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- Title
Molecular variation of the testes-specific β NACtes genes in the Drosophila melanogaster genome.
- Authors
Usakin, L. A.; Gvozdev, V. A.; Kogan, G. L.
- Abstract
The β NACtes gene family of the Drosophila melanogaster genome provides a model for investigating the mechanisms of the molecular evolution of recently evolved genes. The β NACtes genes code for proteins that are homologous to the subunit of the nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC), are expressed exclusively in the testis, and are localized on the X chromosome as two-gene clusters and one separate copy. Population polymorphism of the β NACtes genes was studied using several wild-type D. melanogaster stocks, and β NACtes paralogs were compared with each other. A heterogeneous pattern was observed for β NACtes polymorphism: the 3′ genes of the two-gene clusters were low polymorphic, whereas, separate, the β NACtes1 gene was the most variable. The 5′ β NACtes copies of the two-gene tandems were practically identical, whereas the 3′ β NACtes copies were highly diverged. Hence, local gene conversion was assumed to provide for the selective homogenization of the 5′ genes. A comparison of the β NACtes paralogs showed that the majority of amino acid differences were in the N-terminal region, containing the β NAC domain. The McDonald-Kreitman test was used to analyze the divergence of β NACtes paralogs and implicated positive selection in the evolution of the β NACtes gene family.
- Subjects
MOLECULAR evolution; DROSOPHILA melanogaster; PROTEIN folding; GENES; GENETIC polymorphisms
- Publication
Molecular Biology, 2009, Vol 43, Issue 3, p367
- ISSN
0026-8933
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1134/S0026893309030030