title: Diversity and functional plasticity of eukaryotic selenoproteins: identification and characterization of the SelJ family.
abstract: Selenoproteins are a diverse group of proteins that contain selenocysteine (Sec), the 21st amino acid. In the genetic code, UGA serves as a termination signal and a Sec codon. This dual role has precluded the automatic annotation of selenoproteins. Recent advances in the computational identification of selenoprotein genes have provided a first glimpse of the size, functions, and phylogenetic diversity of eukaryotic selenoproteomes. Here, we describe the identification of a selenoprotein family named SelJ. In contrast to known selenoproteins, SelJ appears to be restricted to actinopterygian fishes and sea urchin, with Cys homologues only found in cnidarians. SelJ shows significant similarity to the jellyfish J1-crystallins and with them constitutes a distinct subfamily within the large family of ADP-ribosylation enzymes. Consistent with its potential role as a structural crystallin, SelJ has preferential and homogeneous expression in the eye lens in early stages of zebrafish development. A structural role for SelJ would be in contrast to the majority of known selenoenzymes. The unusually highly restricted phylogenetic distribution of SelJ, its specialization, and the comparative analysis of eukaryotic selenoproteomes reveal the diversity and functional plasticity of selenoproteins and point to a mosaic evolution of the use of Sec in proteins.
authors.affiliation: Grup de Recerca en Informàtica Biomèdica, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Centre de Regulació Genòmica, Carrer del Doctor Aiguader 80, 08003 Barcelona, Spain. sc464@cornell.edu
authors.forename: Sergi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.forename: Alexey V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Lobanov
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chapple
authors.forename: Sergey V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Novoselov
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: Deame
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lescure
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lengauer
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krol
authors.forename: Vadim N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Gladyshev
authors.forename: Roderic
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guigó
mesh_terms: D000246:Adenosine Diphosphate Ribose / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D016678:Genome; D051379:Mice; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D010802:Phylogeny; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D020543:Proteome; D051140:Selenoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D023721:Tetraodontiformes / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D029941:Fish Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D051140:Selenoproteins; D000246:Adenosine Diphosphate Ribose