scholarly journals Evolutionary history of the vertebrate Piwi gene family

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12451
Author(s):  
Javier Gutierrez ◽  
Roy Platt ◽  
Juan C. Opazo ◽  
David A. Ray ◽  
Federico Hoffmann ◽  
...  

PIWIs are regulatory proteins that belong to the Argonaute family. Piwis are primarily expressed in gonads and protect the germline against the mobilization and propagation of transposable elements (TEs) through transcriptional gene silencing. Vertebrate genomes encode up to four Piwi genes: Piwil1, Piwil2, Piwil3 and Piwil4, but their duplication history is unresolved. We leveraged phylogenetics, synteny and expression analyses to address this void. Our phylogenetic analysis suggests Piwil1 and Piwil2 were retained in all vertebrate members. Piwil4 was the result of Piwil1 duplication in the ancestor of gnathostomes, but was independently lost in ray-finned fishes and birds. Further, Piwil3 was derived from a tandem Piwil1 duplication in the common ancestor of marsupial and placental mammals, but was secondarily lost in Atlantogenata (Xenarthra and Afrotheria) and some rodents. The evolutionary rate of Piwil3 is considerably faster than any Piwi among all lineages, but an explanation is lacking. Our expression analyses suggest Piwi expression has mostly been constrained to gonads throughout vertebrate evolution. Vertebrate evolution is marked by two early rounds of whole genome duplication and many multigene families are linked to these events. However, our analyses suggest Piwi expansion was independent of whole genome duplications.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Montserrat Olivares ◽  
Gianluca Merello ◽  
Daniel Verbel ◽  
Marcela Gonzalez ◽  
María Andrés ◽  
...  

Abstract Lysine-specific demethylase 1A (LSD1) binds to RCOR gene family of corepressors to erase transcriptionally active marks on histones. Functional diversity in these complexes depends on the type of RCOR included, which modulates the complex´s catalytic activity. We studied the duplicative history of RCOR and LSD gene families, and analyzed the evolution of their interaction. We found that RCOR genes are the product of the two rounds of whole-genome duplications that occurred early in vertebrate evolution. In contrast, the origin of the LSD genes traces back before to the divergence of animals and plants. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments using resurrected RCOR and LSD1 proteins of the jawed vertebrate ancestor, and the common hop, date the origin of LSD1-RCOR interaction to the ancestor of animals, fungi, and plants. Overall, we trace LSD1-RCOR complex evolution and propose that animal, fungi, and plant non-model species offer advantages in addressing questions about the molecular biology of this epigenetic complex.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makenzie E. Mabry ◽  
Julia M. Brose ◽  
Paul D. Blischak ◽  
Brittany Sutherland ◽  
Wade T. Dismukes ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTWhole-genome duplications (WGDs) are prevalent throughout the evolutionary history of plants. For example, dozens of WGDs have been phylogenetically localized across the order Brassicales, specifically, within the family Brassicaceae. However, while its sister family, Cleomaceae, has also been characterized by a WGD, its placement, as well as that of other WGD events in other families in the order, remains unclear. Using phylo-transcriptomics from 74 taxa and genome survey sequencing for 66 of those taxa, we infer nuclear and chloroplast phylogenies to assess relationships among the major families of the Brassicales and within the Brassicaceae. We then use multiple methods of WGD inference to assess placement of WGD events. We not only present well-supported chloroplast and nuclear phylogenies for the Brassicales, but we also putatively place Th-α and provide evidence for previously unknown events, including one shared by at least two members of the Resedaceae, which we name Rs-α. Given its economic importance and many genomic resources, the Brassicales are an ideal group to continue assessing WGD inference methods. We add to the current conversation on WGD inference difficulties, by demonstrating that sampling is especially important for WGD identification.


2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Mathäs ◽  
Oliver Burk ◽  
Huan Qiu ◽  
Christian Nußhag ◽  
Ute Gödtel-Armbrust ◽  
...  

Abstract The xenosensing constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) is widely considered to have arisen in early mammals via duplication of the pregnane X receptor (PXR). We report that CAR emerged together with PXR and the vitamin D receptor from an ancestral NR1I gene already in early vertebrates, as a result of whole-genome duplications. CAR genes were subsequently lost from the fish lineage, but they are conserved in all taxa of land vertebrates. This contrasts with PXR, which is found in most fish species, whereas it is lost from Sauropsida (reptiles and birds) and plays a role unrelated to xenosensing in Xenopus. This role is fulfilled in Xenopus by CAR, which exhibits low basal activity and pronounced responsiveness to activators such as drugs and steroids, altogether resembling mammalian PXR. The constitutive activity typical for mammalian CAR emerged first in Sauropsida, and it is thus common to all fully terrestrial land vertebrates (Amniota). The constitutive activity can be achieved by humanizing just two amino acids of the Xenopus CAR. Taken together, our results provide a comprehensive reconstruction of the evolutionary history of the NR1I subfamily of nuclear receptors. They identify CAR as the more conserved and remarkably plastic NR1I xenosensor in land vertebrates. Nonmammalian CAR should help to dissect the specific functions of PXR and CAR in the metabolism of xeno- and endobiotics in humans. Xenopus CAR is a first reported amphibian xenosensor, which opens the way to toxicogenomic and bioaugmentation studies in this critically endangered taxon of land vertebrates.


Author(s):  
Xinyi Guo ◽  
Terezie Mandáková ◽  
Karolína Trachtová ◽  
Barış Özüdoğru ◽  
Jianquan Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Pervasive hybridization and whole genome duplications (WGDs) influenced genome evolution in several eukaryotic lineages. While frequent and recurrent hybridizations may result in reticulate phylogenies, the evolutionary events underlying these reticulations, including detailed structure of the ancestral diploid and polyploid genomes, were only rarely reconstructed. Here, we elucidate the complex genomic history of a monophyletic clade from the mustard family (Brassicaceae), showing contentious relationships to the early-diverging clades of this model plant family. Genome evolution in the crucifer tribe Biscutelleae (c. 60 species, 5 genera) was dominated by pervasive hybridizations and subsequent genome duplications. Diversification of an ancestral diploid genome into several divergent but crossable genomes was followed by hybridizations between these genomes. Whereas a single genus (Megadenia) remained diploid, the four remaining genera originated by allopolyploidy (Biscutella, Lunaria, Ricotia) or autopolyploidy (Heldreichia). The contentious relationships among the Biscutelleae genera, and between the tribe and other early diverged crucifer lineages, are best explained by close genomic relatedness among the recurrently hybridizing ancestral genomes. By using complementary cytogenomics and phylogenomics approaches, we demonstrate that the origin of a monophyletic plant clade can be more complex than a parsimonious assumption of a single WGD spurring post-polyploid cladogenesis. Instead, recurrent hybridization among the same and/or closely related parental genomes may phylogenetically interlink diploid and polyploid genomes despite the incidence of multiple independent WGDs. Our results provide new insights into evolution of early-diverging Brassicaceae lineages and elucidate challenges in resolving the contentious relationships within and between land plant lineages with pervasive hybridization and WGDs.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gökçe Aköz ◽  
Magnus Nordborg

AbstractBackgroundWhole-genome duplications (WGD) have dominated the evolutionary history of plants. One consequence of WGD is a dramatic restructuring of the genome as it undergoes diploidization, a process under which deletions and rearrangements of various sizes scramble the genetic material, leading to a repacking of the genome and eventual return to diploidy. Here, we investigate the history of WGD in the columbine genus Aquilegia, a basal eudicot, and use it to illuminate the origins of the core eudicots.ResultsWithin-genome synteny confirms that columbines are ancient tetraploids, and comparison with the grape genome reveals that this tetraploidy appears to be shared with the core eudicots. Thus, the ancient gamma hexaploidy found in all core eudicots must have involved a two-step process: first tetraploidy in the ancestry of all eudicots, then hexaploidy in the ancestry of core eudicots. Furthermore, the precise pattern of synteny sharing suggests that the latter involved allopolyploidization, and that core eudicots thus have a hybrid origin.ConclusionsNovel analyses of synteny sharing together with the well-preserved structure of the columbine genome reveal that the gamma hexaploidy at the root of core eudicots is likely a result of hybridization between a tetraploid and a diploid species.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gökçe Aköz ◽  
Magnus Nordborg

Abstract Background Whole-genome duplications (WGDs) have dominated the evolutionary history of plants. One consequence of WGD is a dramatic restructuring of the genome as it undergoes diploidization, a process under which deletions and rearrangements of various sizes scramble the genetic material, leading to a repacking of the genome and eventual return to diploidy. Here, we investigate the history of WGD in the columbine genus Aquilegia, a basal eudicot, and use it to illuminate the origins of the core eudicots. Results Within-genome synteny confirms that columbines are ancient tetraploids, and comparison with the grape genome reveals that this tetraploidy appears to be shared with the core eudicots. Thus, the ancient gamma hexaploidy found in all core eudicots must have involved a two-step process: first, tetraploidy in the ancestry of all eudicots, then hexaploidy in the ancestry of core eudicots. Furthermore, the precise pattern of synteny sharing suggests that the latter involved allopolyploidization and that core eudicots thus have a hybrid origin. Conclusions Novel analyses of synteny sharing together with the well-preserved structure of the columbine genome reveal that the gamma hexaploidy at the root of core eudicots is likely a result of hybridization between a tetraploid and a diploid species.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 156 (3) ◽  
pp. 1249-1257
Author(s):  
Ilya Ruvinsky ◽  
Lee M Silver ◽  
Jeremy J Gibson-Brown

Abstract The duplication of preexisting genes has played a major role in evolution. To understand the evolution of genetic complexity it is important to reconstruct the phylogenetic history of the genome. A widely held view suggests that the vertebrate genome evolved via two successive rounds of whole-genome duplication. To test this model we have isolated seven new T-box genes from the primitive chordate amphioxus. We find that each amphioxus gene generally corresponds to two or three vertebrate counterparts. A phylogenetic analysis of these genes supports the idea that a single whole-genome duplication took place early in vertebrate evolution, but cannot exclude the possibility that a second duplication later took place. The origin of additional paralogs evident in this and other gene families could be the result of subsequent, smaller-scale chromosomal duplications. Our findings highlight the importance of amphioxus as a key organism for understanding evolution of the vertebrate genome.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1190
Author(s):  
Yuqi Huang ◽  
Minghao Sun ◽  
Lenan Zhuang ◽  
Jin He

Androgen-inducible genes (AIGs), which can be regulated by androgen level, constitute a group of genes characterized by the presence of the AIG/FAR-17a domain in its protein sequence. Previous studies on AIGs demonstrated that one member of the gene family, AIG1, is involved in many biological processes in cancer cell lines and that ADTRP is associated with cardiovascular diseases. It has been shown that the numbers of AIG paralogs in humans, mice, and zebrafish are 2, 2, and 3, respectively, indicating possible gene duplication events during vertebrate evolution. Therefore, classifying subgroups of AIGs and identifying the homologs of each AIG member are important to characterize this novel gene family further. In this study, vertebrate AIGs were phylogenetically grouped into three major clades, ADTRP, AIG1, and AIG-L, with AIG-L also evident in an outgroup consisting of invertebrsate species. In this case, AIG-L, as the ancestral AIG, gave rise to ADTRP and AIG1 after two rounds of whole-genome duplications during vertebrate evolution. Then, the AIG family, which was exposed to purifying forces during evolution, lost or gained some of its members in some species. For example, in eutherians, Neognathae, and Percomorphaceae, AIG-L was lost; in contrast, Salmonidae and Cyprinidae acquired additional AIG copies. In conclusion, this study provides a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic analysis of vertebrate AIGs, which can be employed for future functional characterization of AIGs.


Mammalia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mourad Ahmim ◽  
Hafid Aroudj ◽  
Farouk Aroudj ◽  
Saaid Saidi ◽  
Samir Aroudj

Abstract The common genet (Genetta genetta Linnaeus, 1758) is a rare and protected mammal species in Algeria. We report the first melanistic individual of this species ever recorded in North Africa. Such animals have only been recorded in Spain and Portugal so far. It is unclear why melanistic common genets seem to be so rare in its African range. More research is needed to determine the true occurrence of melanistic individuals, and what the evolutionary history of melanism is in common genets.


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