Sexual selection halts the relaxation of protamine 2 among rodents.
Sexual selection has been proposed as the driving force promoting the rapid evolutionary changes observed in some reproductive genes including protamines. We test this hypothesis in a group of rodents which show marked differences in the intensity of sexual selection. Levels of sperm competition wer...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2011-01-01
|
Series: | PLoS ONE |
Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22216223/?tool=EBI |
id |
doaj-8fb5d444be194ac8854fe6175c47871f |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-8fb5d444be194ac8854fe6175c47871f2021-03-04T01:14:32ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032011-01-01612e2924710.1371/journal.pone.0029247Sexual selection halts the relaxation of protamine 2 among rodents.Lena LükeAlberto VicensFrancois SerraJuan Jose Luque-LarenaHernán DopazoEduardo R S RoldanMontserrat GomendioSexual selection has been proposed as the driving force promoting the rapid evolutionary changes observed in some reproductive genes including protamines. We test this hypothesis in a group of rodents which show marked differences in the intensity of sexual selection. Levels of sperm competition were not associated with the evolutionary rates of protamine 1 but, contrary to expectations, were negatively related to the evolutionary rate of cleaved- and mature-protamine 2. Since both domains were found to be under relaxation, our findings reveal an unforeseen role of sexual selection: to halt the degree of degeneration that proteins within families may experience due to functional redundancy. The degree of relaxation of protamine 2 in this group of rodents is such that in some species it has become dysfunctional and it is not expressed in mature spermatozoa. In contrast, protamine 1 is functionally conserved but shows directed positive selection on specific sites which are functionally relevant such as DNA-anchoring domains and phosphorylation sites. We conclude that in rodents protamine 2 is under relaxation and that sexual selection removes deleterious mutations among species with high levels of sperm competition to maintain the protein functional and the spermatozoa competitive.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22216223/?tool=EBI |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Lena Lüke Alberto Vicens Francois Serra Juan Jose Luque-Larena Hernán Dopazo Eduardo R S Roldan Montserrat Gomendio |
spellingShingle |
Lena Lüke Alberto Vicens Francois Serra Juan Jose Luque-Larena Hernán Dopazo Eduardo R S Roldan Montserrat Gomendio Sexual selection halts the relaxation of protamine 2 among rodents. PLoS ONE |
author_facet |
Lena Lüke Alberto Vicens Francois Serra Juan Jose Luque-Larena Hernán Dopazo Eduardo R S Roldan Montserrat Gomendio |
author_sort |
Lena Lüke |
title |
Sexual selection halts the relaxation of protamine 2 among rodents. |
title_short |
Sexual selection halts the relaxation of protamine 2 among rodents. |
title_full |
Sexual selection halts the relaxation of protamine 2 among rodents. |
title_fullStr |
Sexual selection halts the relaxation of protamine 2 among rodents. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sexual selection halts the relaxation of protamine 2 among rodents. |
title_sort |
sexual selection halts the relaxation of protamine 2 among rodents. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
series |
PLoS ONE |
issn |
1932-6203 |
publishDate |
2011-01-01 |
description |
Sexual selection has been proposed as the driving force promoting the rapid evolutionary changes observed in some reproductive genes including protamines. We test this hypothesis in a group of rodents which show marked differences in the intensity of sexual selection. Levels of sperm competition were not associated with the evolutionary rates of protamine 1 but, contrary to expectations, were negatively related to the evolutionary rate of cleaved- and mature-protamine 2. Since both domains were found to be under relaxation, our findings reveal an unforeseen role of sexual selection: to halt the degree of degeneration that proteins within families may experience due to functional redundancy. The degree of relaxation of protamine 2 in this group of rodents is such that in some species it has become dysfunctional and it is not expressed in mature spermatozoa. In contrast, protamine 1 is functionally conserved but shows directed positive selection on specific sites which are functionally relevant such as DNA-anchoring domains and phosphorylation sites. We conclude that in rodents protamine 2 is under relaxation and that sexual selection removes deleterious mutations among species with high levels of sperm competition to maintain the protein functional and the spermatozoa competitive. |
url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22216223/?tool=EBI |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT lenaluke sexualselectionhaltstherelaxationofprotamine2amongrodents AT albertovicens sexualselectionhaltstherelaxationofprotamine2amongrodents AT francoisserra sexualselectionhaltstherelaxationofprotamine2amongrodents AT juanjoseluquelarena sexualselectionhaltstherelaxationofprotamine2amongrodents AT hernandopazo sexualselectionhaltstherelaxationofprotamine2amongrodents AT eduardorsroldan sexualselectionhaltstherelaxationofprotamine2amongrodents AT montserratgomendio sexualselectionhaltstherelaxationofprotamine2amongrodents |
_version_ |
1714809622391422976 |