Cargando…

Insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of Fad and Elovl gene families in Actiniaria

The biosynthesis of long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC‐PUFAs, ≥ C(20)) is reliant on the action of desaturase and elongase enzymes, which are encoded by the fatty acyl desaturase (Fad) and elongation of very long‐chain fatty acid (Elovl) gene families, respectively. In Metazoa, research inve...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Surm, Joachim M., Toledo, Tarik M., Prentis, Peter J., Pavasovic, Ana
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6010785/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29938056
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4044
_version_ 1783333659318681600
author Surm, Joachim M.
Toledo, Tarik M.
Prentis, Peter J.
Pavasovic, Ana
author_facet Surm, Joachim M.
Toledo, Tarik M.
Prentis, Peter J.
Pavasovic, Ana
author_sort Surm, Joachim M.
collection PubMed
description The biosynthesis of long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC‐PUFAs, ≥ C(20)) is reliant on the action of desaturase and elongase enzymes, which are encoded by the fatty acyl desaturase (Fad) and elongation of very long‐chain fatty acid (Elovl) gene families, respectively. In Metazoa, research investigating the distribution and evolution of these gene families has been restricted largely to Bilateria. Here, we provide insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of the Fad and Elovl gene families in Cnidaria, the sister phylum to Bilateria. Four model cnidarian genomes and six actiniarian transcriptomes were interrogated. Analysis of the fatty acid composition of a candidate cnidarian species, Actinia tenebrosa, was performed to determine the baseline profile of this species. Phylogenetic analysis revealed lineage‐specific gene duplication in actiniarians for both the Fad and Elovl gene families. Two distinct cnidarian Fad clades clustered with functionally characterized Δ5 and Δ6 proteins from fungal and plant species, respectively. Alternatively, only a single cnidarian Elovl clade clustered with functionally characterized Elovl proteins (Elovl4), while two additional clades were identified, one actiniarian‐specific (Novel ElovlA) and the another cnidarian‐specific (Novel ElovlB). In actiniarians, selection analyses revealed pervasive purifying selection acting on both gene families. However, codons in the Elovl gene family show patterns of nucleotide variation consistent with the action of episodic diversifying selection following gene duplication events. Significantly, these codons may encode amino acid residues that are functionally important for Elovl proteins to target and elongate different precursor fatty acids. In A. tenebrosa, the fatty acid analysis revealed an absence of LC‐PUFAs > C(20) molecules and implies that the Elovl enzymes are not actively contributing to the elongation of these LC‐PUFAs. Overall, this study has revealed that actiniarians possess Fad and Elovl genes required for the biosynthesis of some LC‐PUFAs, and that these genes appear to be distinct from bilaterians.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6010785
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher John Wiley and Sons Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-60107852018-06-22 Insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of Fad and Elovl gene families in Actiniaria Surm, Joachim M. Toledo, Tarik M. Prentis, Peter J. Pavasovic, Ana Ecol Evol Original Research The biosynthesis of long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC‐PUFAs, ≥ C(20)) is reliant on the action of desaturase and elongase enzymes, which are encoded by the fatty acyl desaturase (Fad) and elongation of very long‐chain fatty acid (Elovl) gene families, respectively. In Metazoa, research investigating the distribution and evolution of these gene families has been restricted largely to Bilateria. Here, we provide insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of the Fad and Elovl gene families in Cnidaria, the sister phylum to Bilateria. Four model cnidarian genomes and six actiniarian transcriptomes were interrogated. Analysis of the fatty acid composition of a candidate cnidarian species, Actinia tenebrosa, was performed to determine the baseline profile of this species. Phylogenetic analysis revealed lineage‐specific gene duplication in actiniarians for both the Fad and Elovl gene families. Two distinct cnidarian Fad clades clustered with functionally characterized Δ5 and Δ6 proteins from fungal and plant species, respectively. Alternatively, only a single cnidarian Elovl clade clustered with functionally characterized Elovl proteins (Elovl4), while two additional clades were identified, one actiniarian‐specific (Novel ElovlA) and the another cnidarian‐specific (Novel ElovlB). In actiniarians, selection analyses revealed pervasive purifying selection acting on both gene families. However, codons in the Elovl gene family show patterns of nucleotide variation consistent with the action of episodic diversifying selection following gene duplication events. Significantly, these codons may encode amino acid residues that are functionally important for Elovl proteins to target and elongate different precursor fatty acids. In A. tenebrosa, the fatty acid analysis revealed an absence of LC‐PUFAs > C(20) molecules and implies that the Elovl enzymes are not actively contributing to the elongation of these LC‐PUFAs. Overall, this study has revealed that actiniarians possess Fad and Elovl genes required for the biosynthesis of some LC‐PUFAs, and that these genes appear to be distinct from bilaterians. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2018-05-04 /pmc/articles/PMC6010785/ /pubmed/29938056 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4044 Text en © 2018 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Surm, Joachim M.
Toledo, Tarik M.
Prentis, Peter J.
Pavasovic, Ana
Insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of Fad and Elovl gene families in Actiniaria
title Insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of Fad and Elovl gene families in Actiniaria
title_full Insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of Fad and Elovl gene families in Actiniaria
title_fullStr Insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of Fad and Elovl gene families in Actiniaria
title_full_unstemmed Insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of Fad and Elovl gene families in Actiniaria
title_short Insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of Fad and Elovl gene families in Actiniaria
title_sort insights into the phylogenetic and molecular evolutionary histories of fad and elovl gene families in actiniaria
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6010785/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29938056
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4044
work_keys_str_mv AT surmjoachimm insightsintothephylogeneticandmolecularevolutionaryhistoriesoffadandelovlgenefamiliesinactiniaria
AT toledotarikm insightsintothephylogeneticandmolecularevolutionaryhistoriesoffadandelovlgenefamiliesinactiniaria
AT prentispeterj insightsintothephylogeneticandmolecularevolutionaryhistoriesoffadandelovlgenefamiliesinactiniaria
AT pavasovicana insightsintothephylogeneticandmolecularevolutionaryhistoriesoffadandelovlgenefamiliesinactiniaria