Re: Spliceosomal introns


"Perplexed in Peoria" <jimmenegay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:dt86sc$2u2g$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Those interested in possible functions for at least some junk
and those interested in alternative splicing will probably
find much of interest here. Available free online with
registration.

http://www.nature.com/nrg/journal/v7/n3/abs/nrg1807.html

Review
Nature Reviews Genetics 7, 211-221 (March 2006)

The evolution of spliceosomal introns: patterns, puzzles and progress
Scott William Roy and Walter Gilbert

I followed a reference in this review to this paper by Lynch
who sees intron evolution as being mostly driven by population
size. This is a clear statement of the 'nearly-neutral' theory
of junk that McGinn and I 'discussed'. Plus it is the best
explanation I have seen as to just how introns are slightly
deleterious.

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/99/9/6118

I seem to be making the transition from being an amateur molecular
biologist to being an amateur population genetics man. ;-) Lynch's
explanations seem much more plausible to me than Gilbert's.
And, for that matter, more plausible than my own molecular-oriented
speculations.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Introns and nucleus evolution
    ... article on the appearance in evolution of introns and the ... "Introns and the origin of nucleus-cytosol compartmentalization" ... was to allow mRNA splicing, which is slow, to go to completion so ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Junk DNA: A hypothesis
    ... >> I reject the possibility that evolvability is an aspect of ... >> that there are other levels of evolution. ... >> Introns do not separate regions that encode functional domains. ... There may be some examples but, as a general rule, ...
    (sci.bio.evolution)
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