GC-biased gene conversion promotes the fixation of deleterious amino acid changes in primates

Trends Genet. 2009 Jan;25(1):1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2008.10.011. Epub 2008 Nov 21.

Abstract

GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC) is a recently discovered, recombination-associated segregation distortion, which influences GC-content dynamics in the mammalian genome. We scanned the primate proteome for examples of exon-specific, lineage-specific accelerated amino acid evolution. Here, we show that such episodes are frequently accompanied by an increase in GC-content, which extends to synonymous and intronic positions. This demonstrates that gBGC has substantially (negatively) impacted the evolutionary trajectory of human proteins by promoting the fixation of deleterious AT-->GC mutations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Substitution
  • Animals
  • Base Composition
  • Evolution, Molecular
  • Exons
  • Gene Conversion*
  • Humans
  • Models, Genetic
  • Primates / genetics*
  • Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Proteins