Re-establishing the Molecular Basis of Genetics and Biology: The DNA “Jigsaw Puzzle” Structure Model

Living organisms constituting the biological world, including plants, animals and microbes, are extremely abundant, diverse and variable in complexity. Although several mechanisms have been proposed as the molecular basis of genetics and variation of the living organisms, including gene mutation, genetic recombination and the mechanisms of epigenetics, many observed genetic variations, such as human vs. chimpanzee, could not be explained using the existing mechanisms. Here, we present a novel molecular basis of genetics and biology, named the DNA “Jigsaw Puzzle” structure model. We comprehensively analyzed the genomes of a large number of organisms and found that DNA contained in the genomes is structured from a limited number of fundamental function elements (FFE) as a linear “Jigsaw Puzzle”. The DNA structure is characterized by [1] FFE content, including FFE types, family constitution, number counts and ratio; [2] FFE array and re-array, including FFE array sequence, movement, recombination and chromosomal rearrangements; [3] FFE interaction, including FFE networks, clusters, synteny and linkage groups; and [4] FFE modifications (including gene mutations), including FFE nucleotide substitution, insertion and deletion. Variation in any of the features would lead to variation of the DNA structure or organism’s genome, thus possibly yielding phenotypic or biological variation and thus new organisms. Using this novel model, genetic variation at all taxon levels can be explained satisfactorily. Therefore, the DNA “Jigsaw Puzzle” structure model provides a novel and appropriate explanation of the observed abundance, diversity and complexity of living organisms, thus a novel molecular basis of genetics and biology.