerythrin gene. Experimental evidence indicates that YAN/AltYAN is involved in fatty acid and lipid metabolism, as well as oil body and wax formation. Strikingly, both the recently evolved dual-coding YAN/AltYAN and the pre-existing hemerythrin gene might have similar physiological effects on oil body biogenesis and dehydration resistance. These findings bear important implications in understanding the mechanisms of gene origination and the strategies of plants to fine-tune their adaptation to various habitats. Extant representatives of the earliest land plant lineages adapt to various terrestrial habitats with structural and physiological innovations. Here the authors show a dual-coding gene in the moss Physcomitrella patens evolved from a hemerythrin gene, with effects on oil body biogenesis and dehydration resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanlong Guan
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201, Kunming, China
| | - Li Liu
- Key Laboratory of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Wild Plant Resources, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201, Kunming, China
| | - Qia Wang
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201, Kunming, China
| | - Jinjie Zhao
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201, Kunming, China
| | - Ping Li
- Key Laboratory of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Wild Plant Resources, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201, Kunming, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
| | - Jinyong Hu
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201, Kunming, China
| | - Zefeng Yang
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology, Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops, Key Laboratory of Plant Functional Genomics of the Ministry of Education, Yangzhou University, 225009, Yangzhou, China
| | - Mark P Running
- Department of Biology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA
| | - Hang Sun
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201, Kunming, China
| | - Jinling Huang
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650201, Kunming, China. .,Institute of Plant Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Henan University, 475001, Kaifeng, China. .,Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA.
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9
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Guschanski K, Warnefors M, Kaessmann H. The evolution of duplicate gene expression in mammalian organs. Genome Res 2017; 27:1461-1474. [PMID: 28743766 PMCID: PMC5580707 DOI: 10.1101/gr.215566.116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2016] [Accepted: 07/18/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Gene duplications generate genomic raw material that allows the emergence of novel functions, likely facilitating adaptive evolutionary innovations. However, global assessments of the functional and evolutionary relevance of duplicate genes in mammals were until recently limited by the lack of appropriate comparative data. Here, we report a large-scale study of the expression evolution of DNA-based functional gene duplicates in three major mammalian lineages (placental mammals, marsupials, egg-laying monotremes) and birds, on the basis of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data from nine species and eight organs. We observe dynamic changes in tissue expression preference of paralogs with different duplication ages, suggesting differential contribution of paralogs to specific organ functions during vertebrate evolution. Specifically, we show that paralogs that emerged in the common ancestor of bony vertebrates are enriched for genes with brain-specific expression and provide evidence for differential forces underlying the preferential emergence of young testis- and liver-specific expressed genes. Further analyses uncovered that the overall spatial expression profiles of gene families tend to be conserved, with several exceptions of pronounced tissue specificity shifts among lineage-specific gene family expansions. Finally, we trace new lineage-specific genes that may have contributed to the specific biology of mammalian organs, including the little-studied placenta. Overall, our study provides novel and taxonomically broad evidence for the differential contribution of duplicate genes to tissue-specific transcriptomes and for their importance for the phenotypic evolution of vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Guschanski
- Department of Animal Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, S-75105 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Maria Warnefors
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Henrik Kaessmann
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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10
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Casola C, Betrán E. The Genomic Impact of Gene Retrocopies: What Have We Learned from Comparative Genomics, Population Genomics, and Transcriptomic Analyses? Genome Biol Evol 2017; 9:1351-1373. [PMID: 28605529 PMCID: PMC5470649 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evx081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/18/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Gene duplication is a major driver of organismal evolution. Gene retroposition is a mechanism of gene duplication whereby a gene's transcript is used as a template to generate retroposed gene copies, or retrocopies. Intriguingly, the formation of retrocopies depends upon the enzymatic machinery encoded by retrotransposable elements, genomic parasites occurring in the majority of eukaryotes. Most retrocopies are depleted of the regulatory regions found upstream of their parental genes; therefore, they were initially considered transcriptionally incompetent gene copies, or retropseudogenes. However, examples of functional retrocopies, or retrogenes, have accumulated since the 1980s. Here, we review what we have learned about retrocopies in animals, plants and other eukaryotic organisms, with a particular emphasis on comparative and population genomic analyses complemented with transcriptomic datasets. In addition, these data have provided information about the dynamics of the different "life cycle" stages of retrocopies (i.e., polymorphic retrocopy number variants, fixed retropseudogenes and retrogenes) and have provided key insights into the retroduplication mechanisms, the patterns and evolutionary forces at work during the fixation process and the biological function of retrogenes. Functional genomic and transcriptomic data have also revealed that many retropseudogenes are transcriptionally active and a biological role has been experimentally determined for many. Finally, we have learned that not only non-long terminal repeat retroelements but also long terminal repeat retroelements play a role in the emergence of retrocopies across eukaryotes. This body of work has shown that mRNA-mediated duplication represents a widespread phenomenon that produces an array of new genes that contribute to organismal diversity and adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claudio Casola
- Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University, TX
| | - Esther Betrán
- Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX
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