Synteny and Collinearity in Plant Genomes
Haibao Tang,1
John E. Bowers,1
Xiyin Wang,1
Ray Ming,2
Maqsudul Alam,3
Andrew H. Paterson1*
Correlated gene arrangements among taxa provide a valuable framework for inference of shared ancestry of genes and for the utilization of findings from model organisms to study less-well-understood systems. In angiosperms, comparisons of gene arrangements are complicated by recurring polyploidy and extensive genome rearrangement. New genome sequences and improved analytical approaches are clarifying angiosperm evolution and revealing patterns of differential gene loss after genome duplication and differential gene retention associated with evolution of some morphological complexity. Because of variability in DNA substitution rates among taxa and genes, deviation from collinearity might be a more reliable phylogenetic character.
1 Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
2 Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801, USA.
3 Advanced Studies in Genomics, Proteomics, and Bioinformatics Unit, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: paterson{at}uga.edu
