Linked Life Data

14745534

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/14745534

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6
pubmed:dateCreated
2004-1-27
pubmed:databankReference
pubmed:abstractText
During vertebrate evolution, the uric acid degradation pathway has been modified and several enzymes have been lost. Consequently, the end product of purine catabolism varies from species to species. In the past few years, we have focused our attention on vertebrate allantoicase (an uricolytic pathway enzyme), whose activity is present in certain fish and amphibians only, but whose mRNA we detected also in mammals. As allantoicase activity disappeared in amniotes, we wonder why these sequences not only remain present in the mammalian genome, but are still transcribed. To elucidate this issue, we have cloned and analyzed comparable cDNA sequences of different organisms from ascidians to mammals. The analysis of the nonsynonymous-synonymous substitution rate that we performed on the coding region comprising exons 3 to 8 by means of maximum likelihood suggested that a certain amount of purifying selection is acting on the allantoicase sequences. Some implications of the preservation of an apparently unnecessary gene in higher vertebrates are discussed.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Dec
pubmed:issn
0022-2844
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
57
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
650-8
pubmed:dateRevised
2009-11-19
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2003
pubmed:articleTitle
Selective pressure on the allantoicase gene during vertebrate evolution.
pubmed:affiliation
Dipartimento di Biologia Strutturale e Funzionale, Università degli Studi dell'Insubria, Via J.H. Dunant 3, 21100 Varese, Italy.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't