Concerted and Birth-and-Death Evolution of Multigene Families

• Published in: Annual review of genetics Vol. 39; no. 1; pp. 121 - 152
• Main Authors: Nei, Masatoshi, Rooney, Alejandro P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Annual Reviews, Inc 01.01.2005
• Subjects: Amino acids; Animals; Bacteria; birth and death evolution; Comparative analysis; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; Evolution; Evolution, Molecular; gene duplication; Genes; Genetics; genome; Humans; Immune system; literature reviews; major histocompatibility complex; Mortality; multigene family; Multigene Family - genetics; Mutation; Nature; ribosomal RNA; Selection, Genetic

Until around 1990, most multigene families were thought to be subject to concerted evolution, in which all member genes of a family evolve as a unit in concert. However, phylogenetic analysis of MHC and other immune system genes showed a quite different evolutionary pattern, and a new model called b...