Transforming men into mice: the Nadeau-Taylor chromosomal breakage model revisited

Although analysis of genome rearrangements was pioneered by Dobzhansky and Sturtevant 65 years ago, we still know very little about the rearrangement events that produced the existing varieties of genomic architectures. The genomic sequences of human and mouse provide evidence for a larger number of rearrangements than previously thought and shed some light on previously unknown features of mammalian evolution. In particular, they reveal extensive re-use of breakpoints from the same relatively short regions. Our analysis implies the existence of a large number of very short "hidden" synteny blocks that were invisible in comparative mapping data and were not taken into account in previous studies of chromosome evolution. These blocks are defined by closely located breakpoints and are often hard to detect. Our result is in conflict with the widely accepted random breakage model of chromosomal evolution. We suggest a new "fragile breakage" model of chromosome evolutio...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: RECOMB
• Authors: Pavel A. Pevzner, Glenn Tesler
• Keywords: Comparative Mapping Data, Computational Biology, Genetics General Terms, Mouse Provide Evidence, RECOMB 2003