title: Conservation and novelty in the evolution of cell adhesion and extracellular matrix genes.
abstract: New proteins and modules have been invented throughout evolution. Gene "birth dates" in Caenorhabditis elegans range from the origins of cellular life through adaptation to a soil habitat. Possibly half are "metazoan" genes, having arisen sometime between the yeast-metazoan and nematode-chordate separations. These include basement membrane and cell adhesion molecules implicated in tissue organization. By contrast, epithelial surfaces facing the environment have specialized components invented within the nematode lineage. Moreover, interstitial matrices were likely elaborated within the vertebrate lineage. A strategy for concerted evolution of new gene families, as well as conservation of adaptive genes, may underlie the differences between heterochromatin and euchromatin.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. hutter@mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hutter
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Plenefisch
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Proenca
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spieth
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mastwal
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scheel
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hedgecock
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000737:chemistry; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics*; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D002843:Chromatin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D022041:Euchromatin; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D016678:Genome; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D006570:Heterochromatin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005810:Multigene Family
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D002843:Chromatin; D022041:Euchromatin; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D006570:Heterochromatin