Toward more accurate ancestral protein genotype-phenotype reconstructions with the use of species tree-aware gene trees.

ABSTRACT: The resurrection of ancestral proteins provides direct insight into how natural selection has shaped proteins found in nature. By tracing substitutions along a gene phylogeny, ancestral proteins can be reconstructed in silico and subsequently synthesized in vitro. This elegant strategy reveals the complex mechanisms responsible for the evolution of protein functions and structures. However, to date, all protein resurrection studies have used simplistic approaches for ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR), including the assumption that a single sequence alignment alone is sufficient to accurately reconstruct the history of the gene family. The impact of such shortcuts on conclusions about ancestral functions has not been investigated. Here, we show with simulations that utilizing informat

SUBMITTER: Groussin M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4271536 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature