The bioenergetic costs of a gene

An enduring mystery of evolutionary genomics concerns the mechanisms responsible for lineage-specific expansions of genome size in eukaryotes, especially in multicellular species. One idea is that all excess DNA is mutationally hazardous, but weakly enough so that genome-size expansion passively emerges in species experiencing relatively low efficiency of selection owing to small effective population sizes. Another idea is that substantial gene additions were impossible without the energetic boost provided by the colonizing mitochondrion in the eukaryotic lineage. Contrary to this latter view, analysis of cellular energetics and genomics data from a wide variety of species indicates that, relative to the…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: MCB-1050161
• NI
  National Institute of General Medical Sciences

  Award: R01-GM036827
• AR
  Army Research Office

  Awards: W911NF-14-1-0411, W911NF-09-1-0444