Exon size distribution and the origin of introns
Exon size distribution and the origin of introns
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DOI：
10.1007/s10709-007-9139-4
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发表时间：
2007-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
1.5
通讯作者：
Ma, Jun
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gudlaugsdottir, Sigurbjorg;Boswell, D. Ross;Ma, Jun
自从人们首次认识到真核生物基因被非编码片段（内含子）分隔成编码片段（外显子）以来，这种现象的原因一直存在争议。有两种主要的理论：基因的分段排列允许以外显子为代表的功能蛋白质结构域通过改组重组，形成具有多种功能组合的新蛋白质;或者内含子代表寄生DNA，可以侵染真核基因组，因为它不会严重干扰宿主的适应性。这两种理论预测了外显子长度的不同分布。在本文中，我们研究了六种不同生物体的外显子长度分布，发现它们提供了经验证据，表明这两种理论可能部分是正确的。
Since it was first recognised that eukaryotic genes are fragmented into coding segments (exons) separated by non-coding segments (introns), the reason for this phenomenon has been debated. There are two dominant theories: that the piecewise arrangement of genes allows functional protein domains, represented by exons, to recombine by shuffling to form novel proteins with combinations of functions; or that introns represent parasitic DNA that can infest the eukaryotic genome because it does not interfere grossly with the fitness of its host. Differing distributions of exon lengths are predicted by these two theories. In this paper we examine distributions of exon lengths for six different organisms and find that they offer empirical evidence that both theories may in part be correct.