Molecular evolution and functional divergence of zebrafish (Danio rerio) cryptochrome genes.

ABSTRACT: Cryptochromes function in animal circadian regulation. Zebrafish are known to have six cryptochrome (cry) genes but their evolutionary relationships are not yet fully resolved. Here, comparative genomic analyses revealed that a local duplication of ancestral chordate Cry occurred likely before the first round of vertebrate genome duplication (VGD); following two successive rounds of VGD and subsequent gene losses, coelacanths retained cry1a, cry1b, cry2 and cry3; and following the third-round teleost genome duplication (TGD) and subsequent gene losses, zebrafish retained six cry genes, renamed as cry1aa (zcry1a in the old nomenclature), cry1ab (zcry1b), cry1ba (zcry2a), cry1bb (zcry2b), cry2 (zcry3) and cry3 (zcry4). Molecular evolutionary analyses suggested that zebrafish cry genes have e

SUBMITTER: Liu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4558521 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature