Cytochrome c: Gene structure, homology and ancestral relationships

Abstract

In this paper, the author notes the recommended definition of the word “homology” (i.e. indicating an ancestral relationship) and the recommended stipulation that “evidence for homology should be explicitly laid out”. The postulated homology for somatic and testes-specific isozymes of cytochrome c is then examined, using recent data obtained from the study of cytochrome c genes. Consideration is also given to some newer findings of molecular biology and possibilities are considered for various types of change in the genome of an organism. Possible roles of introns, pseudogenes and multigene families are considered.