Estimation of the evolutionary selection pressure on the different domains of the ZNF genes/proteins from 8q24.3 and their orthologs. The histogram plots the average ω (= ratio between dN, the number of non-synonymous substitutions per non-synonymous site, and dS, the number of synonymous substitutions per synonymous site) for each domain, KRAB-A, KRAB-B, linker (LINK) and zinc finger array (ZNF, the consecutive sequence of all C2H2 zinc fingers of the gene/protein) of the ZNF genes/proteins. The data labeled 7AA DBD only consider the sequences -2 to 6 with respect to the a-helix of each C2H2 zinc finger for analysis, except for conserved position 4. The ω values of smaller than 1, equal to 1 or larger than 1 refer to negative purifying selection, neutral evolution or positive selection, respectively. Error bars represent the respective standard deviations. The means of the different domains were statistically compared by a T-test, the asterisks indicate the high significance (p < 0.0001).
Lorenz et al. BMC Genomics 2010 11:206 doi:10.1186/1471-2164-11-206