Open AccessAn archaebacterial homolog of pelota, a meiotic cell division protein in eukaryotes
Author(s) -
Ragan Mark A.,
Logsdon John M.,
Sensen Christoph W.,
Charlebois Robert L.,
Doolittle W. Ford
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1996.tb08522.x
Subject(s) - sulfolobus solfataricus , biology , caenorhabditis elegans , saccharomyces cerevisiae , drosophila melanogaster , open reading frame , genetics , cell division , microbiology and biotechnology , mitosis , nuclear protein , peptide sequence , yeast , gene , cell , archaea , transcription factor
An open reading frame ( pelA ) specifying a homolog of pelota and DOM34, proteins required for meiotic cell division in Drosophila melanogaster and Saccharomyces cerevisiae , respectively, has been cloned, sequenced and identified from the archaebacterium Sulfolobus solfataricus . The S. solfataricus PelA protein is about 20% identical with pelota, DOM34 and the hypothetical protein R74.6 of Caenorhabditis elegans . The presence of a pelota homolog in archaebacteria implies that the meiotic functions of the eukaryotic protein were co‐opted from, or added to, other functions existing before the emergence of eukaryotes. The nuclear localization signal and negatively charged carboxy‐terminus characteristic of eukaryotic pelota‐like proteins are absent from the S. solfataricus homolog, and hence may be indicative of the acquired eukaryotic function(s).