Molecular evolution of HoxA13 and the multiple origins of limbless morphologies in amphibians and reptiles

Developmental processes and their results, morphological characters, are inherited through transmission of genes regulating development. While there is ample evidence that cis-regulatory elements tend to be modular, with sequence segments dedicated to different roles, the situation for proteins is l...

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Main Authors: Marina E. Singarete, Mariana B. Grizante, Sarah R. Milograna, Mariana F. Nery, Koryu Kin, Günter P. Wagner, Tiana Kohlsdorf
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Genética 2015-09-01
Series:Genetics and Molecular Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572015000300255&lng=en&tlng=en
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spelling doaj-ccce5bea235b4f798ceb43e0fd52aa7e2020-11-25T01:31:15ZengSociedade Brasileira de GenéticaGenetics and Molecular Biology1678-46852015-09-0138325526210.1590/S1415-475738320150039S1415-47572015000300255Molecular evolution of HoxA13 and the multiple origins of limbless morphologies in amphibians and reptilesMarina E. SingareteMariana B. GrizanteSarah R. MilogranaMariana F. NeryKoryu KinGünter P. WagnerTiana KohlsdorfDevelopmental processes and their results, morphological characters, are inherited through transmission of genes regulating development. While there is ample evidence that cis-regulatory elements tend to be modular, with sequence segments dedicated to different roles, the situation for proteins is less clear, being particularly complex for transcription factors with multiple functions. Some motifs mediating protein-protein interactions may be exclusive to particular developmental roles, but it is also possible that motifs are mostly shared among different processes. Here we focus on HoxA13, a protein essential for limb development. We asked whether the HoxA13 amino acid sequence evolved similarly in three limbless clades: Gymnophiona, Amphisbaenia and Serpentes. We explored variation in ω (dN/dS) using a maximum-likelihood framework and HoxA13sequences from 47 species. Comparisons of evolutionary models provided low ω global values and no evidence that HoxA13 experienced relaxed selection in limbless clades. Branch-site models failed to detect evidence for positive selection acting on any site along branches of Amphisbaena and Gymnophiona, while three sites were identified in Serpentes. Examination of alignments did not reveal consistent sequence differences between limbed and limbless species. We conclude that HoxA13 has no modules exclusive to limb development, which may be explained by its involvement in multiple developmental processes.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572015000300255&lng=en&tlng=endevelopmentevolutionHoxA13molecular signatureslimblessness
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Marina E. Singarete
Mariana B. Grizante
Sarah R. Milograna
Mariana F. Nery
Koryu Kin
Günter P. Wagner
Tiana Kohlsdorf
spellingShingle Marina E. Singarete
Mariana B. Grizante
Sarah R. Milograna
Mariana F. Nery
Koryu Kin
Günter P. Wagner
Tiana Kohlsdorf
Molecular evolution of HoxA13 and the multiple origins of limbless morphologies in amphibians and reptiles
Genetics and Molecular Biology
development
evolution
HoxA13
molecular signatures
limblessness
author_facet Marina E. Singarete
Mariana B. Grizante
Sarah R. Milograna
Mariana F. Nery
Koryu Kin
Günter P. Wagner
Tiana Kohlsdorf
author_sort Marina E. Singarete
title Molecular evolution of HoxA13 and the multiple origins of limbless morphologies in amphibians and reptiles
title_short Molecular evolution of HoxA13 and the multiple origins of limbless morphologies in amphibians and reptiles
title_full Molecular evolution of HoxA13 and the multiple origins of limbless morphologies in amphibians and reptiles
title_fullStr Molecular evolution of HoxA13 and the multiple origins of limbless morphologies in amphibians and reptiles
title_full_unstemmed Molecular evolution of HoxA13 and the multiple origins of limbless morphologies in amphibians and reptiles
title_sort molecular evolution of hoxa13 and the multiple origins of limbless morphologies in amphibians and reptiles
publisher Sociedade Brasileira de Genética
series Genetics and Molecular Biology
issn 1678-4685
publishDate 2015-09-01
description Developmental processes and their results, morphological characters, are inherited through transmission of genes regulating development. While there is ample evidence that cis-regulatory elements tend to be modular, with sequence segments dedicated to different roles, the situation for proteins is less clear, being particularly complex for transcription factors with multiple functions. Some motifs mediating protein-protein interactions may be exclusive to particular developmental roles, but it is also possible that motifs are mostly shared among different processes. Here we focus on HoxA13, a protein essential for limb development. We asked whether the HoxA13 amino acid sequence evolved similarly in three limbless clades: Gymnophiona, Amphisbaenia and Serpentes. We explored variation in ω (dN/dS) using a maximum-likelihood framework and HoxA13sequences from 47 species. Comparisons of evolutionary models provided low ω global values and no evidence that HoxA13 experienced relaxed selection in limbless clades. Branch-site models failed to detect evidence for positive selection acting on any site along branches of Amphisbaena and Gymnophiona, while three sites were identified in Serpentes. Examination of alignments did not reveal consistent sequence differences between limbed and limbless species. We conclude that HoxA13 has no modules exclusive to limb development, which may be explained by its involvement in multiple developmental processes.
topic development
evolution
HoxA13
molecular signatures
limblessness
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572015000300255&lng=en&tlng=en
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