Re: How ancient whales lost their legs, got sleek and conquered the oceans

On 5/26/06, David Campbell <pleuronaia@gmail.com> wrote:

> I don't know the details for gene names; based on literature usage there
> seem to be official names but limited direction on what to do when gene xyz
> from organism A is recognized as being the same as gene kjh from organism B.

Official names are according to the guildelines here
http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/nomenclature/guidelines.html

3. Gene names

Gene names should be brief and specific and should convey the
character or function of the gene, but should not attempt to describe
everything known about it. The first letter of the symbol should be
the same as that of the name in order to facilitate alphabetical
listing and grouping. Gene names are written using American spelling.
Tissue specificity and molecular weight designations should be avoided
as they have only limited use as a description and may in time and
across species prove inaccurate; however, they may be incorporated
into the gene name if absolutely necessary. If necessary, molecular
weights may be specified in kilodaltons using the SI unit: kDa with no
space after the molecular weight. Gene names should not include terms
such as nephew, cousin, sister etc. to describe familial relationships
with other genes. The following gene name syntax should be used:

a) Names start with a lower case letter unless it is a person's name
describing a disease/phenotype or a capitalised abbreviation e.g. AHDS
"Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome" and ABCA1 "ATP-binding cassette,
sub-family A (ABC1), member 1", respectively.
b) Descriptive modifiers should follow the main part of the name,
separated by commas e.g. ACO1 "aconitase 1, soluble".
c) Where a complete alternative name (or names) is being included as
part of the name, this should be in parentheses e.g. IDS "iduronate
2-sulfatase (Hunter syndrome)".
d) Names of other species must be placed in parentheses at the end
e.g. LFNG "lunatic fringe homolog (Drosophila)" and ANLN "anillin,
actin binding protein (scraps homolog, Drosophila)".

This is the HGNC web page for shh.
http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/nomenclature/data/get_data.php?hgnc_id=HGNC:10848
Received on Fri May 26 14:02:03 2006