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Elevated Evolutionary Rates among Functionally Diverged Reproductive Genes across Deep Vertebrate Lineages
Christopher J Grassa1, Rob J Kulathinal
1Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4.
International Journal of Evolutionary Biology
|August 4, 2011
Summary
Reproductive proteins evolve rapidly in vertebrates. Gonadal-specific genes show faster evolution than non-reproductive genes, with testis genes diverging more than ovary genes, indicating lineage-specific selection on reproduction.
Area of Science:
- Comparative genomics
- Evolutionary biology
- Reproductive biology
Background:
- Proteins involved in reproduction typically exhibit faster evolution rates compared to other proteins within closely related species.
- Understanding functional divergence across diverse vertebrate reproductive strategies is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare functional divergence of reproductive and non-reproductive genes across a deep phylogenetic range of vertebrates.
- To investigate evolutionary rates of gonadal-specific versus gonadal-expressed genes and non-reproductive genes.
Main Methods:
- Functional and comparative genomics approach applied to five vertebrate taxa: Anolis carolinensis, Danio rerio, Xenopus tropicalis, Gallus gallus, and Mus musculus.
- Alignment and functional annotation of 4,986 orthologs using ESTs from reproductive and non-reproductive tissues, and Gene Ontology.
- Classification of genes as tissue-specific or tissue-expressed within each species lineage.
Main Results:
- Gonadal-specific genes generally evolve faster than gonadal-expressed genes and significantly faster than non-reproductive genes across vertebrate lineages.
- Within gonadal genes, testis-specific genes show higher divergence rates than ovary-specific genes.
- A contrasting, non-significant pattern of faster evolution in ovary genes was observed for functionally conserved orthologs across all lineages.
Conclusions:
- Evidence suggests pervasive, lineage-specific selective pressures acting on vertebrate reproductive systems.
- Contrasting evolutionary patterns in diverged versus conserved reproductive genes highlight complex evolutionary dynamics.
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