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The major compositional transitions in the vertebrate genome

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Abstract

The vertebrate genome underwent two major compositional transitions, between therapsids and mammals and between dinosaurs and birds. These transitions concerned a sizable part (roughly one-third) of the genome, the gene-richest part of it, and consisted in an increase in GC levels (GC is the molar fraction of guanine + cytosine in DNA) which affected both coding sequences (especially third codon positions) and noncoding sequences. These major transitions were studied here by comparing GC3 levels (GC3 is the GC of third codon positions) of orthologous genes from Xenopus, chicken, calf, and man.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Genetique Moleculaire, Institut Jacques Monod, 2 Place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France

    Giorgio Bernardi

  2. Laboratoire de Biometrie, Genetique et Biologie des Populations, Universite Claude Bernard, U.M.R. 5558, 69600, Villeurbanne, France

    Sandrine Hughes & Dominique Mouchiroud

Authors
  1. Giorgio Bernardi
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  2. Sandrine Hughes
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  3. Dominique Mouchiroud
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Bernardi, G., Hughes, S. & Mouchiroud, D. The major compositional transitions in the vertebrate genome. J Mol Evol 44 (Suppl 1), S44–S51 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00000051

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00000051

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