@article{0c31a5d64a4c4ecc87b28914fede897a,
title = "Intron retention in the Drosophila melanogaster Rieske iron sulphur protein gene generated a new protein",
abstract = "Genomes can encode a variety of proteins with unrelated architectures and activities. It is known that protein-coding genes of de novo origin have significantly contributed to this diversity. However, the molecular mechanisms and evolutionary processes behind these originations are still poorly understood. Here we show that the last 102 codons of a novel gene, Noble, assembled directly from non-coding DNA following an intronic deletion that induced alternative intron retention at the Drosophila melanogaster Rieske Iron Sulphur Protein (RFeSP) locus. A systematic analysis of the evolutionary processes behind the origin of Noble showed that its emergence was strongly biased by natural selection on and around the RFeSP locus. Noble mRNA is shown to encode a bona fide protein that lacks an iron sulphur domain and localizes to mitochondria. Together, these results demonstrate the generation of a novel protein at a naturally selected site.",
author = "Gontijo, {Alisson M.} and Veronica Miguela and Whiting, {Michael F.} and Woodruff, {R. C.} and Maria Dominguez",
note = "Funding Information: We thank I. Gutierrez, F. Heredia, E. Ballesta and E. Caparros for experimental assistance, B. Lakowski, P. Capy, S. Ralph and F. Heredia for comments on the manuscript, the Bloomington and the UCSD Drosophila Stock Centers, B. Wiegmann, M. Raupach, C. Schlotterer, E. Loreto, M. Krasnow, M. Metzstein, S. Brenner, L. Lareau, A. Parks and K. Matthews for fly stocks, reagents and information, and members of the M. Dominguez lab for discussions. A.M.G. received support from the European Commission under a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development, V.M. from the Generalitat Valenciana, M.F.W. from NSF EF-0531665 and R.C.W. from a BGSU Faculty Research Committee Research Incentive Grant. The work in the laboratory of M.D. is funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovaci{\'o}n (BFU2009-09074 and MEC-CONSOLIDER CSD2007-00023), the Fundaci{\'o}n Marcelino Botin (FMB), Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO 2008/134) and an European Union Research Grant UE-HEALH-F2-2008-201666. The contents of this article reflect only the authors{\textquoteright} views and not the views of the European Commission.",
year = "2011",
doi = "10.1038/ncomms1328",
language = "English",
volume = "2",
journal = "Nature Communications",
issn = "2041-1723",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "1",
}