Variety of antimicrobial peptides in the Bombina maxima toad and evidence of their rapid diversification

Antimicrobial peptides secreted by the skin of many amphibians play an important role in innate immunity. From two skin cDNA libraries of two individuals of the Chinese red belly toad (Bombina maxima), we identified 56 different antimicrobial peptide cDNA sequences, each of which encodes a precursor peptide that can give rise to two kinds of antimicrobial peptides, maximin and maximin H. Among these cDNA, we found that the mean number of nucleotide substitution per non-synonymous site in both the maximin and maximin H domains significantly exceed the mean number of nucleotide substitution per synonymous site, whereas the same pattern was not observed in other structural regions, such as the signal and propiece peptide regions, suggesting that these antimicrobial peptide genes have been experiencing rapid diversification driven by Darwinian selection. We cloned and sequenced seven genes amplified from skin or liver genomic DNA. These genes have three exons and share the same gene structure, in which both maximin and maximin H are encoded by the third exon. This suggests that alternative splicing and somatic recombination are less likely to play a role in creating the diversity of maximins and maximin Hs. The gene trees based on different domain regions revealed that domain shuffling or gene conversion among these genes might have happened frequently.

Adaptive diversification of bitter taste receptor genes in mammalian evolution

The diversity and evolution of bitter taste perception in mammals is not well understood. Recent discoveries of bitter taste receptor (T2R) genes provide an opportunity for a genetic approach to this question. We here report the identification of 10 and 30 putative T2R genes from the draft human and mouse genome sequences, respectively, in addition to the 23 and 6 previously known T2R genes from the two species. A phylogenetic analysis of the T2R genes suggests that they can be classified into three main groups, which are designated A, B, and C. Interestingly, while the one-to-one gene orthology between the human and mouse is common to group B and C genes, group A genes show a pattern of species- or lineage-specific duplication. It is possible that group B and C genes are necessary for detecting bitter tastants common to both humans and mice, whereas group A genes are used for species-specific bitter tastants. The analysis also reveals that phylogenetically closely related T2R genes are close in their chromosomal locations, demonstrating tandem gene duplication as the primary source of new T2Rs. For closely related paralogous genes, a rate of nonsynonymous nucleotide substitution significantly higher than the rate of synonymous substitution was observed in the extracellular regions of T2Rs, which are presumably involved in tastant-binding. This suggests the role of positive selection in the diversification of newly duplicated T2R genes. Because many natural poisonous substances are bitter, we conjecture that the mammalian T2R genes are under diversifying selection for the ability to recognize a diverse array of poisons that the organisms may encounter in exploring new habitats and diets.

Adaptive diversification of vomeronasal receptor 1 genes in rodents

The vomeronasal receptor 1 (V1R) are believed to be pheromone receptors in rodents. Here we used computational methods to identify 95 and 62 new putative V1R genes from the draft rat and mouse genome sequence, respectively. The rat V1R repertoire consists of 11 subfamilies, 10 of which are shared with the mouse, while rat appears to lack the H and I subfamilies found in mouse and possesses one unique subfamily (M). The estimations of the relative divergence times suggest that many subfamilies originated after the split of rodents and primates. The analysis also reveals that these clusters underwent an expansion very close to the split of mouse and rat. In addition, maximum likelihood analysis showed that the nonsynonymous and synonymous rate ratio for most of these clusters was much higher than one, suggesting the role of positive selection in the diversification of these duplicated V1R genes. Because V1R are thought to mediate the process of signal transduction in response to pheromone detection, we speculate that the V1R genes have evolved under positive Darwinian selection to maintain the ability to discriminate between large and complex pheromonal mixtures.

Duplication and functional diversification of pancreatic ribonuclease (RNASE1) gene

Adaptation is one of the most fundamental issues in the studies of organismal evolution. Pancreatic ribonuclease is a very important digestive enzyme and secreted by the pancreas. Numerous studies have suggested that RNASE1 gene duplication is closely related to the functional adaptation of the digestive system in the intestinal fermentation herbivores. RNASE1 gene thus becomes one of the most important candidate genetic markers to study the molecular mechanism of adaptation of organisms to the feeding habit. Interestingly, RNASE1 gene duplication has also been found in some non-intestinal fermentation mammals, suggesting that RNASE1 gene may have produced novel tissue specificity or functions in these species. In this review, RNASE1 gene and its implications in adaptive evolution, especially in association with the feeding habit of organisms, are summarized.

Developing Porphyra/salmon integrated aquaculture for bioremediation and diversification of the aquaculture industry

FUNCTIONAL-FORM GROUPS; RED ALGAE; ATLANTIC SALMON; NEW-HAMPSHIRE; NITROGEN; PHOSPHORUS; RHODOPHYTA; TEMPERATURE; NUTRIENTS; KJELLMAN

Radiation and diversification within the Ligularia-Cremanthodium-Parasenecio complex (Asteraceae) triggered by uplift of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The Ligularia-Cremanthodium-Parasenecio (L-C-P) complex of the Tussilagininae (Asteraceae: Senecioneae) contains more than 200 species that are endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in eastern Asia. These species are morphologically distinct; however, their relationships appear complex. A phylogenetic analysis of members of the complex and selected taxa, of the tribe Senecioneae was conducted using chloroplast (ndhF and trnL-F) and nuclear (ITS) sequences. Phylogenetic trees were constructed from individual and combined datasets of the three different sequences. All analyses suggested that Doronicum, a genus that has been included in the Tussilagininae, should be excluded from this subtribe and placed at the base of the tribe Senecioneae. In addition, the Tussilagininae should be broadly circumscribed to include the Tephroseridinae. Within the expanded Tussilagininae containing all 13 genera occurring in eastern Asia, Tussilago and NSPetasites diverged early as a separate lineage, while the remaining I I genera comprise an expanded L-C-P complex clade. We suggest that the L-C-P clade, which is largely unresolved, most likely originated as a consequence of an explosive radiation. The few monophyletic subclades identified in the L-C-P clade with robust support further suggest that some genera of Tussilagininae from eastern Asia require generic re-circumscriptions given the occurrence of subclades containing species of the same genus in different parts of the phylogentic tree due to homoplasy of important morphological characters used to delimit them. Molecular-clock analyses suggest that the explosive radiation of the L-C-P complex occurred mostly within the last 20 million years, which falls well within the period of recent major uplifts of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau between the early Miocene to the Pleistocene. It is proposed that significant increases in geological and ecological diversity that accompanied such uplifting, most likely promoted rapid and continuous allopatric speciation in small and isolated populations, and allowed fixation or acquisition of similar morphological characters within unrelated lineages. This phenomenon, possibly combined with interspecific diploid hybridization because of secondary sympatry during relatively stable stages between different uplifts, could be a major cause of high species diversity in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and adjacent areas of eastern Asia. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

稻属的系统发育基因组学研究

稻属（OrvzaL．）是禾本科(Poaceae)中的重要植物类群，包含20多个野生种和两个栽培种，共有十个基因组类型，即A，B，C，E，F，G，BC，CD，HJ和HK，蕴藏了极为丰富的遗传资源，是水稻遗传改良的重要基因库。考虑到该属现存物种中的多倍体都是由二倍体杂交起源的，因此，弄清二倍体基因组之间的进化关系对于正确理解整个稻属的进化历史至关重要，同时也为稻属及其近缘类群的进化生物学、比较基因组学和功能基因学研究等提供了一个重要的工作基础。迄今，对稻属各基因组之间的系统发育关系还没有一致的结论，特别是对A、B和C基因组三者之间的关系，以及稻属基部类群的归属问题还存在争议。本研究选取来自不同二倍体基因组的6个稻属物种为研究对象，以近缘属Leersia中的L，tisserantti作外类群，通过对基因组水平的多基因序列数据的详尽分析，探讨了稻属二倍体基因组之间的亲缘关系问题，基因树与基因树之间冲突的机理，以及利用基因组水平的多基因序列做系统发育分析的方法，主要研究结果如下。 利用已完成的水稻两亚种（O．sativaL．ssp. indica和O．sativaL．ssp.japonica）的全基因组序列，筛选并扩增出遍布核基因组12条染色体的142个单拷贝核基因片段。通过对全部基因位点的合并分析，我们得到了一棵有完全分辨并得到显著统计支持的系统树。分别提取各基因的外显子区、内含子区和第三密码子进行合并建树时发现，除了合并外显子区的MP分析以外，所得系统树的树形均不变，说明这棵树基本上不会因为选取基因组不同区域或碱基位点而改变，尽管不同区域或碱基位点受到不同的选择约束力。以基因为单位进行放回式抽样也强烈支持合并建树的分析结果，表明多基因合并序列的系统发育估计并没有受到少数特殊基因的支配。为了考察基因组内物种取样对建树的影响，我们增加了2个A基因组物种以及C基因组的另外两个物种，随机选取其中的62个基因位点进行扩增和测序（增加的O．sativa的序列来自BGI-RIS数据库）。将全部II个物种62个基因位点的序列合并建树分析，得到基因组之间的进化关系均未改变。我们进一步评估了合并数据的系统误差，结果发现，合并数据的系统发育重建也未受到系统误差的影响。综上所述，本研究通过系统发育基因组学方法所得到的系统树反映了类群真实的进化关系。 为了深入探讨以往研究中出现相互矛盾的系统发育关系的原因，我们对142个基因位点分别做了单独的建树分析，并用系统发育网络方法分析了数据中基因之间系统发育信息矛盾的集中位置及其矛盾程度。基于单基因的建树分析及系统误差分析，我们排除了随机误差和系统误差直接造成基因之间信息冲突的可能性。基于溯祖理论( Coalescence theory)的进一步分析表明，稻属进化过程中发生了两次世代间隔较短的连续分化事件，由于祖先居群较大引起基因的谱系分选，进而使得在利用现有物种基因序列来重建这些分化事件时基因树不能正确反映物种树，且呈现出基因组水平的基因树冲突现象。这两次间隔较短的连续分化事件分别对应了稻属中两次物种快速分化过程，整个稻属基因组的多样性几乎都是在这两次物种快速分化过程中形成的。随机抽样分析表明，需要大量的分子序列数据才能正确分辨稻属二倍体基因组的系统发育关系（若取95%的概率，则至少需要120个基因或50kb的随机碱基位点）。本研究用基因组水平的多基因合并数据克服了谱系分选对构建系统树所带来的“噪音”，在存在广泛单基因系统发育信息矛盾的前提下获得了对物种树的正确估计，这充分证明系统发育基因组学方法在解决快速分化类群的进化关系问题中有着巨大潜力和广阔的应用前景。 基于本文所采用的142个核基因，我们初步探讨了利用多基因序列数据构建系统树时如何进行模型选择和插入缺失编码等问题，并评估了数据缺失对基因组水平系统发育重建的影响。结果表明，对合并数据而言，混合模型比单一模型能更好的拟合数据的进化模式;找到合并数据中异质性的根源并做出适当的数据分割是成功运用混合模型的关键;某些模型成分在提高模型对数据的适合度上发挥着重要作用，尤其要考虑位点之间以及谱系之间的突变速率异质性。我们认为，在设置模型时，最复杂的不一定是最好的，把握数据中最重要的进化特征远比简单的增加模型的复杂度重要。插入缺失的编码分析表明，编码后显著增加了对A基因组和B基因组聚为一枝的支持，但对稻属基部类群的分辨状况改善不明显。另外，我们通过去除数据缺失比例较大的类群来降低数据缺 失对系统发育推断的影响，结果所得的系统发育关系不变，支持率也仅有极微小的变化，说明基因组水平的多基因数据由于具有丰富的系统发育信息，因而对数据缺失具有很好的缓冲能力。