Evolution of the mob Gene Family
Xin Ye1, 2, §, Nikolas Nikolaidis1, 3, §, Masatoshi Nei1, 2, 3, Zhi-Chun Lai*, 1, 2, 3, 4
2 Intercollege Program in Genetics,
3 Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics,
4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
Abstract
Mob proteins from distantly related eukaryotic species share very high sequence similarity and they are characteristic of a conserved Mob domain with around 180 amino-acid residues in length. However, the evolutionary relationship of mob family genes has not been extensively investigated. Through a phylogenetic approach, we have conducted a comprehensive evolutionary analysis of the mob gene family. Here we show that over 270 mob family members from protists to animals can be organized in four distinct groups. This classification is strongly supported by the analysis of mob exon-intron structures. Moreover, the conservation and divergence patterns of different groups of Mob proteins have been elucidated. Structural information and the identification of fixed amino acid substitutions provide evidence about the putative significance of specific residues in the structural integrity and/or molecular functions of Mob proteins. Thus, this study reveals the evolutionary history of mob gene family and provides a basis for functional studies of Mob proteins
Keywords: Gene evolution, mob domain, mob gene family, mats - mob as tumor suppressor, hippo signaling.
Article Information
Article History:
Received Date: 26/11/2008
Revision Received Date: 17/12/2008
Acceptance Date: 19/12/2008
Electronic publication date: 14/1/2009
Collection year: 2009
© Ye et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
* Address correspondence to this author at the 201 Life Sciences Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; Tel: (814) 863-0479; Fax: (814) 863-1357; E-mail: zcl1@psu.edu§ These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Manuscript submitted on 26-11-2008 |
Original Manuscript |
Evolution of the mob Gene Family |