Concerted evolution in the repeats of an immunomodulating cell surface protein, SOWgp, of the human pathogenic fungi Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii.

ABSTRACT: Genome dynamics that allow pathogens to escape host immune responses are fundamental to our understanding of host-pathogen interactions. Here we present the first population-based study of the process of concerted evolution in the repetitive domain of a protein-coding gene. This gene, SOWgp, encodes the immunodominant protein in the parasitic phase of the human pathogenic fungi Coccidioides immitis and C. posadasii. We sequenced the entire gene from strains representing the geographic ranges of the two Coccidioides species. By using phylogenetic and genetic distance analyses we discovered that the repetitive part of SOWgp evolves by concerted evolution, predominantly by the mechanism of unequal crossing over. We implemented a mathematical model originally developed for multigene families t

SUBMITTER: Johannesson H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1456504 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature