Functional Divergence after Gene Duplication
Xun Gu · 2024
Abstract Since gene duplication is thought to have provided the raw materials for functional innovations, it is desirable to identify amino acid sites that are responsible for functional divergence from the sequence analysis of a gene family. As most amino acid substitutions are not related to the functional divergence but only represent neutral evolution, it becomes crucial how to statistically distinguish between these two possibilities. In this chapter, the author first gives an overall review of the basic concepts and terminologies for modeling functional divergence. It provides concise descriptions of the statistical methods for two major types of functional divergence, as well as detailed examples.