Testes-specific hemoglobins in Drosophila evolved by a combination of sub- and neofunctionalization after gene duplication

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Thorsten Burmester¹  Holger Herlyn²  Stefan Zimmerling³  Eva Gleixner⁴ 

[1] Biocenter Grindel and Zoological Museum, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany;Center for Systems Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany;Institute of Anthropology, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany;Institute of Molecular Genetics, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany

关键词: Globin Gene;    Codon Site;    Stem Lineage;    Tracheal System;    Neural Network Promoter Prediction;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2148-12-34

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: BioMed Central

【 摘 要 】

For a long time the presence of respiratory proteins in most insects has been considered unnecessary. However, in recent years it has become evident that globins belong to the standard repertoire of the insect genome. Like most other insect globins, the glob1 gene of Drosophila melanogaster displays a conserved expression pattern in the tracheae, the fat body and the Malpighian tubules. Here we show that the recently discovered D. melanogaster globin genes glob2 and glob3 both display an unusual male-specific expression in the reproductive tract during spermatogenesis. Both paralogs are transcribed at equivalent mRNA levels and largely overlap in their cellular expression patterns during spermatogenesis. Phylogenetic analyses showed that glob2 and glob3 reflect a gene duplication event that occurred in the ancestor of the Sophophora subgenus at least 40 million years ago. Therefore, flies of the Drosophila subgenus harbor only one glob2/3-like gene. Phylogenetic and sequence analyses indicate an evolution of the glob2 and glob3 duplicates by a combination of sub- and neofunctionalization. Considering their restricted, testes-specific expression, an involvement of both globins in alleviating oxidative stress during spermatogenesis is conceivable.

【 授权许可】

CC BY