Unexpected Dynamic Gene Family Evolution in Algal Actins | Zendy

Min Wu | Zendy; Josep M. Comeron | Zendy; Hwan Su Yoon | Zendy; Debashish Bhattacharya | Zendy

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Unexpected Dynamic Gene Family Evolution in Algal Actins

Author(s) -

Min Wu,

Josep M. Comeron,

Hwan Su Yoon,

Debashish Bhattacharya

Publication year - 2008

Publication title -

molecular biology and evolution

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 6.637

H-Index - 218

eISSN - 1537-1719

pISSN - 0737-4038

DOI - 10.1093/molbev/msn263

Subject(s) - biology , gene duplication , monophyly , gene , actin , gene family , phylogenetics , molecular evolution , evolutionary biology , clade , algae , genetics , cytoskeleton , gene isoform , gene expression , botany , cell

Actin is a conserved cytoskeletal protein that is well studied in model organisms although much less is known about actin molecular evolution in taxonomically diverse algae. Here, we analyzed 107 novel partial algal actin sequences and report some unexpected results. First, monophyletic actin gene families in multiple, phylogenetically distantly related algal taxa contain two distinct clades of sequences. One of these clades contains highly conserved sequences, whereas the second has multiple members with a significantly elevated substitution rate. This rate difference is associated with an excess of synonymous substitutions, strongly suggesting that both isoforms are active. These results paint a novel picture of actin gene evolution in algae showing it to be a remarkably dynamic system with duplication, homogenization, and potential functional diversification occurring independently in distantly related lineages.

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