ArticleNature communications2025
Interpreting mammalian synonymous site conservation in light of the unwanted transcript hypothesis.
Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Genomic indicators of gene function: a systematic assessment of the human genome.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Natural Selection Drives AT-Biased Codon Usage in Mitochondrial Genomes of Early-DivergingJournal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Dissecting the genetic architecture of circadian rhythms in human tissues using a quantitative circadian deviation score.Genome biology · 2025Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
Mammalian genomes are biased towards GC bases at third codon positions, likely due to a GC-biased ancestral genome and the selectively neutral recombination-related process of GC-biased gene conversion. The unwanted transcript hypothesis posits that this high GC content at synonymous sites may be beneficial for protecting against spurious transcripts, particularly in species with low effective population sizes. Utilising a 240 placental mammal genome alignment and single-base resolution conservation scores, we interpret sequence conservation at mammalian four-fold degenerate sites in this context and find evidence in support of the unwanted transcript hypothesis, including a strong GC bias, high conservation at sites relating to exon splicing, less human genetic variation at conserved four-fold degenerate sites, and conservation of sites important for epigenetic regulation of developmental genes. Additionally, we show that high conservation of four-fold degenerate sites in essential developmental genes, including homeobox genes, likely relates to the low mutation rates experienced by these genes.
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