Orphan gene

History of orphan genes

Orphan genes were first discovered when the yeast genome-sequencing project began in 1996. Orphan genes accounted for an estimated 26% of the yeast genome, but it was believed that these genes could be classified with homologues when more genomes were sequenced. At the time, gene duplication was considered the only serious model of gene evolution and there were few sequenced genomes for comparison, so a lack of detectable homologues was thought to be most likely due to a lack of sequencing data and not due to a true lack of homology. However, orphan genes continued to persist as the quantity of sequenced genomes grew, eventually leading to the conclusion that orphan genes are ubiquitous to all genomes. Estimates of the percentage of genes which are orphans varies enormously between species and between studies; 10-30% is a commonly cited figure.

The study of orphan genes emerged largely after the turn of the century. In 2003, a study of Caenorhabditis briggsae and related species compared over 2000 genes. They proposed that these genes must be evolving too quickly to be detected and are consequently sites of very rapid evolution. In 2005, Wilson examined 122 bacterial species to try to examine whether the large number of orphan genes in many species was legitimate. The study found that it was legitimate and played a role in bacterial adaptation. The definition of taxonomically-restricted genes was introduced into the literature to make orphan genes seem less "mysterious."

In 2008, a yeast protein of established functionality, BSC4, was found to have evolved de novo from non-coding sequences whose homology was still detectable in sister species.

In 2009, an orphan gene was discovered to regulate an internal biological network: the orphan gene, QQS, from Arabidopsis thaliana modifies plant composition. The QQS orphan protein interacts with a conserved transcription factor, these data explain the compositional changes (increased protein) that are induced when QQS is engineered into diverse species. In 2011, a comprehensive genome-wide study of the extent and evolutionary origins of orphan genes in plants was conducted in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana "

How to identify orphan genes

Genes can be tentatively classified as orphans if no orthologous proteins can be found in nearby species.

One method used to estimate nucleotide or protein sequence similarity is the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST). BLAST allows query sequences to be rapidly searched against large sequence databases. Simulations suggest that under certain conditions BLAST is suitable for detecting distant relatives of a gene. However, genes that are short and evolve rapidly can easily be missed by BLAST.

Another method utilized to detect orphan genes is called phylostratigraphy. Phylostratigraphy generates a phylogenetic tree in which the homology is calculated between all genes of a focal species and the genes of other species. The earliest common ancestor for a gene determines the age, or phylostratum, of the gene. Although phylostratigraphy is typically utilized to infer gene/protein age, it can easily be used to detect orphan genes. If an orphan gene is defined as being unique to one species, then orphan genes are those genes located within the highest phylostratum (i.e., those possessing homologs only in the focal species). However, if one chooses to define an "orphan gene" as being unique to an entire clade (not just a single branch), then orphan genes would include all those genes found within the range of phylostrata comprising the clade.

Where do orphan genes come from?

Orphan genes arise from multiple sources, predominantly through de novo origination, duplication and rapid divergence, and horizontal gene transfer.

De Novo Origination

Novel orphan genes continually arise de novo from non-coding sequences. These novel genes may be sufficiently beneficial to be swept to fixation by selection. Or, more likely, they will fade back into the non-genic background. This latter option is supported by research in Drosophila showing that young genes are more likely go extinct.

De novo genes were once thought to be a near impossibility due to the complex and potentially fragile intricacies of creating and maintaining functional polypeptides, but research from the past 10 years or so has found multiple examples of de novo genes, some of which are associated with important biological processes, particularly testes function. Overall, research has shown that de novo gene do have an important evolutionary role, but the extent of this role, particularly in relation to the traditional gene duplication theory of gene evolution, remains contested.

Duplication and Divergence

The duplication and divergence model for orphan genes involves a new gene being created from some duplication or divergence event and undergoing a period of rapid evolution where all detectable similarity to the originally duplicated gene is lost. While this explanation is consistent with current understandings of duplication mechanisms, the number of mutations needed to lose detectable similarity is large enough as to be a rare event, and the evolutionary mechanism by which a gene duplicate could be sequestered and diverge so rapidly remains unclear.

Horizontal Gene Transfer

Another explanation for how orphan genes arise is through a duplication mechanism called horizontal gene transfer, where the original duplicated gene derives from a separate, unknown lineage. This explanation for the origin of orphan genes is especially relevant in bacteria and archaea, where horizontal gene transfer is common.

Protein characteristics

Orphans genes tend to be very short (~6 times shorter than mature genes), and some are weakly expressed, tissue specific and simpler in codon usage and amino acid composition. Orphan genes mostly encode intrinsically disordered proteins. Of the tens of thousands of enzymes of primary or specialized metabolism that have been characterized to date, none are orphans, or even of restricted lineage; apparently, catalysis requires hundreds of millions of years of evolution.

Biological functions

While the prevalence of orphan genes has been established, the evolutionary role of orphans, and its resulting importance, is still being debated. One theory is that many orphans have no evolutionary role; genomes contain non-functional open reading frames (ORFs) that create spurious polypeptide products not maintained by selection, meaning that they are unlikely to be conserved between species and would likely be detected as orphan genes. However, a variety of other studies have shown that at least some orphans are functionally important and may help explain the emergence of novel phenotypes.