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Sequence homology is the biological homology between DNA, RNA, or protein sequences, defined in terms of shared ancestry in the evolutionary history of life. Two segments of DNA can have shared ancestry because of three phenomena: either a speciation event (orthologs), or a duplication event (paralogs), or else a horizontal (or lateral) gene ...
Homology among proteins or DNA is typically inferred from their sequence similarity. Significant similarity is strong evidence that two sequences are related by divergent evolution of a common ancestor. Alignments of multiple sequences are used to indicate which regions of each sequence are homologous. [40]
The alleles on the homologous chromosomes may be different, resulting in different phenotypes of the same genes. This mixing of maternal and paternal traits is enhanced by crossing over during meiosis, wherein lengths of chromosomal arms and the DNA they contain within a homologous chromosome pair are exchanged with one another. [3]
In both meiotic and mitotic cells, recombination between homologous chromosomes is a common mechanism used in DNA repair. Gene conversion – the process during which homologous sequences are made identical also falls under genetic recombination.
The pseudoautosomal regions or PARs are homologous sequences of nucleotides found within the sex chromosomes of species with an XY [1] or ZW [2] mechanism of sex determination. The pseudoautosomal regions get their name because any genes within them (so far at least 29 have been found for humans) [3] are inherited just like any autosomal genes.
The human genome is a complete set of nucleic acid sequences for humans, encoded as the DNA within each of the 24 distinct chromosomes in the cell nucleus. A small DNA molecule is found within individual mitochondria. These are usually treated separately as the nuclear genome and the mitochondrial genome. [1]
NHEJ is a DNA repair mechanism which, unlike homologous recombination, does not require a long homologous sequence to guide repair. Whether homologous recombination or NHEJ is used to repair double-strand breaks is largely determined by the phase of cell cycle. Homologous recombination repairs DNA before the cell enters mitosis (M phase).
Gene conversion is the process by which one DNA sequence replaces a homologous sequence such that the sequences become identical after the conversion. [1] Gene conversion can be either allelic, meaning that one allele of the same gene replaces another allele, or ectopic, meaning that one paralogous DNA sequence converts another.