Wide diversity in structure and expression profiles among members of the Caenorhabditis elegans globin protein family.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The emergence of high throughput genome sequencing facilities and powerful high performance bioinformatic tools has highlighted hitherto unexpected wide occurrence of globins in the three kingdoms of life. In silico analysis of the genome of C. elegans identified 33 putative globin genes. It remains a mystery why this tiny animal might need so many globins. As an inroad to understanding this complexity we initiated a structural and functional analysis of the globin family in C. elegans.

Results

All 33 C. elegans putative globin genes are transcribed. The translated sequences have the essential signatures of single domain bona fide globins, or they contain a distinct globin domain that is part of a larger protein. All globin domains can be aligned so as to fit the

SUBMITTER: Hoogewijs D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2228317 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature