Molecular evolution of the deuterolysin (M35) family genes in Coccidioides

Coccidioides is a primary fungal pathogen of humans, causing life-threatening respiratory disease known as coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) in immunocompromised individuals. Recently, Sharpton et al (2009) found that the deuterolysin (M35) family genes were significantly expanded in both the Coccid...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2012-02, Vol.7 (2), p.e31536
Main Authors: Li, Juan, Yu, Li, Tian, Yanmei, Zhang, Ke-Qin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Adaptations
Amino Acid Sequence
Amino acids
Biological evolution
Biology
Coccidioides
Coccidioides - genetics
Coccidioidomycosis
Construction methods
Deuterolysin
Education
Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
Evolutionary biology
Evolutionary genetics
Fever
Flexibility
Fungal Proteins - chemistry
Fungal Proteins - genetics
Fungi
Gene duplication
Gene Duplication - genetics
Genes
Genes, Fungal - genetics
Genomes
Laboratories
Li Yu
Ligands
Likelihood ratio
Metalloproteases - chemistry
Metalloproteases - genetics
Models, Molecular
Molecular biology
Molecular evolution
Molecular Sequence Data
Multigene Family - genetics
Mycoses
Pathogenesis
Pathogens
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
Proteins
Respiratory diseases
Selection, Genetic
Sequence Alignment
Software
Structural Homology, Protein
Valleys
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Coccidioides is a primary fungal pathogen of humans, causing life-threatening respiratory disease known as coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) in immunocompromised individuals. Recently, Sharpton et al (2009) found that the deuterolysin (M35) family genes were significantly expanded in both the Coccidioides genus and in U. reesii, and that Coccidioides has acquired three more M35 family genes than U. reesii. In the present work, phylogenetic analyses based on a total of 28 M35 family genes using different alignments and tree-building methods consistently revealed five clades with high nodal supports. Interestingly, likelihood ratio tests suggested significant differences in selective pressure on the ancestral lineage of three additional duplicated M35 family genes from Coccidioides species compared to the other lineages in the phylogeny, which may be associated with novel functional adaptations of M35 family genes in the Coccidioides species, e.g., recent pathogenesis acquisition. Our study adds to the expanding view of M35 family gene evolution and functions as well as establishes a theoretical foundation for future experimental investigations.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0031536