What is gene homology?
Similar to homologous features between species such as opposable thumbs among primates, homologous genes are similar genes between species. By analyzing the same gene between organisms, scientists can see how the protein was modified over time and use this information to discover the lineages of these organisms (1). |
Figure 1: Diagram of opposable thumbs in primates (2)
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Below are featured the similarities of model organism PTPN11 amino acid sequence equivalents to the human version of PTPN11. Furthermore, each species has a link to their protein sequence via accession number and FASTA format. FASTA format is used in bioinformatics as a common text format between databases for analyzing sequences. Note that the gene percent identity is based off of human PTPN11. Homologene and BLAST were used to collect gene identity data (3, 4).
Analysis
As expected, primate PTPN11 was found to be a 100% match to human PTPN11 and other mammal PTPN11 did not drop below 98% gene identity. Also as expected, insects within the study were significantly less identical than other species compared. Furthermore, the gene name of the insects were also significantly different, indicating that they may perform different functions compared to humans.
As expected, primate PTPN11 was found to be a 100% match to human PTPN11 and other mammal PTPN11 did not drop below 98% gene identity. Also as expected, insects within the study were significantly less identical than other species compared. Furthermore, the gene name of the insects were also significantly different, indicating that they may perform different functions compared to humans.
References
1) "Homologous Genes." Homologous Genes. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
2) "Vertebral Column and Posture." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
3) "Discover Homologs." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
4) "Basic Local Alignment Search Tool." BLAST. NIH, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
5) "Bar Graph Maker." Bar Graph Maker. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
1) "Homologous Genes." Homologous Genes. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
2) "Vertebral Column and Posture." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
3) "Discover Homologs." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
4) "Basic Local Alignment Search Tool." BLAST. NIH, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
5) "Bar Graph Maker." Bar Graph Maker. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.