Opinion
The gentle art of gene arrangement: the meaning of gene clusters
Department of Pathology, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK, and Cambridge Institute of Medical Research, Cambridge CB2 2XY, UK
Genome Biology 2002, 3:comment2002-comment2002.5 doi:10.1186/gb-2002-3-3-comment2002
Published: 22 February 2002Abstract
Genome sequence comparisons reveal that some sets of genes are in similar linkage groups in different organisms while other sets are dispersed. Are some linkage groups maintained by chance, or is there an advantage to such an arrangement? Some insights may come from large clusters of genes, such as the major histocompatibility complex which includes many genes involved in immune defense.
