Journal
GENOMICS
Volume 110, Issue 5, Pages 310-317Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2017.12.003
Keywords
Conservation patterns; Metabolic genes; Intron enrichment; Protein versatility; Mutational load
Funding
- Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
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In Arabidopsis thaliana, primary metabolic genes (PMGs) are more evolutionarily conserved and intron-rich than secondary metabolic genes. We observed that PMGs are more primitive and pan-taxonomically persistent as compared to secondary (SMGs) and non-metabolic genes (NMGs). This difference in primitiveness and persistence is primarily correlated with intron number and is independent of gene expression level. We propose a twofold explanation behind higher intron enrichment in PMGs. Firstly, introns might increase protein versatility amongst PMGs through alternative splicing, providing selective advantage of PMGs and making them more persistent across diverse plant taxa. Also, multifunctional PMGs may acquire functional domains by increasing the intronic burden. Additionally, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) accumulate at a higher rate in introns as compared to exons. Moreover, a strong negative correlation between cumulative exonic SNPs density and intron number indicates that introns may protect the exonic regions against the deleterious effect of these mutations, making them more conserved.
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