Evolutionary conservation and diversification of Rh family genes and proteins.

ABSTRACT: Rhesus (Rh) proteins were first identified in human erythroid cells and recently in other tissues. Like ammonia transporter (Amt) proteins, their only homologues, Rh proteins have the 12 transmembrane-spanning segments characteristic of transporters. Many think Rh and Amt proteins transport the same substrate, NH(3)/NH(4)(+), whereas others think that Rh proteins transport CO(2) and Amt proteins NH(3). In the latter view, Rh and Amt are different biological gas channels. To reconstruct the phylogeny of the Rh family and study its coexistence with and relationship to Amt in depth, we analyzed 111 Rh genes and 260 Amt genes. Although Rh and Amt are found together in organisms as diverse as unicellular eukaryotes and sea squirts, Rh genes apparently arose later, because they are rare in proka

SUBMITTER: Huang CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1266151 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature