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PolyQ length-based molecular encoding of vocalization frequency in FOXP2
The transcription factor FOXP2, a regulator of vocalization- and speech/language-related phenotypes, contains two long polyQ repeats (Q(1) and Q(2)) displaying marked, still enigmatic length variation across mammals. We found that the Q(1)/Q(2) length ratio quantitatively encodes vocalization freque...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Elsevier
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10582585/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37860754 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.108036 |
Sumario: | The transcription factor FOXP2, a regulator of vocalization- and speech/language-related phenotypes, contains two long polyQ repeats (Q(1) and Q(2)) displaying marked, still enigmatic length variation across mammals. We found that the Q(1)/Q(2) length ratio quantitatively encodes vocalization frequency ranges, from the infrasonic to the ultrasonic, displaying striking convergent evolution patterns. Thus, species emitting ultrasonic vocalizations converge with bats in having a low ratio, whereas species vocalizing in the low-frequency/infrasonic range converge with elephants and whales, which have higher ratios. Similar, taxon-specific patterns were observed for the FOXP2-related protein FOXP1. At the molecular level, we observed that the FOXP2 polyQ tracts form coiled coils, assembling into condensates and fibrils, and drive liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). By integrating evolutionary and molecular analyses, we found that polyQ length variation related to vocalization frequency impacts FOXP2 structure, LLPS, and transcriptional activity, thus defining a novel form of polyQ length-based molecular encoding of vocalization frequency. |
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