Pseudogenes as a paradigm of neutral evolution

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 292; no. 5820; p. 237
• Main Authors: Li, W H, Gojobori, T, Nei, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 16.07.1981
• Subjects: Animals; Base Sequence; Biological Evolution; Codon; Genes; Globins - genetics; Mice; Models, Biological; Mutation; Rabbits; Time Factors

On the neutral mutation hypothesis, the rate of nucleotide substitution is expected to be higher for functionally less important genes or parts of genes than for functionally more important genes, as the latter would be subject to stronger purifying (negative) selectio. On the other hand, selectioni...