Strong DNA conservation among divergent species is an indicator of enduring functionality. With weaker sequence conservation we enter a vast 'twilight zone' in which sequence subject to transient or lower constraint cannot be distinguished easily from neutrally evolving, non-functional sequence. Twilight zone functional sequence is illuminated instead by principles of selective constraint and positive selection using genomic data acquired from within a species' population. Application of these principles reveals that despite being biochemically active, most twilight zone sequence is not functional.
CITATION STYLE
Ponting, C. P. (2017, August 16). Biological function in the twilight zone of sequence conservation. BMC Biology. BioMed Central Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-017-0411-5
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