HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Figures All Versions of this Article: 20/1/1    most recent 00150.2004v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (36) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Patil, A. Articles by Zhang, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Patil, A. Articles by Zhang, G.

Call For Papers: Comparative Genomics

Rapid evolution and diversification of mammalian -defensins as revealed by comparative analysis of rodent and primate genes

¹ Department of Animal Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma
² Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina

Mammalian -defensins constitute a family of cysteine-rich, cationic antimicrobial peptides produced by phagocytes and intestinal Paneth cells, playing an important role in innate host defense. Following comprehensive computational searches, here we report the discovery of complete repertoires of the -defensin gene family in the human, chimpanzee, rat, and mouse with new genes identified in each species. The human genome was found to encode a cluster of 10 distinct -defensin genes and pseudogenes expanding 132 kb continuously on chromosome 8p23. Such -defensin loci are also conserved in the syntenic chromosomal regions of chimpanzee, rat, and mouse. Phylogenetic analyses showed formation of two distinct clusters with primate -defensins forming one cluster and rodent enteric -defensins forming the other cluster. Species-specific clustering of genes is evident in nonprimate species but not in the primates. Phylogenetically distinct subsets of -defensins also exist in each species, with most subsets containing multiple members. In addition, natural selection appears to have acted to diversify the functionally active mature defensin region but not signal or prosegment sequences. We concluded that mammalian -defensin genes may have evolved from two separate ancestors originated from ß-defensins. The current repertoires of the -defensin gene family in each species are primarily a result of repeated gene duplication and positive diversifying selection after divergence of mammalian species from each other, except for the primate genes, which were evolved prior to the separation of the primate species. We argue that the presence of multiple, divergent subsets of -defensins in each species may help animals to better cope with different microbial challenges in the ecological niches which they inhabit.

defensin; antimicrobial peptide; comparative genomics

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. A. Llenado, C. S. Weeks, M. J. Cocco, and A. J. Ouellette Electropositive Charge in {alpha}-Defensin Bactericidal Activity: Functional Effects of Lys-for-Arg Substitutions Vary with the Peptide Primary Structure Infect. Immun., November 1, 2009; 77(11): 5035 - 5043. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. R. Mastroianni and A. J. Ouellette {alpha}-Defensins in Enteric Innate Immunity: FUNCTIONAL PANETH CELL {alpha}-DEFENSINS IN MOUSE COLONIC LUMEN J. Biol. Chem., October 9, 2009; 284(41): 27848 - 27856. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. H. White Vitamin D Signaling, Infectious Diseases, and Regulation of Innate Immunity Infect. Immun., September 1, 2008; 76(9): 3837 - 3843. [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Tennessen Positive selection drives a correlation between non-synonymous/synonymous divergence and functional divergence Bioinformatics, June 15, 2008; 24(12): 1421 - 1425. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. M. Whittington, A. T. Papenfuss, P. Bansal, A. M. Torres, E. S.W. Wong, J. E. Deakin, T. Graves, A. Alsop, K. Schatzkamer, C. Kremitzki, et al. Defensins and the convergent evolution of platypus and reptile venom genes Genome Res., June 1, 2008; 18(6): 986 - 994. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Belov, C. E. Sanderson, J. E. Deakin, E. S.W. Wong, D. Assange, K. A. McColl, A. Gout, B. de Bono, A. D. Barrow, T. P. Speed, et al. Characterization of the opossum immune genome provides insights into the evolution of the mammalian immune system Genome Res., July 1, 2007; 17(7): 982 - 991. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Xiao, Y. Cai, Y. R. Bommineni, S. C. Fernando, O. Prakash, S. E. Gilliland, and G. Zhang Identification and Functional Characterization of Three Chicken Cathelicidins with Potent Antimicrobial Activity J. Biol. Chem., February 3, 2006; 281(5): 2858 - 2867. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. A. Patil, Y. Cai, Y. Sang, F. Blecha, and G. Zhang Cross-species analysis of the mammalian {beta}-defensin gene family: presence of syntenic gene clusters and preferential expression in the male reproductive tract Physiol Genomics, September 21, 2005; 23(1): 5 - 17. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]