Duplicate gene evolution and expression after polyploidization.

摘要

Gene duplications can facilitate genetic innovation, reduce pleiotropy and catalyze reproductive incompatibilities and speciation. Therefore, the molecular and transcriptional fate of duplicate genes plays an important role in the evolutionary trajectory of entire genomes and transcriptomes. Using the polyploid African clawed frog Xenopus, I have investigated mechanisms that promote the retained expression of duplicate genes (paralogs) after whole genome duplication. The studies herein estimated molecular evolution and characterized expression divergence of thousands of duplicate genes and a singleton ortholog from a diploid outgroup. In this thesis, I have discussed the multiple mechanisms for the retention of duplicate genes in a polyploid genome and examined the potential effects that gene characteristics before duplication have on the odds of duplicate gene persistence. I have also explored the use of microarrays for comparative transcriptomics between duplicate genes, and between diverged genomes.;The main objectives of my thesis were to better understand the genetic mechanisms that promote the retained expression of gene duplicates. My research utilized the duplicated genome from the allopolyploid clawed frog Xenopus. Genome duplication in clawed frogs offers a compelling opportunity to study factors that influence the genetic fates of gene duplicates because many paralogs in these frogs are of the same age, permitting one to control for the influence of time when evaluating the impact of duplication. My work has major impacts on several biological fronts including evolutionary genomics and comparative transcriptomics, and also on technical aspects of using microarrays. I have provided among the most comprehensive studies of its kind, in terms of examining molecular and regulatory aspects of thousands of expressed duplicates of the same age, and exploring various alternative hypotheses to explain how these genes are retained.