The "inverse relationship between evolutionary rate and age of mammalian genes" is an artifact of increased genetic distance with rate of evolution and time of divergence

It has recently been claimed that older genes tend to evolve more slowly than newer ones (Alba and Castresana 2005). By simulation of genes of equal age, we show that the inverse correlation between age and rate is an artifact caused by our inability to detect homology when evolutionary distances ar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecular biology and evolution 2006-01, Vol.23 (1), p.1-3
Main Authors: Elhaik, Eran, Sabath, Niv, Graur, Dan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Computer Simulation
Evolution, Molecular
Genes - genetics
Mammals - genetics
Models, Genetic
Phylogeny
Time Factors
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Summary:It has recently been claimed that older genes tend to evolve more slowly than newer ones (Alba and Castresana 2005). By simulation of genes of equal age, we show that the inverse correlation between age and rate is an artifact caused by our inability to detect homology when evolutionary distances are large. Since evolutionary distance increases with time of divergence and rate of evolution, homologs of fast-evolving genes are frequently undetected in distantly related taxa and are, hence, misclassified as "new." This misclassification causes the mean genetic distance of 'new' genes to be overestimated and the mean genetic distance of "old" genes to be underestimated.
ISSN:0737-4038
1537-1719
DOI:10.1093/molbev/msj006