Open AccessFormation of human long intergenic non-coding RNA genes, pseudogenes, and protein genes: Ancestral sequences are key players
Author(s) -
Nicholas Delihas
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0230236
Subject(s) - pseudogene , genetics , biology , intergenic region , gene , conserved sequence , genome , human genome , rna , gene family , non coding rna , peptide sequence
Pathways leading to formation of non-coding RNA and protein genes are varied and complex. We report finding a conserved repeat sequence present in human and chimpanzee genomes that appears to have originated from a common primate ancestor. This sequence is repeatedly copied in human chromosome 22 (chr22) low copy repeats (LCR22) or segmental duplications and forms twenty-one different genes, which include the human long intergenic non-coding RNA (lincRNA) family FAM230 , a newly discovered lincRNA gene family termed c onserved l ong i ntergenic n on- c oding RNAs (clincRNA), pseudogene families, as well as the gamma-glutamyltransferase ( GGT ) protein gene family and the RNA pseudogenes that originate from GGT sequences. Of particular interest are the GGT5 and USP18 protein genes that appear to have formed from an homologous repeat sequence that also forms the clincRNA gene family. The data point to ancestral DNA sequences, conserved through evolution and duplicated in humans by chromosomal repeat sequences that may serve as functional genomic elements in the development of diverse genes.