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Duplicated Gene Evolution of the Primate Alcohol Dehydrogenase Family

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Post-Genome Biology of Primates

Part of the book series: Primatology Monographs ((PrimMono))

Abstract

The mammalian alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH: EC1.1.1.1) enzymes metabolize a wide range of alcohol and carbonyl compounds. The ADH enzyme family is classified into five classes (I–V) based on biochemical properties and nucleotide/amino acid sequence similarity. Each class of ADH shares 60–70% sequence similarity with other classes of ADH in the same species, and ADHs within the same class in the same species share more than 80% sequence similarity. The high similarity among ADHs suggests that their genes have evolved by multiple duplications. Previous studies based on Southern hybridization data have identified copy number variation of Class I ADH genes in mammals: the mouse has only one Class I gene, some other mammals have two genes, whereas all primates examined have at least three Class I genes. Our previous study showed that great apes (human, chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan) and Old World monkeys (baboon) have three or more Class I genes that have evolved independently, escaping from homogenization by gene conversion. In this review, we revisit the puzzle of the copy number variation in the primate ADH gene family by searching the literature and genome databases and propose a hypothesis that the primate frugivorous behavior has maintained the duplicated genes because of the necessity of digesting ethanol generated by fermentation of fruit sugar.

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Abbreviations

ADH:

Alcohol dehydrogenase

ALDH:

Aldehyde dehydrogenase

BP:

Before present

cDNA:

Complementary DNA

kb:

Kilobase pairs

Km :

Inverse of enzyme affinity

mRNA:

Messenger RNA

My:

Million years

NWM:

New World monkey

OWM:

Old World monkey

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

WGS:

Whole genome sequencing

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Acknowledgments

We must thank Drs. H. Hirai and H. Imai for kindly giving us the opportunity to write this book chapter.

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Author notes

  1. Hiroki Oota

    Present address: Kitasato University School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan

    Hiroki Oota

  2. Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Kenneth K. Kidd

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  1. Hiroki Oota
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Correspondence to Hiroki Oota .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kanrin 41-2, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan

    Hirohisa Hirai

  2. Department of Cellular and Molecular Bio., Inuyama, 484-8506, Japan

    Hiroo Imai

  3. Kyoto University, Primates Research Institute, Kanbayashi, Inuyama, 484-8506, Aichi, Japan

    Yasuhiro Go

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Oota, H., Oota, H., Kidd, K.K. (2012). Duplicated Gene Evolution of the Primate Alcohol Dehydrogenase Family. In: Hirai, H., Imai, H., Go, Y. (eds) Post-Genome Biology of Primates. Primatology Monographs. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54011-3_9

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