Abstract
Mammalian genomes are made up of large regions of distinct base composition known as isochores1, but it has remained uncertain whether this mosaic structure is caused by regional variation in mutational biases2,3,4 or by natural selection1. To resolve this controversy, we compared the rate and pattern of nucleotide substitutions in two globin pseudogenes, Ψα1 and Ψη, which reside in isochores of very different base composition in the genomes of humans and other primates. Our findings indicate that isochores result from mutational biases, rather than from selection on individual nucleotides.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Bernardi, G. et al. Science 228, 953–958 (1985).
Filipski, J. FEBS Lett. 217, 184–186 (1987).
Sueoka, N. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 85, 2653–2657 (1988).
Wolfe, K. H., Sharp, P. M. & Li, W.-H. Nature 337, 283–285 (1989).
Goodman, M., Czelusniak, J., Koop, B. F., Tagle, D. & Slightom, J. L. Cold Spring Harb. Symp. Quant. Biol. 52, 875–890 (1987).
Sawada, I. & Schmid, C. W. J. Mol. Biol. 192, 693–709 (1986).
Casane, D., Boissinot, S., Chang, B. H.-J., Shimmin, L. C. & Li, W.-H. J. Mol. Evol. 45, 216–226 (1997).
Maddison, W. P. & Maddison, D. R. MacClade Version 3.0. Analysis of Phylogeny and Character Evolution(Sinauer, Sunderland, MA, 1992).
Imanishi, T. & Gojobori, T. J. Mol. Evol. 35, 196–204 (1992).
Holmquist, G. P. & Filipski, J. Trends Ecol. Evol. 9, 65–69 (1994).
Koop, B. F., Goodman, M., Xu, P., Chan, K. & Slightom, J. L. Nature 319, 234–238 (1986).
Sawada, I. Thesis, Univ. California, Davis (1986).
Thompson, J. D., Gibson, T. J., Plewniak, F., Jeanmougin, F. & Higgins, D. . Nucleic Acids Res. 25, 4876–4882 (1997).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Francino, M., Ochman, H. Isochores result from mutation not selection. Nature 400, 30–31 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/21804
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/21804
This article is cited by
-
Codon usage bias and evolution analysis in the mitochondrial genome of Mesona chinensis Benth
Acta Physiologiae Plantarum (2022)
-
Prediction of gene expression and codon usage in human parasitic helminths
Genes & Genomics (2017)
-
Dietary nitrogen alters codon bias and genome composition in parasitic microorganisms
Genome Biology (2016)
-
Nucleotide composition of the Zika virus RNA genome and its codon usage
Virology Journal (2016)
-
Coevolution mechanisms that adapt viruses to genetic code variations implemented in their hosts
Journal of Genetics (2016)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
