title: Unexpected amino acid composition of modern Reptilia and its implications in molecular mechanisms of dinosaur extinction.
abstract: Dinosaur extinction is a great challenge to evolutionary biology. Although accumulating evidence suggests that an abrupt change of environment, such as a long period of low temperature induced by asteroid hit or other disasters, may be responsible for dinosaur extinction, little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms. By analyzing the amino acid compositions of 13 biological classes, we found that the charged amino acid content of modern Reptilia, the sibling of dinosaur, is strikingly different from those of other classes, which inspires us to propose a possible molecular mechanism for dinosaur extinction.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Research Center for Bioinformatic Engineering and Technique, Center for Advanced Study, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, PR China.
authors.forename: Guang-Zhong
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bin-Guang
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hong-Yu
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D025061:Dinosaurs / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012104:Reptiles / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D030162:Reptilian Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D030162:Reptilian Proteins