Divergence Model of Protein Evolution

Analysis of the evolutionary conservation of amino acids is useful for the analysis of sequence variants detected in individuals with regard to possible impact on protein function. Rapid advances in DNA sequencing technologies are enabling affordable access to SNPs, exome sequencing, and whole genome shotgun sequencing. An understanding of the biological processes that have shaped diverging protein sequences aids the interpretation of sequence variants. The divergence model of protein evolution is presented as a general framework for interpreting information available from comparative analysis of protein sequences.