Positive Selection of the Bat Interferon Alpha Gene Family

Interferon Gene Family Characterization of the Murine Alpha

Chromosomal location of a human alpha interferon gene family

To determine the chromosomal location of the human alpha interferon genes, we scored a series of human/rodent somatic cell hybrids for the presence of DNA sequences hybridizing to an alpha 1 interferon DNA probe. The presence of human chromosome 9 in a hybrid correlated with the presence of a family of alpha interferon genes.

Positive and negative selection in the DAZ gene family.

Because a microdeletion containing the DAZ gene is the most frequently observed deletion in infertile men, the DAZ gene was considered a strong candidate for the azoospermia factor. A recent evolutionary analysis, however, suggested that DAZ was free from functional constraints and consequently played little or no role in human spermatogenesis. The major evidence for this surprising conclusion ...

Evolution of the rodent eosinophil-associated RNase gene family by rapid gene sorting and positive selection.

The mammalian RNase A superfamily comprises a diverse array of ribonucleolytic proteins that have a variety of biochemical activities and physiological functions. Two rapidly evolving RNases of higher primates are of particular interest as they are major secretory proteins of eosinophilic leukocytes and have been found to possess anti-pathogen activities in vitro. To understand how these RNases...

Positive selection and expression divergence following gene duplication in the sunflower CYCLOIDEA gene family.

Members of the CYCLOIDEA (CYC)/TEOSINTE-BRANCHED1 (TB1) group of transcription factors have been implicated in the evolution of zygomorphic (i.e., bilaterally symmetric) flowers in Antirrhinum and Lotus and the loss of branching phenotype during the domestication of maize. The composite inflorescences of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. Asteraceae) contain both zygomorphic and actinomorphic (i.e...