SNP@Domain

From SungsamGong

A web resource of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) within protein domain structures and sequences.
Paper is available here

INTRODUCTION

Human proteins consist of multiple domains that are basic evolutionary units. Analyzing their evolution in the processes of human speciation and population divergence can provide us with valuable insights. We analyzed the densities and distributions of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) within and outside human protein domain families. We found that non-synonymous SNPs occurred less frequently in protein domain regions compared to non-domain regions. Also such SNPs were less differentiated among populations with a significantly low Wright's fixation index (Fst). The results showed that protein domains were under a purifying selection and less sensitive to short term population migrations. Also, each protein domain had its own specific SNP propensity showing the protein family specificity in the evolutionary pressure. This implies that 1) protein domains are perhaps the most biologically selected entities in the genomic sequences and 2) the selection pressure is biased by the functions of individual protein families.

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