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Functional constraint and divergence in the G protein family in Caenorhabditis elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae

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Abstract

Part of the challenge of the post-genomic world is to identify functional elements within the wide array of information generated by genome sequencing. Although cross-species comparisons and investigation of rates of sequence divergence are an efficient approach, the relationship between sequence divergence and functional conservation is not clear. Here, we use a comparative approach to examine questions of evolutionary rates and conserved function within the guanine nucleotide-binding protein (G protein) gene family in nematodes of the genus Caenorhabditis. In particular, we show that, in cases where the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog shows a loss-of-function phenotype, G protein genes of C. elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae diverge on average three times more slowly than G protein genes that do not exhibit any phenotype when mutated in C. elegans, suggesting that genes with loss of function phenotypes are subject to stronger selective constraints in relation to their function in both species. Our results also indicate that selection is as strong on G proteins involved in environmental perception as it is on those controlling other important processes. Finally, using phylogenetic footprinting, we identify a conserved non-coding motif present in multiple copies in the genomes of four species of Caenorhabditis. The presence of this motif in the same intron in the gpa-1 genes of C. elegans, C. briggsae and Caenorhabditis remanei suggests that it plays a role in the regulation of gpa-1, as well as other loci.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center, which is supported by the National Institutes of Health National Center for Research Resources, for providing us with some of the strains used in this study. Scott Baird provided C. remanei strain PB269 and Joe Thornton provided help with the analysis. We also thank the Sanger Institute and the Genome Sequencing Center at Washington University, St Louis for releasing the unpublished C. briggsae genome sequence and providing the research community with this tremendous resource. Finally, we thank the reviewers for their valuable comments. This work was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (GM54185)

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  1. Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-5289, USA

    Richard Jovelin & Patrick C. Phillips

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  1. Richard Jovelin
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Correspondence to Patrick C. Phillips.

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Jovelin, R., Phillips, P.C. Functional constraint and divergence in the G protein family in Caenorhabditis elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae. Mol Genet Genomics 273, 299–310 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-004-1105-6

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