Duplication, concerted evolution and purifying selection drive the evolution of mosquito vitellogenin genes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mosquito vitellogenin (Vtg) genes belong to a small multiple gene family that encodes the major yolk protein precursors required for egg production. Multiple Vtg genes have been cloned and characterized from several mosquito species, but their origin and molecular evolution are poorly understood.

Results

Here we used in silico and molecular cloning techniques to identify and characterize the evolution of the Vtg gene family from the genera Culex, Aedes/Ochlerotatus, and Anopheles. We identified the probable ancestral Vtg gene among different mosquito species by its conserved association with a novel gene approximately one kilobase upstream of the start codon. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Vtg gene family arose by duplication events, but that the pattern

SUBMITTER: Chen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2875236 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature