Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Evolutionary analysis”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

Molecular analysis of evolutionary patterns in U genome wild wheats.

The theory of pivotal-differential evolution states that one genome of polyploid wheats remains stable (i.e., pivotal) during evolution, while the other genome or genomes may become modified (i.e., differential). A proposed mechanism for apparent modification of the differential genome is that different polyploid species with only one genome in common may exchange genetic material. In this study, we analyzed a set of sympatric and allopatric accessions of tetraploid wheats with the genomic constitutions UM and UC. The U genome of these species is from Triticum umbellulatum and is considered to be the pivotal genome. The M and C genomes, from T. comosum and T. dichasians, respectively, are considered to be the differential genomes. Low copy DNA was analyzed using "sequence tagged site" primer sets in the polymerase chain reaction, followed by digestion with restriction enzymes. Genetic similarity matrices based on shared restriction fragments showed that sympatric accessions of different U genome tetraploid species did not tend to share more restriction fragments than did allopatric accessions. Thus, no evidence for introgression was found. Analysis of the diploid progenitor species showed that the U genome was less variable than the M and C genomes. Additionally, comparison of diploid and polyploid species using genome-specific primer sets suggests a possible polyphyletic origin for T. triunciale and T. machrochaetum. Thus, our results suggest that the differential nature of the M and C genomes may be the result of variability introduced by the diploid progenitors and not the result of frequent introgression events after formation of the polyploid.

Base Sequence↗

Lectin-related resistance factors against bruchids evolved through a number of duplication events.

Abundant lectin-related proteins found in common beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) have been shown to confer resistance against the larvae of a number of bruchid species. Genes encoding for these proteins are members of the lectin multigene family, the most representative components being arcelins, phytohemagglutinins and alpha-amylase inhibitors. Arcelins have been described in seven variants, some of which are resistance factors against the Mexican bean weevil ( Zabrotes subfasciatus), a major bean predator. In this study the isolation and sequencing of arcelin genes from wild P. vulgaris genotypes, containing Arc3 and Arc7 variants, is reported, and similarities and evolutionary relationships among the seven known arcelins are described. The evolutionary analysis shows that arcelins 3 and 4 cluster together and are the most-ancient variants. A duplication event gave rise to two additional clusters, one comprising arcelins 1, 2 and 6 and separated from the cluster of arcelins 5 and 7. A multiple number of arcelin genes were found in arcelin 3 and 4 genotypes indicating that more than one type of arcelin gene may be present in the same locus. Some of these sequences are reminiscent of ancient duplication events in arcelin evolution demonstrating that arcelins have evolved through multiple duplications. A further aim of this paper was to better understand and describe the evolution of the entire lectin multigene family. Beside arcelins, a number of other types of sequences, such as putative lectins and sequences not easily classifiable, were found in genotypes containing Arc3 and Arc4. These results, together with the evolutionary analysis, indicate that lectin loci are quite complex and confirm their origin by multiple duplication events.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Molecular evolution of amelogenin in mammals.

An evolutionary analysis of mammalian amelogenin, the major protein of forming enamel, was conducted by comparison of 26 sequences (including 14 new ones) representative of the main mammalian lineages. Amelogenin shows highly conserved residues in the hydrophilic N- and C-terminal regions. The central hydrophobic region (most of exon 6) is more variable, but it has conserved a high amount of proline and glutamine located in triplets, PXQ, indicating that these residues play an important role. This region evolves more rapidly, and is less constrained, than the other well-conserved regions, which are subjected to strong constraints. The comparison of the substitution rates in relation to the CpG richness confirmed that the highly conserved regions are subjected to strong selective pressures. The amino acids located at important sites and the residues known to lead to amelogenesis imperfecta when substituted were present in all sequences examined. Evolutionary analysis of the variable region of exon 6 points to a particular zone, rich in either amino acid insertion or deletion. We consider this region a hot spot of mutation for the mammalian amelogenin. In this region, numerous triplet repeats (PXQ) have been inserted recently and independently in five lineages, while most of the hydrophobic exon 6 region probably had its origin in several rounds of triplet insertions, early in vertebrate evolution. The putative ancestral DNA sequence of the mammalian amelogenin was calculated using a maximum likelihood approach. The putative ancestral protein was composed of 177 residues. It already contained all important amino acid positions known to date, its hydrophobic variable region was rich in proline and glutamine, and it contained triplet repeats PXQ as in the modern sequences.

Amelogenin↗

Complete sequence and evolutionary genomic analysis of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa transposable bacteriophage D3112.

Bacteriophage D3112 represents one of two distinct groups of transposable phage found in the clinically relevant, opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To further our understanding of transposable phage in P. aeruginosa, we have sequenced the complete genome of D3112. The genome is 37,611 bp, with an overall G+C content of 65%. We have identified 53 potential open reading frames, including three genes (the c repressor gene and early genes A and B) that have been previously characterized and sequenced. The organization of the putative coding regions corresponds to published genetic and transcriptional maps and is very similar to that of enterobacteriophage Mu. In contrast, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses has classified D3112 as a lambda-like phage on the basis of its morphology. Similarity-based analyses identified 27 open reading frames with significant matches to proteins in the NCBI databases. Forty-eight percent of these were similar to Mu-like phage and prophage sequences, including proteins responsible for transposition, transcriptional regulation, virion morphogenesis, and capsid formation. The tail proteins were highly similar to prophage sequences in Escherichia coli and phage Phi12 from Staphylococcus aureus, while proteins at the right end were highly similar to proteins in Xylella fastidiosa. We performed phylogenetic analyses to understand the evolutionary relationships of D3112 with respect to Mu-like versus lambda-like bacteriophages. Different results were obtained from similarity-based versus phylogenetic analyses in some instances. Overall, our findings reveal a highly mosaic structure and suggest that extensive horizontal exchange of genetic material played an important role in the evolution of D3112.

Bacteriophages↗

The chloroplast genome of Phalaenopsis aphrodite (Orchidaceae): comparative analysis of evolutionary rate with that of grasses and its phylogenetic implications.

Whether the Amborella/Amborella-Nymphaeales or the grass lineage diverged first within the angiosperms has recently been debated. Central to this issue has been focused on the artifacts that might result from sampling only grasses within the monocots. We therefore sequenced the entire chloroplast genome (cpDNA) of Phalaenopsis aphrodite, Taiwan moth orchid. The cpDNA is a circular molecule of 148,964 bp with a comparatively short single-copy region (11,543 bp) due to the unusual loss and truncation/scattered deletion of certain ndh subunits. An open reading frame, orf91, located in the complementary strand of the rrn23 was reported for the first time. A comparison of nucleotide substitutions between P. aphrodite and the grasses indicates that only the plastid expression genes have a strong positive correlation between nonsynonymous (Ka) and synonymous (Ks) substitutions per site, providing evidence for a generation time effect, mainly across these genes. Among the intron-containing protein-coding genes of the sampled monocots, the Ks of the genes are significantly correlated to transitional substitutions of their introns. We compiled a concatenated 61 protein-coding gene alignment for the available 20 cpDNAs of vascular plants and analyzed the data set using Bayesian inference, maximum parsimony, and neighbor-joining (NJ) methods. The analyses yielded robust support for the Amborella/Amborella-Nymphaeales-basal hypothesis and for the orchid and grasses together being a monophyletic group nested within the remaining angiosperms. However, the NJ analysis using Ka, the first two codon positions, or amino acid sequences, respectively, supports the monocots-basal hypothesis. We demonstrated that these conflicting angiosperm phylogenies are most probably linked to the transitional sites at all codon positions, especially at the third one where the strong base-composition bias and saturation effect take place.

DNA, Chloroplast↗

Expression analysis and evolutionary conservation of the mouse germ cell-specific D6Mm5e gene.

During our search for genes required for gonadal development and function in the mouse, we identified D6Mm5e (DNA segment, Chr 6. Miriam Meisler 5, expressed), a gene with an expression pattern highly restricted to the embryonic ovary and the postnatal testis. Based on RT-PCR, Northern blot, and in situ hybridization analyses, we show that D6Mm5e is expressed in the germ cells of the female embryo upon their initial entry into meiosis, and in male germ cells during the last stages of spermatogenesis. Two transcripts are detected in the gonads resulting from the alternative splicing of exon 8. This splicing event does not introduce a frame shift, and creates an mRNA product that uses the same stop codon as the longer transcript. Although D6Mm5e does not belong to any known protein family and does not contain any known protein signature motifs, the high level of evolutionary conservation and the cellular and temporal expression suggest that D6Mm5e may have a role in male and female gametogenesis. Here we report the gonad-restricted mRNA expression profile of D6Mm5e in the mouse, and the evolutionary conservation of its amino acid sequence.

Alternative Splicing↗

Strategic analysis in evolutionary genetics and the theory of games.

This paper is written in memory of John Maynard Smith. In a brief survey it discusses essential aspects of how game theory in biology relates to its counterpart in economics, the major transition in game theory initiated by Maynard Smith, the discrepancies between genetic and phenotypic models in evolutionary biology, and a balanced way of reconciling these models. In addition, the paper discusses modern problems in understanding games at the genetic level using the examples of conflict between endosymbionts and their hosts, and the molecular interactions between parasites and the mammalian immune system.

Animals↗

Heterochrony and allometry: the analysis of evolutionary change in ontogeny.

The connection between development and evolution has become the focus of an increasing amount of research in recent years, and heterochrony has long been a key concept in this relation. Heterochrony is defined as evolutionary change in rates and timing of developmental processes; the dimension of time is therefore an essential part in studies of heterochrony. Over the past two decades, evolutionary biologists have used several methodological frameworks to analyse heterochrony, which differ substantially in the way they characterize evolutionary changes in ontogenies and in the resulting classification, although they mostly use the same terms. This review examines how these methods compare ancestral and descendant ontogenies, emphasizing their differences and the potential for contradictory results from analyses using different frameworks. One of the two principal methods uses a clock as a graphical display for comparisons of size, shape and age at a particular ontogenic stage, whereas the other characterizes a developmental process by its time of onset, rate, and time of cessation. The literature on human heterochrony provides particularly clear examples of how these differences produce apparent contradictions when applied to the same problem. Developmental biologists recently have extended the concept of heterochrony to the earliest stages of development and have applied it at the cellular and molecular scale. This extension brought considerations of developmental mechanisms and genetics into the study of heterochrony, which previously was based primarily on phenomenological characterizations of morphological change in ontogeny. Allometry is the pattern of covariation among several morphological traits or between measures of size and shape; unlike heterochrony, allometry does not deal with time explicitly. Two main approaches to the study of allometry are distinguished, which differ in the way they characterize organismal form. One approach defines shape as proportions among measurements, based on considerations of geometric similarity, whereas the other focuses on the covariation among measurements in ontogeny and evolution. Both are related conceptually and through the use of similar algebra. In addition, there are close connections between heterochrony and changes in allometric growth trajectories, although there is no one-to-one correspondence. These relationships and outline links between different analytical frameworks are discussed.

Animals↗

Use of evolutionary factor analysis in the spectroelectrochemistry of Escherichia coli sulfite reductase hemoprotein and a Mo/Fe/S cluster.

The deconvolution of spectroelectrochemical data is often quite difficult if the spectra of intermediates are not known. Factor analysis, however, has been shown to be a powerful technique which can make it possible to deconvolute overlapping spectra. In this work, evolving factor analysis will be used to determine the number of intermediates and the spectra of those species for two typical spectroelectrochemical experiments: linear scan voltammetry and chronoabsorptometry in a thin-layer cell. The first system was the reduction of E. coli sulfite reductase hemoprotein (SiR-HP). Principal factor analysis indicated that three species were present. By using evolving factor analysis, the potential regions where each of the species were present were identified, and their concentrations and spectra were determined by the use of the mass balance equation. The spectra of the one-electron (SiR-HP1-) and two-electron (SiR-HP2-) reduced product were compared with previous work. The second experiment was the chronoabsorptometry of Cl2FeS2MoS2FeCl2(2-) in methylene chloride. This experiment indicated that five species were present during the experiment. The entire set of 61 spectra were fit by assuming that there were 4 species present during the electrolysis. The rate constant for the appearance of subsequent species fit quite well with the rate constant for the disappearance of previous species. The spectra of the intermediates and final product were obtained using evolving factor analysis and a mass balance equation. Identification of the fifth species, which was probably the initial reduction product, Cl2FeS2MoS2FeCl2(3-), was difficult due to its low concentration and the fact that it was present in the same time region as the starting material.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Molecular phylogenetic analysis of evolutionary trends in stonefly wing structure and locomotor behavior.

Insects in the order Plecoptera (stoneflies) use a form of two-dimensional aerodynamic locomotion called surface skimming to move across water surfaces. Because their weight is supported by water, skimmers can achieve effective aerodynamic locomotion even with small wings and weak flight muscles. These mechanical features stimulated the hypothesis that surface skimming may have been an intermediate stage in the evolution of insect flight, which has perhaps been retained in certain modern stoneflies. Here we present a phylogeny of Plecoptera based on nucleotide sequence data from the small subunit rRNA (18S) gene. By mapping locomotor behavior and wing structural data onto the phylogeny, we distinguish between the competing hypotheses that skimming is a retained ancestral trait or, alternatively, a relatively recent loss of flight. Our results show that basal stoneflies are surface skimmers, and that various forms of surface skimming are distributed widely across the plecopteran phylogeny. Stonefly wings show evolutionary trends in the number of cross veins and the thickness of the cuticle of the longitudinal veins that are consistent with elaboration and diversification of flight-related traits. These data support the hypothesis that the first stoneflies were surface skimmers, and that wing structures important for aerial flight have become elaborated and more diverse during the radiation of modern stoneflies.

Animals↗

Evolutionary rates analysis of Leguminosae implicates a rapid diversification of lineages during the tertiary.

Tertiary macrofossils of the flowering plant family Leguminosae (legumes) were used as time constraints to estimate ages of the earliest branching clades identified in separate plastid matK and rbcL gene phylogenies. Penalized likelihood rate smoothing was performed on sets of Bayesian likelihood trees generated with the AIC-selected GTR+ Gamma +I substitution model. Unequivocal legume fossils dating from the Recent continuously back to about 56 million years ago were used to fix the family stem clade at 60 million years (Ma), and at 1-Ma intervals back to 70 Ma. Specific fossils that showed distinctive combinations of apomorphic traits were used to constrain the minimum age of 12 specific internal nodes. These constraints were placed on stem rather than respective crown clades in order to bias for younger age estimates. Regardless, the mean age of the legume crown clade differs by only 1.0 to 2.5 Ma from the fixed age of the legume stem clade. Additionally, the oldest caesalpinioid, mimosoid, and papilionoid crown clades show approximately the same age range of 39 to 59 Ma. These findings all point to a rapid family-wide diversification, and predict few if any legume fossils prior to the Cenozoic. The range of the matK substitution rate, 2.1-24.6 x 10(-10) substitutions per site per year, is higher than that of rbcL, 1.6- 8.6 x 10(-10), and is accompanied by more uniform rate variation among codon positions. The matK and rbcL substitution rates are highly correlated across the legume family. For example, both loci have the slowest substitution rates among the mimosoids and the fastest rates among the millettioid legumes. This explains why groups such as the millettioids are amenable to species-level phylogenetic analysis with these loci, whereas other legume groups are not.

Bayes Theorem↗

Libsequence: a C++ class library for evolutionary genetic analysis.

UNLABELLED: A C++ class library is available to facilitate the implementation of software for genomics and sequence polymorphism analysis. The library implements methods for data manipulation and the calculation of several statistics commonly used to analyze SNP data. The object-oriented design of the library is intended to be extensible, allowing users to design custom classes for their own needs. In addition, routines are provided to process samples generated by a widely used coalescent simulation. AVAILABILITY: The source code (in C++) is available from http://www.molpopgen.org

Algorithms↗

Rat beta casein cDNA: sequence analysis and evolutionary comparisons.

The complete sequence of a 1072 nucleotide rat beta-casein cDNA insertion in the hybrid plasmid pC beta 23 has been determined. Primer extension was employed to determine the sequence of an additional 82 5'-terminal nucleotides in beta-casein mRNA. Rat beta-casein mRNA consists of a 696 nucleotide coding region, flanked by 52 nucleotide 5' and 406 nucleotide 3' noncoding regions, including a 40 nucleotide poly(A) tail. The derived 216 amino acid sequence of rat beta-casein was compared to the previously determined sequences of beta-caseins from several other species. Approximately 38% of the amino acids have been conserved among the rat, ovine, bovine and human sequences and these conserved amino acids occurred in clusters throughout the protein. One such cluster containing the majority of the potential casein phosphorylation sites was located near the amino terminus. Contrary to the considerable divergence observed for the processed beta-casein, 14 of 15 amino acids in the signal peptide sequence of the precasein were identical between the rat and ovine caseins.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The nucleotide sequence of the glycoprotein gB gene of infectious laryngotracheitis virus: analysis and evolutionary relationship to the homologous gene from other herpesviruses.

A 3698 bp region of the genome of infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV) was sequenced and found to contain the entire glycoprotein gB gene and the C-terminal region of a gene homologous to the ICP 18.5 protein gene of herpes simplex virus type 1. The ILTV gB gene encoded a protein with an Mr of 100K possessing all the characteristics of a transmembrane glycoprotein. Alignment of the ILTV gB sequence with homologous sequences from six other herpesviruses revealed that 10 cysteine residues on the surface of the molecule were completely conserved and that the positions of several N-linked glycosylation sites were largely conserved. Evolutionary trees based on the gB amino acid sequences from a total of 13 herpesviruses were constructed and the relationships among these herpesviruses were examined.

Amino Acid Sequence↗