title: The animal sialyltransferases and sialyltransferase-related genes: a phylogenetic approach.
abstract: The animal sialyltransferases are Golgi type II transmembrane glycosyltransferases. Twenty distinct sialyltransferases have been identified in both human and murine genomes. These enzymes catalyze transfer of sialic acid from CMP-Neu5Ac to the glycan moiety of glycoconjugates. Despite low overall identities, they share four conserved peptide motifs [L (large), S (small), motif III, and motif VS (very small)] that are hallmarks for sialyltransferase identification. We have identified 155 new putative genes in 25 animal species, and we have exploited two lines of evidence: (1) sequence comparisons and (2) exon-intron organization of the genes. An ortholog to the ancestor present before the split of ST6Gal I and II subfamilies was detected in arthropods. An ortholog to the ancestor present before the split of ST6GalNAc III, IV, V, and VI subfamilies was detected in sea urchin. An ortholog to the ancestor present before the split of ST3Gal I and II subfamilies was detected in ciona, and an ortholog to the ancestor of all the ST8Sia was detected in amphioxus. Therefore, single examples of the four families (ST3Gal, ST6Gal, ST6GalNAc, and ST8Sia) have appeared in invertebrates, earlier than previously thought, whereas the four families were all detected in bony fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammals. As previously hypothesized, sequence similarities among sialyltransferases suggest a common genetic origin, by successive duplications of an ancestral gene, followed by divergent evolution. Finally, we propose predictions on these invertebrates sialyltransferase-related activities that have not previously been demonstrated and that will ultimately need to be substantiated by protein expression and enzymatic activity assays.
authors.affiliation: Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle, UMR CNRS/USTL 8576, Laboratoire de Chimie Biologique, Bâtiment C9, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq cedex, France. anne.harduin@univ-lille1.fr [corrected]
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Harduin-Lepers
authors.forename: Rosella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mollicone
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Delannoy
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oriol
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012799:Sialyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D000094802:beta-D-Galactoside alpha 2-6-Sialyltransferase; D000094663:beta-Galactoside alpha-2,3-Sialyltransferase
chemical_list: C046778:CMP-N-acetylneuraminate-poly-alpha-2,8-sialosyl sialyltransferase; D012799:Sialyltransferases; C038525:CMP-N-acetylneuraminate-alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminide alpha-2,6-sialyltransferase; D000094802:beta-D-Galactoside alpha 2-6-Sialyltransferase; D000094663:beta-Galactoside alpha-2,3-Sialyltransferase; C000722087:ST3GAL1 protein, human