scholarly journals The Roles and Evolutionary Patterns of Intronless Genes in Deuterostomes

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Zou ◽  
Baocheng Guo ◽  
Shunping He
Keyword(s):  
Gene Ontology ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Intronless Gene ◽  
Basic Part ◽  
Sea Squirt ◽  
Intronless Genes ◽  
Eukaryotic Genes ◽  
Primitive Species ◽  
The Common

Genes without introns are a characteristic feature of prokaryotes, but there are still a number of intronless genes in eukaryotes. To study these eukaryotic genes that have prokaryotic architecture could help to understand the evolutionary patterns of related genes and genomes. Our analyses revealed a number of intronless genes that reside in 6 deuterostomes (sea urchin, sea squirt, zebrafish, chicken, platypus, and human). We also determined the conservation for each intronless gene in archaea, bacteria, fungi, plants, metazoans, and other eukaryotes. Proportions of intronless genes that are inherited from the common ancestor of archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes in these species were consistent with their phylogenetic positions, with more proportions of ancient intronless genes residing in more primitive species. In these species, intronless genes belong to different cellular roles and gene ontology (GO) categories, and some of these functions are very basic. Part of intronless genes is derived from other intronless genes or multiexon genes in each species. In conclusion, we showed that a varying number and proportion of intronless genes reside in these 6 deuterostomes, and some of them function importantly. These genes are good candidates for subsequent functional and evolutionary analyses specifically.

The Possible Common Origin of tRNA and 5S rRNA

1983 ◽  
Vol 38 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 501-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mária Ujhelyi
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Common Origin ◽  
5S Rrna ◽  
Mitochondrial Trna ◽  
Trna Molecule ◽  
The Common

Seryl tRNA (anticodon GCU) from mammalian mito­chondria shows in comparison to other mitochondrial tRNAs additional special features differing from the generalized tRNA model. When arranged in the tradi­tional cloverleaf form, eight bases fall within the TΨC loop, and the entire dihydrouridine loop is lacking. This seryl tRNA molecule is therefore shorter than other tRNAs. It was originally thought to represent a mito­chondrial analogon of 5 S rRNA and its precise classifica­tion is still disputed. The present studies suggest that this mitochondrial tRNA represents a fossil molecule which is related to the common ancestor of the present tRNA and 5 S rRNA molecules.

scholarly journals Elevated Evolutionary Rates among Functionally Diverged Reproductive Genes across Deep Vertebrate Lineages

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Grassa ◽  
Rob J. Kulathinal
Keyword(s):  
Gene Ontology ◽  
Comparative Genomics ◽  
Danio Rerio ◽  
Mus Musculus ◽  
Functional Divergence ◽  
Anolis Carolinensis ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Reproductive Systems ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Reproductive Genes

Among closely related taxa, proteins involved in reproduction generally evolve more rapidly than other proteins. Here, we apply a functional and comparative genomics approach to compare functional divergence across a deep phylogenetic array of egg-laying and live-bearing vertebrate taxa. We aligned and annotated a set of 4,986 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 : 1 orthologs in Anolis carolinensis (green lizard), Danio rerio (zebrafish), Xenopus tropicalis (frog), Gallus gallus (chicken), and Mus musculus (mouse) according to function using ESTs from available reproductive (including testis and ovary) and non-reproductive tissues as well as Gene Ontology. For each species lineage, genes were further classified as tissue-specific (found in a single tissue) or tissue-expressed (found in multiple tissues). Within independent vertebrate lineages, we generally find that gonadal-specific genes evolve at a faster rate than gonadal-expressed genes and significantly faster than non-reproductive genes. Among the gonadal set, testis genes are generally more diverged than ovary genes. Surprisingly, an opposite but nonsignificant pattern is found among the subset of orthologs that remained functionally conserved across all five lineages. These contrasting evolutionary patterns found between functionally diverged and functionally conserved reproductive orthologs provide evidence for pervasive and potentially cryptic lineage-specific selective processes on ancestral reproductive systems in vertebrates.

scholarly journals Role of the Digestive Gland in Ink Production in Four Species of Sea Hares: An Ultrastructural Comparison

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Prince ◽  
Paul Micah Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Digestive Gland ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Aplysia Californica ◽  
Digestive Cell ◽  
Digestive Cells ◽  
Sea Hare ◽  
Red Algal ◽  
The Common ◽  
Algal Chloroplast

The ultrastructure of the digestive gland of several sea hare species that produce different colored ink (Aplysia californicaproduces purple ink,A. julianawhite ink,A. parvulaboth white and purple ink, whileDolabrifera dolabriferaproduces no ink at all) was compared to determine the digestive gland’s role in the diet-derived ink production process. Rhodoplast digestive cells and their digestive vacuoles, the site of digestion of red algal chloroplast (i.e., rhodoplast) inA. californica, were present and had a similar ultrastructure in all four species. Rhodoplast digestive cell vacuoles either contained a whole rhodoplast or fragments of one or were empty. These results suggest that the inability to produce colored ink in some sea hare species is not due to either an absence of appropriate digestive machinery, that is, rhodoplast digestive cells, or an apparent failure of rhodoplast digestive cells to function. These results also propose that the digestive gland structure described herein occurred early in sea hare evolution, at least in the common ancestor to the generaAplysiaandDolabrifera. Our data, however, do not support the hypothesis that the loss of purple inking is a synapomorphy of the white-ink-producing subgenusAplysia.

scholarly journals Sexual reproduction and genetic exchange in parasitic protists

Parasitology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (S1) ◽  
pp. S120-S127 ◽  
Author(s):  
GARETH D. WEEDALL ◽  
NEIL HALL
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Genome Sequencing ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Animal Disease ◽  
Eukaryotic Evolution ◽  
Sequencing Technology ◽  
Parasite Reproduction ◽  
The Common ◽  
Higher Eukaryotes

SUMMARYA key part of the life cycle of an organism is reproduction. For a number of important protist parasites that cause human and animal disease, their sexuality has been a topic of debate for many years. Traditionally, protists were considered to be primitive relatives of the ‘higher’ eukaryotes, which may have diverged prior to the evolution of sex and to reproduce by binary fission. More recent views of eukaryotic evolution suggest that sex, and meiosis, evolved early, possibly in the common ancestor of all eukaryotes. However, detecting sex in these parasites is not straightforward. Recent advances, particularly in genome sequencing technology, have allowed new insights into parasite reproduction. Here, we review the evidence on reproduction in parasitic protists. We discuss protist reproduction in the light of parasitic life cycles and routes of transmission among hosts.

Whole-genome analysis-based phylogeographic investigation of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A sequence type 320 isolates in Japan.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Nakano ◽  
Takao Fujisawa ◽  
Bin Chang ◽  
Yutaka Ito ◽  
Hideki Akeda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Sampling Bias ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Whole Genome ◽  
Whole Genome Analysis ◽  
Identification Rate ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
The Common ◽  
The U.S

After the introduction of the seven-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, the global spread of multidrug resistant serotype 19A-ST320 strains became a public health concern. In Japan, the main genotype of serotype 19A was ST3111, and the identification rate of ST320 was low. Although the isolates were sporadically detected in both adults and children, their origin remains unknown. Thus, by combining pneumococcal isolates collected in three nationwide pneumococcal surveillance studies conducted in Japan between 2008 and 2020, we analyzed 56 serotype 19A-ST320 isolates along with 931 global isolates, using whole-genome sequencing to uncover the transmission route of the globally distributed clone in Japan. The clone was frequently detected in Okinawa Prefecture, where the U.S. returned to Japan in 1972. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the isolates from Japan were genetically related to those from the U.S.; therefore, the common ancestor may have originated in the U.S. In addition, Bayesian analysis suggested that the time to the most recent common ancestor of the isolates form Japan and the U.S. was approximately the 1990s to 2000, suggesting the possibility that the common ancestor could have already spread in the U.S. before the Taiwan 19F-14 isolate was first identified in a Taiwanese hospital in 1997. The phylogeographical analysis supported the transmission of the clone from the U.S. to Japan, but the analysis could be influenced by sampling bias. These results suggested the possibility that the serotype 19A-ST320 clone had already spread in the U.S. before being imported into Japan.

scholarly journals Comparing the folding landscapes of evolutionarily divergent procaspase-3

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liqi Yao ◽  
Clay Clark
Keyword(s):  
Conformational Change ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Folding Pathway ◽  
Free Energies ◽  
Folding Intermediates ◽  
Effector Caspases ◽  
The Common ◽  
Ph Dependent ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Dimeric Intermediate

All caspases evolved from a common ancestor and subsequently developed into two general classes, inflammatory or apoptotic caspases. The caspase-hemoglobinase fold has been conserved throughout nearly one billion years of evolution and is utilized for both the monomeric and dimeric subfamilies of apoptotic caspases, called initiator and effector caspases, respectively. We compared the folding and assembly of procaspase-3b from zebrafish to that of human effector procaspases in order to examine the conservation of the folding landscape. Urea-induced equilibrium folding/unfolding of procaspase-3b showed a minimum three-state folding pathway, where the native dimer isomerizes to a partially folded dimeric intermediate, which then unfolds. A partially folded monomeric intermediate observed in the folding landscape of human procaspase-3 is not well-populated in zebrafish procaspase-3b. By comparing effector caspases from different species, we show that the effector procaspase dimer undergoes a pH-dependent conformational change, and that the conformational species in the folding landscape exhibit similar free energies. Together, the data show that the landscape for the caspase-hemoglobinase fold is conserved, yet it provides flexibility for species-specific stabilization or destabilization of folding intermediates resulting in changes in stability. The common pH-dependent conformational change in the native dimer, which yields an enzymatically inactive species, may provide an additional, albeit reversible, mechanism for controlling caspase activity in the cell.

scholarly journals Loss of plastid developmental genes coincides with a reversion to monoplastidy in hornworts

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Istvan MacLeod ◽  
Parth K Raval ◽  
Simon Stockhorst ◽  
Michael Knopp ◽  
Eftychios Frangedakis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Nuclear Division ◽  
Developmental Pathways ◽  
Ancestral State ◽  
Plastid Division ◽  
Plastid Development ◽  
State Reconstruction ◽  
Transcriptomic Data ◽  
The Common ◽  
Almost All

The first plastid evolved from an endosymbiotic cyanobacterium in the common ancestor of the Archaeplastida. The transformative steps from cyanobacterium to organelle included the transfer of control over developmental processes; a necessity for the host to orchestrate, for example, the fission of the organelle. The plastids of almost all embryophytes divide independent from nuclear division, leading to cells housing multiple plastids. Hornworts, however, are monoplastidic (or near-monoplastidic) and their photosynthetic organelles are a curious exception among embryophytes for reasons such as the occasional presence of pyrenoids. Here we screened genomic and transcriptomic data of eleven hornworts for components of plastid developmental pathways. We find intriguing differences among hornworts and specifically highlight that pathway components involved in regulating plastid development and biogenesis were differentially lost in this group of bryophytes. In combination with ancestral state reconstruction, our data suggest that hornworts have reverted back to a monoplastidic phenotype due to the combined loss of two plastid division-associated genes: ARC3 and FtsZ2.

scholarly journals Introgression from Gorilla caused the Human-Chimpanzee split

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Nygren
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Nuclear Genome ◽  
Genome Project ◽  
Lineage Sorting ◽  
Chromosome 5 ◽  
Speciation Model ◽  
Introgression Event ◽  
The Common

ABSTRACT: The Gorilla Genome Project (Scally, 2012) showed that 30% of the gorilla genome introgressed into the ancestor of humans and chimpanzees, and that the two species diverged through lineage sorting with 15% ending up in Pan and another 15% in Homo. That introgression is the Pan-Homo split, hybridization, which led to speciation as the new hybrid lineages became reproductively isolated from one another. The NUMT on chromosome 5 (“ps5”) (Popadin, 2017) fits perfectly with the introgression speciation model, it was formed from mtDNA that had diverged from the common ancestor of Pan-Homo for 1.8 Myr at the time of insertion into the nuclear genome, and originated in the Gorilla lineage. The ps5 pseudogene was transferred to Pan and Homo during the introgression event that led to the Pan-Homo split, 6 million years ago.

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