The CD59-coding sequences were obtained from 5 mammals by PCR and BLAST, and combined with the available sequences in GenBank, the nucleotide substitution rates of mammalian cd59 were calcu- lated. Results of synonymous and nonsynonymous substitution rates revealed that cd59 experienced negative selection in mammals overall. Four sites experiencing positive selection were found by using "site-specific" model in PAML software. These sites were distributed on the molecular surface, of which 2 sites located in the key functional domain. Furthermore, "branch-site-specific" model detected 1 positive site in cd59a and cd59b lineages which underwent accelerated evolution caused by positive selection after gene duplication in mouse.
GONG YuanYing1,2, PENG MinSheng1,2, ZHOU WeiPing1,3,4 & ZHANG YaPing1,4 1 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
This paper reviews a large number of genes under positive Darwinian selection in modern human populations, such as brain development genes, immunity genes, reproductive related genes, perception receptors. The research on the evolutionary property of these genes will provide important insight into human evolution and disease mechanisms. With the increase of population genetics and comparative genomics data, more and more evidences indicate that positive Darwinian selection plays an indispensable role in the origin and evolution of human beings. This paper will also summarize the methods to detect positive selection, analyze the interference factors faced and make suggestions for further research on positive selection.
WU DongDong1,3 & ZHANG YaPing1,2 1 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China