Maintenance of functional equivalence during paralogous Hox gene evolution.

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Publication Type Journal Article
School or College College of Science; School of Medicine
Department Internal Medicine; Oncological Sciences; Human Genetics; Biology
Program Institute of Human Genetics; Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)
Creator Thomas, Kirk R.; Capecchi, Mario R.
Other Author Greer, Joy M.; Puetz, John
Title Maintenance of functional equivalence during paralogous Hox gene evolution.
Date 2000-02-10
Description Biological diversity is driven mainly by gene duplication followed by mutation and selection. This divergence in either regulatory or protein-coding sequences can result in quite different biological functions for even closely related genes. This concept is exemplified by the mammalian Hox gene complex, a group of 39 genes which are located on 4 linkage groups, dispersed on 4 chromosomes. The evolution of this complex began with amplification in cis of a primordial Hox gene to produce 13 members, followed by duplications in trans of much of the entire unit. As a consequence, Hox genes that occupy the same relative position along the 5' to 3' chromosomal coordinate (trans-paralogous genes) share more similarity in sequence and expression pattern than do adjacent Hox genes on the same chromosome. Studies in mice indicate that although individual family members may have unique biological roles, they also share overlapping functions with their paralogues. Here we show that the proteins encoded by the paralogous genes, Hoxa3 and Hoxd3, can carry out identical biological functions, and that the different roles attributed to these genes are the result of quantitative modulations in gene expression.
Type Text
Publisher Nature Publishing Group
Volume 403
Issue 6770
First Page 661
Last Page 665
Subject Alleles; Animals; Cervical Vertebrae; Embryo; Genetic Complementation Test; Homeodomain Proteins; Homozygote; Mice
Subject MESH DNA-Binding Proteins; Evolution, Molecular
Language eng
Bibliographic Citation Nature. 2000 Feb 10;403(6770):661-5. Greer JM, Puetz J, Thomas KR, Capecchi MR. Maintenance of functional equivalence during paralogous Hox gene evolution. Retrieved on November 2, 2006 from http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v403/n6770/abs/403661a0.html.
Rights Management copyright © 2000 Nature Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.
Format Medium application/pdf
Identifier ir-main,555
ARK ark:/87278/s6mw319n
Setname ir_uspace
ID 702988
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6mw319n
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