title: Evolutionary history of the HAP2/GCS1 gene and sexual reproduction in metazoans.
abstract: The HAP2/GCS1 gene first appeared in the common ancestor of plants, animals, and protists, and is required in the male gamete for fusion to the female gamete in the unicellular organisms Chlamydomonas and Plasmodium. We have identified a HAP2/GCS1 gene in the genome sequence of the sponge Amphimedon queenslandica. This finding provides a continuous evolutionary history of HAP2/GCS1 from unicellular organisms into the metazoan lineage. Divergent versions of the HAP2/GCS1 gene are also present in the genomes of some but not all arthropods. By examining the expression of the HAP2/GCS1 gene in the cnidarian Hydra, we have found the first evidence supporting the hypothesis that HAP2/GCS1 was used for male gamete fusion in the ancestor of extant metazoans and that it retains that function in modern cnidarians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry and the Developmental Biology Center, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, United States of America. resteele@uci.edu
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.forename: Catherine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Dana
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002696:Chlamydomonas / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006829:Hydra / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000235:genetics; D011161:Porifera / Q000235:genetics*; D012098:Reproduction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013091:Spermatogenesis
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C076733:FlaD protein, Bacteria