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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology
Extremely slow rate of evolution in the HOX cluster revealed by comparison between Tanzanian and Indonesian coelacanths
Gene, Volume 505, No. 2, Year 2012
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Description
Coelacanths are known as "living fossils" because their morphology has changed very little from that in the fossil record. To elucidate why coelacanths have evolved so slowly is thus of primary importance in evolutionary biology. In the present study, we determined the entire sequence of the HOX cluster of the Tanzanian coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) and compared it with that of the Indonesian coelacanth (L. menadoensis), which was available in the literature. The most intriguing result was the extremely small genetic divergence between the two coelacanths. The synonymous divergence of the HOX coding region between the two coelacanths was estimated to be 0.07%, which is ~ 11-fold smaller than that of human-chimp. When we applied the estimated divergence time of the two coelacanths of 6. million years ago (MYA) and 30. MYA, which were proposed in independent mitochondrial DNA analyses, the synonymous substitution rate of the coelacanth HOX cluster was estimated to be ~ 11-fold and 56-fold smaller than that of human-chimp, respectively. Thus, the present study implies that the reduction of the nucleotide substitution rate in coelacanth HOX genes may account for the conservation of coelacanth morphology during evolution. © 2012.
Authors & Co-Authors
Higasa, Koichiro
Japan, Tokyo
The University of Tokyo
Nikaido, Masato
Japan, Tokyo
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Saito, Taro L.
Japan, Tokyo
The University of Tokyo
Yoshimura, Jun
Japan, Tokyo
The University of Tokyo
Suzuki, Yutaka
Japan, Tokyo
The University of Tokyo
Suzuki, Hikoyu
Japan, Tokyo
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Nishihara, Hidenori
Japan, Tokyo
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Aibara, Mitsuto
Japan, Tokyo
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Ngatunga, Benjamin P.
Tanzania, Dar es Salaam
Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute Tafiri
Kalombo, Hassan W.J.
Tanzania, Tanga
Regional Commissioner's Office Tanga
Sugano, Sumino
Japan, Tokyo
The University of Tokyo
Morishita, Shinichi
Japan, Tokyo
The University of Tokyo
Okada, Norihiro
Japan, Tokyo
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Statistics
Citations: 13
Authors: 13
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.gene.2012.05.047
ISSN:
03781119
e-ISSN:
18790038
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics