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Gene Families

Gene Families

Gene Families

Gene Families

Gene families consist of groups of genes proposed to have originated from a common ancestor. Typically these arise through events in which a gene or genes are mistakenly duplicated during cell division. Unlike their parent genes (which are subject to selection pressure to maintain function), these gene copies do not need to preserve their sequences and may evolve at a relatively faster rate.
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes

While every living organism has a genome of some kind (be it RNA, or DNA), there is considerable variation in the sizes of these blueprints. One major factor that impacts genome size is whether the organism is prokaryotic or eukaryotic. In prokaryotes, the genome contains little to no non-coding sequence, such that genes are tightly clustered in groups or operons sequentially along the chromosome. Conversely, the genes in eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of non-coding sequence.

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

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...

General Transcription Factors

General Transcription Factors

Tissue-specific transcription factors contribute to diverse cellular functions in mammals. For example, the gene for beta globin, a major component of hemoglobin, is present in all cells of the body. However, it is only expressed in red blood cells because the transcription factors that can bind to the promoter sequences of the beta globin gene are only expressed in these cells. Tissue-specific transcription factors also ensure that mutations in these factors may impair only the function of...

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A Bioinformatics Pipeline for Investigating Molecular Evolution and Gene Expression using RNA-seq

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A Transcriptomics and Comparative Genomics Analysis Reveals Gene Families with a Role in Body Plan Complexity.

Eric M Kramer¹, Wanying Li¹

¹Department of Physics, Bard College at Simon's Rock, Great BarringtonMA, United States.

Frontiers in Plant Science

|June 15, 2017

Summary

Plant gene families with expression gradients expanded alongside morphological complexity, supporting the evolution of diverse plant tissues and body plans. This study analyzed transcriptomes of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Keywords:

Affymetrix array Arabidopsis Oryza sativa Physcomitrella auxin cell wall development receptor-like kinase

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Published on: December 22, 2017

Area of Science:

Plant molecular biology
Evolutionary developmental biology
Genomics

Background:

Gene expression patterns vary across plant tissues.
Understanding gene family evolution is key to plant complexity.

Purpose of the Study:

Identify gene families with significant expression gradients in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Investigate the evolutionary expansion of these gene families in relation to plant morphological complexity.
Explore the tissue distribution of gradient genes within families.

Main Methods:

Analysis of tissue-specific transcriptomes in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Comparative genomics across diverse plant species (algae, moss, eudicot, monocot).
Development of a novel metric for tissue diversity assessment.

Main Results:

Identified 66 gene families with high frequencies of gradient genes.
Most gradient gene families (58/66) expanded with increasing morphological complexity.
Gradient genes are distributed across tissues rather than localized to single tissues.

Conclusions:

Gene family diversification, particularly of gradient genes, facilitated the evolution of plant tissue diversity.
Expansion of these gene families correlates with the development of complex plant body plans.
Gradient genes play a crucial role in establishing and maintaining tissue differentiation in plants.