A new evolutionary paradigm for the Parkinson disease gene DJ-1.
The DJ-1 gene is extensively studied because of its involvement in familial Parkinson disease. DJ-1 belongs to a complex superfamily of genes that includes both prokaryotic and eukaryotic representatives. We determine that many prokaryotic groups, such as proteobacteria, cyanobacteria, spirochaetes, firmicutes, or fusobacteria, have genes, often incorrectly called "Thij," that are very close relatives of DJ-1, to the point that they cannot be clearly separated from the eukaryotic DJ-1 genes by phylogenetic analyses of their sequences. In addition, and contrary to a previous study that suggested that DJ-1 genes were animal specific, we show that DJ-1 genes are found in at least 5 of the 6 main eukaryotic groups: opisthokonta (both animals and fungi), plantae, chromalveolata, excavata, and amoebozoa. Our results thus provide strong evidence for DJ-1 genes originating before the origin of eukaryotes. Interestingly, we found that some fungal species, among them the model yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, have DJ-1-like genes, most likely orthologous to the animal genes. This finding opens new ways for the analysis of the functions of this group of genes.
Lucas
J Ignasi
JI
Departamento de Genética, Universidad de Valencia, Burjassot, Spain.
Marín
Ignacio
I
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000737:chemistry; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D017343:Genes, Plant; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015513:Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011387:Prokaryotic Cells / Q000737:chemistry; D000071617:Protein Deglycase DJ-1; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D015513:Oncogene Proteins; C105131:PARK7 protein, human; D000071617:Protein Deglycase DJ-1