title: Remarkable conservation of translation initiation factors: IF1/eIF1A and IF2/eIF5B are universally distributed phylogenetic markers.
abstract: Initiation of protein biosynthesis is an essential process occurring in cells throughout the three phylogenetic domains, Bacteria, Archaea, and Eucarya. IF1/eIF1A and IF2/eIF5B, two conserved translation initiation factors are involved in this important step of protein biosynthesis. The essentiality, universal distribution, conservation, and interspecies functional homology of both factors are a unique combination of properties ideal for molecular phylogenetic studies as demonstrated by the extensively compared SSU rRNAs. Here, we assess the use of IF1/eIF1A and IF2/eIF5B in universal and partial phylogenetic studies by comparison of sequence information from species within all three phylogenetic domains and among closely related strains of Haemophilus parainfluenzae. We conclude that the amino acid sequence of IF1/eIF1A-IF2/eIF5B is a universal phylogenetic marker and that the nucleotide sequence of the IF2/eIF5B G-domain is more credible than SSU rRNA for the construction of partial phylogenies among closely related species and strains. Because of these two application levels, IF1/eIF1A-IF2/eIF5B is a phylogenetic "dual level" marker.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Structural Biology, Aarhus University, Denmark.
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hedegaard
authors.forename: H U
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Sperling-Petersen
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Mortensen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D015977:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D040061:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-5; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005819:Genetic Markers; D001411:Geobacillus stearothermophilus / Q000235:genetics; D006190:Haemophilus / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D017014:Methanobacterium / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010448:Peptide Initiation Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D015977:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-1; D040061:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-5; D005819:Genetic Markers; D010448:Peptide Initiation Factors; C026022:eukaryotic peptide initiation factor-1A