4.8 Article

Tunicates Illuminate the Enigmatic Evolution of Chordate Metallothioneins by Gene Gains and Losses, Independent Modular Expansions, and Functional Convergences

Journal

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Volume 38, Issue 10, Pages 4435-4448

Publisher

OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab184

Keywords

metallothionein domains; modular proteins; Chordata; Tunicata; ascidians; thaliaceans; appendicularians; metallothionein evolution

Funding

  1. Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion
  2. UAB the PIF grant
  3. Grup de Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya [2017SGR-864, 2017SGR-1665]
  4. [BIO2015-67358-C2-1-P]
  5. [BFU2016-80601-P]
  6. [PID2019-110562GB-I00]
  7. [BIO2015-67358-C2-2-P]

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The study focused on the evolution of metallothioneins (MTs), revealing significant structural and functional differences among different types of MTs, suggesting a complex evolutionary history of chordate MTs.
To investigate novel patterns and processes of protein evolution, we have focused in the metallothioneins (MTs), a singular group of metal-binding, cysteine-rich proteins that, due to their high degree of sequence diversity, still represents a black hole in Evolutionary Biology. We have identified and analyzed more than 160 new MTs in nonvertebrate chordates (especially in 37 species of ascidians, 4 thaliaceans, and 3 appendicularians) showing that prototypic tunicate MTs are mono-modular proteins with a pervasive preference for cadmium ions, whereas vertebrate and cephalochordate MTs are bimodular proteins with diverse metal preferences. These structural and functional differences imply a complex evolutionary history of chordate MTs-including de novo emergence of genes and domains, processes of convergent evolution, events of gene gains and losses, and recurrent amplifications of functional domains-that would stand for an unprecedented case in the field of protein evolution.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.8
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available