Comparative evolutionary histories of the fungal chitinase gene family reveal non-random size expansions and contractions due to adaptive natural selection.

ABSTRACT: Gene duplication and loss play an important role in the evolution of novel functions and for shaping an organism's gene content. Recently, it was suggested that stress-related genes frequently are exposed to duplications and losses, while growth-related genes show selection against change in copy number. The fungal chitinase gene family constitutes an interesting case study of gene duplication and loss, as their biological roles include growth and development as well as more stress-responsive functions. We used genome sequence data to analyze the size of the chitinase gene family in different fungal taxa, which range from 1 in Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Schizosaccharomyces pombe to 20 in Hypocrea jecorina and Emericella nidulans, and to infer their phylogenetic relationships. Novel

SUBMITTER: Karlsson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2614207 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature