High nucleotide divergence in developmental regulatory genes contrasts with the structural elements of olfactory pathways in caenorhabditis.

ABSTRACT: Almost all organismal function is controlled by pathways composed of interacting genetic components. The relationship between pathway structure and the evolution of individual pathway components is not completely understood. For the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, chemosensory pathways regulate critical aspects of an individual's life history and development. To help understand how olfaction evolves in Caenorhabditis and to examine patterns of gene evolution within transduction pathways in general, we analyzed nucleotide variation within and between species across two well-characterized olfactory pathways, including regulatory genes controlling the fate of the cells in which the pathways are expressed. In agreement with previous studies, we found much higher levels of polymorphism within

SUBMITTER: Jovelin R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2666507 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature