PMID: 9419235Feb 21, 1998Paper

Rapid evolution of a homeodomain: evidence for positive selection

Journal of Molecular Evolution
K A Sutton, Miles F Wilkinson

Abstract

One often-noted feature of homeobox genes is the conservation of the homeodomain among orthologous genes from distantly related species. This sequence conservation is presumed to reflect functional conservation, which indeed has been demonstrated in several cases. We analyzed the evolution of an orphan homeobox gene, Pem, which is expressed preferentially in male and female reproductive tissue. Sequence analysis of 12 species of mice and rats indicated that the Pem gene has evolved at a remarkably high rate. The most rapidly evolving region of the Pem protein is the amino portion of the homeodomain, including the flexible N-terminal arm, helices I and II, and the linker regions between the helices. In contrast, the third helix, which is known to mediate base-specific DNA contacts in other homeodomains, is conserved in the Pem protein. Analysis of the ratio of nonsynonymous and synonymous codon substitution rates within the Pem homeodomain suggested that its divergence was driven by adaptive selection. The rate of nonsynonymous substitutions in Pem was higher than that of the sex-determination gene Sry, which also appears to have undergone directional selection over a short evolutionary period. Despite the rapid evolution of the...Continue Reading

Citations

Dec 15, 2000·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Z Yang, J P Bielawski
Oct 31, 2003·Gene·Nick G C Smith, Adam Eyre-Walker
Aug 15, 2013·Human Molecular Genetics·Marcy E RichardsonMiles F Wilkinson
Aug 27, 2005·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Masatoshi Nei
Mar 27, 2001·Molecular Biology and Evolution·L Lukens, J Doebley
Sep 14, 2000·Genes & Genetic Systems·R S Singh, R J Kulathinal
Jul 9, 2004·Genetics·Xiaoxia Wang, Jianzhi Zhang
May 1, 2010·Reproduction : the Official Journal of the Society for the Study of Fertility·James A MacLean, Miles F Wilkinson
Feb 28, 2001·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·W J SwansonC F Aquadro
Apr 22, 2005·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·G Bell
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Feb 15, 2005·Cell·James A MacleanMiles F Wilkinson
Jul 30, 2002·Molecular Ecology·Michael J Ford
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Dec 6, 2002·Nature·UNKNOWN Mouse Genome Sequencing ConsortiumEric S Lander
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Oct 15, 2013·The Journal of Biological Chemistry·James A MacLeanMiles F Wilkinson
Nov 18, 2006·Molecular Diversity·Tomohisa Ogawa
Nov 9, 2002·Science·Gary T Miller, Scott Pitnick

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