title: Gene duplication followed by exon structure divergence substitutes for alternative splicing in zebrafish.
abstract: In this study we report novel findings regarding the evolutionary relationship between gene duplication and alternative splicing, two processes that increase proteomic diversity. By studying teleost fish, we find that gene duplication followed by exon structure divergence between paralogs, but not gene duplication alone, leads to a significant reduction in alternative splicing, as measured by both the proportion of genes that undergo alternative splicing as well as mean number of transcripts per gene. Additionally, we show that this effect is independent of gene family size and gene function. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the reduction in alternative splicing may be due to the partitioning of ancestral splice forms among the duplicate genes - a form of subfunctionalization. Taken together these results indicate that exon structure evolution subsequent to gene duplication may be a common substitute for alternative splicing.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. Electronic address: Matthew.Lambert@wsu.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: Washington State University Vancouver, Vancouver, WA 98686, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Olsen
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA; School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. Electronic address: cdcooper@vancouver.wsu.edu.
authors.forename: Cynthia D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D005091:Exons; D020440:Gene Duplication; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Alternative splicing; Gene duplication; Subfunctionalization; Zebrafish