6533b7dcfe1ef96bd127169c
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Evolutionary implications of intron-exon distribution and the properties and sequences of the RPL10A gene in eukaryotes.
Leonardo M. CasanoE. BarrenoEva M. Del Camposubject
Ribosomal ProteinsRibosomal Protein L10Molecular Sequence DataBiologyExon shufflingEvolution MolecularExonChlorophytaGeneticsMolecular BiologyGeneEcology Evolution Behavior and SystematicsConserved SequenceDNA PrimersGeneticsBase CompositionLikelihood FunctionsPhylogenetic treeBase SequenceModels GeneticIntronEukaryotaGenetic VariationBayes TheoremGroup II intronExonsSequence Analysis DNAIntronsEukaryotic RibosomeSequence AlignmentGC-contentdescription
The RPL10A gene encodes the RPL10 protein, required for joining 40S and 60S subunits into a functional 80S ribosome. This highly conserved gene, ubiquitous across all eukaryotic super-groups, is characterized by a variable number of spliceosomal introns, present in most organisms. These properties facilitate the recognition of orthologs among distant taxa and thus comparative studies of sequences as well as the distribution and properties of introns in taxonomically distant groups of eukaryotes. The present study examined the multiple ways in which RPL10A conservation vs. sequence changes in the gene over the course of evolution, including in exons, introns, and the encoded proteins, can be exploited for evolutionary analysis at different taxonomic levels. At least 25 different positions harboring introns within the RPL10A gene were determined in different taxa, including animals, plants, fungi, and alveolates. Generally, intron positions were found to be well conserved even across different kingdoms. However, certain introns seemed to be restricted to specific groups of organisms. Analyses of several properties of introns, including insertion site, phase, and length, along with exon and intron GC content and exon–intron boundaries, suggested biases within different groups of organisms. The use of a standard primer pair to analyze a portion of the intron-containing RPL10A gene in 12 genera of green algae within Chlorophyta is presented as a case study for evolutionary analyses of introns at intermediate and low taxonomic levels. Our study shows that phylogenetic reconstructions at different depths can be achieved using RPL10A nucleotide sequences from both exons and introns as well as the amino acid sequences of the encoded protein.
year | journal | country | edition | language |
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2013-03-01 | Molecular phylogenetics and evolution |