Molecular Evolution of Metallothioneins of Antarctic Fish: A Physiological Adaptation to Peculiar Seawater Chemical Characteristics

Metallothioneins (MTs) are low-molecular weight sulfur-rich proteins, widely distributed in nature. They play a homeostatic role in the control and detoxification of metal ions. Previous studies indicated that MTs also have the capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen species. This study aimed to invest...

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Published in:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Main Authors: Rigers Bakiu, Francesco Boldrin, Sara Pacchini, Sophia Schumann, Elisabetta Piva, Anna Maria Tolomeo, Diana Ferro, Alessandro Grapputo, Gianfranco Santovito, Paola Irato
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2022
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111592
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spelling ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2077-1312/10/11/1592/ 2023-08-20T04:02:21+02:00 Molecular Evolution of Metallothioneins of Antarctic Fish: A Physiological Adaptation to Peculiar Seawater Chemical Characteristics Rigers Bakiu Francesco Boldrin Sara Pacchini Sophia Schumann Elisabetta Piva Anna Maria Tolomeo Diana Ferro Alessandro Grapputo Gianfranco Santovito Paola Irato agris 2022-10-28 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111592 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Marine Environmental Science https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111592 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Marine Science and Engineering; Volume 10; Issue 11; Pages: 1592 adaptation Antarctica fish metallothioneins negative selection positive selection reticulate evolution Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111592 2023-08-01T07:04:44Z Metallothioneins (MTs) are low-molecular weight sulfur-rich proteins, widely distributed in nature. They play a homeostatic role in the control and detoxification of metal ions. Previous studies indicated that MTs also have the capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen species. This study aimed to investigate the evolution of the protein in the notothenioid fish, evolved under the selective pressure of relatively high oxygen partial pressures, characteristics of cold Antarctic seawaters, and relatively high concentrations of metal ions, Cd and Cu in particular. The cDNA sequences of MT isoforms were characterized in members of the Nototheniidae, Bathydraconidae, Artedidraconidae, and Channichthyidae families. The phylogenetic relationships of MTs from these families and other teleosts were inferred by using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian methods. The analysis of coding region and untranslated (UTR) sequences indicated the presence of two MT clades, each containing one of the two MT isoforms, MT-1 and MT-2. Our results indicated, for the first time for these proteins, that the evolution of MT genes has been characterized by strong purifying selection, whereas it did not observe any evidence of positive selection. In addition, phylogenetic analysis of the UTRs suggested that functional changes, in particular related to the MT-1 gene expression, had accompanied the duplication event. Text Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica MDPI Open Access Publishing Antarctic Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 10 11 1592
institution Open Polar
collection MDPI Open Access Publishing
op_collection_id ftmdpi
language English
topic adaptation
Antarctica
fish
metallothioneins
negative selection
positive selection
reticulate evolution
spellingShingle adaptation
Antarctica
fish
metallothioneins
negative selection
positive selection
reticulate evolution
Rigers Bakiu
Francesco Boldrin
Sara Pacchini
Sophia Schumann
Elisabetta Piva
Anna Maria Tolomeo
Diana Ferro
Alessandro Grapputo
Gianfranco Santovito
Paola Irato
Molecular Evolution of Metallothioneins of Antarctic Fish: A Physiological Adaptation to Peculiar Seawater Chemical Characteristics
topic_facet adaptation
Antarctica
fish
metallothioneins
negative selection
positive selection
reticulate evolution
description Metallothioneins (MTs) are low-molecular weight sulfur-rich proteins, widely distributed in nature. They play a homeostatic role in the control and detoxification of metal ions. Previous studies indicated that MTs also have the capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen species. This study aimed to investigate the evolution of the protein in the notothenioid fish, evolved under the selective pressure of relatively high oxygen partial pressures, characteristics of cold Antarctic seawaters, and relatively high concentrations of metal ions, Cd and Cu in particular. The cDNA sequences of MT isoforms were characterized in members of the Nototheniidae, Bathydraconidae, Artedidraconidae, and Channichthyidae families. The phylogenetic relationships of MTs from these families and other teleosts were inferred by using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian methods. The analysis of coding region and untranslated (UTR) sequences indicated the presence of two MT clades, each containing one of the two MT isoforms, MT-1 and MT-2. Our results indicated, for the first time for these proteins, that the evolution of MT genes has been characterized by strong purifying selection, whereas it did not observe any evidence of positive selection. In addition, phylogenetic analysis of the UTRs suggested that functional changes, in particular related to the MT-1 gene expression, had accompanied the duplication event.
format Text
author Rigers Bakiu
Francesco Boldrin
Sara Pacchini
Sophia Schumann
Elisabetta Piva
Anna Maria Tolomeo
Diana Ferro
Alessandro Grapputo
Gianfranco Santovito
Paola Irato
author_facet Rigers Bakiu
Francesco Boldrin
Sara Pacchini
Sophia Schumann
Elisabetta Piva
Anna Maria Tolomeo
Diana Ferro
Alessandro Grapputo
Gianfranco Santovito
Paola Irato
author_sort Rigers Bakiu
title Molecular Evolution of Metallothioneins of Antarctic Fish: A Physiological Adaptation to Peculiar Seawater Chemical Characteristics
title_short Molecular Evolution of Metallothioneins of Antarctic Fish: A Physiological Adaptation to Peculiar Seawater Chemical Characteristics
title_full Molecular Evolution of Metallothioneins of Antarctic Fish: A Physiological Adaptation to Peculiar Seawater Chemical Characteristics
title_fullStr Molecular Evolution of Metallothioneins of Antarctic Fish: A Physiological Adaptation to Peculiar Seawater Chemical Characteristics
title_full_unstemmed Molecular Evolution of Metallothioneins of Antarctic Fish: A Physiological Adaptation to Peculiar Seawater Chemical Characteristics
title_sort molecular evolution of metallothioneins of antarctic fish: a physiological adaptation to peculiar seawater chemical characteristics
publisher Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
publishDate 2022
url https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111592
op_coverage agris
geographic Antarctic
geographic_facet Antarctic
genre Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctica
op_source Journal of Marine Science and Engineering; Volume 10; Issue 11; Pages: 1592
op_relation Marine Environmental Science
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111592
op_rights https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111592
container_title Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
container_volume 10
container_issue 11
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