Structural characterization and computational analysis of PDZ domains in Monosiga brevicollis.

ABSTRACT: Identification of the molecular networks that facilitated the evolution of multicellular animals from their unicellular ancestors is a fundamental problem in evolutionary cellular biology. Choanoflagellates are recognized as the closest extant nonmetazoan ancestors to animals. These unicellular eukaryotes can adopt a multicellular-like "rosette" state. Therefore, they are compelling models for the study of early multicellularity. Comparative studies revealed that a number of putative human orthologs are present in choanoflagellate genomes, suggesting that a subset of these genes were necessary for the emergence of multicellularity. However, previous work is largely based on sequence alignments alone, which does not confirm structural nor functional similarity. Here, we focus on the PDZ dom

SUBMITTER: Gao M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7586902 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature