The way evo-devo is presented to me in class just makes no sense at all.
I would appreciate explanations or either resources to help me figure out evo devo...
So just for reference, I must be able to understand these concepts
pastebin.com/Xkg7yKSm
But here are my questions...
Exactly what is a homeotic gene?
And why are genes themselves distinguished from loci?
I used to remember what these were, but now they just confuse me in binds.
So there is a section which says "analysis of the homeotic genes in ... has shown that they all include a 180-nucleotide sequence called a homeobox, which specifies a 60 amino acid homeodomain in the encoded proteins."
I've got no idea what this meaningless sentence says.
I can understand what homeotic genes are, but is there any speciality to homeot. genes in where they are? I'm under the impression that homeot. genes generally appear in special places, instead of being a special type of gene. And indeed why are they special? I can hardly understand what homeot. genes are when I don't know what different types of genes exist at all.
I assume a 180 nuc. sequence called a homeobox is just a special sequence of DNA which we refer to as a homeobox. I can accept this.
What the devil does specifying a 60 amio homeodomain mean? This is beyond me and frustrating.
The book does a wonderful job of explaining what a homeodomain is. Exactly what does "specifying" a particular 60-amino sequence do? And... what **** proteins are in reference? This is actually just a grammar issue from my perspective since I don't know what kind of a protein it's talking about.
Next...
"Homeotic genes in animals were named hox genes, short for homeobox-containing genes, because homeotic genes were the first genes found to have this sequence."
Okay.... so all homeotic genes in animals are named hox genes? It neither goddamn confirms nor denys this through the best of my reading ability.
Purely because homeotic genes were found to contain the 180-sequence of a homeobox?
In short nothing here makes sense because understanding one term requires understanding of another term which wasn't explained.
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