Molecular genetics of ecological diversification:: Duplication and rapid evolution of toxin genes of the venomous gastropod Conus
Molecular genetics of ecological diversification:: Duplication and rapid evolution of toxin genes of the venomous gastropod Conus
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.96.12.6820
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发表时间：
1999-06-08
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Palumbi, SR
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Duda, TF;Palumbi, SR
海洋腹足纲芋螺属的捕食性螺类通过注射肽类神经毒素的复杂混合物使猎物昏迷。这些芋螺毒素与猎物的营养多样化有关，并阻断猎物中多种离子通道和神经受体，但这种功能多样性的进化起源尚不清楚。在这里，我们表明，芋螺毒素的氨基酸相似性很小，实际上是最近发散的基因座，迅速发展的强烈的积极选择在食虫锥，芋螺，芋螺毒素进化的速度是高于大多数其他已知的蛋白质的产品。基因复制和多样化选择导致形成功能可变的芋螺毒素，这些芋螺毒素与该属的生态多样化和进化成功有关。
Predatory snails in the marine gastropod genus Conus stun prey by injecting a complex mixture of peptide neurotoxins, These conotoxins are associated with trophic diversification and block a diverse array of ion channels and neuronal receptors in prey species, but the evolutionary genesis of this functional diversity is unknown. Here we show that conotoxins with little amino acid similarity are in fact products of recently diverged loci that are rapidly evolving by strong positive selection in the vermivorous cone, Conus abbreviatus, and that the rate of conotoxin evolution is higher than that of most other known proteins. Gene duplication and diversifying selection result in the formation of functionally variable conotoxins that are linked to ecological diversification and evolutionary success of this genus.