Thursday, August 24, 2006
Evolution of primate gene expression (Nature Reviews Genetics)
It has been suggested that evolutionary changes in gene expression account for most phenotypic differences between species, in particular between humans and apes. What general rules can be described governing expression evolution? We find that a neutral model where negative selection and divergence time are the major factors is a useful null hypothesis for both transcriptome and genome evolution. Two tissues that stand out with regard to gene expression are the testes, where positive selection has exerted a substantial influence in both humans and chimpanzees, and the brain, where gene expression has changed less than in other organs but acceleration might have occurred in human ancestors.
Nature Reviews Genetics 7, 693-702 (September 2006) | doi:10.1038/nrg1940
Evolution of primate gene expression: Abstract | Full Text | Pdf
Philipp Khaitovich, Wolfgang Enard, Michael Lachmann and Svante Paabo
Books on Neanderthals from the Science and Evolution Bookshop: UK | US
Books on Human Origins from the Science and Evolution Bookshop: UK | US
technorati tags: evolutionary, changes, gene, expression, phenotypic, differences, species, humans, apes, evolution, neutral, model, negative, selection, null, hypothesis, genome, testes, brain, ancestors
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