生物谷報道：五月份出版的Genetics刊載了一篇由中科院昆明動物所研究人員撰寫的有關(guān)酵母新基因最新研究成果,。
長期以來，新基因被認為主要由重復基因分化產(chǎn)生，而從頭起源如果不是沒有的事件,，那也是十分稀少的事件,。去年以來，美國科學家在果蠅里率先發(fā)現(xiàn)了幾個從頭起源的新基因,。但是,，這些新基因是否確實有編碼蛋白質(zhì)的功能還無任何證據(jù)。
昆明動物所的博士研究生蔡晶等在導師王文研究員的指導下,，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個從頭起源的酵母新基因BSC4,。跨物種的比較發(fā)現(xiàn)了確鑿的證據(jù)說明該基因起源于非編碼序列,；進化功能的限制分析,、表達分析以及對已有蛋白質(zhì)組和合并致死的數(shù)據(jù)分析表明，該基因可能參與DNA損傷修復,，對釀酒酵母本身的進化可能有重要作用,。在酵母這樣一個基因組緊湊的模式生物中發(fā)現(xiàn)從頭起源基因?qū)φJ識新基因起源進化有重要意義。
相關(guān)研究結(jié)果剛剛發(fā)表于5月份的國際遺傳學雜志Genetics上,。文章一經(jīng)發(fā)表,，Nature Review Genetics的相關(guān)專欄就以“一個基因降生了”為題專門撰文介紹了這篇論文。高度評價這個工作首次提供了一批數(shù)據(jù)說明基因可以從非編碼序列起源,，這種序列先獲得轉(zhuǎn)錄性能,，然后經(jīng)過突變獲得開放閱讀框(ORF)。（生物谷www.bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Genetics 2008 179: 487-496. doi:10.1534/genetics.107.084491
De Novo Origination of a New Protein-Coding Gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Jing Cai*,,1, Ruoping Zhao*,1, Huifeng Jiang*, and Wen Wang*,2
* CAS–Max Planck Junior Research Group on Evolutionary Genomics, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China and Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
2 Corresponding author: CAS–Max Planck Junior Research Group on Evolutionary Genomics, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), 32 E. Jiaochang Rd., Kunming 650223, China.
E-mail: [email protected]
Origination of new genes is an important mechanism generating genetic novelties during the evolution of an organism. Processes of creating new genes using preexisting genes as the raw materials are well characterized, such as exon shuffling, gene duplication, retroposition, gene fusion, and fission. However, the process of how a new gene is de novo created from noncoding sequence is largely unknown. On the basis of genome comparison among yeast species, we have identified a new de novo protein-coding gene, BSC4 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The BSC4 gene has an open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 132-amino-acid-long peptide, while there is no homologous ORF in all the sequenced genomes of other fungal species, including its closely related species such as S. paradoxus and S. mikatae. The functional protein-coding feature of the BSC4 gene in S. cerevisiae is supported by population genetics, expression, proteomics, and synthetic lethal data. The evidence suggests that BSC4 may be involved in the DNA repair pathway during the stationary phase of S. cerevisiae and contribute to the robustness of S. cerevisiae, when shifted to a nutrient-poor environment. Because the corresponding noncoding sequences in S. paradoxus, S. mikatae, and S. bayanus also transcribe, we propose that a new de novo protein-coding gene may have evolved from a previously expressed noncoding sequence.
