The salmonid myostatin gene family: a novel model for investigating mechanisms that influence duplicate gene fate (original) (raw)
Related papers
Gene, 2007
Whereas the negative muscle regulator myostatin (MSTN) in mammals is almost exclusively expressed in the muscle by a single encoding gene, teleost fish possess at least two MSTN genes which are differentially expressed in both muscular and non-muscular tissues. Duplicated MSTN-1 genes have previously been identified in the tetraploid salmonid genome. From Atlantic salmon we succeeded in isolating the paralogous genes of MSTN-2, which shared about 70% identity with MSTN-1a and -1b. The salmon MSTN-2a cDNA encoded a predicted protein of 363 residues and included the conserved C-terminal bioactive domain. MSTN-2a seemed to be primarily expressed in the brain, and a functional role of teleost MSTN-2 in the neurogenesis similar to the inhibitory action of the closely related GDF-11 in the mammalian brain was proposed. In contrast, a frame-shift mutation in exon 1 of salmon MSTN-2b would lead to the synthesis of a putatively non-functional truncated protein. The absence of processed MSTN-2b mRNA in the examined tissues indicated that this gene has become a non-functional pseudogene. The differential, but partially overlapping, expression patterns of salmon MSTN-2a, -1a and -1b in muscular and non-muscular tissues are probably due to the different arrangement of the potential cis-acting regulatory elements identified in their putative promoter regions. Single and paired E-boxes in the MSTN-1b promoter were shown to bind both homo-and hetero-dimers of the myogenic regulatory factor MyoD and E47 in vitro of importance for initiating the myogenic program. Analyses of nucleotide substitution patterns indicated that the teleost MSTNs essentially have evolved under purifying selection, but a subset of amino acid sites under positive selective pressure were identified within the MSTN1 branch. The results may reflect the evolutionary forces related to adoption of the different functional roles proposed for the teleost MSTN isoforms. The phylogenetic analysis of multiple vertebrate MSTNs suggested at least two separate gene duplication events in the fish lineage. Linkage analysis of polymorphic microsatellites within intron 2 of salmon MSTN-1a and -1b mapped the two genes to different linkage groups in agreement with the tetraploid origin of the duplicated salmonid MSTN-1 and MSTN-2 genes.
A salmonid EST genomic study: genes, duplications, phylogeny and microarrays
BMC Genomics, 2008
Background: Salmonids are of interest because of their relatively recent genome duplication, and their extensive use in wild fisheries and aquaculture. A comprehensive gene list and a comparison of genes in some of the different species provide valuable genomic information for one of the most widely studied groups of fish.
BMC Genetics
Myostatin (MSTN) belongs to the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily and is a potent negative regulator of skeletal muscle development and growth in mammals. Most teleost fish possess two MSTN paralogues. However, as a consequence of a recent whole genome-duplication event, salmonids have four: MSTN-1 (-1a and -1b) and MSTN-2 (-2a and -2b). Evidence suggests that teleost MSTN plays a role in the regulation of muscle growth. In the current study, the MSTN-1b gene was re-sequenced and screened for SNP markers in a commercial population of Atlantic salmon. After genotyping 4,800 progeny for the discovered SNPs, we investigated their association with eight harvest traits - four body-weight traits, two ratios of weight traits, flesh colour and fat percentage - using a mixed model association analysis. Three novel SNPs were discovered in the MSTN-1b gene of Atlantic salmon. One of the SNPs, located within the 5[prime] flanking region (g.1086C > T), had a significant association ...
Extensive local gene duplication and functional divergence among paralogs in Atlantic salmon
Genome biology and evolution, 2014
Many organisms can generate alternative phenotypes from the same genome, enabling individuals to exploit diverse and variable environments. A prevailing hypothesis is that such adaptation has been favored by gene duplication events, which generate redundant genomic material that may evolve divergent functions. Vertebrate examples of recent whole-genome duplications are sparse although one example is the salmonids, which have undergone a whole-genome duplication event within the last 100 Myr. The life-cycle of the Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, depends on the ability to produce alternating phenotypes from the same genome, to facilitate migration and maintain its anadromous life history. Here, we investigate the hypothesis that genome-wide and local gene duplication events have contributed to the salmonid adaptation. We used high-throughput sequencing to characterize the transcriptomes of three key organs involved in regulating migration in S. salar: Brain, pituitary, and olfactory epi...
Endocrinology, 2007
Myostatin is an extremely potent negative regulator of vertebrate skeletal muscle development. A phylogenetic analysis suggests that salmonids should possess four distinct genes, although only MSTN-1 orthologs have been characterized. Described herein are the rainbow trout (rt) MSTN-2a and -2b genes and subsequence analysis of their promoters and their quantitative expression profiles. Both genes are similarly organized, contain several putative myogenic response elements, and are legitimate MSTN-2 orthologs based on Bayesian analyses. However, rtMSTN-2b contains two in-frame stop codons within the first exon and unspliced variants of both transcripts were expressed in a tissue-specific manner. Complete splicing of rtMSTN-2a oc-curred only in brain, where expression is highest, whereas rtMSTN-2b transcripts were mostly present in unspliced forms. The presence of stop codons in the rtMSTN-2b open reading frame and the expression of mostly unspliced transcripts indicate that this particular homolog is a pseudogene. These results confirm our previous phylogenetic analysis and suggest that all salmonids likely possess four distinct myostatin genes. The tissue-specific expression and differential processing of both rtMSTN-2 transcripts as well the pseudogenization of rtMSTN-2b may reflect compensatory and adaptive responses to tetraploidization and may help limit rtMSTN-2a's influences primarily to neural tissue. (Endocrinology 148: 2106 -2115, 2007) First
Gene evolution and gene expression after whole genome duplication in fish: the PhyloFish database
BMC genomics, 2016
With more than 30,000 species, ray-finned fish represent approximately half of vertebrates. The evolution of ray-finned fish was impacted by several whole genome duplication (WGD) events including a teleost-specific WGD event (TGD) that occurred at the root of the teleost lineage about 350 million years ago (Mya) and more recent WGD events in salmonids, carps, suckers and others. In plants and animals, WGD events are associated with adaptive radiations and evolutionary innovations. WGD-spurred innovation may be especially relevant in the case of teleost fish, which colonized a wide diversity of habitats on earth, including many extreme environments. Fish biodiversity, the use of fish models for human medicine and ecological studies, and the importance of fish in human nutrition, fuel an important need for the characterization of gene expression repertoires and corresponding evolutionary histories of ray-finned fish genes. To this aim, we performed transcriptome analyses and develope...
Evolution & Development, 2005
The myostatin (MSTN)-null phenotype in mammals is characterized by extreme gains in skeletal muscle mass or ''double muscling'' as the cytokine negatively regulates skeletal muscle growth. Recent attempts, however, to reproduce a comparable phenotype in zebrafish have failed. Several aspects of MSTN biology in the fishes differ significantly from those in mammals and at least two distinct paralogs have been identified in some species, which possibly suggests functional divergence between the different vertebrate classes or between fish paralogs. We therefore conducted a phylogenetic analysis of the entire MSTN gene sub-family. Maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference, and bootstrap analyses indicated a monophyletic distribution of all MSTN genes with two distinct fish clades: MSTN-1 and -2. These analyses further indicated that all Salmonid genes described are actually MSTN-1 orthologs and that additional MSTN-2 paralogs may be present in most, if not all, teleosts. An additional zebrafish homolog was identified by BLAST searches of the zebrafish Hierarchical Tets Generation System database and was subsequently cloned. Comparative sequence analysis of both genes (zebrafish MSTN (zfMSTN)-1 and -2) revealed many differences, primarily within the latency-associated peptide regions, but also within the bioactive domains. The 2-kb promoter region of zfMSTN-2 contained many putative cis regulatory elements that are active during myogenesis, but are lacking in the zfMSTN-1 promoter. In fact, zfMSTN-2 expression was limited to the early stages of somitogenesis, whereas zfMSTN-1 was expressed throughout embryogenesis. These data suggest that zfMSTN-2 may be more closely associated with skeletal muscle growth and development. They also resolve the previous ambiguity in classification of fish MSTN genes.
BMC Genetics, 2013
Background: Myostatin (MSTN) belongs to the transforming growth factor-β superfamily and is a potent negative regulator of skeletal muscle development and growth in mammals. Most teleost fish possess two MSTN paralogues. However, as a consequence of a recent whole genome-duplication event, salmonids have four: MSTN-1 (−1a and -1b) and MSTN-2 (−2a and -2b). Evidence suggests that teleost MSTN plays a role in the regulation of muscle growth. In the current study, the MSTN-1b gene was re-sequenced and screened for SNP markers in a commercial population of Atlantic salmon. After genotyping 4,800 progeny for the discovered SNPs, we investigated their association with eight harvest traits -four body-weight traits, two ratios of weight traits, flesh colour and fat percentage -using a mixed model association analysis. Results: Three novel SNPs were discovered in the MSTN-1b gene of Atlantic salmon. One of the SNPs, located within the 5′ flanking region (g.1086C > T), had a significant association with harvest traits (p < 0.05), specifically for: Harvest Weight (kg), Gutted Weight (kg), Deheaded Weight (kg) and Fillet Weight (kg). The haplotype-based association analysis was consistent with this result because the two haplotypes that showed a significant association with body-weight traits, hap4 and hap5 (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively), differ by a single substitution at the g.1086C > T locus. The alleles at g.1086C > T act in an additive manner and explain a small percentage of the genetic variation of these phenotypes. Conclusions: The association analysis revealed that g.1086C > T had a significant association with all body-weight traits under study. Although the SNP explains a small percentage of the variance, our results indicate that a variation in the 5′ flanking region of the myostatin gene is associated with the genetic regulation of growth in Atlantic salmon.
Divergence of Regulatory Sequences in Duplicated Fish Genes
Genome Dynamics, 2007
Duplicated genes can undergo different fates, from nonfunctionalization to subfunctionalization and neofunctionalization. In particular, changes in regulatory sequences affecting the expression domain of genes seem to be responsible for the latter two fates. In this study we used in silico motif detection to show how alterations in the composition of regulatory motifs between paralogous genes in zebrafish and Tetraodon might reflect the functional divergence of duplicates.