Coevolution of amino acid residues in the key photosynthetic enzyme Rubisco.

ABSTRACT:

Background

One of the key forces shaping proteins is coevolution of amino acid residues. Knowing which residues coevolve in a particular protein may facilitate our understanding of protein evolution, structure and function, and help to identify substitutions that may lead to desired changes in enzyme kinetics. Rubisco, the most abundant enzyme in biosphere, plays an essential role in the process of carbon fixation through photosynthesis, thus facilitating life on Earth. This makes Rubisco an important model system for studying the dynamics of protein fitness optimization on the evolutionary landscape. In this study we investigated the selective and coevolutionary forces acting on large subunit of land plants Rubisco using Markov models of codon substitution and clustering approache

SUBMITTER: Wang M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3190394 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature