English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

The vertebrate gene repertoire is characterized by “cryptic” genes whose identification has been hampered by their absence from the genomes of well-studied species. One example is the  Bmp16  gene, a paralog of the developmental key genes  Bmp2  and - 4 . We focus on the  Bmp2/4/16  group of genes to study the evolutionary dynamics following gen(om)e duplications with special emphasis on the poorly studied  Bmp16  gene. We reveal the presence of  Bmp16  in chondrichthyans in addition to previously reported teleost fishes and reptiles. Using comprehensive, vertebrate-wide gene sampling, our phylogenetic analysis complemented with synteny analyses suggests that  Bmp2 , - 4  and - 16  are remnants of a gene quartet that originated during the two rounds of whole-genome duplication (2R-WGD) early in vertebrate evolution. We confirm that  Bmp16  genes were lost independently in at least three lineages (mammals, archelosaurs and amphibians) and report that they have elevated rates of sequence evolution. This finding agrees with their more “flexible” deployment during development; while  Bmp16  has limited embryonic expression domains in the cloudy catshark, it is broadly expressed in the green anole lizard. Our study illustrates the dynamics of gene family evolution by integrating insights from sequence diversification, gene repertoire changes, and shuffling of expression domains.

Asymmetric paralog evolution between the “cryptic” gene Bmp16 and its well-studied sister genes Bmp2 and Bmp4