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Millions of Years of Evolution Preserved: A Comprehensive Catalog of the Processed Pseudogenes in the Human Genome

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Zhang, Z.·2003·Genome Research

Abstract

Processed pseudogenes were created by reverse-transcription of mRNAs; they provide snapshots of ancient genes existing millions of years ago in the genome. To find them in the present-day human, we developed a pipeline using features such as intron-absence, frame-disruption, polyadenylation, and truncation. This has enabled us to identify in recent genome drafts approximately 8000 processed pseudogenes (distributed from http://pseudogene.org). Overall, processed pseudogenes are very similar to their closest corresponding human gene, being 94% complete in coding regions, with sequence similarity of 75% for amino acids and 86% for nucleotides. Their chromosomal distribution appears random and dispersed, with the numbers on chromosomes proportional to length, suggesting sustained "bombardment" over evolution. However, it does vary with GC-content: Processed pseudogenes occur mostly in intermediate GC-content regions. This is similar to Alus but contrasts with functional genes and L1-repeats. Pseudogenes, moreover, have age profiles similar to Alus. The number of pseudogenes associated with a given gene follows a power-law relationship, with a few genes giving rise to many pseudogenes and most giving rise to few. The prevalence of processed pseudogenes agrees well with germ-line gene expression. Highly expressed ribosomal proteins account for approximately 20% of the total. Other notables include cyclophilin-A, keratin, GAPDH, and cytochrome c.

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Metadata

Authors
Zhang, Z.
Venue
Genome Research
Published
2003-12-01
Volume
13
Issue
12
Pages
2541-2558
ISSN
1088-9051 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2113394593
Cited by
424
References
10
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
bronze

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Millions of Years of Evolution Preserved: A Comprehensive Catalog of the Processed Pseudogenes in the Human Genome. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1101/gr.1429003
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Zhang, Z. (2003). Millions of Years of Evolution Preserved: A Comprehensive Catalog of the Processed Pseudogenes in the Human Genome. Genome Research. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.1429003

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