| 1. |
- Holland, Linda Z, et al.
(författare)
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The amphioxus genome illuminates vertebrate origins and cephalochordate biology
- 2008
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Ingår i: Genome Research. - : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. - 1088-9051 .- 1549-5469. ; 18:7, s. 1100-1111
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cephalochordates, urochordates, and vertebrates evolved from a common ancestor over 520 million years ago. To improve our understanding of chordate evolution and the origin of vertebrates, we intensively searched for particular genes, gene families, and conserved noncoding elements in the sequenced genome of the cephalochordate Branchiostoma floridae, commonly called amphioxus or lancelets. Special attention was given to homeobox genes, opsin genes, genes involved in neural crest development, nuclear receptor genes, genes encoding components of the endocrine and immune systems, and conserved cis-regulatory enhancers. The amphioxus genome contains a basic set of chordate genes involved in development and cell signaling, including a fifteenth Hox gene. This set includes many genes that were co-opted in vertebrates for new roles in neural crest development and adaptive immunity. However, where amphioxus has a single gene, vertebrates often have two, three, or four paralogs derived from two whole-genome duplication events. In addition, several transcriptional enhancers are conserved between amphioxus and vertebrates--a very wide phylogenetic distance. In contrast, urochordate genomes have lost many genes, including a diversity of homeobox families and genes involved in steroid hormone function. The amphioxus genome also exhibits derived features, including duplications of opsins and genes proposed to function in innate immunity and endocrine systems. Our results indicate that the amphioxus genome is elemental to an understanding of the biology and evolution of nonchordate deuterostomes, invertebrate chordates, and vertebrates.
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| 2. |
- Ocampo Daza, Daniel, 1984-
(författare)
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Evolution of Vertebrate Endocrine and Neuronal Gene Families : Focus on Pituitary and Retina
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The duplication of genes followed by selection is perhaps the most prominent way in which molecular biological systems gain multiplicity, diversity and functional complexity in evolution. Whole genome duplications (WGDs) therefore have the potential of generating an extraordinary amount of evolutionary innovation. It is now accepted that the vertebrate lineage has gone through two rounds of WGD in its early stages, after the divergence of invertebrate chordates and before the emergence of jawed vertebrates. These basal vertebrate WGDs are called 2R for two rounds of whole genome duplication. An additional WGD called 3R occurred early in the evolution of teleost fishes, before the radiation of this species-rich group. This thesis describes the evolution of several endocrine and neuronal gene families in relation to the vertebrate WGDs, through a comparative genomic approach including both phylogenetic analyses and chromosomal location data across a wide range of vertebrate taxa.These results show that numerous endocrine gene families have expanded in 2R and in several cases also in 3R. These include the gene families of oxytocin and vasopressin receptors (OT/VP-R), somatostatin receptors (SSTR) and insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBP). For the OT/VP-R and SSTR families, previously undescribed subtypes were identified. The protein hormone family that includes growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and somatolactin (SL) acquired a new PRL gene in 2R, however the origins of GH, PRL and SL likely predate 2R. The corresponding family of receptors diversified during different time periods through a combination of local duplications and 3R.Neuronal gene families of the visual system have also expanded in 2R and 3R. The results presented here demonstrate that the vertebrate repertoire of visual opsin genes arose in 2R as part of chromosomal blocks that also include the OT/VP-R genes. The gene families including the transducin alpha, beta and gamma subunits also arose in 2R, hinting at the importance of these events in the diversification and specialization of phototransduction cascades for rods and cones.Thus, the whole genome duplications have been important contributors to the evolution of both vision and endocrine regulation in the vertebrates.
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| 3. |
- Sentchilo, Vladimir, et al.
(författare)
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Community-wide plasmid gene mobilization and selection
- 2013
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Ingår i: The ISME Journal. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1751-7362 .- 1751-7370. ; 7:6, s. 1173-1186
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plasmids have long been recognized as an important driver of DNA exchange and genetic innovation in prokaryotes. The success of plasmids has been attributed to their independent replication from the host's chromosome and their frequent self-transfer. It is thought that plasmids accumulate, rearrange and distribute nonessential genes, which may provide an advantage for host proliferation under selective conditions. In order to test this hypothesis independently of biases from culture selection, we study the plasmid metagenome from microbial communities in two activated sludge systems, one of which receives mostly household and the other chemical industry wastewater. We find that plasmids from activated sludge microbial communities carry among the largest proportion of unknown gene pools so far detected in metagenomic DNA, confirming their presumed role of DNA innovators. At a system level both plasmid metagenomes were dominated by functions associated with replication and transposition, and contained a wide variety of antibiotic and heavy metal resistances. Plasmid families were very different in the two metagenomes and grouped in deep-branching new families compared with known plasmid replicons. A number of abundant plasmid replicons could be completely assembled directly from the metagenome, providing insight in plasmid composition without culturing bias. Functionally, the two metagenomes strongly differed in several ways, including a greater abundance of genes for carbohydrate metabolism in the industrial and of general defense factors in the household activated sludge plasmid metagenome. This suggests that plasmids not only contribute to the adaptation of single individual prokaryotic species, but of the prokaryotic community as a whole under local selective conditions.
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| 4. |
- Sällman Almén, Markus, 1983-
(författare)
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The Membrane Proteome : Evolution, Characteristics and Classification
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Membrane proteins are found in all kingdoms of life and are essential for cellular interactions with the environment. Although a large research effort have been put into this group many membrane proteins remains uncharacterized, both in terms of function and evolutionary history. We have estimated the component of α-helical membrane proteins within the human proteome; the membrane proteome. We found that the human membrane proteome make up 27% of all protein, which we could classify the majority of into 234 families and further into three major functional groups: receptors, transporters or enzymes. We extended this analysis by determining the membrane proteome of 24 organisms that covers all major groups of eukaryotes. This comprehensive membrane protein catalog of over 100,000 proteins was utilized to determine the evolutionary history of all membrane protein families throughout eukaryotes. We also investigated the evolutionary history across eukaryotes of the antiviral Interferon induced transmembrane proteins (IFITM) and the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily in detail. We identified ten novel human homologs to the IFITM proteins, which together with the known IFITMs forms a family that we call the Dispanins. Using phylogenetic analysis we show that the Dispanins first emerged in eukaryotes in a common ancestor of choanoflagellates and animals, and that the family later expanded in vertebrates into four subfamilies. The GPCR superfamily was mined across eukaryotic species and we present evidence for a common origin for four of the five main human GPCR families; Rhodopsin, Frizzled, Adhesion and Secretin in the cAMP receptor family that was found in non-metazoans and invertebrates, but has been lost in vertebrates. Here we present the first accurate estimation of the human proteome together with comprehensive functional and evolutionary classification and extend it to organisms that represents all major eukaryotic groups. Moreover, we identify a novel protein family, the Dispanins, which has an evolutionary history that has been formed by horizontal gene transfer from bacteria followed by expansions in the animal lineage. We also study the evolution of the GPCR superfamily throughout eukaryotic evolution and provide a comprehensive model of the evolution and relationship of these receptors.
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