Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
Published on: August 14, 2018
Increasing Genomic Complexity by Gene Duplication and the Origin of Vertebrates
Abstract:
Prevailing hypotheses concerning the origin of the vertebrate genome postulate successive genome duplications before the origin of fishes or tetrapods. These hypotheses predict episodic expansion of gene families early in vertebrate evolution (mostly before the origin of fishes), tetralogous relationships between gene copies samples from invertebrates and vertebrates, and gene family trees with symmetrical shapes. None of these predictions were evident from a phylogenetic analysis of 35 gene families. Overall, the results do not refute the hypothesis that gene family evolution is governed by independent gene duplications occurring with identical probability across gene lineages. These results suggest that the genome complexity of contemporary vertebrates mostly reflect small-scale (regional) DNA duplications instead of large-scale (genomic) duplications.
Related Concept Videos
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
Genome Size and the Evolution of New Genes
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...
Protein Complexes with Interchangeable Parts
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order...
Gene Families
Occasionally these regions can be adapted to take on new roles within the organism, becoming novel genes...
Genomics

