An archaebacterial homolog of pelota, a meiotic cell division protein in eukaryotes.
An open reading frame (pelA) specifying a homolog of pelota and DOM34, proteins required for meiotic cell division in Drosophila melanogaster and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively, has been cloned, sequenced and identified from the archaebacterium Sulfolobus solfataricus. The S. solfataricus PelA protein is about 20% identical with pelota, DOM34 and the hypothetical protein R74.6 of Caenorhabditis elegans. The presence of a pelota homolog in archaebacteria implies that the meiotic functions of the eukaryotic protein were co-opted from, or added to, other functions existing before the emergence of eukaryotes. The nuclear localization signal and negatively charged carboxy-terminus characteristic of eukaryotic pelota-like proteins are absent from the S. solfataricus homolog, and hence may be indicative of the acquired eukaryotic function(s).
Program in Evolutionary Biology, Canadian Institue for Advanced Research, National Research Council of Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
M A
MA
Ragan
J M
JM
Logsdon
C W
CW
Sensen
R L
RL
Charlebois
W F
WF
Doolittle
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D015723:Gene Library; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D016944:Sulfolobus / Q000235:genetics*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011506:Proteins; C096341:pelo protein, Drosophila