BIOL 2400 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Hox Gene, Burgess Shale, Gene Duplication
9 Apr 2016
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Developmental genetic toolkit & monsters of burgess shale. Darwin"s theory of evolution proposes that all living organisms descended from a common ancestor, called the last universal ancestor. Since they are developed from the same ancestor, there are homologous genes that governed the development of all organisms called the genetic toolkit/ common blueprint. Phenotypic variation within and between species arises simply by using shared genes differently. Hox genes are part of the genetic toolkit that evolved over 600 mya. Hox genes: a group of related genes that control the body plan of an embryo over along the anterior-posterior (head to tail) axis. Encodes transcription factors that identify of body parts (what different segments will become in adulthood) Pleiotropy occurs when one gene in uences two or more seemingly unrelated phenotypic traits. Primary cluster hox genes are arranged in the same order as the body segments that they affect (ex.
