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Expression of Fluorescent Proteins in Branchiostoma lanceolatum by mRNA Injection into Unfertilized Oocytes

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Domain Expansion and Functional Diversification in Vertebrate Reproductive Proteins.

Alberto M Rivera¹, Damien B Wilburn^1,2, Willie J Swanson¹

¹Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.

Molecular Biology and Evolution

|May 19, 2022

Summary

Fertilization proteins like zona pellucida (ZP) domains rapidly evolve. A study found conserved structures in ZP modules, allowing free ZP-N domains to diversify reproductive functions.

Keywords:

fertilization gene duplication machine learning molecular evolution phylogenetics protein structure

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Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Molecular biology
Reproductive science

Background:

Vertebrate egg glycoproteins feature multiple zona pellucida (ZP)-N domains.
These domains are crucial for reproductive functions, including species-specific sperm recognition.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the structural and functional diversification of ZP-N domains.
To understand the evolutionary mechanisms driving ZP-N domain diversity.

Main Methods:

Phylogenetic analysis to trace domain evolution.
Machine learning for classifying ZP-N domain structures.
Identification of conserved residues and selection pressures.

Main Results:

Modular ZP-N domains (associated with ZP-C) are phylogenetically distinct from free ZP-N domains.
A stabilizing network of eight residues characterizes modular ZP-N domains.
Free ZP-N domains show evidence of positive selection, unlike conserved modular domains.

Conclusions:

Purifying selection conserves the core structure of modular ZP-N domains.
Relaxed constraints on free ZP-N domains permit functional diversification.
This diversification contributes to reproductive diversity in vertebrates.