| Abstract Detail
Molecular Ecology and Evolution Miller, Ryan [1], Olmstead, Richard [2]. Concerted or constrained? The evolution of homogenization among rbcS copies in Solanaceae. First formulated over 30 years ago to describe the unexpected similarities between ribosomal DNA repeats, concerted evolution is a pattern where gene copies within a species are more similar to each other than any are to the same copies in another species. Many multigene families display this pattern of evolution and specific types of recombination are invoked as mechanisms. Unequal crossing over is a form of recombination that can homogenize tandemly repeated genes. Although poorly understood, gene conversion has been well documented in yeast as a mechanism that homogenizes genes dispersed on different chromosomes. Two other processes are also known to create homogenization among gene copies. The birth-and-death process is a method that creates a pattern often very similar to concerted evolution. Purifying selection, on the other hand, has received much less attention and despite its strong effect on functional regions of genes is commonly ignored in studies of concerted evolution. We present a study of concerted evolution among copies of the gene encoding the small subunit of Rubisco (rbcS) in species of Solanaceae. Using a phylogenetic sampling approach, we have identified a lineage with evident homogenization between all three loci. Our analysis separates the influence of selection from the effects of recombination to infer the relative contribution of both to the pattern of homogenization.
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Concerted evolution among copies of the small subunit of rubisco
1 - University of Washington, Biology, Box 355325, Seattle, WA, 98198-5325, USA
2 - University of Washington, Department of Biology and Burke Museum, Box 355325, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
Keywords:
concerted evolution
rbcS
rubisco
Solanaceae
gene family evolution
gene conversion.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 43
Location: 214/216/SUB
Date: Tuesday, July 29th, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM
Number: 43003
Abstract ID:235 |
