Gene duplication: A major force in evolution and bio-diversity

Bridges reported one of the earliest observations of gene duplication from the doubling of a chromosomal band in a mutant of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, which exhibited extreme reduction in eye size. Based on whole-genome analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana, there is compelling evidence that angiosperms underwent two whole-genome duplication events early during their evolutionary history. Recent studies have shown that these events were crucial for the creation of many important developmental and regulatory genes found in extant angiosperm genomes. Recent studies provide strong indications that even yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), with its compact genome, is in fact an ancient tetraploid. Gene duplication is providing new genetic material for mutation, drift and selection to act upon, the result of which is specialized or new gene functions. Without gene duplication, the plasticity of a genome or species in adapting to changing environments would be severely limited. The era of whole genome sequencing of model organisms suggests a number of duplication events take place while evolving modern species.   Key words: Evolution, genome duplication, diversity.