Adaptive radiation and evolutionary stasis are characterized by very different evolution rates. The main aim of this study was to investigate if any genes have a special role to a high or low evolution rate. The availability of animal genomes permitted comparison of gene content of genomes of 24 vertebrate species that evolved through adaptive radiation (representing high evolutionary rate) and of 20 vertebrate species that are considered as living fossils (representing a slow evolutionary rate or evolutionary stasis). Mammals, birds, reptiles, and bony fishes were included in the analysis. Pathway analysis was performed for genes found to be specific in adaptive radiation or evolutionary stasis respectively. Pathway analysis revealed that DNA repair and cellular response to DNA damage are important (false discovery rate = 8.35 × 10-5; 7.15 × 10-6, respectively) for species evolved through adaptive radiation. This was confirmed by further genetic in silico analysis (p = 5.30 × 10-3). Nucleotide excision repair and base excision repair were the most significant pathways. Additionally, the number of DNA repair genes was found to be linearly related to the genome size and the protein number (proteome) of the 44 animals analyzed (p < 1.00 × 10-4), this being compatible with Drake's rule. This is the first study where radiated and living fossil species have been genetically compared. Evidence has been found that cancer-related genes have a special role in radiated species. Linear association of the number of DNA repair genes with the species genome size has also been revealed. These comparative genetics results can support the idea of punctuated equilibrium evolution.

中文翻译：

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DNA修复基因（抑癌基因家族）与进化速度和基因组大小有关的证据。

适应性辐射和进化停滞的特征在于非常不同的进化速率。这项研究的主要目的是研究是否有任何基因在高或低进化率中具有特殊作用。动物基因组的可获得性允许比较通过适应性辐射进化的24种脊椎动物（代表高进化速率）和被认为是活化石的20种脊椎动物（代表缓慢的进化速率或停滞状态）的基因组基因含量。分析中包括哺乳动物，鸟类，爬行动物和骨鱼。对分别发现在适应性辐射或发育停滞中具有特异性的基因进行了途径分析。通路分析表明，DNA修复和细胞对DNA损伤的反应非常重要（错误发现率= 8.35×10-5； 7.15×10-6，分别针对通过适应性辐射进化而来的物种。进一步的基因计算机分析证实了这一点（p = 5.30×10-3）。核苷酸切除修复和碱基切除修复是最重要的途径。此外，发现DNA修复基因的数目与所分析的44只动物的基因组大小和蛋白质数目（蛋白质组）线性相关（p <1.00×10-4），这与德雷克定律兼容。这是首次对辐射的和活的化石物种进行基因比较的研究。有证据表明，与癌症有关的基因在辐射物种中具有特殊作用。还已经揭示了DNA修复基因的数目与物种基因组大小的线性关联。这些比较遗传学的结果可以支持点平衡发展的观点。