Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2026

An Integrated Approach for Microprotein Identification and Sequence Analysis
Published on: July 12, 2022
Phospholipase C-gamma contains introns shared by src homology 2 domains in many unrelated proteins
Charlene M Manning1, Wendy R Mathews, Leah P Fico
1Biology Department, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, USA.
Abstract:
Many proteins with novel functions were created by exon shuffling around the time of the metazoan radiation. Phospholipase C-gamma (PLC-gamma) is typical of proteins that appeared at this time, containing several different modules that probably originated elsewhere. To gain insight into both PLC-gamma evolution and structure-function relationships within the Drosophila PLC-gamma encoded by small wing (sl), we cloned and sequenced the PLC-gamma homologs from Drosophila pseudoobscura and D. virilis and compared their gene structure and predicted amino acid sequences with PLC-gamma homologs in other animals. PLC-gamma has been well conserved throughout, although structural differences suggest that the role of tyrosine phosphorylation in enzyme activation differs between vertebrates and invertebrates. Comparison of intron positions demonstrates that extensive intron loss has occurred during invertebrate evolution and also reveals the presence of conserved introns in both the N- and C-terminal PLC-gamma SH2 domains that are present in SH2 domains in many other genes. These and other conserved SH2 introns suggest that the SH2 domains in PLC-gamma are derived from an ancestral domain that was shuffled not only into PLC-gamma, but also into many other unrelated genes during animal evolution.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
IP3/DAG Signaling Pathway
Phosphoinositides and PIPs
Different phosphoinositides are synthesized and recruited on the cytosolic face of the plasma membrane. The localization of specific phosphoinositides concentrated in separate membrane...
Conservation of Protein Domains Over Different Proteins
A limited set of protein domains often duplicate and recombine during evolution. These domains can be organized in different combinations to form...
Assembly of Signaling Complexes
Interaction domains in cell signaling
Interaction domains recognize exposed features of their binding partners containing post-translationally modified sequences,...
Membrane Asymmetry Regulating Transporters
Flippase
Eukaryotic flippases are type-IV P-type ATPases or P4-ATPases belonging to P-type ATPase family proteins that are membrane-bound pumps involved in the ATP-mediated transport of ions and molecules across the membrane. Flippases flip specific phospholipids from the outer to the inner leaflet of a membrane. All P4-ATPases have one...
Protein Kinases and Phosphatases
Protein kinases
Many proteins in the cell are regulated by phosphorylation, the addition of a phosphate group. A family of enzymes called kinases...

