Abstract.
Retroprocessed pseudogenes, calmodulin II (ψ1, ψ2, and ψ3 CALMII), ψα-tubulin, π-glutathione S-transferase (ψπ-GST) from rat, lactic acid dehydrogenase (ψ LDH) from mouse, and heat shock protein 60 chaperonin (ψ HSP60) from Chinese hamster, were examined for their presence in these species by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Pseudogenes of these murine rodents were detected by PCR only in those species in which the genes were originally identified, suggesting that the selected pseudogene of one species arose too recently to be detected in the genomes of the other rodent species. The calculated ages of the rodent pseudogenes ranged from 1.7 Myr (ψα-tubulin) to 7.5 Myr (ψ3 CALMII) when employing a homologous functional gene of the taxon as a reference in the relative rate test with the mouse or rat as the outgroup. Given the high rate of divergence of the genes of rodents relative to other species, selection of an outgroup with similar mutation rates seems warranted. To justify further the conclusion that the selected pseudogenes were indeed retroprocessed after these three taxa diverged, the presence of the pseudogenes in the genome of different rat species was examined. The existence of ψ3 CALMII and ψα-tubulin pseudogenes of Rattus norvegicus among species belonging to Rattus sensu stricto is evidence for the common ancestry of this group.
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Received: 23 May 2001 / Accepted: 31 May 2001
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Friedberg, F., Rhoads, A. Age and Detection of Retroprocessed Pseudogenes in Murine Rodents. J Mol Evol 54, 102–106 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-001-0022-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-001-0022-0