Functionality of unspliced XBP1 is required to explain evolution of overlapping reading frames.
Eukaryotic genes with overlapping reading frames exemplify some of the most striking biological phenomena. Transcript of one such gene, the gene encoding X-box protein (XBP1), has evolved a mechanism for "on-demand" switching of translation between two overlapping reading frames. Despite the existence of this elaborate system, only one reading frame was believed to be functional. Here, we show that XBP1 evolves in a fashion that is only consistent with functionality of both reading frames. Our study provides a novel evolutionary framework for the analysis of loci with overlapping reading frames, which can be used for identification and analyses of novel dual-coding genes.
Nekrutenko
Anton
A
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Center for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, Huck Institutes for Life Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. anton@bx.psu.edu
He
Jianbin
J
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D011489:Protein Denaturation; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D000071701:Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000071717:X-Box Binding Protein 1
D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C091341:HAC1 protein, S cerevisiae; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D009711:Nucleotides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000071701:Regulatory Factor X Transcription Factors; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000071717:X-Box Binding Protein 1; C000605543:XBP1 protein, human; C000605544:Xbp1 protein, mouse