Evolution of the PP2C Family in Caenorhabditis: Rapid Divergence of the Sex-Determining Protein FEM-2
Date
2002
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Abstract
To investigate the causes and functional significance
of rapid sex-determining protein evolution we
compared three Caenorhabditis elegans genes encoding
members of the protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C) family
with their orthologs from another Caenorhabditis species
(strain CB5161). One of the genes encodes FEM-2, a
sex-determining protein, while the others have no known
sex-determining role. FEM-2’s PP2C domain was found
to be more diverged than the other PP2C domains, supporting
the notion that sex-determining proteins are subjected
to selective pressures that allow for or cause rapid
divergence. Comparison of the positions of amino acid
substitutions in FEM-2 with a solved three-dimensional
structure suggests that the catalytic face of the protein is
highly conserved among C. elegans, CB5161, and another
closely related species C. briggsae. However, the
non-conserved regions of FEM-2 cannot be said to lack
functional importance, since fem-2 transgenes from the
other species were unable to rescue the germ-line defect
caused by a C. elegans fem-2 mutation. To test whether
fem-2 functions as a sex-determining gene in the other
Caenorhabditis species we used RNA-mediated interference
(RNAi). fem-2 (RNAi) in C. elegans and C. briggsae
caused germ-line feminization, but had no noticeable
effect in CB5161. Thus the function of fem-2 in CB5161
remains uncertain.
Description
© Springer-Verlag New York Inc. 2002
DOI: 10.1007/s0023901-0008-y
Keywords
Biology
Citation
Paul Stothard, Dave Hansen, Dave Pilgrim "Evolution of the PP2C Family in Caenorhabditis: Rapid Divergence of the Sex-Determining Protein FEM-2 " J Mol Evol (2002) 54:267–282