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Squid major lens polypeptides are homologous to glutathione S-transferases subunits

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Abstract

The eye lenses of cephalopods and vertebrates evolved relatively recently and by independent routes1. They provide a good experimental model for the study of convergent evolution at the protein level. One proposal is that pre-existing proteins were recruited as structural eye lens proteins during evolution2. This has been confirmed for the vertebrate eye lens structural proteins, or crystal-lins3–9, which have been intensively studied10,11. Despite the limited information about cephalopod eye Ienses12–14, it has been suggested that glutathionine S-transf erases (GSTs) are a possible evolutionary ancestor of the squid major lens proteins. Recently, the N-terminal sequence of the squid major lens protein was shown3 to be 55% homologous with that of the Ya subunit of the rat GST. Here, we demonstrate that the squid major lens polypeptides are encoded by a gene family of at least three members. We characterize two cDNAs corresponding to these genes and show they probably either are GST subunits themselves, or share an evolutionary ancestor with them.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. N. K. Koltzov Institute of Developmental Biology, USSR Academy of Sciences, 26 Vavilov Street, 117808, Moscow, USSR

    Staaislav I. Tomarev & Rina D. Zinovieva

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  1. Staaislav I. Tomarev
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  2. Rina D. Zinovieva
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Tomarev, S., Zinovieva, R. Squid major lens polypeptides are homologous to glutathione S-transferases subunits. Nature 336, 86–88 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/336086a0

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