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Comparison of the receptor FGFRL1 from sea urchins and humans illustrates evolution of a zinc binding motif in the intracellular domain.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: FGFRL1, the gene for the fifth member of the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) family, is found in all vertebrates from fish to man and in the cephalochordate amphioxus. Since it does not occur in more distantly related invertebrates such as insects and nematodes, we have speculated that FGFRL1 might have evolved just before branching of the vertebrate lineage from the other invertebrates (Beyeler and Trueb, 2006). RESULTS: We identified the gene for FGFRL1 also in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus and cloned its mRNA. The deduced amino acid sequence shares 62% sequence similarity with the human protein and shows conservation of all disulfides and N-linked carbohydrate attachment sites. Similar to the human protein, the S. purpuratus protein contains a histidine-rich motif at the C-terminus, but this motif is much shorter than the human counterpart. To analyze the function of the novel motif, recombinant fusion proteins were prepared in a bacterial expression system. The human fusion protein bound to nickel and zinc affinity columns, whereas the sea urchin protein barely interacted with such columns. Direct determination of metal ions by atomic absorption revealed 2.6 mole zinc/mole protein for human FGFRL1 and 1.7 mole zinc/mole protein for sea urchin FGFRL1. CONCLUSION: The FGFRL1 gene has evolved much earlier than previously assumed. A comparison of the intracellular domain between sea urchin and human FGFRL1 provides interesting insights into the shaping of a novel zinc binding domain.

SUBMITTER: Zhuang L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2806250 | biostudies-literature | 2009

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comparison of the receptor FGFRL1 from sea urchins and humans illustrates evolution of a zinc binding motif in the intracellular domain.

Zhuang Lei L Karotki Andrei V AV Bruecker Philip P Trueb Beat B

BMC biochemistry 20091218

<h4>Background</h4>FGFRL1, the gene for the fifth member of the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) family, is found in all vertebrates from fish to man and in the cephalochordate amphioxus. Since it does not occur in more distantly related invertebrates such as insects and nematodes, we have speculated that FGFRL1 might have evolved just before branching of the vertebrate lineage from the other invertebrates (Beyeler and Trueb, 2006).<h4>Results</h4>We identified the gene for FGFRL1 also i ...[more]

PMID: 20021659

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Project description:The massive die-off of the long-spined sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, a significant reef grazer, in the mid 1980s was followed by phase shifts from coral dominated to macroalgae dominated reefs in the Caribbean. While Diadema populations have recovered in some reefs with concomitant increases in coral cover, the additional threat of increasing temperatures due to global climate change has not been investigated in adult sea urchins. In this study, I measured acute thermal tolerance of D. antillarum and that of a sympatric sea urchin not associated with coral cover, Echinometra lucunter, over winter, spring, and summer, thus exposing them to substantial natural thermal variation. Animals were taken from the wild and placed in laboratory tanks in room temperature water (∼22 °C) that was then heated at 0.16-0.3 °C min(-1) and the righting behavior of individual sea urchins was recorded. I measured both the temperature at which the animal could no longer right itself (T LoR) and the righting time at temperatures below the T LoR. In all seasons, D. antillarum exhibited a higher mean T LoR than E. lucunter. The mean T LoR of each species increased with increasing environmental temperature revealing that both species acclimatize to seasonal changes in temperatures. The righting times of D. antillarum were much shorter than those of E. lucunter. The longer relative spine length of Diadema compared to that of Echinometra may contribute to their shorter righting times, but does not explain their higher T LoR. The thermal safety margin (the difference between the mean collection temperature and the mean T LoR) was between 3.07-3.66 °C for Echinometra and 3.79-5.67 °C for Diadema. While these thermal safety margins exceed present day temperatures, they are modest compared to those of temperate marine invertebrates. If sea temperatures increase more rapidly than can be accommodated by the sea urchins (either by genetic adaptation, phenotypic plasticity, or both), this will have important consequences for the structure of coral reefs.

Project description:BackgroundStrongylocentrotid sea urchins have a long tradition as model organisms for studying many fundamental processes in biology including fertilization, embryology, development and genome regulation but the phylogenetic relationships of the group remain largely unresolved. Although the differing isolating mechanisms of vicariance and rapidly evolving gamete recognition proteins have been proposed, a stable and robust phylogeny is unavailable.ResultsWe used a phylogenomic approach with mitochondrial and nuclear genes taking advantage of the whole-genome sequencing of nine species in the group to establish a stable (i.e. concordance in tree topology among multiple lies of evidence) and robust (i.e. high nodal support) phylogenetic hypothesis for the family Strongylocentrotidae. We generated eight draft mitochondrial genome assemblies and obtained 13 complete mitochondrial genes for each species. Consistent with previous studies, mitochondrial sequences failed to provide a reliable phylogeny. In contrast, we obtained a very well-supported phylogeny from 2301 nuclear genes without evidence of positive Darwinian selection both from the majority of most-likely gene trees and the concatenated fourfold degenerate sites: ((P. depressus, (M. nudus, M. franciscanus), (H. pulcherrimus, (S. purpuratus, (S. fragilis, (S. pallidus, (S. droebachiensis, S. intermedius)). This phylogeny was consistent with a single invasion of deep-water environments followed by a holarctic expansion by Strongylocentrotus. Divergence times for each species estimated with reference to the divergence times between the two major clades of the group suggest a correspondence in the timing with the opening of the Bering Strait and the invasion of the holarctic regions.ConclusionsNuclear genome data contains phylogenetic signal informative for understanding the evolutionary history of this group. However, mitochondrial genome data does not. Vicariance can explain major patterns observed in the phylogeny. Other isolating mechanisms are appropriate to explore in this system to help explain divergence patterns not well supported by vicariance, such as the effects of rapidly evolving gamete recognition proteins on isolating populations. Our findings of a stable and robust phylogeny, with the increase in mitochondrial and nuclear comparative genomic data, provide a system in which we can enhance our understanding of molecular evolution and adaptation in this group of sea urchins.

Dataset Information

Comparison of the receptor FGFRL1 from sea urchins and humans illustrates evolution of a zinc binding motif in the intracellular domain.

Publications

Comparison of the receptor FGFRL1 from sea urchins and humans illustrates evolution of a zinc binding motif in the intracellular domain.

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