Intron-loss evolution of hatching enzyme genes in Teleostei |
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| Authors: | Mari Kawaguchi Junya Hiroi Masaki Miya Mutsumi Nishida Ichiro Iuchi Shigeki Yasumasu |
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| Affiliation: | (1) Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa Chiba, 277-8564, Japan;(2) Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Japan;(3) Department of Anatomy, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, 2-16-1 Sugao, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki 216-8511, Japan;(4) Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum & Institute, Chiba, 955-2 Aoba-cho, 260-8682 Chuo-ku, Chiba, Japan;(5) Department of Materials and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sophia University, 7-1 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8554, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Background Hatching enzyme, belonging to the astacin metallo-protease family, digests egg envelope at embryo hatching. Orthologous genes of the enzyme are found in all vertebrate genomes. Recently, we found that exon-intron structures of the genes were conserved among tetrapods, while the genes of teleosts frequently lost their introns. Occurrence of such intron losses in teleostean hatching enzyme genes is an uncommon evolutionary event, as most eukaryotic genes are generally known to be interrupted by introns and the intron insertion sites are conserved from species to species. Here, we report on extensive studies of the exon-intron structures of teleostean hatching enzyme genes for insight into how and why introns were lost during evolution. |
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