Gene observed evolving new functionality

[RigelKentaurusA]

Evolution of functionality.

Researchers show how 1 gene becomes 2 (with different functions)
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-01-gene-functions.html

Researchers report that they are the first to show in molecular detail how one gene evolved two competing functions that eventually split up, via gene duplication, to pursue their separate destinies.

The study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, validates a decades-old hypothesis about a key mechanism of evolution. The study also confirms the ancestry of a family of "antifreeze proteins" that helps the Antarctic eelpout survive in the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean.

Paper:

Evolution of an antifreeze protein by neofunctionalization under escape from adaptive conflict
http://www.pnas.org/content/107/50/21593.short?rss=1

Abstract:

The evolutionary model escape from adaptive conflict (EAC) posits that adaptive conflict between the old and an emerging new function within a single gene could drive the fixation of gene duplication, where each duplicate can freely optimize one of the functions. Although EAC has been suggested as a common process in functional evolution, definitive cases of neofunctionalization under EAC are lacking, and the molecular mechanisms leading to functional innovation are not well-understood. We report here clear experimental evidence for EAC-driven evolution of type III antifreeze protein gene from an old sialic acid synthase (SAS) gene in an Antarctic zoarcid fish. We found that an SAS gene, having both sialic acid synthase and rudimentary ice-binding activities, became duplicated. In one duplicate, the N-terminal SAS domain was deleted and replaced with a nascent signal peptide, removing pleiotropic structural conflict between SAS and ice-binding functions and allowing rapid optimization of the C-terminal domain to become a secreted protein capable of noncolligative freezing-point depression. This study reveals how minor functionalities in an old gene can be transformed into a distinct survival protein and provides insights into how gene duplicates facing presumed identical selection and mutation pressures at birth could take divergent evolutionary paths.

 

[Duvelthehobbit666]

You sir, are full of win for showing us this.

 

[RigelKentaurusA]

Haha, thanks. I just wish I knew enough about biology to fully appreciate what the abstract is saying.

 

[MetalMeltdown]

PZ Myers talked about this in one of his skepticon speeches; I'm sure it's on youtube, but I can't find it...

 

[televator]

**puts on foam finger** Because evolution is number one!! Whoooooo! Yeah, baby! Only game in town. Tea bagin' ID since forever.

 

[Squawk]

Now that really is quite interesting.