Evidence for intron length conservation in a set of mammalian genes associated with embryonic development.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We carried out an analysis of intron length conservation across a diverse group of nineteen mammalian species. Motivated by recent research suggesting a role for time delays associated with intron transcription in gene expression oscillations required for early embryonic patterning, we searched for examples of genes that showed the most extreme conservation of total intron content in mammals.

Results

Gene sets annotated as being involved in pattern specification in the early embryo or containing the homeobox DNA-binding domain, were significantly enriched among genes with highly conserved intron content. We used ancestral sequences reconstructed with probabilistic models that account for insertion and deletion mutations to distinguish insertion and deletion events

SUBMITTER: Seoighe C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3283306 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature