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Related Concept Videos

Synteny and Evolution02:31

Synteny and Evolution

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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...
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Multi-species Conserved Sequences02:51

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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.
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Gene Duplication and Divergence02:37

Gene Duplication and Divergence

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The seminal work of Ohno in 1970 popularized the idea of gene duplication and divergence. DNA sequence comparison studies reveal that a large portion of the genes in bacteria, archaebacteria, and eukaryotes was  generated by gene duplication and divergence, indicating its critical role in evolution.
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...
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Convergent Evolution01:54

Convergent Evolution

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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.
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Phylogeny01:23

Phylogeny

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Phylogeny is concerned with the evolutionary diversification of organisms or groups of organisms. A group of organisms with a name is called a taxon (singular). Taxa (plural) can span different levels of the evolutionary hierarchy. For instance, the group containing all birds is a taxon (comprising the class Aves), and the group of all species of daisies (the genus Bellis) is a taxon. Phylogenies can likewise include just one genus (i.e., depict species relationships) or span an entire kingdom.
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Genetics of Speciation02:16

Genetics of Speciation

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Speciation is the evolutionary process resulting in the formation of new, distinct species—groups of reproductively isolated populations.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Embryo Microinjection and Electroporation in the Chordate Ciona intestinalis
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Deeply conserved synteny resolves early events in vertebrate evolution.

Oleg Simakov1,2, Ferdinand Marlétaz3,4, Jia-Xing Yue5,6

  • 1Molecular Genetics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan. oleg.simakov@univie.ac.at.

Nature Ecology & Evolution
|April 22, 2020
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Ancient whole-genome duplications shaped early vertebrate evolution. Our study reveals two key duplications: one early autotetraploidization in all vertebrates and a later allotetraploidization in jawed vertebrates.

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Area of Science:

  • Genomics
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Comparative Genomics

Background:

  • The role of ancient whole-genome duplications in early vertebrate evolution is widely accepted but poorly understood.
  • Key aspects like the number, timing, and mechanisms of these events remain elusive.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To reconstruct the genomic history of vertebrates.
  • To elucidate the number, timing, and mechanisms of ancient genome duplications.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative genomics using a new chromosome-scale sequence of the invertebrate chordate amphioxus.
  • Analysis of chromosomal conserved synteny patterns.

Main Results:

  • Vertebrate karyotypes are derived from 17 ancestral chordate and 19 ancestral bilaterian linkage groups through fusion, rearrangement, and duplication.
  • Two distinct ancient duplications were resolved.
  • The first duplication, an autotetraploidization, is shared by all extant vertebrates (mid/late Cambrian).
  • The second duplication, an allotetraploidization from extinct progenitors, is specific to jawed vertebrates (mid-late Ordovician).

Conclusions:

  • The study resolves the history of two major ancient genome duplications in vertebrate evolution.
  • These genomic events correlate with major diversification periods in vertebrate lineages.