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Molecular evolution of SPARC: absence of the acidic module and expression in the endoderm of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis

Development Genes and Evolution volume 219, pages 509–521 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The matricellular glycoprotein SPARC is composed of three functional domains that are evolutionarily conserved in organisms ranging from nematodes to mammals: a Ca2+-binding glutamic acid-rich acidic domain at the N-terminus (domain I), a follistatin-like module (domain II), and an extracellular Ca2+-binding (EC) module that contains two EF-hands and two collagen-binding epitopes (domain III). We report that four SPARC orthologs (designated nvSPARC1-4) are expressed by the genome of the starlet anemone Nematostella vectensis, a diploblastic basal cnidarian composed of an ectoderm and endoderm separated by collagen-based mesoglea. We also report that domain I is absent from all N. vectensis SPARC orthologs. In situ hybridization data indicate that N. vectensis SPARC mRNAs are restricted to the endoderm during post-gastrula development. The absence of the Ca2+-binding N-terminal domain in cnidarians and conservation of collagen-binding epitopes suggests that SPARC first evolved as a collagen-binding matricellular glycoprotein, an interaction likely to be dependent on the binding of Ca2+-ions to the two EF-hands in the EC domain. We propose that further Ca2+-dependent activities emerged with the acquisition of an acidic N-terminal module in triplobastic organisms.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Discovery grants to B.C., M.R., S.D., and U.T. from National Sciences and Research Council of Canada and an Early Researcher Award to B.C.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Tissue Repair and Regeneration, Matrix Dynamics Group, University of Toronto, 150 College Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 3E2

    Anne Koehler

  2. Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 3G5

    Sherwin Desser, Ulrich Tepass & Maurice Ringuette

  3. Department of Cell and Systems Biology, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Centre for Analysis of Genome Evolution and Function, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 3G5

    Belinda Chang

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, 200 College St., Toronto, ON, Canada, M5S 3E5

    Jacqueline MacDonald

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  1. Anne Koehler
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  2. Sherwin Desser
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  3. Belinda Chang
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  4. Jacqueline MacDonald
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  5. Ulrich Tepass
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  6. Maurice Ringuette
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Correspondence to Maurice Ringuette.

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Communicated by M.Q. Martindale

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Koehler, A., Desser, S., Chang, B. et al. Molecular evolution of SPARC: absence of the acidic module and expression in the endoderm of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis . Dev Genes Evol 219, 509–521 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-009-0313-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-009-0313-9

Keywords

  • SPARC
  • Nematostella vectensis
  • Gene duplication
  • Calcium binding
  • Collagen binding
  • Endoderm