We used the GENECONV program, the Hsu et al. (2010) method and phylogenetic analyses to analyze the gene conversions which occurred in the growth hormone, folate receptor and trypsin gene families of six primate species. Significant positive correlations were found between sequence similarity and conversion length in all but the trypsin gene family. Converted regions, when compared to non-converted ones, also displayed a significantly higher GC-content in the growth hormone and folate receptor gene families. Finally, all detected gene conversions were found to be less frequent in conserved gene regions and towards functionally important genes. This suggests that purifying selection is eliminating all gene conversions having a negative functional impact.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OOU./en#10393/20538 |
Date | 11 January 2012 |
Creators | Petronella, Nicholas |
Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
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