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Related Concept Videos

The Evidence for Evolution02:55

The Evidence for Evolution

Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.The collection of fossils within sedimentary rocks give a record of common ancestry and often depicts the history of evolution.
Convergent Evolution01:54

Convergent Evolution

Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.The structures that arise from convergent evolution are called analogous structures. They are similar in function even if they are dissimilar in structure. Further, structures can be analogous while also...
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
Synteny and Evolution02:31

Synteny and Evolution

John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
Multi-species Conserved Sequences02:51

Multi-species Conserved Sequences

Next-generation sequencing technologies have created large genomic databases of a variety of animals and plants. Ever since the human genome project was completed, scientists studied the genome of primates, mammals, and other phylogenetically distant living beings. Such large-scale  studies have provided new insights into the evolutionary relationship between organisms.
Although the genome of each species varies greatly from each other, a few sequences are highly conserved. Such conserved DNA...
Eukaryotic Evolution01:24

Eukaryotic Evolution

The endosymbiont theory is the most widely accepted theory of eukaryotic evolution; however, its progression is still somewhat debated. According to the nucleus-first hypothesis, the ancestral prokaryote first evolved a membrane to enclose DNA and form the nucleus. Conversely, the mitochondria-first hypothesis suggests that the nucleus was formed after endosymbiosis of mitochondria.
Contrary to the endosymbiont theory, the eukaryote-first hypothesis proposes that the simpler prokaryotic and...

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Evidence for widespread convergent evolution around human microsatellites.

Edward J Vowles1, William Amos

  • 1Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Plos Biology
|August 18, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Sequences near human microsatellites show convergent evolution, suggesting shared mutation biases influence genome evolution. These biases impact a significant portion of the genome, challenging current DNA evolution models.

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Area of Science:

  • Genomics and Evolutionary Biology
  • Molecular Evolution

Background:

  • Microsatellites are abundant in the human genome, but their flanking sequence evolution remains poorly understood.
  • Previous studies reported conflicting mutation rates and clustering patterns for microsatellite flanking regions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate common characteristics and evolutionary patterns in human microsatellite flanking sequences.
  • To determine if microsatellite proximity influences mutation rates and sequence evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Generated a large database of human (AC)(n) microsatellite flanking sequences.
  • Analyzed sequence convergence and compared homologous human-chimpanzee loci to assess mutation rate changes.

Main Results:

  • Identified significant convergent evolution in sequences flanking microsatellites of similar lengths, indicating shared mutational biases.
  • These biases extend 25-50 base pairs from microsatellites, potentially affecting over 30% of the genome.
  • Evidence suggests proximity to microsatellites alters mutation rate and distribution, challenging standard evolutionary models.

Conclusions:

  • Microsatellite flanking sequences exhibit non-random evolutionary patterns driven by localized mutational biases.
  • These findings reconcile contradictory mutation rate inferences and highlight the inadequacy of models assuming independent mutations.
  • The study underscores the significant impact of microsatellites on broader genomic evolution.