Trends in Genetics
Research updateWhy do genes have introns? Recombination might add a new piece to the puzzle
Section snippets
The evolution of introns
Thanks to the data generated by genome projects, large-scale inter- and intra-genomic comparative analyses are now feasible. Because the cost incurred by an intron is expected to be proportional to its size, the analysis of the factors that affect intron size should help to understand whether their evolution is governed by selection and, if so, how. Notably, population genetics models predict that, all else being equal, the efficacy of natural selection is decreased in regions of low
Conclusion
In conclusion, the present data do not allow the teasing apart of the selectionist and neutralist models for the evolution of intron size in Drosophila. It is possible that variations of intron length within and between genomes essentially reflect differences in the dynamic equilibrium between rare TE insertions and frequent, but short, base deletions rather than variations in selective pressure. Although it remains speculative, the model of Comeron and Kreitman is attractive. It is generally
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Species diversity and genome evolution of the pathogenic protozoan parasite, Neospora caninum
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2019, Journal of Theoretical BiologyCitation Excerpt :Since circular RNAs (circRNA) were discovered, an exon-circRNA model has been formed by lariat-driven cyclization and intron-paired cyclization (Salzman et al., 2012; Hansen et al., 2011; Memczak et al., 2013), and circular RNA was found to be formed by introns as well (Jeck et al., 2013). In fact, intron loss/gain does affect gene expression after splicing, and plays a very important role in the evolution of eukaryotic genome, and even generating new species (Duret, 2001; Halligan and Keightley, 2006). Many studies have shown that introns can effected mRNA dynamic structures, mRNA transport, nuclear export and mRNA translation, but it is unclear how introns participate in these biological processes.
Fatty acid binding protein regulate antimicrobial function via Toll signaling in Chinese mitten crab
2017, Fish and Shellfish ImmunologyCitation Excerpt :Furthermore, the lengths of exons are relatively stable, however, unlike exons the length of introns is not conserved. The intron lengths vary greatly in size, this may be driven natural selection since long introns could enhance gene recombination and introduce mutations into adjacent exons [53,54]. Studies have found that expression of several invertebrates FABPs varies during immune response.
The evolution mechanism of intron length
2016, GenomicsCitation Excerpt :Introns are the crucial factor in mRNA processing. As far as introns are concerned, whether they exist or not makes some difference to intragenic recombination and ncRNA heteromorphosis, which is a main part for them to effect on the evolution of eukaryotic genomes [3–6]. Intron mutation can cause many diseases [7,8].
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2016, Journal of Integrative AgricultureAnalysis on the preference for sequence matching between mRNA sequences and the corresponding introns in ribosomal protein genes
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