Identification of rice TUBBY-like genes and their evolution.
The identification of TUBBY-like genes in organisms ranging from single-celled to multicellular eukaryotes has allowed the phylogenetic history of this gene family to be traced back to the early evolutionary stages of eukaryote development. Rice TUBBY-like genes were located on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11 and 12 without any obvious clustering. On a genomic scale, it was revealed that the rice TUBBY-like gene family probably evolved mainly through segmental duplication produced by polyploidy. The altered selective constraints (or site-specific rate changes), related to functional divergence during protein evolution between plant and animal TUBBY-like genes, were statistically significant. Based on posterior probability analysis, five amino acid sites (103, 312, 315, 317 and 319) are thought to be responsible for functional divergence.
Liu
Qingpo
Q
School of Agriculture and Food Science, Zhejiang Forestry University, Hangzhou, Lin'an, China. liuqp@genomics.org.cn
D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D017343:Genes, Plant; D014644:Genetic Variation; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny