All Roads Lead to Arginine: The Squid Protamine Gene

Lewis, John D.; Jong, Miriam E. de; Bagha, Sabira M; Tang, Alpina; Gilly, William F.; Ausió, Juan

doi:10.1007/s00239-004-2589-8

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An evolutionary link between these two proteins has therefore been dismissed for many years, despite their similar roles in packaging chromatin. It has recently been shown that a frameshift mutation in the tail of the sperm-specific histone H1 provided the key step in the evolution of protamines, and that these are true descendant of histones (Lewis et al 2003(Lewis et al , 2004a.…”

Section: Testis-specific Genes Their Evolutionary Origin and Their Expressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution and spermatogenesis

White-Cooper

Bausek

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sexual reproduction depends on the production of haploid gametes, and their fusion to form diploid zygotes. Here, we discuss sperm production and function in a molecular and functional evolutionary context, drawing predominantly from studies in model organisms (mice, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans). We consider the mechanisms involved in establishing and maintaining a germline stem cell population in testes, as well as the factors that regulate their contribution to the pool of differentiating cells. These processes involve considerable interaction between the germline and the soma, and we focus on regulatory signalling events in a variety of organisms. The male germline has a unique transcriptional profile, including expression of many testis-specific genes. The evolutionary pressures associated with gene duplication and acquisition of testis function are discussed in the context of genome organization and transcriptional regulation. Post-meiotic differentiation of spermatids involves very dramatic changes in cell shape and acquisition of highly specialized features. We discuss the variety of sperm motility mechanisms and how various reproductive strategies are associated with the diversity of sperm forms found in animals.

show abstract

Section: Testis-specific Genes Their Evolutionary Origin and Their Expressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution and spermatogenesis

White-Cooper

Bausek

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this regard, it is interesting to note that the process of post-translational cleavage of PL-I precursors has occurred repeatedly in completely unrelated groups of organisms such as bivalve mollusks and ascidian tunicates. Remarkably, in both instances the next step in the evolution of these two groups, cephalopods (25,63) and cephalochordates (10), has involved the acquisition of an independent protamine gene encoding for a protein with characteristics almost identical to those of the PL-I arginine-rich fragments.…”

Section: Evolution Of Histone H1 and Evolution Of Protamines How Relmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protamines, in the Footsteps of Linker Histone Evolution

Eirín‐López

Frehlick

Ausió

2006

Journal of Biological Chemistry

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It was perhaps a lucky coincidence that the early attempts to establish the chemical composition of the cell nucleus were initially carried out on such diverse biological systems as salmon sperm heads (1) and geese and chicken erythrocytes (2). Examination of sperm and erythrocyte systems, respectively, lead to the protamine and histone concepts (3). We know with certainty that, with the exception of the male gametes, all somatic cells exclusively contain histones. Hence, in metazoans, protamines (4, 5) are confined to the sperm nuclear chromatin, and even among sperm, protamines are not always present. Indeed, a large number of metazoans contain somatic-like histones in their sperm, and some crustaceans (order Decapoda) lack any chromosomal proteins in their sperm (6, 7). Therefore, in contrast to the somatic nucleus, sperm chromatin may have a much more diverse protein composition. It was not until the first attempt of classification of the sperm nuclear basic proteins (SNBPs) 2 by David Bloch (6,8), an effort later on extended by Harold Kasinsky (7), that a clearer picture started to emerge in this regard.More recently, an enormous effort has been carried out in several laboratories, including our own (9 -15), to extend this analysis to a large number of representative organisms from the different phylogenetic groups. With a broader perspective now available, SNBP heterogeneity can be restricted to three major groups or types: histone (H), protamine (P), and protamine-like (PL) (16).Histones consist of core histones (histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4) and linker histones (histone H1 family). The names refer to the structural role of these proteins. Core histones are responsible for constraining DNA wrapped about a histone core to produce a nucleoprotein complex (chromatin subunit) known as a nucleosome core particle. Linker histones bind to the linker DNA regions connecting adjacent nucleosome core particles and assist in the folding of the chromatin fiber (17).Protamines are a highly compositionally and structurally heterogeneous group of proteins (9). They exhibit a high charge density and a prevalence of arginine in their composition (13), a fact that it is most likely related to the higher affinity with which this basic amino acid binds to DNA (18). They lack any secondary structure in solution but may adopt a folded conformation upon interaction with DNA. Protamine-like proteins share compositional and structural similarities between histones and protamines (9, 16). Hence they represent a structurally intermediate group that will be discussed more extensively in the following sections of this review.To a certain extent, all three types of SNBP can be considered structurally analogous as all of them produce folded chromatin fibers of 30 -50 nm (19) regardless of the particular structure of the individual nucleoprotamine complexes. At the functional level, somatic histones bind to DNA in a highly dynamic way that not only helps in the folding of the genome but also has an important role in the epigenetic reg...

show abstract

“…Post-translational cleavage of protamine precursors is quite a general occurrence both in protostome and deuterostome species, which appears to be independent of their histone H1 origin, and it also appears to have been the product of evolutionary convergence (46). For instance, the protamines of cephalopods (Sepia officinalis (cuttlefish) (47)/Loligo opalescens (squid) (46)) and the protamine P2 in mammals (mouse (48) and human (49)) are the products of a gene encoding a protein with an N-terminal leading domain consisting of a mixture of neutral/ polar amino acids and a highly-arginine-rich C-terminal end.…”

Section: Protamines and Histone H1mentioning

confidence: 99%