Further Examples of Evolution by Gene Duplication Revealed through DNA Sequence Comparisons

To test the theory that evolution by gene duplication occurs as a result of positive Darwinian selection that accompanies the acceleration of mutant substitutions, DNA sequences of recent duplication were analyzed by estimating the numbers of synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions. For the troponin C family, at the period of differentiation of the fast and slow isoforms, amino acid substitutions were shown to have been accelerated relative to synonymous substitutions. Comparison of the first exon of α-actin genes revealed that amino acid substitutions were accelerated when the smooth muscle, skeletal and cardiac isoforms differentiated. Analysis of members of the heat shock protein 70 gene family of mammals indicates that heat shock responsive genes including duplicated copies are evolving rapidly, contrary to the cognitive genes which have been evolutionarily conservative. For the α(1)-antitrypsin reactive center, the acceleration of amino acid substitution has been found for gene pairs of recent duplication.