Molecular Evolution Activities
 

This is a comprehensive bibliography (under construction) of primary and secondary sources on the neutral theory of molecular evolution. It currently covers the period 1973-2001.

Author :

Hughes, A. L.

Year :

1993

Title :

Nonlinear Relationships among Evolutionary Rates Identify Regions of Functional Divergence in Heat-Shock Protein-70 Genes

Journal :

Molecular Biology and Evolution

Volume :

10

Issue :

1

Pages :

243-255

Date :

Jan

Short Title :

Nonlinear Relationships among Evolutionary Rates Identify Regions of Functional Divergence in Heat-S

Alternate Journal :

Mol. Biol. Evol.

Custom 2 :

ISI:A1993KJ63500014

Abstract :

The neutral theory predicts that, in comparisons among related genes, the number of amino acid replacements per site in a given gene region should be a linear function of that in another region of the same gene, unless the genes have diverged functionally in one region. Therefore, nonlinearity of this relationship can be used to identify regions of possible functional divergence among members of a multigene family. This method of analysis was applied to members of the heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) gene family, which encode highly conserved ATP-dependent chaperone proteins found in all organisms. A nonlinear relationship was found between the rate of amino acid replacement in the conserved IA domain of the ATPase portion of the molecule and that in other ATPase domains and the peptide- binding domain. These results suggest that genes in the HSP70 subfamily (dnaK of bacteria and SSC1 of yeast) may have diverged functionally from other subfamilies in the ATPase domains, especially IIB, whereas SSB1 of yeast has diverged markedly in the peptide-binding domain. Functional divergence within these regions is consistent with what is known about functional differences between the HSP70 subfamilies in yeast.

Notes :

Times Cited: 20 KJ635 MOL BIOL EVOL
 -- contributed by John Beatty, March 29, 2002