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Evolutionary genetics of ruminant lysozymes
Author(s) -
IRWIN D. M.,
PRAGER E. M.,
WILSON A. C.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
animal genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.756
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2052
pISSN - 0268-9146
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2052.1992.tb00131.x
Subject(s) - biology , lysozyme , gene duplication , gene , genetics , molecular evolution , selection (genetic algorithm) , ruminant , stomach , adaptive evolution , evolutionary biology , phylogenetics , biochemistry , ecology , artificial intelligence , computer science , crop
Summary. Comparative studies of mammalian lysozymes and their genes have contributed to knowledge of how new functions arise during evolution. The recruitment of lysozymes for functioning in the stomach fluid of ruminants has occurred in response to selection pressures that are partly known and on a time‐scale that is known. A semiquantitative analysis of adaptive evolution is thus made possible by the ruminant lysozyme system. Large‐scale production of lysozyme by the stomach lining entailed gene duplication as well as a change in gene expression. Remoulding of the lysozyme for working and lasting in the stomach fluid involved accelerated amino acid replacements, which may have been facilitated by intergenic recombination. The possibility that multigene families can accelerate adaptive evolution, by virtue of their capacity for bringing together functionally coupled substitutions, receives emphasis in this review.