Furthermore, sequence analysis of the EF-hand Ca2+ binding domain and the SAM domain, together with functional divergence studies, identified critical regions/residues likely underlying functional changes, and provided evidence for the hypothesis that STIM-1 and STIM-2 might have developed distinct functional properties after duplication.
Divergence studies suggest that TEs proceed by successive amplification bursts [[ 103, 104] for examples].
Hence, functional divergence studies based on cross-species gene comparison may facilitate the prediction of protein functions and identification of horizontal gene transfer events [ 17].
However, a fundamental problem with this hypothesis is that other molecular divergence studies [e.g. [ 10, 11]] have estimated a much older age for crown (and African) lacertids, pushing their origin far into the early Cenozoic.
The data support the hypothesis that Solanum species harbour at least three versions of U3 regulatory regions, although based on previous Tnt1 superfamily U3 divergence studies [ 12], Group III could represent more than one version.
To reach a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms by which male and female reproductive genes drive post-mating sexual selection and ultimately species divergence, studies of reproductive proteins must consider organisms with different mating systems and different levels of sexual conflict.
This result is also consistent with the lack of evidence for a higher α value for the XR genes, compared with the autosomal genes, in the polymorphism-divergence study (table 3).
A recent divergence time study of labrids treated the crown age as fixed at 55 MY [ 33].
However, by demonstrating considerable gene retention and structural divergence, this study has established that the duplication made a significant contribution to the genomic repertoire of T. brucei, relative to other trypanosomatids, and was a seminal development in its genomic evolution.
