Horizontal Transfer of msp130 Genes and the Evolution of Metazoan Biocalcification.

ABSTRACT: The formation of calcified skeletons is crucial for the development, physiology, and ecology of many marine metazoans. The evolutionary origins of the genetic toolkit required for biocalcification are widely debated. MSP130 proteins, originally identified through their expression specifically by sea urchin skeletal cells, have been hypothesized to have been acquired by metazoans from bacteria through horizontal gene transfer. Here, we provide support for a horizontal gene transfer-based origin of metazoan MSP130 proteins by conducting phylogenetic and in silico protein analyses utilizing high-quality genomes. We show that msp130 genes underwent duplications within almost all biocalcifying bilaterian phyla and identify highly conserved intron-exon junctions specific to bilaterian msp130 gen

SUBMITTER: Chess MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11878542 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature