The evolution of the histone methyltransferase gene Su(var)3-9 in metazoans includes a fusion with and a re-fission from a functionally unrelated gene.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In eukaryotes, histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9) methylation is a common mechanism involved in gene silencing and the establishment of heterochromatin. The loci of the major heterochromatic H3K9 methyltransferase Su(var)3-9 and the functionally unrelated gamma subunit of the translation initiation factor eIF2 are fused in Drosophila melanogaster. Here we examined the phylogenetic distribution of this unusual gene fusion and the molecular evolution of the H3K9 HMTase Su(var)3-9.

Results

We show that the gene fusion had taken place in the ancestral line of winged insects and silverfishs (Dicondylia) about 400 million years ago. We cloned Su(var)3-9 genes from a collembolan and a spider where both genes ancestrally exist as independent transcription units. In contrast, we f

SUBMITTER: Krauss V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1435931 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature