Computation Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2010 Jul;38(13):4207-17. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkq140. Epub 2010 Mar 9.
Genes, like organisms, struggle for existence, and the most successful genes persist and widely disseminate in nature. The unbiased determination of the most successful genes requires access to sequence data from a wide range of phylogenetic taxa and ecosystems, which has finally become achievable thanks to the deluge of genomic and metagenomic sequences. Here, we analyzed 10 million protein-encoding genes and gene tags in sequenced bacterial, archaeal, eukaryotic and viral genomes and metagenomes, and our analysis demonstrates that genes encoding transposases are the most prevalent genes in nature. The finding that these genes, classically considered as selfish genes, outnumber essential or housekeeping genes suggests that they offer selective advantage to the genomes and ecosystems they inhabit, a hypothesis in agreement with an emerging body of literature. Their mobile nature not only promotes dissemination of transposable elements within and between genomes but also leads to mutations and rearrangements that can accelerate biological diversification and--consequently--evolution. By securing their own replication and dissemination, transposases guarantee to thrive so long as nucleic acid-based life forms exist.
基因与生物一样，为了生存而斗争，而最成功的基因则在自然界中得以延续和广泛传播。要确定最成功的基因，就需要获得来自广泛的系统发育分类群和生态系统的序列数据，而这一目标终于因为基因组和宏基因组序列的大量涌现而成为可能。在这里，我们分析了已测序的细菌、古菌、真核生物和病毒基因组和宏基因组中的 1000 万个编码蛋白的基因和基因标签，我们的分析表明，编码转座酶的基因是自然界中最普遍存在的基因。这些经典上被认为是自私基因的基因数量超过了必需基因或管家基因，这表明它们为其所在的基因组和生态系统提供了选择优势，这一假说与不断涌现的文献相符。它们的移动特性不仅促进了转座元件在基因组内和基因组间的传播，还导致了突变和重排，从而加速了生物多样化，并因此推动了进化。通过确保自身的复制和传播，转座酶保证了只要核酸生命形式存在，它们就能够繁荣发展。
