‘Genome re-modelling in evolution: functional annotation of segmental gene duplications in drosophila and other invertebrates’

Carlos Quijano, David Torrens, Marco Milán, Miguel Crespo, Miguel Manzanares, Mikita Suyama, Peer Bork, Susana Cañón.

Circumstantial evidence shows that in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster there are a considerable number of genes that have very close phylogenetic relatives in their proximity, often referred to as twins. The aim of this project is to address the origin and the functional fate of detectable cases of segmental gene duplication in Drosophila through a combination of bioinformatic approaches and experimental validation. The results obtained from this project will be readily available to aid and complete the functional annotation of other fully sequenced genomes, mainly human and closely related mammalian species.Using homology searches, we will examine the genome-wide distribution of segmental duplication events and then infer the nature and physiological roles of the duplicated genes. Furthermore, we will explore the functional significance of selected cases by the analysis of protein function and shared regulatory mechanisms, using the experimental advantages of Drosophila as a model research organism.