Computational reconstruction of ancestral genomic regions from evolutionarily conserved gene clusters
Computational reconstruction of ancestral genomic regions from evolutionarily conserved gene clusters
Gene clusters that are evolutionarily conserved between different species can result from a common ancestral genomic region. By identifying and comparing conserved gene clusters between different taxa, it is possible to infer the gene content of the corresponding putative ancestral region, and hence it is possible to shed light on ancestral genomic organization. From selected genomic region in vertebrates, this chapter identifies evolutionarily conservation in other taxa as evolutionary distant as arthropods (i.e., Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae). This is made possible through systematic phylogenetic analysis (for determining homology relationships) and stringent statistical testing (for evaluating the significance of the clusters' conservation). The comparison of these conserved gene clusters means that conceptual ancestral gene clusters in Urbilateria (the last common ancestor of all bilaterian species) can be deciphered. In order to reconstruct ancestral features at a larger genomic scale, it is possible to consider automation of the approach and important concepts are developed in this chapter.
Keywords: gene clusters, Urbilateria, arthropods, homology, vertebrates
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