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Tracing the Origin of the Fungal α1 Domain Places Its Ancestor in the HMG-Box Superfamily: Implication for Fungal Mating-Type Evolution

BACKGROUND: Fungal mating types in self-incompatible Pezizomycotina are specified by one of two alternate sequences occupying the same locus on corresponding chromosomes. One sequence is characterized by a gene encoding an HMG protein, while the hallmark of the other is a gene encoding a protein wit...

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Autores principales: Martin, Tom, Lu, Shun-Wen, van Tilbeurgh, Herman, Ripoll, Daniel R., Dixelius, Christina, Turgeon, B. Gillian, Debuchy, Robert
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2999568/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21170349
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015199
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author Martin, Tom
Lu, Shun-Wen
van Tilbeurgh, Herman
Ripoll, Daniel R.
Dixelius, Christina
Turgeon, B. Gillian
Debuchy, Robert
author_facet Martin, Tom
Lu, Shun-Wen
van Tilbeurgh, Herman
Ripoll, Daniel R.
Dixelius, Christina
Turgeon, B. Gillian
Debuchy, Robert
author_sort Martin, Tom
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Fungal mating types in self-incompatible Pezizomycotina are specified by one of two alternate sequences occupying the same locus on corresponding chromosomes. One sequence is characterized by a gene encoding an HMG protein, while the hallmark of the other is a gene encoding a protein with an α1 domain showing similarity to the Matα1p protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. DNA-binding HMG proteins are ubiquitous and well characterized. In contrast, α1 domain proteins have limited distribution and their evolutionary origin is obscure, precluding a complete understanding of mating-type evolution in Ascomycota. Although much work has focused on the role of the S. cerevisiae Matα1p protein as a transcription factor, it has not yet been placed in any of the large families of sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We present sequence comparisons, phylogenetic analyses, and in silico predictions of secondary and tertiary structures, which support our hypothesis that the α1 domain is related to the HMG domain. We have also characterized a new conserved motif in α1 proteins of Pezizomycotina. This motif is immediately adjacent to and downstream of the α1 domain and consists of a core sequence Y-[LMIF]-x(3)-G-[WL] embedded in a larger conserved motif. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data suggest that extant α1-box genes originated from an ancestral HMG gene, which confirms the current model of mating-type evolution within the fungal kingdom. We propose to incorporate α1 proteins in a new subclass of HMG proteins termed MATα_HMG.
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spelling pubmed-29995682010-12-17 Tracing the Origin of the Fungal α1 Domain Places Its Ancestor in the HMG-Box Superfamily: Implication for Fungal Mating-Type Evolution Martin, Tom Lu, Shun-Wen van Tilbeurgh, Herman Ripoll, Daniel R. Dixelius, Christina Turgeon, B. Gillian Debuchy, Robert PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: Fungal mating types in self-incompatible Pezizomycotina are specified by one of two alternate sequences occupying the same locus on corresponding chromosomes. One sequence is characterized by a gene encoding an HMG protein, while the hallmark of the other is a gene encoding a protein with an α1 domain showing similarity to the Matα1p protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. DNA-binding HMG proteins are ubiquitous and well characterized. In contrast, α1 domain proteins have limited distribution and their evolutionary origin is obscure, precluding a complete understanding of mating-type evolution in Ascomycota. Although much work has focused on the role of the S. cerevisiae Matα1p protein as a transcription factor, it has not yet been placed in any of the large families of sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We present sequence comparisons, phylogenetic analyses, and in silico predictions of secondary and tertiary structures, which support our hypothesis that the α1 domain is related to the HMG domain. We have also characterized a new conserved motif in α1 proteins of Pezizomycotina. This motif is immediately adjacent to and downstream of the α1 domain and consists of a core sequence Y-[LMIF]-x(3)-G-[WL] embedded in a larger conserved motif. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data suggest that extant α1-box genes originated from an ancestral HMG gene, which confirms the current model of mating-type evolution within the fungal kingdom. We propose to incorporate α1 proteins in a new subclass of HMG proteins termed MATα_HMG. Public Library of Science 2010-12-08 /pmc/articles/PMC2999568/ /pubmed/21170349 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015199 Text en Martin et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Martin, Tom
Lu, Shun-Wen
van Tilbeurgh, Herman
Ripoll, Daniel R.
Dixelius, Christina
Turgeon, B. Gillian
Debuchy, Robert
Tracing the Origin of the Fungal α1 Domain Places Its Ancestor in the HMG-Box Superfamily: Implication for Fungal Mating-Type Evolution
title Tracing the Origin of the Fungal α1 Domain Places Its Ancestor in the HMG-Box Superfamily: Implication for Fungal Mating-Type Evolution
title_full Tracing the Origin of the Fungal α1 Domain Places Its Ancestor in the HMG-Box Superfamily: Implication for Fungal Mating-Type Evolution
title_fullStr Tracing the Origin of the Fungal α1 Domain Places Its Ancestor in the HMG-Box Superfamily: Implication for Fungal Mating-Type Evolution
title_full_unstemmed Tracing the Origin of the Fungal α1 Domain Places Its Ancestor in the HMG-Box Superfamily: Implication for Fungal Mating-Type Evolution
title_short Tracing the Origin of the Fungal α1 Domain Places Its Ancestor in the HMG-Box Superfamily: Implication for Fungal Mating-Type Evolution
title_sort tracing the origin of the fungal α1 domain places its ancestor in the hmg-box superfamily: implication for fungal mating-type evolution
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2999568/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21170349
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015199
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