The evolution of protein functions and networks: a family-centric approach

A comparative study of two α-L-rhamnosidases with high sequence identity

The GH78 α-L-rhamnosidase from Aspergillus tubingensis (AT-Rha) was proved to be a new clade of Aspergillus α-L-rhamnosidases in the previous study. A putative α-L-rhamnosidase from A. kawachii IFO 4308 (AK-Rha) has 92 % identity in amino acid sequence with AT-Rha. In this study, AK-Rha was expressed in P. pastoris and characterized. Similar to AT-rRha, the recombinant AK-Rha (AK-rRha) showed a narrow substrate specificity to naringin. Interestingly, the enzyme activity of AK-rRha was 0.816 U/mg toward naringin, significantly lower than 125.142 U/mg of AT-rRha. Their large differences in catalytic efficiency was mainly due to their differences in kcat values between AK-rRha (0.67 s-1) and AT-rRha (4.89 × 104 s-1). The molecular dynamics simulation exhibited that the overall conformation of AK-Rha was rigid and that of AT-Rha was flexible; the Loop Y-L located above the catalytic domain formed different steric hindrances to naringin, and interacted with the flavonoid matrices at different strengths. The polar solvation energy analysis implied that the glycosidic bond was more easily hydrolysed in AT-Rha. The comparative study verified that the main feature of AK-Rha and AT-Rha represented Aspergillus α-L-rhamnosidase was the narrow substrate specificity toward naringin, and provided an insight of the relationships between their catalytic abilities and structures.

The Vein Patterning 1 (VEP1) gene family laterally spread through an ecological network

Lateral gene transfer (LGT) is a major evolutionary mechanism in prokaryotes. Knowledge about LGT— particularly, multicellular— eukaryotes has only recently started to accumulate. A widespread assumption sees the gene as the unit of LGT, largely because little is yet known about how LGT chances are affected by structural/functional features at the subgenic level. Here we trace the evolutionary trajectory of VEin Patterning 1, a novel gene family known to be essential for plant development and defense. At the subgenic level VEP1 encodes a dinucleotide-binding Rossmann-fold domain, in common with members of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) protein family. We found: i) VEP1 likely originated in an aerobic, mesophilic and chemoorganotrophic α-proteobacterium, and was laterally propagated through nets of ecological interactions, including multiple LGTs between phylogenetically distant green plant/fungi-associated bacteria, and five independent LGTs to eukaryotes. Of these latest five transfers, three are ancient LGTs, implicating an ancestral fungus, the last common ancestor of land plants and an ancestral trebouxiophyte green alga, and two are recent LGTs to modern embryophytes. ii) VEP1's rampant LGT behavior was enabled by the robustness and broad utility of the dinucleotide-binding Rossmann-fold, which provided a platform for the evolution of two unprecedented departures from the canonical SDR catalytic triad. iii) The fate of VEP1 in eukaryotes has been different in different lineages, being ubiquitous and highly conserved in land plants, whereas fungi underwent multiple losses. And iv) VEP1-harboring bacteria include non-phytopathogenic and phytopathogenic symbionts which are non-randomly distributed with respect to the type of harbored VEP1 gene. Our findings suggest that VEP1 may have been instrumental for the evolutionary transition of green plants to land, and point to a LGT-mediated ‘Trojan Horse’ mechanism for the evolution of bacterial pathogenesis against plants. VEP1 may serve as tool for revealing microbial interactions in plant/fungi-associated environments.

Evolution of protein binding modes in homooligomers

The evolution of protein interactions cannot be deciphered without a detailed analysis of interaction interfaces and binding modes. We performed a large-scale study of protein homooligomers in terms of their symmetry, interface sizes, and conservation of binding modes. We also focused specifically on the evolution of protein binding modes from nine families of homooligomers and mapped 60 different binding modes and oligomerization states onto the phylogenetic trees of these families. We observed a significant tendency for the same binding modes to be clustered together and conserved within clades on phylogenetic trees; this trend is especially pronounced for close homologs with 70% sequence identity or higher. Some binding modes are conserved among very distant homologs, pointing to their ancient evolutionary origin, while others are very specific for a certain phylogenetic group. Moreover, we found that the most ancient binding modes have a tendency to involve symmetrical (isologous) homodimer binding arrangements with larger interfaces, while recently evolved binding modes more often exhibit asymmetrical arrangements and smaller interfaces.

The fine details of evolution

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution was based on studies of biology at the species level. In the time since his death, studies at the molecular level have confirmed his ideas about the kinship of all life on Earth and have provided a wealth of detail about the evolutionary relationships between different species and a deeper understanding of the finer workings of natural selection. We now have a wealth of data, including the genome sequences of a wide range of organisms, an even larger number of protein sequences, a significant knowledge of the three-dimensional structures of proteins, DNA and other biological molecules, and a huge body of information about the operation of these molecules as systems in the molecular machinery of all living things. This issue of Biochemical Society Transactions contains papers from oral presentations given at a Biochemical Society Focused Meeting to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, held on 26-27 January 2009 at the Wellcome Trust Conference Centre, Cambridge. The talks reported on some of the insights into evolution which have been obtained from the study of protein sequences, structures and systems.