Gene duplication, genome duplication, and the functional diversification of vertebrate globins

Gene duplication, genome duplication, and the functional diversification of vertebrate globins.

The functional diversification of the vertebrate globin gene superfamily provides an especially vivid illustration of the role of gene duplication and whole-genome duplication in promoting evolutionary innovation. For example, key globin proteins that evolved specialized functions in various aspects of oxidative metabolism and oxygen signaling pathways (hemoglobin [Hb], myoglobin [Mb], and cyto...

Gene and genome duplication.

Genomic sequencing projects have revealed the productivity of processes duplicating genes or entire chromosome segments. Substantial proportions of the yeast, Arabidopsis and human gene complements are made up of duplicates. This has prompted much interest in the processes of duplication, functional divergence and loss of genes, has renewed the debate on whether an early vertebrate genome was t...

Genome duplication, extinction and vertebrate evolution.

Vertebrate evolution has been punctuated by three episodes of widespread gene or genome duplication, which have been linked with the origin of vertebrates, gnathostomes and teleosts, respectively. These three events coincide with bursts of character acquisition and increases in phenotypic complexity, and many researchers have suggested a causal relationship between the two. However, this patter...

Genome duplication and the origin of the vertebrate skeleton.

During vertebrate embryonic development, tissue patterning and differentiation are regulated by members of multigene families. Evolutionary expansion of these families is thought to have played a role in the evolution of anatomical complexity, including the origins of new cell and tissue types. A defining feature of vertebrates is an endoskeleton, the primary components of which are cartilage a...

Gene Duplication and Functional Divergence