Molecular mechanism and history of non-sense to sense evolution of antifreeze glycoprotein gene in northern gadids
My work investigating a novel gene family of northern codfishes served to demonstrate how de novo gene birth can play an essential role in creating novel phenotypes and how these can then propagate through a diversifying group. Using genomic BAC libraries construction and subsequent isolation and sequencing of the large antifreeze glycoprotein (AFGP) family loci allowed a fine-scale comparative analysis that spanned multiple AFGP-endowed and AFGP-lacking species. Through this, I was able to elucidate the evolutionary process and the details of the underlying molecular mechanisms through which all essential genic components of this new gene developed from non-coding DNA. This is the first concrete dissection of a de novo gene birth that conferred a vital adaptive function directly linked to natural selection. Phylogenetic analysis of all AFGP gene members then served to demonstrate the subsequent proliferation process of gene family members in individual species and the evolutionary history of gene family expansion across the lineage, shedding light on how new genes can proliferate into a large family when driven by natural selection.
Related publications:
1. Zhuang X, Yang C, Murphy KR, Cheng C.-H.C. (2019). Molecular mechanism and history of non-sense to sense evolution of antifreeze glycoprotein gene in northern gadids. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 116(10):4400-44052. Zhuang X, Murphy KR, Ghigliottic L, Pisanoc E, Cheng C.-H.C. (2018). Reconstruction of the repetitive antifreeze glycoprotein genomic loci in the cold-water gadids Boreogadus saida and Microgadus tomcod. Marine Genomics. 39: 73-84Related News, Podcasts, Blogs:
