Hui Liu, Cheng Zou, Feng Lin
Biological Science and Technology College, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, Liaoning, China.
Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao. 2013 May;29(5):551-67.
Pseudogenes, which have long been described as "fossils", play a very important role in eukaryotic genomes. Recently, studies on the so called "junk gene" have attracted more attention. Far from being silent, pseudogenes participate in various biological activities, including being a part in the transcription process, or participating in the formation of small interfering RNA (siRNA) which regulated gene expression by means of the RNA-interference pathway. Recent studies have also shown that pseudogenes regulate tumor suppression through competing for the microRNA (miRNA) with their parent genes. However, a deeper understanding of function analysis of pseudogenes depends on the comprehensive and accurate identification. With the sequencing completion of many genomes and the innovation of bioinformatics tools, efficient and precise identification of pseudogenes have become available in a genome-wide scale. Our review focused particularly on the method of pseudogene identification, the mechanism of its regulatory roles and its potential to be applied in directed evolution. Besides, the promising research direction of pseudogenes was proposed.
长期以来被描述为“化石”的假基因在真核生物基因组中发挥着非常重要的作用。最近，对所谓“垃圾基因”的研究引起了更多关注。假基因远非沉默，它们参与各种生物学活动，包括参与转录过程，或参与小干扰RNA（siRNA）的形成，后者通过RNA干扰途径调控基因表达。最近的研究还表明，假基因通过与其亲本基因竞争微小RNA（miRNA）来调节肿瘤抑制。然而，对假基因功能分析的更深入理解取决于全面而准确的鉴定。随着许多基因组测序的完成以及生物信息学工具的创新，在全基因组范围内已经能够高效且精确地鉴定假基因。我们的综述特别关注假基因的鉴定方法、其调控作用机制及其在定向进化中的应用潜力。此外，还提出了假基因有前景的研究方向。
