Coevolution of gene families in prokaryotes
* Otto X. Cordero^1 , Berend Snel, and Paulien Hogeweg *
/ Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, University of Utrecht, 3584 CH
Utrecht, The Netherlands /
We study gene family coevolution on a tree of life based on^ a
large-scale ancestral gene content reconstruction, which includes^ gene
duplication and deletion events. The insights obtained^ from this study
are threefold: (1) Global properties, such as^ the distribution of
coevolution partners and the formation of^ disconnected clusters of
coevolving families, can be an inevitable^ consequence of evolution
along a tree. (2) Concerted family^ expansion (gene duplication) and
contraction (gene deletion)^ reflect functional constraints and
therefore lead to better^ function prediction. (3) "Long-range"
coevolutionary relationships,^ caused mostly by large family expansions
or contractions, reveal^ high-level evolutionary organization of
cellular processes in^ prokaryotes.
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Klaas Vandepoele, PhD
Tel. 32 (0)9 33 13822
VIB Department of Plant Systems Biology, Ghent University
Technologiepark 927, 9052 Gent, Belgium
E-mail: Klaas.Vandepoele(a)psb.ugent.be
Website: http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/
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