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Evolutionary genomics

Seeing double

Nature volume 430, pages 25–26 (2004)Cite this article

How do genomes evolve? Studies of numerous yeast species confirm the view that the duplication of genes, larger chromosomal segments and whole genomes are key mechanisms.

In a typical evolutionary tree, the yeast species stand on a branch apart from those of plants and animals. But the cells that make up these three types of organism have some crucial similarities, such as the presence of a nucleus and other subcellular structures. They are termed eukaryotic cells, in contrast to the simpler bacteria and archaea (prokaryotes). Because of these similarities, researchers have been able to use the rapidly reproducing and experimentally manageable yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to decipher some of the basic properties of all eukaryotic cells. Now the use of other yeast species is opening up a new research front that seeks to identify the mechanisms behind genome evolution. The latest attacks on this front have come in the form of two papers published earlier this year in Nature1 and Science2, and one that appears now, on page 35 of this issue3.

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Figure 1: Detecting whole-genome duplications.

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  1. Institut des Sciences de la Vie, Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    André Goffeau

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  1. André Goffeau
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Goffeau, A. Seeing double. Nature 430, 25–26 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/430025a

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