title: Independent origin of IFN-alpha and IFN-beta in birds and mammals.
abstract: Phylogenetic analysis of type I interferon (IFN) from birds and mammals strongly supported the hypothesis that the gene duplication giving rise to the alpha and beta families of mammalian IFN occurred after the divergence of birds from mammals, whereas the bird IFN that have been designated alpha and beta duplicated independently in the avian lineage. Therefore, IFN designated alpha and beta in birds are not orthologous to those similarly designated in mammals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia 29208, USA. austin@biol.sc.edu
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020440:Gene Duplication; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000235:genetics*; D008322:Mammals / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D016899:Interferon-beta