Using Complex Gene Trees in Phylogenetic Systematics: the hsp70 Gene Family

脊椎动物的基因组非常复杂，包括大约10万个蛋白质编码基因。 许多蛋白质编码基因的复杂性源于基因复制。 基因也可能从基因组中丢失，有时是通过创造新基因的相同机制。 基因的诞生和死亡决定了基因组的复杂性。本项目研究了热休克70基因家族（heat shock 70 gene family，hsp 70）的进化历史。 热休克基因对细胞至关重要。 它们是一个古老且高度保守的基因家族，参与细胞应激反应、蛋白质折叠和组装以及跨细胞膜的运输过程。 除了可以获得有关热休克基因进化和多样化的信息外，拟议的研究还询问复杂基因家族的系统发育分析是否提供了有关生物体遗传的信息。 因此，拟议的研究将是根本利益的细胞，分子和有机体生物学家感兴趣的基本遗传基础的众所周知的热休克反应;分子进化遗传学家感兴趣的基因组和基因家族的进化，并感兴趣的系统论者重建地球上的生命的历史。

Martin 9974144Vertebrate genomes are immensely complex, including about 100,000 protein-coding genes. Much of the complexity of protein-coding genes stems from gene duplication. Genes can also be lost from the genome, sometimes by the same mechanisms that create new genes. This process of the birth and death of genes governs the complexity of the genome. This project is concerned with the evolutionary history of one gene family, the heat shock 70 gene family (hsp70). Heat shock genes are of fundamental importance for cells. They are an ancient and highly conserved gene family involved in response to cellular stress, in protein folding and assembly, and in transport processes across cell membranes. In addition to the information that can be gained about the evolution and diversification of heat shock genes, the proposed research asks whether phylogenetic analysis of complex gene families provides information about organismal phylogenies. Thus, the proposed research will be of fundamental interest to cell, molecular, and organismal biologists interested in the underlying genetic basis of the well known heat shock response; to molecular evolutionary geneticists interested in genome and gene family evolution, and to systematists interested in reconstructing the history of life on Earth.