Functional evolution of pigment synthesis pathways in teleost fish through gen(om)e duplication

全基因组复制被认为与可能与重要的生物转变、进化的重大飞跃和物种的适应性辐射相关的重大进化事件相对应。利用生物信息学与分子、进化和发育生物学相结合的多学科比较方法，该项目旨在更好地了解基因组复制对生物过程的功能后果。更具体地说，这项分析将集中在祖先鱼类特有的基因组复制(FSGD)对色素沉着的进化影响，以及它与硬骨鱼观察到的颜色和颜色模式的巨大多样性可能的因果关系。利用到目前为止可用的五种鱼类基因组草图，以及来自其他有代表性的硬骨鱼物种的序列数据和生物材料，将系统地建立复制色素沉着基因的目录。为了评估这种重复基因在大约3亿年的进化过程中持续存在的进化机制，我们将分析它们的表达模式和功能，并将其与四足动物中的单拷贝基因进行比较。重要的是，将在不同的鱼类谱系中分析重复基因，因为全基因组复制后重复基因的差异进化可能对物种形成和其他形式的生物多样性做出重大贡献。

Whole genome duplications have been proposed to correspond to major evolutionary events possibly associated with important biological transitions, major leaps in evolution and adaptive radiations of species. Using a multidisciplinary comparative approach combining bioinformatics with molecular, evolutionary and developmental biology, this project aims to better understand the functional consequences of genome duplications on biological processes. More specifically, this analysis will focus on the evolutionary impact of an ancestral fish-specific genome duplication (FSGD) on pigmentation, and its possible causal relationship with the huge diversity of coloration and color patterning observed in teleosts. Using the five fish genome drafts available so far, as well as sequence data and biological material from other representative teleost species, a catalogue of duplicated pigmentation genes will be systematically established. In order to assess the evolutionary mechanisms behind the persistence of such duplicates over about 300 million years of evolution, their expression pattern and function will be analyzed and compared to the single copy genes in tetrapods. Importantly, duplicated genes will be analyzed in different fish lineages, since differential evolution of duplicates after whole genome duplications might significantly contribute to speciation and other forms of biodiversity.