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Fig. 5 | BMC Ecology and Evolution

Fig. 5

From: The evolution of hemocyanin genes in Tectipleura: a multitude of conserved introns in highly diverse gastropods

Fig. 5

Scenarios of intron evolution in hemocyanin genes. Intron evolution is exemplified by evolution of introns at identical splice sites of FU-b, FU-f, FU-g (cf. Fig. 4). Shown are two scenarios: a The introns at the identical position are derived from an ancestral intron which evolved within the mono domain precursor. In this scenario the intron maintained at the identical position during the evolution of the eight-FU hemocyanin. It then stayed conserved within FU-b, FU-f and FU-g of Tectipleura hemocyanins until today, whereas it was lost within the remaining Tectipleura FUs and all FUs of Vetigastropoda and Cephalopoda. In scenario (b), the introns evolved more recently after the radiation events of Gastropoda into Vetigastropoda and Heterobranchia. The intron gains took place independently from each other at the identical position of FU-b, FU-f and FU-g of Tectipleura. Scenario a includes at least 12 intron gain/loss events, scenario b only three intron gains. Thus, the more recent intron gains are the more parsimonious scenario

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