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Cited by 112Chromosomal and Genetic VariationsGenomics and Phylogenetic StudiesGenome Rearrangement Algorithms

Quantifying the mechanisms of domain gain in animal proteins

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Buljan, Marija, Frankish, Adam, Bateman, Alex·2010·Genome Biology
DOI 10.1186/gb-2010-11-7-r74PMC PMC2926785
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Abstract

Background: Protein domains are protein regions that are shared among different proteins and are frequently functionally and structurally independent from the rest of the protein. Novel domain combinations have a major role in evolutionary innovation. However, the relative contributions of the different molecular mechanisms that underlie domain gains in animals are still unknown. By using animal gene phylogenies we were able to identify a set of high confidence domain gain events and by looking at their coding DNA investigate the causative mechanisms. Results: Here we show that the major mechanism for gains of new domains in metazoan proteins is likely to be gene fusion through joining of exons from adjacent genes, possibly mediated by non-allelic homologous recombination. Retroposition and insertion of exons into ancestral introns through intronic recombination are, in contrast to previous expectations, only minor contributors to domain gains and have accounted for less than 1% and 10% of high confidence domain gain events, respectively. Additionally, exonization of previously non-coding regions appears to be an important mechanism for addition of disordered segments to proteins. We observe that gene duplication has preceded domain gain in at least 80% of the gain events. Conclusions: The interplay of gene duplication and domain gain demonstrates an important mechanism for fast neofunctionalization of genes.

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  • At the locus level, protein domains often fuse, resulting in novel domains.

    “Even at the locus level, protein domains often fuse, resulting in novel domains (175).”

    From Topological Approaches in Animal Comparative Genomics (2026) · cites this paper as [175]

    The Discussion (page not provided) says that joining exons from adjacent genes creates novel domain combinations in animal proteins. It does not say that protein domains themselves fuse to create new domains; the novelty described is in the combination, not necessarily in the individual domains. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Buljan, M., Frankish, A., & Bateman, A.
Affiliations
Wellcome Sanger Institute (GB)
Corresponding author
Buljan, Marija
ORCID
Venue
Genome Biology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2010-07-15
Volume
11
Issue
7
Pages
R74-R74
ISSN
  • 1465-6906 (ISSN-L)
  • 1474-760X
DOI
10.1186/gb-2010-11-7-r74
PMC
PMC2926785
OpenAlex
W1993506738
Cited by
112
References
7
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 5
FWCI
9.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Genome biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genome Rearrangement Algorithms
Keywords
domain combinations, gene fusion, non-allelic homologous recombination, retroposition, exonization, gene duplication, neofunctionalization, evolutionary innovation, gene phylogeny
MeSH terms
Amino Acids, Animals, Chromosomes, Exons, Genes, Humans, Introns, Proteins, Recombination, Genetic, RNA, Messenger, Time Factors, Mutagenesis, Insertional, Protein Structure, Tertiary, Evolution, Molecular, Gene Duplication, Gene Fusion

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