Jove
Visualize
Contact Us

Related Experiment Videos

Protein families and their evolution-a structural perspective.

Christine A Orengo1, Janet M Thornton

  • 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University College, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. orengo@biochemistry.ucl.ac.uk

Annual Review of Biochemistry
|June 16, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Genomic analysis reveals that a core set of ancient protein domain families are fundamental to all life. Domain duplication and combination drive the evolution of new protein functions and organismal complexity.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Advances in Protein Function Prediction from the Fifth CAFA Challenge.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Gene duplication is associated with gene diversification and potential neofunctionalization in lung cancer evolution.

Genome research·2026
Same author

Measuring catalytic mechanism similarity - a new approach to study enzyme function and evolution.

The FEBS journal·2025
Same author

A structural perspective on enzymes and their catalytic mechanisms.

Current opinion in structural biology·2025
Same author

Paradigms of convergent evolution in enzymes.

The FEBS journal·2024
Same author

InterPro: the protein sequence classification resource in 2025.

Nucleic acids research·2024
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Area of Science:

  • Genomics
  • Structural Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Genomes contain numerous protein sequences, with a significant portion assignable to known domain families.
  • Understanding these domain families helps establish ancient evolutionary relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze domain families within completed genomes.
  • To understand the evolutionary expansion of functional repertoires through domain duplication and modification.

Main Methods:

  • Assigning genome sequences to known protein domain families based on structural data.
  • Analyzing the commonality and distribution of domain families across different kingdoms of life.
  • Investigating domain duplication and combination patterns within genomes.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • Approximately two-thirds of genome sequences can be assigned to ~1400 known domain families.
  • About 200 domain families are conserved across all life kingdoms, comprising nearly 50% of genome annotations.
  • Domain duplication and combination are organism-specific, with less than 15% of protein families shared across all kingdoms.

Conclusions:

  • A conserved set of ancient domain families underpins the basic architecture of all life.
  • The evolution of novel protein functions and increased organismal complexity is driven by domain duplication and combinatorial innovation.