Gene orders
Gene order is the permutation of genome arrangement. A fair amount of research has been done trying to determine whether gene orders evolve according to a molecular clock or in jumps. By comparing gene orders in dissimilar organisms, scientists are able to develop a molecular phylogeny tree. When organisms have similar gene orders, meaning they have likely diverged recently, it is called synteny.
Some research on gene orders in animals' mitochondrial genomes reveals that the mutation rate of gene orders is not a constant in some degrees.
Methods for genome mapping, determining the gene order, include:
- Radiation hybrid mapping
- Genetic linkage mapping
- Fluorescent in situ hybridization
- Restriction mapping
- Sequence-tagged site content mapping
- Southern hybridization
- PCR
- Whole genome sequencing