Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 The history and evolution of the domestic fowl
- 2 The cellular organisation of genetic material
- 3 The transmission of inherited characters
- 4 Sex determination and sex-linked inheritance in the domestic fowl
- 5 Linkage and chromosome mapping
- 6 Genes controlling feathering and plumage colour
- 7 Muscle, nerve and skeleton
- 8 Lethal genes in domestic fowl
- 9 Quantitative genetics
- 10 Protein evolution and polymorphism
- 11 Immunogenetics of the domestic fowl
- 12 Gene cloning, sequencing and transfer in the domestic fowl
- APPENDIX I Linkage groups and the chromosome map in the domestic fowl
- APPENDIX II Oncogenes
- APPENDIX III The Chi squared (χ2) test
- APPENDIX IV One letter amino acid code
- APPENDIX V The genetic code
- Glossary
- Index
10 - Protein evolution and polymorphism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 The history and evolution of the domestic fowl
- 2 The cellular organisation of genetic material
- 3 The transmission of inherited characters
- 4 Sex determination and sex-linked inheritance in the domestic fowl
- 5 Linkage and chromosome mapping
- 6 Genes controlling feathering and plumage colour
- 7 Muscle, nerve and skeleton
- 8 Lethal genes in domestic fowl
- 9 Quantitative genetics
- 10 Protein evolution and polymorphism
- 11 Immunogenetics of the domestic fowl
- 12 Gene cloning, sequencing and transfer in the domestic fowl
- APPENDIX I Linkage groups and the chromosome map in the domestic fowl
- APPENDIX II Oncogenes
- APPENDIX III The Chi squared (χ2) test
- APPENDIX IV One letter amino acid code
- APPENDIX V The genetic code
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Mutations alter the genotype by changing the nucleotide sequence in DNA, but natural selection operates on the phenotype, which is largely dependent on the particular proteins made by an organism. A study of the structure and sequence of individual proteins can therefore be useful in furthering the understanding of evolution in two important ways. Firstly, by comparing the structures of a specific protein, e.g. cytochrome c, that occur in different species, it is possible to establish or confirm phylogenetic relationships amongst organisms, and to build up phylogenetic trees involving phyla, classes, orders, etc. Secondly, a number of proteins are found to exist in more than one closely related form, e.g. ovalbumin A and B; these are known as polymorphisms. A study of the distribution of different polymorphic forms within a population of a given species, together with a knowledge of their dominance relationships, can be used to explain their more recent history. These two areas are interrelated, and in this chapter a number of proteins are examined, some of which have been primarily of importance in establishing and confirming phylogenetic relationships, e.g. the haem proteins, and others have been more useful in determining relationships between breeds of the domestic fowl, e.g. egg-white proteins.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Genetics and Evolution of the Domestic Fowl , pp. 170 - 207Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991