What in the DNA keeps a "house cat" from growing to the size of a big cat?
Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at
2:14 am
Like a Siamese cat to a Lion
mmhmmm……
Thanks everyone, except for anonymous and cade.
I was just wondering about this because when you try and compare a house cat to a large cat it’s more than size that separates them.
The head, tail, paw sizes are different in proportion especially.
Filed under: Cat Furniture
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Cade – next time you should post your entire sequence. Those "…" following the first forty bases are annoying.
Furthermore, I’m sure you know that the sequence you posted has nothing to do with DNA of a "house cat".
Judging by the sequence, it seems like you’re doing too much cloning/sequencing of rat genes. Your boss is interested in regulation of synaptic transmission, and you’re just a labrat inserting rat protein phophotase into shuttle vectors.
The poster’s question is an interesting one. Given that a "house cat" and "big cat" have a common ancestor, and that the common ancestor was bigger than a "house cat" (and it most likely was), what gene(s) are responsible for the size difference?
While we do have a complete genome for a "house cat" (2-fold coverage) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/94308942 , we don’t yet have a complete genome for a "large cat". However, there is now an initiative to sequence 16,203 vertebrate genomes, 1826 of which will be mammals (see the beginning of this month’s Nature/Science/PNAS/etc journals). Assuming at least one of these 1826 mammals will include a "big cat", biologists don’t really know how to analyze genome data yet, much less figure out what/where a gene really is. But assuming them biologists do figure that out, they can easily compare the two genomes, and find the differences between them. Then with more tedious experiments, which biologists love to do, they should be able to figure out which gene(s) are responsible for the "smallness" of a "house cat".
This part:
1 ACCGTTCGCAAGAAATGCGCAGAACAGCAAGTTCTATTTAGGTTTGGTTATTGCGATAGA
61 GAACTTGCGTAACAGAATCAGTTGAGCTTAATGTCAGCCTCGATCTGTGGCGTTCGATCA
121 CCTAGAGGATGTTGCTTGTCATGATACGCATGAATCGTCATGCATGAGATGAGTCGTGCA
181 GAATGAAGAGTCTCGTTGCCAGTATAAAAGACTCGTATTCAAAGACTGCACATACTACTC
241 AGTGCAGCTCACAGAACTCATCGTTATCCTGTTGATCAGAAGCAGGTGGACAGGTGAACT
301 TTGGATCGAACTCGATTTCTGACTGGGTTGGAAGGCAAGAGAGCCCCGAAAGCTTACATT
361 TTATGTTAGCTGGTGGACTGACGCCAGAAAATGTTGGTGATGCGCTTAGATTAAATGGCG
421 TTATTGGTGTTGATGTAAGCGGAGGTGTGGAGACAAATGGTGTAAAAGACTCTAACAAAA
481 TAGCAAATTTCGTCAAAAATGCTAAGAAATAGGTTATTACTGAGTAGTATTTATTTAAGT
541 ATTGTTTGTGCACTTGCCGGCATGCCGGTAGAGGTGTGGTCAATAAGAGCGACCTCATGC
601 TATACCTGAGAAAGCAACCTGACCTACAGGAAAGAGTTACTCAAGAATAAGAATTTTCGT
661 TTTAAAACCTAAGAGTCACTTTAAAATTTGTATACACTTATTTTTTTTATAACTTATTTA
721 ATAATAAAAATCATAAATCATAAGAAATTCGCCCGGAATTAGCTTGGCTGCAGGTCGACG
781 GATCCACCTTTCTGAGCCACTTCCGGTACTGGCACAGCCTCACTCTTCTCAGGCTCTTCT
841 GTGTCGGTAGCTTGTTTGTTTGAAGAAGGCCTTGAATTAGAATCCTTGAGACGGCCAAAG
901 GTATCCAGATTGGTTACGGTAACAGATGGTAAGTTCAGGGGGTAATGCCCAGTCACCGAG
961 TAGTTGCTGTTCTCAGCCTTCCCAGGAGTGATGGCACCTGGAGACTCACTGTTCTCAAAC
1021 GGCACTCAGTTGGCTCACAGTTGGAGAGACAGCCTCCGTCCGAGGGCTCAGGCTGTCC
1081 AAGGAATCACTGCTGCCTCTATTGGACTTGGAGCCACCCCACTCATCCTGTGGCTCAGCC
1141 TCTCCCGCTTTCTCTTTCTTTGGGGAATGGCGATTATTTTGCCCTGACTCATGCCCACTT
1201 CTCTCAAACATCTTTCGAGTCTCTGTGAACTTAGCATACGAAGGGCCATCGTGCATTGTG
1261 TCAAATCTGCTAATCCGT
Evoloution!
Quite possibly it is the IGF-1 gene, which regulates body size in humans, mice an dogs.
http://www.thetech.org/genetics/news.php?id=52
Well, judging by your userpic you are on the right and I really want the points, so I am going to say…it’s the way God made it because as the almighty creator that is the way He wanted it.
I’ll take my points now, please.
lol, this question is on geekologie.com for the badass answer from cade
Cade, I would laugh if your answer is actually legit.