Class Mollecular Evolution

Molecular Evolution deals with gene and protein evolution. What are the evolutionary mechanisms and what kind of chemical changes may occur. Understanding mutations, and the factors that influence mutation occurrence and occurrence rates.

1. Structure and function of nucleic acids.

2. Nucleotide sequence evolution. Characteristics of nucleotide sequences. Mutations. Models of nucleotide sequence evolution.

3. Rearrangement of genetic material and evolution of proteins.

4. Genome organization and size.

5. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT mechanisms: conjugation, transformation, transduction, cell fusion and gene transfer agents. HGT in prokaryotic vs eukaryotic organisms.

6. Molecular phylogeny. Trees. Molecular clock. Phylogenetic trees.

7. Epigenetic mechanisms. Main mechanisms of epigenetic change: DNA methylation, histone modification and non-coding RNAs. Epigenetics and human diseases.

Laboratory and practical training is a very important component of the Cycle of Studies, essential to ensure the quality of student training. The practical skills and laboratory autonomy of graduate students are recognized by the other institutions where they continue their studies.

- Graur D. & Li W.-H. (2000). Fundamentals of molecular evolution. Sinauer, Sunderland.

- Soucy, S.M., Huang, J. and Gogarten, J.P. (2015). Horizontal gene transfer: building the web of life. Nature Reviews, 16, p472.

- Pál, C., Papp, B. and Lercher, M.J. (2008). An integrated view of protein evolution. Nature Reviews, 7, p337.