An update on MyoD evolution in teleosts and a proposed consensus nomenclature to accommodate the tetraploidization of different vertebrate genomes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

MyoD is a muscle specific transcription factor that is essential for vertebrate myogenesis. In several teleost species, including representatives of the Salmonidae and Acanthopterygii, but not zebrafish, two or more MyoD paralogues are conserved that are thought to have arisen from distinct, possibly lineage-specific duplication events. Additionally, two MyoD paralogues have been characterised in the allotetraploid frog, Xenopus laevis. This has lead to a confusing nomenclature since MyoD paralogues have been named outside of an appropriate phylogenetic framework.

Methods and principal findings

Here we initially show that directly depicting the evolutionary relationships of teleost MyoD orthologues and paralogues is hindered by the asymmetric evolutionary rate of

SUBMITTER: Macqueen DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2215776 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature