The constancy of gene conservation across divergent bacterial orders
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Orthologous genes are frequently presumed to perform similar functions. However, outside of model organisms, this is rarely tested. One means of inferring changes in function is if there are changes in the level of gene conservation...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2009-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Research Notes |
| Online Access: | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/2/2 |
| _version_ | 1818156496460972032 |
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| author | Ackermann Martin Silander Olin K |
| author_facet | Ackermann Martin Silander Olin K |
| author_sort | Ackermann Martin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Orthologous genes are frequently presumed to perform similar functions. However, outside of model organisms, this is rarely tested. One means of inferring changes in function is if there are changes in the level of gene conservation and selective constraint. Here we compare levels of gene conservation across three bacterial groups to test for changes in gene functionality.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The level of gene conservation for different orthologous genes is highly correlated across clades, even for highly divergent groups of bacteria. These correlations do not arise from broad differences in gene functionality (e.g. informational genes vs. metabolic genes), but instead seem to result from very specific differences in gene function. Furthermore, these functional differences appear to be maintained over very long periods of time.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that even over broad time scales, most bacterial genes are under a nearly constant level of purifying selection, and that bacterial evolution is thus dominated by selective and functional stasis.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T14:59:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e6a5f43aff374f828fb0b975f26b5b30 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1756-0500 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T14:59:13Z |
| publishDate | 2009-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Research Notes |
| spelling | doaj.art-e6a5f43aff374f828fb0b975f26b5b302022-12-22T01:01:13ZengBMCBMC Research Notes1756-05002009-01-0121210.1186/1756-0500-2-2The constancy of gene conservation across divergent bacterial ordersAckermann MartinSilander Olin K<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Orthologous genes are frequently presumed to perform similar functions. However, outside of model organisms, this is rarely tested. One means of inferring changes in function is if there are changes in the level of gene conservation and selective constraint. Here we compare levels of gene conservation across three bacterial groups to test for changes in gene functionality.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The level of gene conservation for different orthologous genes is highly correlated across clades, even for highly divergent groups of bacteria. These correlations do not arise from broad differences in gene functionality (e.g. informational genes vs. metabolic genes), but instead seem to result from very specific differences in gene function. Furthermore, these functional differences appear to be maintained over very long periods of time.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that even over broad time scales, most bacterial genes are under a nearly constant level of purifying selection, and that bacterial evolution is thus dominated by selective and functional stasis.</p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/2/2 |
| spellingShingle | Ackermann Martin Silander Olin K The constancy of gene conservation across divergent bacterial orders BMC Research Notes |
| title | The constancy of gene conservation across divergent bacterial orders |
| title_full | The constancy of gene conservation across divergent bacterial orders |
| title_fullStr | The constancy of gene conservation across divergent bacterial orders |
| title_full_unstemmed | The constancy of gene conservation across divergent bacterial orders |
| title_short | The constancy of gene conservation across divergent bacterial orders |
| title_sort | constancy of gene conservation across divergent bacterial orders |
| url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/2/2 |
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