The repertoire of G protein-coupled receptors in the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) constitute a large family of integral transmembrane receptor proteins that play a central role in signal transduction in eukaryotes. The genome of the protochordate Ciona intestinalis has a compact size with an ancestral complement of many diversified gene families of vertebrates and is a good model system for studying protochordate to vertebrate diversification. An analysis of the Ciona repertoire of GPCRs from a comparative genomic perspective provides insight into the evolutionary origins of the GPCR signalling system in vertebrates.

Results

We have identified 169 gene products in the Ciona genome that code for putative GPCRs. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that Ciona GPCRs have homologous representatives from the five major GR

SUBMITTER: Kamesh N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2396169 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature