Population genetic theory and comparative genomics to understand the evolutionary mechanism in noncoding DNA

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Functions of non-coding DNA region for genome integrity
• Project/Area Number: 23114004
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Biological Sciences
• Research Institution: The Graduate University for Advanced Studies
• Principal Investigator: Innan Hideki 総合研究大学院大学, その他の研究科, 准教授 (90444140)
• Project Period (FY): 2011-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 集団遺伝 / ゲノム進化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project was aimed to understand the evolutionary mechanisms in noncoding DNA regions, which constitute the majority of the eukaryote genomes. We have carried out theoretical works on population genetics and molecular evolution specifically for noncoding regions, where mutational mechanisms are generally more complex than coding regions. The theory was applied to genomic data from various species including Schizosaccharomyces pombe, rice, human, Arabidopsis thaliana. We found that various modes of natural selection has shaped the current pattern of genome variation within and between species. It was also found that there are a number of noncoding regions that are under strong purifying selection, indicating crucial roles of noncoding regions.

Free Research Field

集団遺伝