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Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Dissection and Flat-mounting of the Threespine Stickleback Branchial Skeleton
Published on: May 7, 2016
Gene duplication and divergence in the early evolution of vertebrates
Francoise Mazet1, Sebastian M Shimeld
1School of Animal and Microbial Sciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, UK. f.mazet@reading.ac.uk
Abstract:
The duplication-degeneration-complementation model of duplicate gene preservation by subfunctionalisation is currently the best explanation for the high level of retention of duplicate genes in early vertebrate evolution. But a direct test of the applicability of this model to such ancient evolutionary events may be difficult. More likely, recent duplications in other lineages will allow us to establish general principles concerning the fate of genes of different types that are duplicated in different ways. These principles may be then extrapolated to understanding the early evolution of the vertebrates.
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