Ancient genomic architecture for mammalian olfactory receptor clusters.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mammalian olfactory receptor (OR) genes reside in numerous genomic clusters of up to several dozen genes. Whole-genome sequence alignment nets of five mammals allow their comprehensive comparison, aimed at reconstructing the ancestral olfactory subgenome.

Results

We developed a new and general tool for genome-wide definition of genomic gene clusters conserved in multiple species. Syntenic orthologs, defined as gene pairs showing conservation of both genomic location and coding sequence, were subjected to a graph theory algorithm for discovering CLICs (clusters in conservation). When applied to ORs in five mammals, including the marsupial opossum, more than 90% of the OR genes were found within a framework of 48 multi-species CLICs, invoking a general conservation

SUBMITTER: Aloni R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1794568 | biostudies-literature | 2006

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature