Extensive conservation of ancient microsynteny across metazoans due to cis-regulatory constraints.

ABSTRACT: The order of genes in eukaryotic genomes has generally been assumed to be neutral, since gene order is largely scrambled over evolutionary time. Only a handful of exceptional examples are known, typically involving deeply conserved clusters of tandemly duplicated genes (e.g., Hox genes and histones). Here we report the first systematic survey of microsynteny conservation across metazoans, utilizing 17 genome sequences. We identified nearly 600 pairs of unrelated genes that have remained tightly physically linked in diverse lineages across over 600 million years of evolution. Integrating sequence conservation, gene expression data, gene function, epigenetic marks, and other genomic features, we provide extensive evidence that many conserved ancient linkages involve (1) the coordinated trans

SUBMITTER: Irimia M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3514665 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature