An adaptive radiation model for the origin of new gene functions.
Current models for the evolution of new gene functions after gene duplication presume that the duplication events themselves have no effect on fitness. But those duplications that result in new gene functions are likely to be positively selected from their inception. The evolution of new function may start with the amplification of an existing gene with some level of preadaptation for that function, followed by a period of competitive evolution among the gene copies, resulting in the preservation of the most effective variant and the 'pseudogenization' and eventual loss of the rest.
Francino
M Pilar
MP
Evolutionary Genomics Department, DOE Joint Genome Institute and Genomics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2800 Mitchell Dr, Walnut Creek, California, USA. mpfrancino@lbl.gov
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005784:Gene Amplification; D020440:Gene Duplication; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D008957:Models, Genetic; D016296:Mutagenesis; D011827:Radiation