A Test of the Null Model for 5' UTR Evolution Based on GC Content

sea-maid submitted, created time 6 months 1 week (mbe.oxfordjournals.org)

Eukaryotic mRNAs are headed by a stretch of noncoding sequence, the 5' untranslated region (UTR). It has been proposed that the length of 5' UTRs is selectively neutral and evolves under a process of stochastic destruction and recruitment of core promoter elements, combined with selection against the premature initiation of translation. The authors of this research test this null model by investigating whether 5' UTR length varies with genomic GC content, an implicit prediction of the model.

Keywords: untranslated regions mRNA GC content 5 UTR