Evolutionary history and genome organization of DUF1220 protein domains.

ABSTRACT: DUF1220 protein domains exhibit the most extreme human lineage-specific (HLS) copy number increase of any protein coding region in the human genome and have recently been linked to evolutionary and pathological changes in brain size (e.g., 1q21-associated microcephaly). These findings lend support to the view that DUF1220 domain dosage is a key factor in the determination of primate (and human) brain size. Here we analyze 41 animal genomes and present the most complete account to date of the evolutionary history and genome organization of DUF1220 domains and the gene family that encodes them (NBPF). Included among the novel features identified by this analysis is a DUF1220 domain precursor in nonmammalian vertebrates, a unique predicted promoter common to all mammalian NBPF genes, six dist

SUBMITTER: O'Bleness MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3429928 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature