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Reverse Dissection and DiceCT Reveal Otherwise Hidden Data in the Evolution of the Primate Face

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Glutamine Codon Usage and polyQ Evolution in Primates Depend on the Q Stretch Length.

Pablo Mier^1,2, Miguel A Andrade-Navarro^1,2

¹Faculty of Biology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany.

Genome Biology and Evolution

|April 3, 2018

Summary

Glutamine codon usage, specifically CAG triplets, drives the expansion of glutamine homorepeats (polyQ). This CAG-driven instability influences polyQ length evolution, particularly in disease-related proteins.

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Area of Science:

Molecular Biology
Evolutionary Genetics
Bioinformatics

Background:

Proteome and transcriptome composition are influenced by taxonomy and codon usage.
Glutamine homorepeats (polyQ) are protein regions with varying lengths and potential implications in diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the variation in glutamine codon usage concerning the number of consecutive glutamine residues.
To explore the relationship between codon usage, polyQ length, and evolutionary dynamics.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of codon usage, specifically CAG triplets, in glutamine homorepeats across different lengths.
Examination of polyQ region length stability and CAG usage in orthologous regions, particularly in primates.
Analysis of polyQ regions in proteins associated with glutamine-related diseases.

Main Results:

CAG triplets are more abundant in short polyQ regions (4-8 residues) than in shorter glutamine stretches (1-3 residues).
CAG triplet abundance correlates with the evolutionary growth of polyQ regions, indicating CAG-dependent instability.
PolyQ regions in disease-associated proteins exhibit longer stretches and higher CAG usage, especially in humans and closely related primates.

Conclusions:

CAG triplet usage drives instability and evolutionary expansion of glutamine homorepeats.
The findings suggest an evolutionary model for glutamine codon usage in polyQ regions.
CAG-driven polyQ expansion may play a role in the pathogenesis of polyQ-associated diseases.