Modelling the evolution of multi-gene families

A number of biological processes can lead to genes being copied within the genome of some given species. Duplicate genes of this form are called paralogs and such genes share a high degree sequence similarity as well as often having closely related functions. Some genes have become widely duplicated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Statistical methods in medical research 2009-10, Vol.18 (5), p.487-504
Main Author: Nye, Tom MW
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
DNA
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Deletion
Gene Duplication
Genes
Genomics
Humans
Modelling
Models, Genetic
Models, Statistical
Multigene Family
Sequence Analysis, DNA - methods
Sequences
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Summary:A number of biological processes can lead to genes being copied within the genome of some given species. Duplicate genes of this form are called paralogs and such genes share a high degree sequence similarity as well as often having closely related functions. Some genes have become widely duplicated to form multigene families in which the copies are distributed both within the genomes of individual species and across different species. Statistical modelling of gene duplication and the evolution of multi-gene families currently lags behind well-established models of DNA sequence evolution despite an increasing volume of available data, but the analysis of multi-gene families is important as part of a wider effort to understand evolution at the genomic level. This article reviews existing approaches to modelling multi-gene families and presents various challenges and possibilities for this exciting area of research.
ISSN:0962-2802
1477-0334
DOI:10.1177/0962280208099450