Open AccessEvolutionary analysis of “hagfish amelogenin”
Author(s) -
Girondot Marc,
Delgado Sidney,
Laurin Michel
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the anatomical record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1097-0185
pISSN - 0003-276X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0185(199812)252:4<608::aid-ar11>3.0.co;2-o
Subject(s) - hagfish , amelogenin , biology , complementary dna , phylogenetic tree , genetics , evolutionary biology , cloning (programming) , gene , vertebrate , computer science , programming language
Hagfishes lack mineralized tissues and teeth. Part of a cDNA strand, allegedly from amelogenin, the major gene involved in enamel formation in mammals, has recently been cloned in a hagfish (Slavkin and Diekwish, Anat. Rec., 1996;245:131–150). This cloning is of great interest because it could change the current view about the evolution of mineralized tissues, but no phylogenetic analysis of this piece of DNA has been made by the authors. Phylogenetic analysis of this part of cDNA has been conducted using both phenetic and cladistic methods. The cDNA amplified in hagfish does not fit with a nonmammalian origin but fits well with a degraded rodent sequence. The gene cloned in hagfish is probably of mammalian origin due to contamination during PCR. Anat. Rec. 252:608–611, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.