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TY - JOUR AU - Lynch, Vincent J. AU - Roth, Jutta J. AU - Wagner, Günter P. PY - 2006 DA - 2006/11/01 TI - Adaptive evolution of Hox-gene homeodomains after cluster duplications JO - BMC Evolutionary Biology SP - 86 VL - 6 IS - 1 AB - Hox genes code for homeodomain-containing transcription factors that function in cell fate determination and embryonic development. Hox genes are arranged in clusters with up to 14 genes. This archetypical chordate cluster has duplicated several times in vertebrates, once at the origin of vertebrates and once at the origin of gnathostoms, an additional duplication event is associated with the origin of teleosts and the agnanths, suggesting that duplicated Hox cluster genes are involved in the genetic mechanisms behind the diversification of vertebrate body plans, and the origin of morphological novelties. Preservation of duplicate genes is promoted by functional divergence of paralogs, either by subfunction partitioning among paralogs or the acquisition of a novel function by one paralog. But for Hox genes the mechanisms of paralog divergence is unknown, leaving open the role of Hox gene duplication in morphological evolution. SN - 1471-2148 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-6-86 DO - 10.1186/1471-2148-6-86 ID - Lynch2006 ER -