Keywords: intein

Degeneration and domestication of a selfish gene in yeast: Molecular evolution versus site-directed mutagenesis

Koufopanou, VB, A.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  22:1535-1538. 2005.
VDE is a homing endonuclease gene in yeasts with an unusual evolutionary history including horizontal transmission, degeneration, and domestication into the mating-type switching locus HO. We investigate here the effects of these features on its molecular evolution. In addition, ...
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Adaptation for horizontal transfer in a homing endonuclease

Koufopanou, VG, M. R.; Burt, A.,  Molecular Biology and Evolution,  19:239-246. 2002.
Selfish genes of no function other than self-propagation are susceptible to degeneration if they become fixed in a population. and regular transfer to new species may be the only means for their long-term persistence. To test this idea we surveyed 24 species of yeast for VDE, a ...
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Outcrossed sex allows a selfish gene to invade yeast populations

Goddard, MRG, D.; Burt, A.,  Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences,  268:2537-2542. 2001.
Homing endonuclease genes (HEGs) in eukaryotes are optional genes that have no obvious effect on host phenotype except for causing chromosomes not containing a cop), of the gene to be cut, thus causing them to be inherited at a greater than Mendelian rate via gene conversion. ...
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