Evolution of gene families
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Updated: Oct 9, 2026

A Bioinformatics Pipeline for Investigating Molecular Evolution and Gene Expression using RNA-seq
Published on: May 28, 2021
1National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka-ken 411-8540, Japan. tohta@lab.nig.ac.jp
Abstract:
In eukaryote genomes, there are many kinds of gene families. Gene duplication and conversion are sources of the evolution of gene families, including those with uniform members and those with diverse functions. Population genetics theory on identity coefficients among gene members of a gene family shows that the balance between diversification by mutation, and homogenization by unequal crossing over and gene conversion, is important. Also, evolution of new functions is due to gene duplication followed by differentiation. Positive selection is necessary for the evolution of novel functions. However, many examples of current gene families suggest that both drift and selection are at work on their evolution.
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Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Gene Families
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Gene Duplication and Divergence
The duplicated copies of the gene are called Paralogs. Paralogs with similar sequences and functions form a gene family. Across several species, a large number of gene families are characterized.
Protein Families

