IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v421y2003i6922d10.1038_421496b.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rate of evolution and gene dispensability

Author

Listed:
  • Csaba Pál

    (University of Bath
    Eötvös University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/C)

  • Balázs Papp

    (University of Bath
    Eötvös University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/C)

  • Laurence D. Hurst

    (University of Bath)

Abstract

Whether more dispensable genes evolve faster than less dispensable ones1 is a contentious issue2,3,4. Comparing yeast and worm genes, Hirsh and Fraser3 observe a gradual tendency for less dispensable genes (those that reduce the growth rate of yeast when knocked out) to have lower rates of protein evolution. Here we repeat their analysis using larger data sets and find no evidence that dispensability explains the variation in rates of protein evolution. Although Hirsh and Fraser provide a model to show why their result is to be expected, our analysis suggests that their model, which assumes among other things that no substitution is advantageous, cannot be generally applied.

Suggested Citation

  • Csaba Pál & Balázs Papp & Laurence D. Hurst, 2003. "Rate of evolution and gene dispensability," Nature, Nature, vol. 421(6922), pages 496-497, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:421:y:2003:i:6922:d:10.1038_421496b
    DOI: 10.1038/421496b
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/421496b
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/421496b?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Oren Ish-Am & David M Kristensen & Eytan Ruppin, 2015. "Evolutionary Conservation of Bacterial Essential Metabolic Genes across All Bacterial Culture Media," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Sarosh N Fatakia & Stefano Costanzi & Carson C Chow, 2011. "Molecular Evolution of the Transmembrane Domains of G Protein-Coupled Receptors," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(11), pages 1-12, November.
    3. Chao Qin & Yongqi Sun & Yadong Dong, 2016. "A New Method for Identifying Essential Proteins Based on Network Topology Properties and Protein Complexes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(8), pages 1-30, August.
    4. Martin Ackermann & Lin Chao, 2006. "DNA Sequences Shaped by Selection for Stability," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(2), pages 1-7, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:421:y:2003:i:6922:d:10.1038_421496b. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.