Abstract
Gene duplication is recognized as a critical process in genome evolution; however, many questions about this process remain unanswered. Although gene duplicability has been observed to differ by duplication mechanism and evolutionary rate, there is so far no broad characterization of its determinants. Many features correlate with this difference in duplicability; however, our ability to exploit these observations to advance our understanding of the role of duplication in evolution is hampered by limitations within existing work. In particular, the existence of methodological differences across studies impedes meaningful comparison. Here, we use consistent definitions of duplicability in the human lineage to explore these associations, allow resolution of the impact of confounding factors, and define the overall relevance of individual features. Using a classifier approach and controlling for the confounding effect of duplicate longevity, we find a subset of gene features important in differentiating genes duplicable by small-scale duplication from those duplicable by whole-genome duplication, revealing critical roles for gene dosage and expression costs in duplicability. We further delve into patterns of functional enrichment and find a lack of constraint on duplicate retention in any context for genes duplicable by small-scale duplication.