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Introns in, introns out in plant gene families: a genomic approach of the dynamics of gene structure

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Journal of Structural and Functional Genomics

Abstract

Gene duplication is considered to be a source of genetic information for the creation of new functions. The Arabidopsis thaliana genome sequence revealed that a majority of plant genes belong to gene families. Regarding the problem of genes involved in the genesis of novel organs or functions during evolution, the reconstitution of the evolutionary history of gene families is of critical importance. A comparison of the intron/exon gene structure may provide clues for the understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms underlying the genesis of gene families. An extensive study of A. thaliana genome showed that families of duplicated genes may be organized according to the number and/or density of intron and the diversity in gene structure. In this paper, we propose a genomic classification of several A. thaliana gene families based on introns in an evolutionary perspective. abbreviations BGAL, β-galactosidases; PCMP, plant combinatorial and modular protein

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Author notes

  1. Sébastien Aubourg

    Present address: URGV, Unité Mixte de Recherche INRA-CNRS, 2 rue Gaston Crémieux, CP 5708, F−91057, Evry, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Biotechnologie des Plantes, Unité Mixte de Recherche-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 8618, Université de Paris-Sud, Bât. 630, F−91405, Orsay Cedex, France

    Alain Lecharny, Nathalie Boudet, Isabelle Gy & Martin Kreis

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  1. Alain Lecharny
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  2. Nathalie Boudet
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  3. Isabelle Gy
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  4. Sébastien Aubourg
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  5. Martin Kreis
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Correspondence to Alain Lecharny.

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Lecharny, A., Boudet, N., Gy, I. et al. Introns in, introns out in plant gene families: a genomic approach of the dynamics of gene structure. J Struct Func Genom 3, 111–116 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022614001371

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