Overlapping gene
![Tandem out-of-phase overlap of the human mitochondrial genes ATP8 (+1 frame, in red) and ATP6 (+3 frame, in blue)[2]](/Images/godic/202501/31/Homo_sapiens-mtDNA~NC_012920-ATP8+ATP6_Overlap.svg3334.png")
![Overlapping genes in the bacteriophage ΦX174 genome. There are 11 genes in this genome (A, A*, B-H, J, K). Genes B, K, E overlap with genes A, C, D.](/Images/godic/202501/31/Genome_map_of_the_bacteriophage_ΦX174_showing_overlapping_genes.svg3334.png")
An overlapping gene is a gene whose expressible nucleotide sequence partially overlaps with the expressible nucleotide sequence of another gene. In this way, a nucleotide sequence may make a contribution to the function of one or more gene products.