title: Phylogenetic investigation of human FGFR-bearing paralogons favors piecemeal duplication theory of vertebrate genome evolution.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying the organismal complexity and origin of novelties during vertebrate history is one of the central goals of evolutionary biology. Ohno (1970) was the first to postulate that whole genome duplications (WGD) have played a vital role in the evolution of new gene functions: permitting an increase in morphological, physiological and anatomical complexity during early vertebrate history.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here, we analyze the evolutionary history of human FGFR-bearing paralogon (human autosome 4/5/8/10) by the phylogenetic analysis of multigene families with triplicate and quadruplicate distribution on these chromosomes. Our results categorized the histories of 21 families into discrete co-duplicated groups. Genes of a particular co-duplicated group exhibit identical evolutionary history and have duplicated in concert with each other, whereas genes belonging to different groups have dissimilar histories and have not duplicated concurrently.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Taken together with our previously published data, we submit that there is sufficient empirical evidence to disprove the 1R/2R hypothesis and to support the general prediction that vertebrate genome evolved by relatively small-scale, regional duplication events that spread across the history of life.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Bioinformatics, Program of Comparative and Evolutionary Genomics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Wajya
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ajmal
authors.affiliation: National Center for Bioinformatics, Program of Comparative and Evolutionary Genomics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Hiba
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: National Center for Bioinformatics, Program of Comparative and Evolutionary Genomics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan. Electronic address: abbasiam@qau.edu.pk.
authors.forename: Amir Ali
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Abbasi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002875:Chromosomes; D002879:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 10; D002894:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4; D002895:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5; D002898:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 8; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020440:Gene Duplication; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
keywords: 2R hypothesis; FGFR-bearing paralogon; Multigene family; Small-scale duplications; Vertebrates; Whole genome duplications