Ancestral sequence reconstruction for evolutionary characterization of proteins

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...

The genomes of eukaryotes are punctuated by long stretches of sequence which do not code for proteins or RNAs. Although some of these regions do contain crucial regulatory sequences, the vast majority of this DNA serves no known function. Typically, these regions of the genome are the ones in which the fastest change, in evolutionary terms, is observed, because there is typically little to no selection pressure acting on these regions to preserve their sequences.
In contrast, regions which code...

Protein domains are small structurally independent units that are part of a single amino acid chain.  Although these domains are often structurally independent, they may rely on synergistic effects to perform their functions as part of a larger protein. Protein domains may be conserved within the same organism, as well as across different organisms.
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to...

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...

Protein families are groups of homologous proteins; that is, they have similarities in amino acid sequences and three-dimensional structures. Protein families usually occur because of gene duplication, where an additional copy of a gene is inserted into the genome of an organism.   Mutations that change the amino acids but still allow the protein to be properly synthesized, will lead to new protein family members.   If these new proteins contain similar amino acids in key...