DNA double-strand break repair and the evolution of intron density

2010/11/23 by Ashley Farlow, Eshwar Meduri, Christian Schlötterer · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #DNA Repair Mechanisms #Protist diversity and phylogeny #Amino Acid Enzymes and Metabolism

paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.tig.2010.10.004

openalex publication_date 2010/11/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/21

Abstract

The density of introns is both an important feature of genome architecture and a highly variable trait across eukaryotes. This heterogeneity has posed an evolutionary puzzle for the last 30 years. Recent evidence is consistent with novel introns being the outcome of the error-prone repair of DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) via non-homologous end joining (NHEJ). Here we suggest that deletion of pre-existing introns could occur via the same pathway. We propose a novel framework in which species-specific differences in the activity of NHEJ and homologous recombination (HR) during the repair of DSBs underlie changes in intron density.

Citations

• The evolution of spliceosomal introns: patterns, puzzles and progress
• Intron evolution as a population-genetic process
• The biology of intron gain and loss
• Sea Anemone Genome Reveals Ancestral Eumetazoan Gene Repertoire and Genomic Organization
• Eukaryotic Intron Loss
• Nuclear expression of a group II intron is consistent with spliceosomal intron ancestry
• Comparative genomic analysis of fungal genomes reveals intron-rich ancestors

Cited by

• Bias in the introduction of variation [wikipedia]