Evolution of Melanocortin Receptors: Studies on the genome of the Elephant Shark, Callorhinchus milii
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1
Department of Biology, University of Denver, United States
Based on the 2R Hypothesis the chordate genome has undergone at least two genome duplication events over the past 500 million years. In this scenario if one copy of a gene were present in the ancestral protochordate lineage, then two copies of that gene could have been present in the genome of jawless vertebrates, and four copies of that gene my be present in extant gnathostomes. When this hypothesis is applied to the Melanocortin Receptor (MCR) gene family, two MCR genes have been found in the lamprey genome, and usually five MCR genes are found in the genomes of tetrapods and some bony fish. Since the MC2R gene and the MC5R gene appear to be the result of a gene duplication, the 2R hypothesis would appear to explain the radiation of this gene family in gnathostomes. The apparent exception to this generalization may be the cartilaginous fish. Only three MCR genes have been cloned from the genome of the spiny dogfish. Is this outcome because some MCR genes were missed in these cloning attempts, or have cartilaginous fish lost some MCR genes. The availability of the elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii) genome project makes it possible to evaluate these possibilities. Our search of the genome has revealed the presence of three potential melanocortin genes. These genes were synthesized (GenScript) and transfected into CHO cells. In this study we will present the results of melanocortin ligand activation studies of these putative receptors and discuss the evolutionary implications of these observations.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by NSF grant NSF IOB 0516958.
Keywords:
comparative endocrinology
Conference:
25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists, Pécs, Hungary, 31 Aug - 4 Sep, 2010.
Presentation Type:
Conference Presentation
Topic:
Comparative endocrinology
Citation:
Reinick
C,
Liang
L and
Dores
R
(2010). Evolution of Melanocortin Receptors: Studies on the genome of the Elephant Shark, Callorhinchus milii.
Front. Endocrinol.
Conference Abstract:
25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fendo.2010.01.00064
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Received:
27 Aug 2010;
Published Online:
29 Aug 2010.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Christina Reinick, Department of Biology, University of Denver, Denver, United States, creinick@du.edu