Genes and Evolution Comparative Genome Structure and Evolution Synteny- comparison of chromosome order in related species

C B A D Rice chromosome 4 Synteny The order of genes in closely related species is conserved A B D C Maize chromosome 2 Genetic distance (cM) 0 100

Oats Wheat, barley Rice Bamboo Finger millet Maize, sugarcane, sorghum Pearl millet Phylogeny of the grass family (Poaceae)

R12b R8R9R11a R11b R12b R5b R6a R6b R7 R3b R4a R4b R5a R1a R1b R2 R3a R10 R3c Rice has the simplest cereal genome / It has the smallest genome (420 Mb) 2/ It has 12 chromosomes with little duplication 3/ These 12 chromosomes can be split up to produce linkage blocks that define the other cereals

R12b R8 R9 R11a R11b R12b R5b R6a R6b R7 R3b R4a R4b R5a R1a R1b R2 R3a R10 R3c The Rice Genome R6b R12b R9 R2 R6a R8 R3c R12a R11a R11b R7 R1a R1b R3b R5a R10 R5b R4a R3a R4b W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 The Wheat Genome R2 R4a R9 R7 R10 R3b R3a R11a R6b R5b R3c R8 R12a R1a R1b R6a R4b R5a R9 R7 R4b R12a R10 R3b R3a R11a R6a R8? R3c R2 R1a R5a R5b R1b R4a R6b M3 M6 M1 M4 M2 M8 M9 M5 M7 M10 The Maize Genome

Making a circle displays the syntenic relationship between grass crops

The 22 autosomal and 2 sex chromosomes of human The synteny between the human genome and the first 4 chromosomes of the mouse Synteny between Human and Mouse

Synteny- why is it important? It is interesting It demonstrates the role of chromosomal rearrangements in evolution It can be used to deduce taxonomic relationships between organisms It facilitates the exploitation of model species- rice for grasses, mice for humans