> In other words, is there any room for pseudogenes in generating novelty?
I know of at least one example of the revival of a pseudogene to regain close to its original function. I do not remember full details (but can look them up if anyone wants-I do know the reference), but basically a pseudogene in artiodactyls was converted into a functional gene in the bovids (cows, water buffalo, etc.). The former pseudogene is active in a different part of the body than the related genes. It is thought to have been revived by gene conversion, interacting with the functional version, but I am not sure if this is certain.
Pseudogenes could produce evolutionary novelty if the right mutations occurred to fix whatever made them non-functional. (Unless the error were merely an early stop codon, this would be most likely to involve insertion of functional DNA or a correction mechanism like gene conversion.) However, many pseudogenes have multiple problems such as early stop codons, errors in the initiation site, etc. and so would be difficult to revive.
Dr. David Campbell
"Old Seashells"
Biology Department
Saint Mary's College of Maryland
18952 E. Fisher Road
St. Mary's City, MD 20686-3001 USA
dcampbell@osprey.smcm.edu, 301 862-0372 Fax: 301 862-0996
"Mollusks murmured 'Morning!'. And salmon chanted 'Evening!'."-Frank Muir, Oh My Word!
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