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PLoS One

Title:		"The roles of gene duplication, gene conversion and positive selection in rodent Esp and Mup pheromone gene families with comparison to the Abp family"
Author(s):		Karn RC; Laukaitis CM;
Address:		"Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America. rkarn@butler.edu"
Journal Title:		PLoS One
Year:		2012
Volume:		20121019
Issue:		10
Page Number:		e47697 -
DOI:		10.1371/journal.pone.0047697
ISSN/ISBN:		1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Three proteinaceous pheromone families, the androgen-binding proteins (ABPs), the exocrine-gland secreting peptides (ESPs) and the major urinary proteins (MUPs) are encoded by large gene families in the genomes of Mus musculus and Rattus norvegicus. We studied the evolutionary histories of the Mup and Esp genes and compared them with what is known about the Abp genes. Apparently gene conversion has played little if any role in the expansion of the mouse Class A and Class B Mup genes and pseudogenes, and the rat Mups. By contrast, we found evidence of extensive gene conversion in many Esp genes although not in all of them. Our studies of selection identified at least two amino acid sites in beta-sheets as having evolved under positive selection in the mouse Class A and Class B MUPs and in rat MUPs. We show that selection may have acted on the ESPs by determining K(a)/K(s) for Exon 3 sequences with and without the converted sequence segment. While it appears that purifying selection acted on the ESP signal peptides, the secreted portions of the ESPs probably have undergone much more rapid evolution. When the inner gene converted fragment sequences were removed, eleven Esp paralogs were present in two or more pairs with K(a)/K(s) >1.0 and thus we propose that positive selection is detectable by this means in at least some mouse Esp paralogs. We compare and contrast the evolutionary histories of all three mouse pheromone gene families in light of their proposed functions in mouse communication"
Keywords:		"Amino Acid Sequence Androgen-Binding Protein/*genetics Animals Evolution, Molecular Exons Female *Gene Conversion *Gene Duplication *Genome Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins Male Mice Molecular Sequence Data Multigene Family Pheromones/*geneti;"
Notes:		"MedlineKarn, Robert C Laukaitis, Christina M eng P30 CA023074/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ P50 CA095060/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural 2012/10/25 PLoS One. 2012; 7(10):e47697. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047697. Epub 2012 Oct 19"