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CHIMERIC GENES. "Exons and domains could be recombined to produce new chimeric genes. Chimeric proteins formed by gene recombination have been found in many organisms since their discovery in the LDL receptor gene, including yeast, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, mammals, and plants, and are estimated to have contributed ~19% of new exons in eukaryotes." https://lnkd.in/dvpUaYF View in LinkedIn

EXON MODIFICATION. "New gene structures can be generated by modifying existing exons or domains." https://lnkd.in/dvpUaYF View in LinkedIn

NEW FUNCTIONS. "There are a variety of ways that new gene structures can subsequently acquire new functions." https://lnkd.in/dvpUaYF View in LinkedIn

GENE RETENTION. "Estimates of duplicate gene retention after whole gene duplications in teleost fishes (~15 % after 350 MY), yeast (~12% after 80 MY), and Arabidopsis (~30 % after 80 MY) all suggest that large fractions of duplicated loci can be retained." https://lnkd.in/dvpUaYF View in LinkedIn

WHOLE GENOME DUPLICATION. "An important gene duplication mechanism is whole genome duplication, which has occurred multiple times in eukaryote evolution, particularly in plants. Hundreds to thousands of duplicate genes are formed by a whole gene duplication event, and the vast majority of duplicates are quickly lost." https://lnkd.in/dvpUaYF View in LinkedIn

EUKS AND MEIOSIS. "In summary, long-term asexuality is rare, and there is growing consensus that meiotic sex was present in the LECA and remains so in all major eukaryotic lineages." (LECA = last eukaryotic common ancestor), https://lnkd.in/deZ8DED View in LinkedIn

THE EXCEPTIONS. "On the other hand, very few examples can be found where genome sequencing has led us to infer a strictly asexual nature of the respective eukaryote." https://lnkd.in/deZ8DED View in LinkedIn

MAINSTREAM DOGMA. "From all of the prior observations we can safely conclude that meiotic sex in eukaryotes is the rule. It is very widespread, old, and clearly of major evolutionary importance." https://lnkd.in/deZ8DED View in LinkedIn

SINGLE EVENT. “Sexual reproduction is a nearly universal feature of eukaryotic organisms. Given its ubiquity and shared core features, sex is thought to have arisen once in the last common ancestor to all eukaryotes.” https://lnkd.in/ebVhXPf View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this first of two weekends on the gene life cycle. This is at the heart of Darwinian evolution, although even the idea of genes was unknown to Darwin. New genetic material is the engine of diversity and fitness. Nature has found numerous inventive ways to freshen its genetic information content, in order to provide the organism with new phenotypes with which to conquer new niches. And very often, the timeframes involved in new gene generation and fixation are considerable. View in LinkedIn