Journal article
Dynamic molecular evolution of mammalian homeobox genes: duplication, loss, divergence and gene conversion sculpt PRD class repertoires
- Abstract:
- The majority of homeobox genes are highly conserved across animals, but the eutherian-specific ETCHbox genes, embryonically expressed and highly divergent duplicates of CRX, are a notable exception. Here we compare the ETCHbox genes of 34 mammalian species, uncovering dynamic patterns of gene loss and tandem duplication, including the presence of a large tandem array of LEUTX loci in the genome of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Despite extensive gene gain and loss, all sampled species possess at least two ETCHbox genes, suggesting their collective role is indispensable. We find evidence for positive selection and show that TPRX1 and TPRX2 have been the subject of repeated gene conversion across the Boreoeutheria, homogenising their sequences and preventing divergence, especially in the homeobox region. Together, these results are consistent with a model where mammalian ETCHbox genes are dynamic in evolution due to functional overlap, yet have collective indispensable roles.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 4.2MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1007/s00239-021-10012-6
Authors
- Publisher:
- Springer
- Journal:
- Journal of Molecular Evolution More from this journal
- Volume:
- 89
- Issue:
- 6
- Pages:
- 396–414
- Publication date:
- 2021-06-07
- Acceptance date:
- 2021-05-11
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1432-1432
- ISSN:
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0022-2844
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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1178245
- Local pid:
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pubs:1178245
- Deposit date:
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2021-05-24
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Lewin et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2021
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s) 2021. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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