Studies shed light on origin of new gene functions

One of the significant characteristics of biological evolution is the continuous emergence of new adaptive functions. The genetic functions of the process have been a major research area of biological sciences. Three mechanisms, i.e. new genes, alternative splicing, and changes in regulation of gene expression, have been reported as major approaches for the process.

Recently, a research team led by Prof. WANG Wen with theAS-Max Planck Junior Research Group at the CAS Kunming Institute of Zoology observed independent acquisition of new exons in mammalian chromodomain Y-like (CDYL) genes. Their functional analysis revealed that the new exons have conferred new functions to their encoded product, which might have contributed to the evolution of these mammalian species, including humans.

The researchers discovered the CDYL gene maintains orthologous status across mammals at the genic level. However, the existence of different transcripts of the CDYL gene, with different regulatory behaviours, expands the proteome and adds to the complexity of gene regulation in the gorilla, chimpanzee and human. Their work was reported in the September issue of Trends in Genetics.

Source from CAS