In order to better understand the multiple functions in this family, we (Eisen et al., 1995) have used molecular phylogenetic and sequence similarity analysis to divide the family into distinct subfamilies. We believe that the subfamilies correspond to groups of proteins with similar functions. Thus the likely functions of some of the uncharacterized proteins may be predictable if the funcitons of any of the other members of the subfamily are known.
In addition, since each subfamily includes a protein from S. cerevisiae, in order to understand the functions of some of the proteins from higher organisms in the SNF2 family, it may be useful to study their subfamily relatives in yeast.
Finally, we believe that the phylogenetic analysis provides insight into the evolutionary factors that led to the massive number of duplications of this gene family in eukaryotes.
Other information related to this analysis: