Analysis of Gene Families Related to Hox Clusters in Vertebrates
Author Information
Author(s): Sundström Görel, Larsson Tomas A, Larhammar Dan
Primary Institution: Uppsala University
Hypothesis
The study investigates whether the phylogenies of 14 gene families syntenic with Hox clusters support the 2R/3R genome duplication hypothesis.
Conclusion
The analysis concludes that Hox cluster duplications involved many adjacent gene families, supporting their expansion during early vertebrate evolution.
Supporting Evidence
- Seven gene families have members on at least three human Hox chromosomes.
- Thirteen families have a phylogeny supporting duplications coinciding with Hox cluster duplications.
- All but two gene families show teleost-specific duplicates.
Takeaway
Scientists looked at 14 groups of genes near Hox genes to see how they evolved together, finding that many of them duplicated during the early development of vertebrates.
Methodology
Phylogenetic analyses were performed using neighbor-joining and quartet-puzzling maximum likelihood methods on gene families located near Hox clusters in various vertebrates.
Limitations
Some gene families could not be analyzed due to technical issues with sequence alignment.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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