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Background  Recent advances in genetics and genomics present unique opportunities for enhancing our understanding of mammalian biology and evolution through detailed multi-species comparative analysis of gene organization and expression. Yet, of the more than 20,000 protein coding genes found in mammalian genomes, fewer than 10% have been examined in any detail. Here we elucidate the power of data available in publicly-accessible genomic and genetic resources by querying them to evaluate  Zmat2 , a minimally studied gene whose human ortholog has been implicated in spliceosome function and in keratinocyte differentiation.    Results  We find extensive conservation in coding regions and overall structure of  Zmat2  in 18 mammals representing 13 orders and spanning ~ 165 million years of evolutionary development, and in their encoded proteins. We identify a tandem duplication in the  Zmat2  gene and locus in opossum, but not in other monotremes, marsupials, or other mammals, indicating that this event occurred subsequent to the divergence of these species from one another. We also define a collection of  Zmat2  pseudogenes in half of the mammals studied, and suggest based on phylogenetic analysis that they each arose independently in the recent evolutionary past.    Conclusions  Mammalian  Zmat2  genes and ZMAT2 proteins illustrate conservation of structure and sequence, along with the development and diversification of pseudogenes in a large fraction of species. Collectively, these observations also illustrate how the focused identification and interpretation of data found in public genomic and gene expression resources can be leveraged to reveal new insights of potentially high biological significance.

Zmat2 in mammals: conservation and diversification among genes and Pseudogenes