title: New genes in Drosophila quickly become essential.
abstract: To investigate the origin and evolution of essential genes, we identified and phenotyped 195 young protein-coding genes, which originated 3 to 35 million years ago in Drosophila. Knocking down expression with RNA interference showed that 30% of newly arisen genes are essential for viability. The proportion of genes that are essential is similar in every evolutionary age group that we examined. Under constitutive silencing of these young essential genes, lethality was high in the pupal stage and also found in the larval stages. Lethality was attributed to diverse cellular and developmental defects, such as organ formation and patterning defects. These data suggest that new genes frequently and rapidly evolve essential functions and participate in development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolution, The University of Chicago, 1101 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Sidi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yong E
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Manyuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Long
mesh_terms: D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics; D004330:Drosophila / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020440:Gene Duplication; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D020043:Genes, Essential; D017344:Genes, Insect; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D008675:Metamorphosis, Biological; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D011679:Pupa / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D034622:RNA Interference; D013997:Time Factors; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D029721:Drosophila Proteins