Evolutionary functional elaboration of the Elovl2/5 gene family in chordates

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2016

Authors

Monroig, O (Author) Other; Lopes Marques, M (Author) Other; Navarro, JC (Author) Other; Hontoria, F (Author) Other; Ruivo, R (Author) Other; Santos, MM (Author) FCUP; Venkatesh, B (Author) Other; Tocher, DR (Author) Other; Filipe F C Castro (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Scientific Reports

Vol. 6

ISSN: 2045-2322

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 60 Citations

Scopus - 65 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00K-5HW

DOI: 10.1038/srep20510

Abstract (EN): The biosynthesis of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) provides an intriguing example on how multi-enzymatic cascades evolve. Essential LC-PUFA, such as arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic, and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA), can be acquired from the diet but are also endogenously retailored from C-18 precursors through consecutive elongations and desaturations catalyzed, respectively, by fatty acyl elongase and desaturase enzymes. The molecular wiring of this enzymatic pathway defines the ability of a species to biosynthesize LC-PUFA. Exactly when and how in animal evolution a functional LC-PUFA pathway emerged is still elusive. Here we examine key components of the LC-PUFA cascade, the Elovl2/Elovl5 elongases, from amphioxus, an invertebrate chordate, the sea lamprey, a representative of agnathans, and the elephant shark, a basal jawed vertebrate. We show that Elovl2 and Elovl5 emerged from genome duplications in vertebrate ancestry. The single Elovl2/5 from amphioxus efficiently elongates C-18 and C-20 and, to a marked lesser extent, C-22 LC-PUFA. Lamprey is incapable of elongating C-22 substrates. The elephant shark Elovl2 showed that the ability to efficiently elongate C-22 PUFA and thus to synthesize DHA through the Sprecher pathway, emerged in the jawed vertebrate ancestor. Our findings illustrate how non-integrated "metabolic islands" evolve into fully wired pathways upon duplication and neofunctionalization.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 10