@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref23553, author = {maxime huvet and Michael P.H Stumpf}, title = {Overlapping genes: a window on gene evolvability.}, year = {2014}, keywords = {Overlapping genes, evolution, expression regulation, operon}, doi = {}, url = {http://}, pmid = {}, journal = {BMC genomics}, volume = {}, number = {}, pages = {}, abstract = {Background The forces underlying genome architecture and organization are still only poorly understood in detail. Overlapping genes (genes partially or entirely overlapping) represent a genomic feature that is shared widely between biological organisms ranging from viruses to multi-cellular organisms. In bacteria, a third of the annotated genes are involved in an overlap. Despite the widespread nature of this arrangement, its evolutionary origins and biological ramifications have so far eluded explanation. Results Here we present a comparative approach using information from 699 bacterial genomes that sheds light on the evolutionary dynamics of overlapping genes. We show that these structures exhibit high levels of plasticity. Conclusions We propose a simple model allowing us to explain the observed properties of overlapping genes based on the importance of initiation and termination of transcriptional and translational processes. We believe that taking into account the processes leading to the expression of protein-coding genes hold the key to the understanding of overlapping genes structures.} }

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