Natural historical study of genes in genomes in view of the notion that a gene is segmented

在过去的两年中，我们对以下课题进行了研究，认为基因由亚单位组成，每个亚单位对应于蛋白质的结构或功能单位，因此被认为是基因的进化单位。1. HLA基因组区域的进化动力学，2.通过比较细菌全基因组的操纵子的进化，3.估计整个大肠杆菌基因组的进化速率，4.基于线粒体全基因组的脊椎动物系统发育研究。周质结合蛋白的结构进化，6.乙酰胆碱受体单位的进化，7.利用蛋白质组分析发现真核生物中的一个新基因，8.海鞘色素合成系统的进化，9.基因组数据库设计，10.基因组序列数据库管理系统。这些主题乍一看似乎并不相关。然而，可以将1、2、3和4归类为基因组进化，将5和6归类为功能和结构单位的进化，将7和8归类为作为基因和非基因的相互关联的复合体的基因组的进化，并且将9和10归类为基因组数据库。我坚信，这些研究成果将有助于基因组自然史的研究。

We have carried out research in the following topics in the past two years with the view that a gene is composed of sub-units each of which corresponds to a structural or a functional unit of a protein and thus is considered to be an evolutionary unit of a gene.1. Evolutionary dynamics of a HLA genome region,2. Evolution of operons by comparison of the whole bacterial genome,3. Estimation of evolutionary rate over the whole E, coli genomes,4. Phylogeny of vertebrates on the basis of the whole mitochondrial genomes,5. Structural evolution of periplasmic binding proteins,6. Evolution of acetylcholin receptor units,7. Discovery of a new gene in eukaryote by proteome analysis,8. Evolution of the pigment synthesis system in ascidian,9. Database design for genome datat,10. Database management system for genome sequences.These topics do not seem be related each other at first glance. However, one can categorize 1,2,3 and 4 into genome evolution, 5 and 6 into evolution of functional and structural units, 7 and 8 into evolution of a genome as an interrelated complex of genes and non-genes, and 9 and 10 into genome databases. I strongly believe that those research outcomes will contribute to the study of natural history of genomes.