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250 million years of bindin evolution.

Kirk S Zigler¹, H A Lessios

¹Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panamá. ziglerk@u.washington.edu

The Biological Bulletin

|August 15, 2003

Summary

Sea urchin bindin, crucial for sperm-egg binding, shows remarkable core sequence conservation across 70% of echinoid orders. This suggests bindin was present in their ancient common ancestor over 250 million years ago.

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Marine biology
Molecular evolution

Background:

Bindin is a key protein mediating sperm-egg attachment and fusion in sea urchins (echinoids).
Previous research characterized bindin DNA sequences in only 10% of echinoid species, spanning two orders.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the evolutionary history and sequence variation of bindin across a broader range of sea urchin species.
To determine the ancient origins of bindin and its conserved features.

Main Methods:

DNA sequencing of mature bindin from five additional genera, representing four new echinoid orders.
Comparative sequence analysis to identify conserved and variable regions.

Main Results:

Bindin sequences from six orders (70% of extant echinoids) indicate its presence in the common ancestor >250 million years ago.
A 29-amino acid core region of bindin exhibits extreme conservation.
A basic amino acid motif at the cleavage site is also conserved.
Mature bindin length has more than doubled, with significant sequence variation outside the core, including order-specific glycine-rich repeats.

Conclusions:

Bindin has ancient origins and has undergone significant evolutionary changes in length and external sequences while maintaining a highly conserved core.
These findings provide insights into the molecular evolution of reproductive proteins in echinoderms.

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