title: Natural TWIST protein variants in a panel of eleven non-human primates: possible implications of TWIST gene-tree for primate species tree.
abstract: The twist gene is implied in head morphogenesis, as human patients heterozygous at TWIST and heterozygous M-twist mutant mice present similar cranial-facial abnormalities. M-twist and TWIST are respectively unique genes, coding for a B-HLH transcription factor. We identified twist coding sequences from 11 species representing 7 families of primates, report their conservation and genus-specific amino acid substitutions, and present a tentative gene-tree of these sequences. Amino acid changes result in natural Twist variants, which might contribute to generating distinct head morphologies in species. These data suggest twist as a molecular marker, which could be used to refine controversial classification.
authors.affiliation: C.E.P.E./CNRS-UPR9010, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gachot-Neveu
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stoetzel
authors.forename: Renaud
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quillet
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dollfus
authors.forename: Fabienne
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perrin-Schmitt
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010802:Phylogeny; D011323:Primates / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1
chemical_list: D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C103173:TWIST1 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1