title: Role of low-complexity sequences in the formation of novel protein coding sequences.
abstract: Low-complexity sequences are extremely abundant in eukaryotic proteins for reasons that remain unclear. One hypothesis is that they contribute to the formation of novel coding sequences, facilitating the generation of novel protein functions. Here, we test this hypothesis by examining the content of low-complexity sequences in proteins of different age. We show that recently emerged proteins contain more low-complexity sequences than older proteins and that these sequences often form functional domains. These data are consistent with the idea that low-complexity sequences may play a key role in the emergence of novel genes.
authors: Evolutionary Genomics Group, Research Programme in Biomedical Informatics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)-Institute Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Macarena
authors: M
authors: Toll-Riera
authors: Núria
authors: N
authors: Radó-Trilla
authors: Florian
authors: F
authors: Martys
authors: M Mar
authors: MM
authors: Albà
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001482:Base Composition; D019295:Computational Biology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins