title: Of urchins and men: evolution of an alternative splicing unit in fibroblast growth factor receptor genes.
abstract: Alternative splicing of mammalian transcripts, which yields many diverse protein products from one gene, is the rule and not the exception. Although the mechanisms that govern alternative splicing are being unraveled, little is known about the evolution of this critical engine of proteome diversity. Here we present a phylogenetic analysis from a sea urchin to humans of the alternative splicing unit encoding the third Ig domain of fibroblast growth factor receptors. The remarkable conservation of intronic control elements, both in structure and function, indicates that the mechanisms that regulate this alternative splicing unit evolved over 600 million years ago.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
authors.forename: Neville
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mistry
authors.forename: Whitney
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Harrington
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lasda
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Mariano A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Garcia-Blanco
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D051496:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 1; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics*; D012617:Sea Urchins / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D020033:Protein Isoforms; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor; C101099:FGFR1 protein, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus; D051496:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 1