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Evolutionary Aspects of Functional and Pseudogene Members of the Phytochrome Gene Family in Scots Pine
- Source :
- Journal of Molecular Evolution. 67:222-232
- Publication Year :
- 2008
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2008.
-
Abstract
- According to the neutral theory of evolution, mutation and genetic drift are the only forces that shape unconstrained, neutral, gene evolution. Thus, pseudogenes (which often evolve neutrally) provide opportunities to obtain direct estimates of mutation rates that are not biased by selection, and gene families comprising functional and pseudogene members provide useful material for both estimating neutral mutation rates and identifying sites that appear to be under positive or negative selection pressures. Conifers could be very useful for such analyses since they have large and complex genomes. There is evidence that pseudogenes make significant contributions to the size and complexity of gene families in pines, although few studies have examined the composition and evolution of gene families in conifers. In this work, I examine the complexity and rates of mutation of the phytochrome gene family in Pinus sylvestris and show that it includes not only functional genes but also pseudogenes. As expected, the functional PHYO does not appear to have evolved neutrally, while phytochrome pseudogenes show signs of unconstrained evolution.
- Subjects :
- Genetics
Mutation rate
Pseudogene
Pinus sylvestris
Biology
Evolution, Molecular
Negative selection
Genetic drift
Mutation
Mutation (genetic algorithm)
Gene family
Phytochrome
Codon
Molecular Biology
Neutral theory of molecular evolution
Gene Deletion
Phylogeny
Pseudogenes
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Neutral mutation
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14321432 and 00222844
- Volume :
- 67
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Molecular Evolution
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....b43fe28d3e0efa4659da495ba58a82bb