Parallel Evolution of Two dmrt1-Derived Genes, dmy and dm-W, for Vertebrate Sex Determination
Yusaku Ogita,
Shuuji Mawaribuchi,
Kei Nakasako,
Kei Tamura,
Masaru Matsuda,
Takafumi Katsumura,
Hiroki Oota,
Go Watanabe,
Shigetaka Yoneda,
Nobuhiko Takamatsu,
Michihiko Ito
Affiliations
Yusaku Ogita
Department of Bioscience, School of Science, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minamiku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan
Shuuji Mawaribuchi
Biotechnology Research Institute for Drug Discovery, National Institute of AIST, Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8566, Japan
Kei Nakasako
Department of Bioscience, School of Science, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minamiku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan
Kei Tamura
Department of Bioscience, School of Science, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minamiku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan
Masaru Matsuda
Center for Bioscience Research and Education, Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya 321-8505, Japan
Takafumi Katsumura
Laboratory of Genome Anthropology, Department of Anatomy, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Kitasato 1-15-1, Minamiku, Sagamihara 252-0674, Japan
Hiroki Oota
School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyoku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan
Go Watanabe
Department of Physics, School of Science, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minamiku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan
Shigetaka Yoneda
Department of Physics, School of Science, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minamiku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan
Nobuhiko Takamatsu
Department of Bioscience, School of Science, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minamiku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan
Michihiko Ito
Department of Bioscience, School of Science, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minamiku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan; Corresponding author
Summary: Animal sex-determining genes, which bifurcate for female and male development, are diversified even among closely related species. Most of these genes emerged independently from various sex-related genes during species diversity as neofunctionalization-type genes. However, the common mechanisms of this divergent evolution remain poorly understood. Here, we compared the molecular evolution of two sex-determining genes, the medaka dmy and the clawed frog dm-W, which independently evolved from the duplication of the transcription factor-encoding masculinization gene dmrt1. Interestingly, we detected parallel amino acid substitutions, from serine (S) to threonine (T), on the DNA-binding domains of both ancestral DMY and DM-W, resulting from positive selection. Two types of DNA-protein binding experiments and a luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that these S-T substitutions could strengthen the DNA-binding abilities and enhance the transcriptional regulation function. These findings suggest that the parallel S-T substitutions may have contributed to the establishment of dmy and dm-W as sex-determining genes. : Biological Sciences; Genetics; Evolutionary Biology Subject Areas: Biological Sciences, Genetics, Evolutionary Biology
