Smelt was the likely beneficiary of an antifreeze gene laterally transferred between fishes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Type II antifreeze protein (AFP) from the rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax, is a calcium-dependent C-type lectin homolog, similar to the AFPs from herring and sea raven. While C-type lectins are ubiquitous, type II AFPs are only found in a few species in three widely separated branches of teleost fishes. Furthermore, several other non-homologous AFPs are found in intervening species. We have previously postulated that this sporadic distribution has resulted from lateral gene transfer. The alternative hypothesis, that the AFP evolved from a lectin present in a shared ancestor and that this gene was lost in most species, is not favored because both the exon and intron sequences are highly conserved.

Results

Here we have sequenced and annotated a 160 kb smelt BAC clone

SUBMITTER: Graham LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3499448 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature