UBP7 bears a mutation that gains in frequency to represent a large portion of the GS-evolved population.
Furthermore, Aro1p, which catalyses steps 2 to 6 of the chorismate pathway leading to synthesis of aromatic amino acids [ 67], harbours a predicted phenotype-conferring mutation that gains in frequency within sequenced mutant pools.
This finding nicely demonstrates the potential of neutral drift mutations that have gained interest in the last decade (Bershtein et al. 2008; Bloom and Arnold 2009; Smith et al. 2011).
Phylogenetic trees have also been used in such studies to help differentiate mutations that are gained by individual events and by inheritance in a lineage, and hence to predict the impact of the mutations to the virus survival (Holmes et al. 2005; Smith et al. 2009; Bhatt et al. 2013; Bedford et al. 2014; Steinbruck et al. 2014).
Recent reports on mouse models of the Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS), a familial cancer predisposition syndrome caused by germline p53 mutations, revealed significant changes in the tumor spectra in mice carrying common p53 mutations, indicating that gain-of-function in p53 is important for tumorigenesis [ 11, 12].
These studies revealed substantial changes in the tumor spectra of mice carrying common p53 mutations, indicating that gain-of-function by p53 is important for tumorigenesis[ 23, 24].
However, because only a small proportion of autism cases result from complete loss of a single gene, knockout animal models may not be as useful as models that carry mutations that impart partial gain or loss of gene function.
Scientists are concerned that in the future either of these strains could gain mutations that allow them to not only jump from birds into humans, but also spread rapidly between people, triggering a deadly pandemic.
Conversely, mutations that result in a gain of function will usually be dominant.
For example, the Hippo signaling pathway has an evolutionarily conserved role in controlling tissue growth rates and organ size during animal development and mutations that cause a net gain of function can lead to cancer.
