title: Fluorescent protein candidate genes in the coral Acropora digitifera genome.
abstract: The vivid coloration of corals depends on fluorescent proteins that include cyan (CFP), green (GFP) and red (RFP) fluorescent proteins, and a non-fluorescent blue/purple chromoprotein. We examined how many genes encoding fluorescent proteins are present in the recently sequenced genome of the coral Acropora digitifera. Based on molecular phylogenetic analysis, we found one, five, one, and three candidate genes for CFP, GFP, RFP, and chromoprotein, respectively. The CFP and GFP genes are clustered in a ~80-kb-long genomic region, suggesting that they originated from an ancestral gene by tandem duplication. Since CFP and GFP possess the same chromophore, the gene clustering may provide the first genomic evidence for a common origin of the two proteins. Comparison between the fluorescent protein genes of closely related coral species suggests an expansion of chromoprotein genes in the A. digitifera genome, and of RFP genes in the A. millepora genome. The A. digitifera fluorescent protein genes are expressed during embryonic and larval developmental stages and in adults, suggesting that the genes play a variety of roles in coral physiology.
authors.affiliation: Marine Genomics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan. c.shinzato@oist.jp
authors.forename: Chuya
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shinzato
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shoguchi
authors.forename: Makiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Nori
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Satoh
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016678:Genome; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D008164:Luminescent Proteins