Homology and Model Organisms
Introduction
Homology is demonstrated by a structure, gene, or protein product shared by organisms that are derived from a most recent common ancestor [4]. Determining homology can help find conserved regions within a gene of interest, which can provide information about evolutionary selection, assist in the construction of phylogenetic trees, and identify model organisms [5].
Homologous genes can be determined over many species using multiple tools and strategies, including HomoloGene, reciprocal BLAST searches, and Ensembl [3, 1, 2]. These databases compare the nucleotide or amino acid sequence of a target genomic region across many species' sequenced genomes.
Homologous genes can be determined over many species using multiple tools and strategies, including HomoloGene, reciprocal BLAST searches, and Ensembl [3, 1, 2]. These databases compare the nucleotide or amino acid sequence of a target genomic region across many species' sequenced genomes.
Results
Discussion
ROBO3 has homologs in many commonly-used model organisms. It also contains homologs in Canis lupus familiaris, Rattus norvegicus, and Gallus gallus (among others, not shown). ROBO3 is seen in almost all major classes within the kingdom of Animalia. Interestingly, ROBO3 appears in Latimeria chalumnae - a coelacanth, or prehistoric fish. This shows that ROBO3 and its protein functions are highly conserved throughout evolutionary time.
References
- BLAST - Basic Local Alignment Search Tool. https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi
- Ensembl. https://useast.ensembl.org/index.html
- HomoloGene. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/homologene
- Wagner, G. The developmental genetics of homology. Nat Rev Genet 8, 473–479 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg2099
- Webber, Caleb, and Chris P Ponting. "Genes And Homology". Current Biology, vol 14, no. 9, 2004, pp. R332-R333. Elsevier BV, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2004.04.016. Accessed 20 Mar 2020.