| Nematogalectin, a nematocyst protein with GlyXY and Galectin domains, demonstrates nematocyte-specific alternative splicing in Hydra | ||
| PNAS, Online early Edition 11 October | ||
| Gojobori Laboratory, DNA Data Analysis Laboratory | ||
| Nematogalectin, a nematocyst protein with GlyXY and Galectin domains, demonstrates nematocyte-specific alternative splicing in Hydra .
Jung Shan Hwang, Yasuharu Takaku, Tsuyoshi Momose, Patrizia Adamczyk, Suat Özbek, Kazuho Ikeo, Konstantin Khalturin, Georg Hemmrich, Thomas C.G. Bosch, Thomas W. Holstein, Charles N. David and Takashi Gojobori PNAS, Online early Edition, 11 October , 2010. doi:10.1073/pnas.1003256107 Taxonomically restricted genes or lineage-specific genes are responsible for morphological diversification in metazoans and provide unique functions for a particular taxon in adapting to a specific environment. A large number of taxonomically restricted genes are found in Cnidaria and many are specific to the nematocyte, a stinging cell found only in Cnidaria. In this study, we identified a taxonomically restricted gene that generates two alternative spliced transcripts whose expression is mutually exclusive. We named these alternative spliced products nematogalectin A and B to emphasize their specific occurrence in nematocytes and the characteristic presence of sugar-binding galectin domain. During nematocyte differentiation these two nematogalectins are expressed in a temporal order and cell-specific manner in different nematocyte types. Interestingly, the ancestor of Cnidaria had only a single copy of nematogalectin B, whereas nematogalectin A arose as a result of gene duplication in medusozoan and may have played a role in the morphological diversification of nematocysts in medusozoans. This paper gives insight into the role of alternative splicing event in the evolution and diversification of nematocysts in Cnidaria.
←Back |
