Turning a hobby into a job: how duplicated genes find new functions

Abstract

Gene duplication provides raw material for functional innovation. Recent advances have shed light on two fundamental questions regarding gene duplication: which genes tend to undergo duplication? And how does natural selection subsequently act on them? Genomic data suggest that different gene classes tend to be retained after single-gene and whole-genome duplications. We also know that functional differences between duplicate genes can originate in several different ways, including mutations that directly impart new functions, subdivision of ancestral functions and selection for changes in gene dosage. Interestingly, in many cases the 'new' function of one copy is a secondary property that was always present, but that has been co-opted to a primary role after the duplication.