The Evolutionary Fate and Consequences of Duplicate Genes
Abstract
Gene duplication has generally been viewed as a necessary source of material for the origin of evolutionary novelties, but it is unclear how often gene duplicates arise and how frequently they evolve new functions. Observations from the genomic databases for several eukaryotic species suggest that duplicate genes arise at a very high rate, on average 0.01 per gene per million years. Most duplicated genes experience a brief period of relaxed selection early in their history, with a moderate fraction of them evolving in an effectively neutral manner during this period. However, the vast majority of gene duplicates are silenced within a few million years, with the few survivors subsequently experiencing strong purifying selection. Although duplicate genes may only rarely evolve new functions, the stochastic silencing of such genes may play a significant role in the passive origin of new species.
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Analyzing the mechanisms that generate new genes offers critical insights into how new biological functions and innovative adaptations have developed over the course of evolution.
“Analyzing the mechanisms that generate new genes—from duplication and de novo expression to the reorganization of genomic elements—offers critical insights into how new biological functions and innovative adaptations have developed over the course of evolution [27,108].”
From Origin and Evolution of Genes in Eukaryotes: Mechanisms, Dynamics, and Functional Implications (2025) · cites this paper as [108]
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- Authors
- Lynch, M., & Conery, J. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Oregon (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lynch, Michael
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2000-11-10
- Volume
- 290
- Issue
- 5494
- Pages
- 1151-1155
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2019591778
- Cited by
- 4,988
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 177 · 2025: 201 · 2024: 261 · 2023: 267 · 2022: 320 · 2021: 278 · 2020: 251 · 2019: 208 · 2018: 192 · 2017: 193 · 2016: 179 · 2015: 190 · 2014: 228 · 2013: 161 · 2012: 198
- FWCI
- 160.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM36827, R01GM036827)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genome Rearrangement Algorithms
- Keywords
- gene duplication, duplicate genes, relaxed selection, purifying selection, neutral evolution, gene silencing, evolutionary innovation, speciation, eukaryotic genomes
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Base Sequence, Chickens, Drosophila melanogaster, Humans, Models, Genetic, Mutation, Probability, Proteins, Oryza, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Selection, Genetic, Stochastic Processes, Time Factors, Databases, Factual, Genome, Caenorhabditis elegans, Arabidopsis, Evolution, Molecular, Amino Acid Substitution, Genes, Duplicate, Gene Duplication, Gene Silencing, Mice
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