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PHYLOGENETIC IMPLICATIONS OF THE CAD COMPLEX FROM THE PRIMITIVE RED ALGA CYANIDIOSCHYZON MEROLAE (CYANIDIALES, RHODOPHYTA) 1
Author(s) -
Nozaki Hisayoshi,
Matsuzaki Motomichi,
Misumi Osami,
Kuroiwa Haruko,
Higashiyama Tetsuya,
Kuroiwa Tsuneyoshi
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2005.00079.x
Subject(s) - biology , aspartate carbamoyltransferase , monophyly , dihydroorotate dehydrogenase , phylogenetic tree , pyrimidine metabolism , phylogenetics , botany , genetics , gene , biochemistry , enzyme , pyrimidine , escherichia coli , clade , purine
The de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway consists of six enzymes: carbamoyl‐phosphate synthetase II (CPS II), aspartate carbamoyltransferase (ACT), dihydroorotase (DHO), dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, orotate phosphoribosyltransferase, and orotidine‐5′‐monophosphate decarboxylase. The origin and organization of the first three enzymes differ markedly between Opisthokonta (Metazoa and Fungi) and the Amoebozoa and green plants. However, no information has been available regarding the characteristics of such genes in other photosynthetic eukaryotes. In this study, we examined the pyrimidine biosynthetic cluster in the primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae P. DeLuca et al. isolate 10D. Unlike the situation in green plants, the CPS II, ACT, and DHO of C . merolae were fused to form a single open reading frame (the CAD complex), as in the Opisthokonta and Amoebozoa. Phylogenetic analysis of the CPS domain sequences suggested that this red algal CAD complex did not result from a recent lateral gene transfer from Metazoa or Fungi but that the fusion of the three genes occurred before the divergence of Opisthokonta, Amoebozoa, and the red algae. These results cast doubt on the recent hypothesis that the Opisthokonta and Amoebozoa form a monophyletic group, based on the presence in both of the CAD complex.