Lgals6, a 2-million-year-old gene in mice: a case of positive Darwinian selection and presence/absence polymorphism.

ABSTRACT: Duplications of genes are widely considered to be a driving force in the evolutionary process. The fate of such duplicated genes (paralogs) depends mainly on the early stages of their evolution. Therefore, the study of duplications that have already started to diverge is useful to better understand their evolution. We present here the example of a 2-million-year-old segmental duplication at the origin of the Lgals4 and Lgals6 genes in the mouse genome. We analyzed the distribution of these genes in samples from 110 wild individuals and wild-derived inbred strains belonging to eight mouse species from Mus (Coelomys) pahari to M. musculus and 28 laboratory strains. Using a maximum-likelihood method, we show that the sequence of the Lgals6 gene has evolved under the influence of strong positi

SUBMITTER: Houzelstein D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2278076 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature