The Rate and Tract Length of Gene Conversion between Duplicated Genes

Sayaka P Mansai,Hideki Innan,Tomoyuki Kado

doi:10.3390/genes2020313

Abstract

Interlocus gene conversion occurs such that a certain length of DNA fragment is non-reciprocally transferred (copied and pasted) between paralogous regions. To understand the rate and tract length of gene conversion, there are two major approaches. One is based on mutation-accumulation experiments, and the other uses natural DNA sequence variation. In this review, we overview the two major approaches and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. In addition, to demonstrate the importance of statistical analysis of empirical and evolutionary data for estimating tract length, we apply a maximum likelihood method to several data sets.

Highlights

Gene conversion is a recombinational process initiated by a double strand break (DSB), through which a DNA fragment is non-reciprocally transferred (copied and pasted) generally between allelic regions (i.e., allelic gene conversion [1])
Gene conversion is a recombinational process initiated by a double strand break (DSB), through which a DNA fragment is non-reciprocally transferred generally between allelic regions
Genes 2011, 2 on gene conversion include (i) What is the rate of gene conversion under what condition? and (ii) What is the distribution of the tract length of gene conversion? Addressing these fundamental questions will provide great insights into how important role gene conversion plays as a mutational mechanism

Summary

Introduction

Gene conversion is a recombinational process initiated by a double strand break (DSB), through which a DNA fragment is non-reciprocally transferred (copied and pasted) generally between allelic regions (i.e., allelic gene conversion [1]). There are two potential approaches to estimate the rate and tract length of gene conversion. We first review researches that estimated the rate and tract length of interlocus gene conversion by the two approaches, and discuss their advantages and disadvantages.

Results

Conclusion