Grant: Project Grant

Until recently it has been assumed that all genes encode proteins, and the numbers of these genes and their products are responsible for organism diversity. After the sequencing of many organism genomes, we now know that this is not true. What is proportional to organism diversity is the number of genes that do not encode proteins, called non-coding genes. We will study the most abundant of these called long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes. We will do so in the tissues where they are believed to have first evolved, the adult testes. Our genome-wide analysis will provide the information required to determine how these genes are evolving and how, in turn, they regulate organism evolution and diversity.