Adaptive evolution of the insulin two-gene system in mouse.

ABSTRACT: Insulin genes in mouse and rat compose a two-gene system in which Ins1 was retroposed from the partially processed mRNA of Ins2. When Ins1 originated and how it was retained in genomes still remain interesting problems. In this study, we used genomic approaches to detect insulin gene copy number variation in rodent species and investigated evolutionary forces acting on both Ins1 and Ins2. We characterized the phylogenetic distribution of the new insulin gene (Ins1) by Southern analyses and confirmed by sequencing insulin genes in the rodent genomes. The results demonstrate that Ins1 originated right before the mouse-rat split ( approximately 20 MYA), and both Ins1 and Ins2 are under strong functional constraints in these murine species. Interestingly, by examining a range of nucleotide pol

SUBMITTER: Shiao MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2278064 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature