Abstract:
Conventional wisdom in molecular evolution has posited the importance of emergence of new genes derived from duplication of pre-existing genes. De novo genes were previously thought to be extremely rare. In my talk, I will discuss the genomic origin and evolutionary mechanism of a novel gene in Arctic codfishes, the antifreeze glycoprotein (AFGP) gene, which evolved from non-coding DNA. This study tests the intriguing hypothesis of sense from non-sense DNA evolution of an important life-saving gene, where mutation and natural selection have evidently forged open reading frames and functional promoters out of raw genomic DNA. It provides a clear example of radical de novoorigination of an entire gene family with vital adaptive function that can be directly linked to environmental selection.
Brief Biography:
Xuan Zhuang earned her B.S. and M.S in Marine Biology from Xiamen University where her thesis work focused on evolution of grouper mitochondrial genomes. Moving across the Pacific Ocean to the United States, Xuan completed her Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is currently working as a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Dr. Chris Cheng and Dr. Art DeVries. Her research interest is origin and evolution of new genes, especially those novel genes with adaptive function that can be linked to natural selection