Answer to Question #94541 in Genetics for Adisa

Question

Context: multigene families

Describe the beta globin gene family and indicate how it provides developmental flexibility.

Answer 1

The globin gene family consists of a number of clusters of related genes. In humans,there are three clusters. In other species, the globin gene in each cluster and the distribution of the clusters through the chromosomes differs from humans.

Gene clusters are almost certainly formed by duplication of an ancestral gene, and have a recognizably similar sequence. Few examples of globin family that show developmental flexibility are- myoglobin which are the muscle proteins and haemoglobin present in the red blood cells. Myoglobin contains a heme (prosthetic) group which is responsible for its main function (carrying of oxygen molecules to muscle tissues). Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues back to the lungs.