Gene duplication and the uniqueness of vertebrate genomes circa 1970-1999.

In this article I review research undertaken over the past 30 years into the role that gene duplication played in shaping vertebrate genomes. I discuss early karyotype studies that pointed to a relative stability of mammalian and avian genomes, the discovery and possible evolutionary significance of enormous genomes in urodele amphibians and lungfish, genome compaction in certain specialised bony fish, evidence for two rounds of total genome doubling in early vertebrate evolution and the fate of duplicated genes in polyploid fish.

[1]  Dr. Susumu Ohno.  Evolution by Gene Duplication , 1970, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

[2]  S. Brenner,et al.  Characterization of the pufferfish (Fugu) genome as a compact model vertebrate genome , 1993, Nature.

[3]  K. H. Wolfe,et al.  Molecular evidence for an ancient duplication of the entire yeast genome , 1997, Nature.

[4]  Dr. Susumu Ohno.  Sex Chromosomes and Sex-Linked Genes , 1967, Monographs on Endocrinology.

[5]  J. Spring,et al.  Vertebrate evolution by interspecific hybridisation – are we polyploid? , 1997, FEBS letters.

[6]  C. D. Darlington,et al.  Evolution Of Genetic Systems , 1942 .

[7]  P. Holland,et al.  Estimation of Hox gene cluster number in lampreys. , 1998, The International journal of developmental biology.

[8]  S. Ohno,et al.  So much "junk" DNA in our genome. , 1972, Brookhaven symposia in biology.

[9]  R. Hinegardner.  Evolution of Cellular DNA Content in Teleost Fishes , 1968, The American Naturalist.

[10]  M W Simmen,et al.  Gene number in an invertebrate chordate, Ciona intestinalis. , 1998, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[11]  A. Sidow,et al.  Gene duplications and the origins of vertebrate development. , 1994, Development (Cambridge, England). Supplement.

[12]  L. Lundin,et al.  Evolution of the vertebrate genome as reflected in paralogous chromosomal regions in man and the house mouse. , 1993, Genomics.

[13]  Jordi Garcia-Fernàndez,et al.  Archetypal organization of the amphioxus Hox gene cluster , 1994, Nature.