拟南芥MtN3/saliva基因家族分析

MtN3/saliva基因家族是含有2个MtN3/saliva跨膜结构域的膜整合蛋白,其成员广泛存在于真核生物中.目前对该家族功能研究较少,对其跨膜结构域的分子功能还不清楚.在拟南芥中该家族有18个成员,除了最近克隆的RPGl以外其他MtN3/saliva基因的功能均不清楚.对拟南芥MtN3/saliva基因家族进行了较为全面的分析,包括基因结构、染色体分布、蛋白结构域、系统进化关系、基因表达谱等.对其中预测在花药中高表达的4个基因进行了实时定量PCR分析,证实有3个基因在花中高效表达.这些结果促进了对MtN3/saliva基因家族的深入了解.     

昆虫致病性斯氏线虫亲环素基因的克隆、特征及表达分析(英文)

亲环蛋白(Cyclophilin)广泛存在于原核和真核生物中,在进化过程中结构保守,多数具有肽基脯氨酰基顺反异构酶活性。本文在斯氏线虫(Steinernema carpocapsae)差减杂交分析的基础上,克隆一个亲环蛋白基因(Sca-CYN)。该胞质蛋白有171个氨基酸组成,分子量约为16.2kD,等电点约为6.89。BLAST分析表明,Sca-CYN蛋白与线虫、昆虫及其它生物亲环蛋白的序列一致性达75%~89%。基因表达分析显示该基因在寄生初期就上调表达。序列比较及进化标记分析发现Sca-CYN为秀丽隐杆线虫亲环蛋白3的直系同源蛋白。同源建模分析显示该蛋白具有亲环蛋白的经典三维结构。系统发育分析结果表明该蛋白在进化早期与其同源基因分离。研究结果为进一步研究该基因功能及探讨线虫亲环蛋白基因家族的分子进化提供基础。     

昆虫致病性斯氏线虫亲环素基因的克隆、特征及表达分析

亲环蛋白(Cyclophilin)广泛存在于原核和真核生物中,在进化过程中结构保守,多数具有肽基脯氨酰基顺反异构酶活性。本文在斯氏线虫(Steinernema car poca psae)差减杂交分析的基础上,克隆一个亲环蛋白基因(Sca-CYN)。该胞质蛋白有171个氨基酸组成,分子量约为16.2kD,等电点约为6.89。BLAST分析表明,Sca-CYN蛋白与线虫、昆虫及其它生物亲环蛋白的序列一致性达75%~89%。基因表达分析显示该基因在寄生初期就上调表达。序列比较及进化标记分析发现Sca-CYN为秀丽隐杆线虫亲环蛋白3的直系同源蛋白。同源建模分析显示该蛋白具有亲环蛋白的经典三维结构。系统发育分析结果表明该蛋白在进化早期与其同源基因分离。研究结果为进一步研究该基因功能及探讨线虫亲环蛋白基因家族的分子进化提供基础。
     

文昌鱼Pax1/9基因上游调控区的克隆及分析

脊椎动物Pax1/9是一重要的发育调控基因亚家族,文昌鱼基因组中仅有单一的该亚家族直系同源基因Amphi-Pax1/9,为检验此基因上游调控元件的功能在脊椎动物体内是否具有通用性,将文昌鱼Pax1/9基因上游约4.6 kb的侧翼序列与绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)报告基因连接,构建重组质粒表达载体(pAmphiPax1/9-AcGFP),显微注射斑马鱼胚胎,并以斑马鱼Pax1和Pax9的上游同源序列为阳性对照.结果表明,阳性对照斑马鱼胚胎中GFP能够表达,但注射pAm-phiPax1/9-AcGFP质粒的斑马鱼胚胎中无明显的GFP表达,这一现象可能是由于Pax1/9上游调控序列在二物种间存在较大的进化差异,启动元件具有物种特异性.     

FZD蛋白家族的起源与演化分析

FZD(Frizzled)蛋白家族是Wnt信号通路的跨膜受体,在动物发育过程中起着非常关键的作用.通过对不同物种(从单细胞动物到哺乳动物)基因组中FZD家族基因的检索,发现FZD蛋白家族起源于早期的、与海绵动物具有共同祖先的后生动物.进化分析结果表明,FZD蛋白家族分为4个亚家族:FZD1/2/3/4/6/7亚家族、FZD5/8亚家族、FZD4亚家族和FZD9/10亚家族;不同亚家族之间的motif组成不同,但在C端都含有一个保守的KTXXXW motif.进化速率分析结果表明,尽管FZD蛋白家族成员在演化过程中受到较强的纯化选择,但是在其基因发生复制或motif组成变化的分支上仍有正选择的作用.该结果可为进一步理解FZD蛋白家族的起源与演化动态提供一定的参考.     

硫酯蛋白家族保守区域分析

硫酯蛋白家族(thioester-containing proteins,TEPs)广泛分布于动物界,在动物非特异性免疫反应中发挥了重要的作用,然而其家族成员多,分子进化关系复杂.本研究从基因数据库中挑取已收录TEPs家族各成员的氨基酸全序列,包括α2-巨球蛋白、补体3、补体4、murinoglobulins、卵巨球蛋白、妊娠区带蛋白,α-1-抑制因子等.多重序列比对分析TEPs家族各成员间功能位点和保守区域的变化,构建系统进化树分析TEPs家族分子进化.TEPs家族除保守的GC*EQ**硫酯键区域及两侧的脯氨酸残基,还有7个完全保守的氨基酸残基及G*****Q*T,FPETW,QTD,KPTVK等保守区域.上述分析结果可为深入研究TEPs家族分子进化及动物非特异性免疫进化提供参考.     

SUN-domain蛋白家族在植物中的研究进展

SUN-domain蛋白家族是植物细胞膜上核骨架与细胞骨架连接复合体(LINC)的重要组成成分,在细胞核的形态、定位和迁移以及染色体移动和配对的过程中均发挥着重要作用.由于功能域在编码基因中所在位置不同,SUN-domain蛋白家族可以分为羧基端SUN-domain蛋白(Cter-SUN)亚家族和中间SUN-domain蛋白(Mid-SUN)亚家族. Cter-SUN蛋白定位于内核膜上,而Mid-SUN蛋白在核周质、内质网上均有出现.受基因复制事件和选择性剪切事件的影响,SUN-domain蛋白家族在不同植物中的成员数目和功能作用也存在一定的差异.从系统进化上来看,SUN-domain蛋白家族的起源古老,可能出现在单细胞生物进化为多细胞生物之前.根据目前对植物SUN-domain蛋白的理解,文章阶段性总结了该蛋白家族在植物各主要类群中的成员组成、编码基因的特点和表达模式以及各蛋白的功能特性等方面的研究进展,为深入理解该蛋白家族在植物进化中的作用奠定了基础.     

文昌鱼eIF5A基因的克隆和进化学分析

对文昌鱼神经胚cDNA文库进行测序和系统分析，首次从青岛文昌鱼(Brachiostoma belcheri tsingtauense)中成功得到1个eIFSA基因的cDNA序列，分析其推导的氨基酸序列揭示该基因产物具有eIF-5A家族蛋白质共有的保守区．对其二级结构进行预测，序列同源性分析表明eIF-5A家族基因在所有的真核生物中都高度保守．进化生物学的分析显示文昌鱼的eIF5A基因与脊椎动物的同源性较高，     

青岛文昌鱼hedgehog基因表达图式的研究

Ｈｅｄｇｅｈｏｇ（ｈｈ）家族基因编码一类分泌性信号分子,在果蝇的体节和成虫盘等的图式形成和脊椎动物脊索、神经管、体节和肢等的发育中起着关键作用．探讨原索动物文昌鱼ｈｈ基因的功能,对于研究脊椎动物发育机制的进化具有重要意义．本文报道了用整体原位杂交方法,研究不同发育时期文昌鱼胚胎和幼体ｈｈ基因表达图式的结果,并对文昌鱼ｈｈ基因的功能和ｈｈ家族同源基因功能的演化进行了讨论．文昌鱼ｈｈ基因在脊索和神经管中的表达图式与脊椎动物Ｓｈｈ基因相似,其功能可能是介导脊索的诱导．     

miR-430基因簇的生物信息学分析

很多microRNA （miRNA）基因在基因组上紧密排列形成miRNA基因簇,mir-430是目前已发现的最大miR-NA基因簇,但其起源和进化方面却是未知的.为了揭示mir-430基因簇的起源及其在相关物种的进化关系,文中基于miRNA序列同源保守的特点,采用BLAST程序在NCBI基因数据库中搜索mir-430序列,在14个物种中共搜索到35个mir-430基因序列,这14个物种都为硬骨鱼类.多序列对比发现mir-430基因簇成熟序列的第2到第8位碱基以及第16到第22位碱基为保守序列.进化分析表明七鳃鳗的pma-mir-430基因可能是此基因家族最早出现的基因形式,并且pma-mir-430e可能是其他物种mir-430基因的祖先基因.祖先基因经过个别碱基的缺失及突变、串联重复和大片段重复等方式形成了mir-430基因簇.该研究通过分析不同物种中mir-430基因簇的特征,揭示mir-430基因簇的分子进化规律,为其调控网络和功能研究提供理论基础.     

青岛文昌鱼碱性肌球蛋白轻链MLC-alk基因片段的克隆

碱性肌球蛋白轻链是构成球蛋白头部的必需分子，采用简并引物PCR方法获得青岛文昌鱼碱性肌球轻链基因片段，并对其氨基酸序列与其他生物如鸡和人的胚胎裂、骨骼肌型、平滑肌型、心肌型、非肌型等多种碱性肌球蛋白轻链基因家庭成员相应片段进行了同源性分析，均显示较高的同源性，研究结果支持青岛文昌鱼具有1个，可能也仅有1个碱性肌球蛋白轻链基因，碱性肌球蛋白轻链基因原倍增可能发生在脊椎动物与文昌鱼在进化中分支之后。     

Unexpected complexity of the Wnt gene family in a sea anemone

The Wnt gene family encodes secreted signalling molecules that control cell fate in animal development and human diseases. Despite its significance, the evolution of this metazoan-specific protein family is unclear. In vertebrates, twelve Wnt subfamilies were defined, of which only six have counterparts in Ecdysozoa (for example, Drosophila and Caenorhabditis). Here, we report the isolation of twelve Wnt genes from the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, a species representing the basal group within cnidarians. Cnidarians are diploblastic animals and the sister-group to bilaterian metazoans. Phylogenetic analyses of N. vectensis Wnt genes reveal a thus far unpredicted ancestral diversity within the Wnt family. Cnidarians and bilaterians have at least eleven of the twelve known Wnt gene subfamilies in common; five subfamilies appear to be lost in the protostome lineage. Expression patterns of Wnt genes during N. vectensis embryogenesis indicate distinct roles of Wnts in gastrulation, resulting in serial overlapping expression domains along the primary axis of the planula larva. This unexpectedly complex inventory of Wnt family signalling factors evolved in early multi-cellular animals about 650 million years (Myr) ago, predating the Cambrian explosion by at least 100 Myr (refs 5, 8). It emphasizes the crucial function of Wnt genes in the diversification of eumetazoan body plans.     

Genome duplication in the teleost fish Tetraodon nigroviridis reveals the early vertebrate proto-karyotype

Tetraodon nigroviridis is a freshwater puffer fish with the smallest known vertebrate genome. Here, we report a draft genome sequence with long-range linkage and substantial anchoring to the 21 Tetraodon chromosomes. Genome analysis provides a greatly improved fish gene catalogue, including identifying key genes previously thought to be absent in fish. Comparison with other vertebrates and a urochordate indicates that fish proteins have diverged markedly faster than their mammalian homologues. Comparison with the human genome suggests approximately 900 previously unannotated human genes. Analysis of the Tetraodon and human genomes shows that whole-genome duplication occurred in the teleost fish lineage, subsequent to its divergence from mammals. The analysis also makes it possible to infer the basic structure of the ancestral bony vertebrate genome, which was composed of 12 chromosomes, and to reconstruct much of the evolutionary history of ancient and recent chromosome rearrangements leading to the modern human karyotype.     

Human pro alpha 1(I) collagen gene structure reveals evolutionary conservation of a pattern of introns and exons

The collagens represent an interesting example of a structurally related but genetically distinct family of proteins. Type I, the most abundant of the vertebrate collagens, comprises two pro alpha 1(I) chains and one pro alpha 2(I) chain, each containing terminal propeptides and a central domain of 338 (Gly, X, Y) repeats. The structure of the chicken pro alpha 2(I) gene shows an intriguing relationship between exon organization and the arrangement of (Gly, X, Y) repeats (see ref. 2 for review). This has led to the suggestion that the collagens evolved from a common ancestral unit of 54 base pairs (bp). Here we present the structure of the entire human pro alpha 1(I) gene and compare this with the chicken pro alpha 2(I). The exon arrangement of the two genes is remarkably similar, although the human pro alpha 1(I) is more compact because of the shorter length of its introns. The data strongly support the notion that the type I genes have evolved from an ancestral multi-exon unit, and that once the gene was translated, a strong evolutionary pressure caused it to maintain this elaborate structure.     

Independent evolution of striated muscles in cnidarians and bilaterians

Striated muscles are present in bilaterian animals (for example, vertebrates, insects and annelids) and some non-bilaterian eumetazoans (that is, cnidarians and ctenophores). The considerable ultrastructural similarity of striated muscles between these animal groups is thought to reflect a common evolutionary origin. Here we show that a muscle protein core set, including a type II myosin heavy chain (MyHC) motor protein characteristic of striated muscles in vertebrates, was already present in unicellular organisms before the origin of multicellular animals. Furthermore, 'striated muscle' and 'non-muscle' myhc orthologues are expressed differentially in two sponges, compatible with a functional diversification before the origin of true muscles and the subsequent use of striated muscle MyHC in fast-contracting smooth and striated muscle. Cnidarians and ctenophores possess striated muscle myhc orthologues but lack crucial components of bilaterian striated muscles, such as genes that code for titin and the troponin complex, suggesting the convergent evolution of striated muscles. Consistently, jellyfish orthologues of a shared set of bilaterian Z-disc proteins are not associated with striated muscles, but are instead expressed elsewhere or ubiquitously. The independent evolution of eumetazoan striated muscles through the addition of new proteins to a pre-existing, ancestral contractile apparatus may serve as a model for the evolution of complex animal cell types.     

人类抗体重排机制的起源

 重组激活基因（RAG）蛋白介导的抗体重排是脊椎动物适应性免疫系统的核心,抗体重排机制的起源一直是免疫学研究的热点。本研究以有活化石之称的文昌鱼为对象,对多个文昌鱼基因组草图进行深度信息学分析,发现了一个全新DNA转座子ProtoRAG。进一步功能研究表明,ProtoRAG编码的蛋白能够介导自身的转座和宿主DNA的重排,其作用机制与人类抗体蛋白介导的抗体重排机制基本一致。因此,ProtoRAG就是研究人员长期搜寻的祖先RAG转座子的“分子活化石”,该发现为诺贝尔生理学或医学奖获得者利根川进提出的“抗体重排机制转座子起源”假说提供了最有力和最直接的证据。     

Squid major lens polypeptides are homologous to glutathione S-transferases subunits

The eye lenses of cephalopods and vertebrates evolved relatively recently and by independent routes. They provide a good experimental model for the study of convergent evolution at the protein level. One proposal is that pre-existing proteins were recruited as structural eye lens proteins during evolution. This has been confirmed for the vertebrate eye lens structural proteins, or crystallins, which have been intensively studied. Despite the limited information about cephalopod eye lenses, it has been suggested that glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are a possible evolutionary ancestor of the squid major lens proteins. Recently, the N-terminal sequence of the squid major lens protein was shown to be 55% homologous with that of the Ya subunit of the rat GST. Here, we demonstrate that the squid major lens polypeptides are encoded by a gene family of at least three members. We characterize two cDNAs corresponding to these genes and show they probably either are GST subunits themselves, or share an evolutionary ancestor with them.     

ras-Related gene sequences identified and isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The oncogenes of Harvey and Kirsten murine sarcoma viruses (v-rasH and v-rasK) and their cellular homologues (c-rasH and c-rasK) constitute two members of the ras gene family. Each functional member of the ras gene family encodes a 21,000 molecular weight protein (p21ras). ras genes have been detected in a wide variety of vertebrate species, including Xenopus laevis (R. E. Steele, personal communication), and in Drosophila melanogaster. We report here the detection of ras-related genes in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the isolation of two ras-related molecular clones, c-rassc-1 and c-rassc-2, from the DNA of Saccharomyces. Both c-rassc-1 and c-rassc-2 hybridize specifically to probes prepared from mammalian ras DNA. Sequencing of c-rassc-1 reveals extensive amino acid homology between the protein encoded by c-rassc-1 and the p21 encoded by c-rasH. Our studies suggest that these clones can be used to elucidate the normal cellular functions of ras-related genes in this relatively simple eukaryotic organism.     

Nucleotide sequence of the rat skeletal muscle actin gene

The actins constitute a family of highly conserved proteins found in all eukaryotic cells. Their conservation through a very wide range of taxonomic groups and the existence of tissue-specific isoforms make the actin genes very interesting for the study of the evolution of genes and their controlling elements. On the basis of amino acid sequence data, at least six different mammalian actins have been identified (skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, two smooth muscle actins and the cytoplasmic beta- and gamma-actins). Rat spleen DNA digested by the EcoRI restriction enzyme contains at least 12 different fragments with actin-like sequences but only one which hybridized, in very stringent conditions, with the skeletal muscle cloned cDNA probe. Here we describe the sequence of the actin gene in that fragment. The nucleotide sequence codes for two amino acids, Met-Cys, preceding the known N-terminal Asp of the mature protein. There are five small introns in the coding region and a large intron in the 5'-untranslated region. Comparison of the structure of the rat skeletal muscle actin gene with available data on actin genes from other organisms shows that while the sequenced actin genes from Drosophila and yeast have introns at different locations, introns located at codons specifying amino acids 41, 121, 204 and 267 have been preserved at least from the echinoderm to the vertebrates. A similar analysis has been done by Davidson. An intron at codon 150 is common to a plant actin gene and the skeletal muscle acting gene.