A comprehensive and accessible database of jawed-vertebrate ohnologs

Whole-genome duplications (WGDs) profoundly shaped early vertebrate evolution. The set of paralogs retained from these events—“ohnologs”—has had lasting impacts on genome structure and function, including disease gene enrichment. Despite this, we still lack a gold standard ohnolog database. Here, we have harnessed ancestral genome reconstructions together with phylogenetic and synteny information to produce a robust ohnolog dataset that includes details on the nature and quality of evidence and a user-friendly interface. We have been able to resolve the 1R versus 2R origins of a large number of cases, as well as including previously hard-to-detect ohnologs. We find that 1R-retained ohnologs are involved in cellular transport, while those retained after both 1R and 2R are biased toward signaling functions, especially neuronal signaling. These findings suggest that after an initial adaptation to the cellular burden of polyploidy, WGD expanded the opportunities for intercellular communication.