Positive Selection in Zinc Finger Protein Reveals Genetic Signatures of Adaptive Evolution in Undifferentiated Stem Cells during Evolution in Mammals

Figure 2

Gene synteny refers to the conservation of the physical linkage of genes across different species. Zinc finger protein 42 (ZFP42) gene synteny has been studied in different mammalian species. Gene tree shows the evolutionary relationships among genes across different species. The gene tree of ZFP42 in mammals suggests that the gene has undergone a complex evolutionary history, with some species retaining the gene, others losing it, and others undergoing gene duplication events. Despite these events, the conservation of the gene across a wide range of mammalian species indicates that it likely plays an important biological role.