title: Evolutionary genomics and adaptive evolution of the Hedgehog gene family (Shh, Ihh and Dhh) in vertebrates.
abstract: The Hedgehog (Hh) gene family codes for a class of secreted proteins composed of two active domains that act as signalling molecules during embryo development, namely for the development of the nervous and skeletal systems and the formation of the testis cord. While only one Hh gene is found typically in invertebrate genomes, most vertebrates species have three (Sonic hedgehog--Shh; Indian hedgehog--Ihh; and Desert hedgehog--Dhh), each with different expression patterns and functions, which likely helped promote the increasing complexity of vertebrates and their successful diversification. In this study, we used comparative genomic and adaptive evolutionary analyses to characterize the evolution of the Hh genes in vertebrates following the two major whole genome duplication (WGD) events. To overcome the lack of Hh-coding sequences on avian publicly available databases, we used an extensive dataset of 45 avian and three non-avian reptilian genomes to show that birds have all three Hh paralogs. We find suggestions that following the WGD events, vertebrate Hh paralogous genes evolved independently within similar linkage groups and under different evolutionary rates, especially within the catalytic domain. The structural regions around the ion-binding site were identified to be under positive selection in the signaling domain. These findings contrast with those observed in invertebrates, where different lineages that experienced gene duplication retained similar selective constraints in the Hh orthologs. Our results provide new insights on the evolutionary history of the Hh gene family, the functional roles of these paralogs in vertebrate species, and on the location of mutational hotspots.
authors.affiliation: CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Front Royal, Virginia, United States of America.
authors.forename: Warren E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Theodosius Dobzhansky Center for Genome Bioinformatics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Oceanographic Center, N. Ocean Drive, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors.forename: Erich D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Jarvis
authors.affiliation: BGI-Shenzhen, Beishan Industrial Zoon, Yantian District, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Guojie
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: M Thomas P
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Vitor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
authors.affiliation: CIIMAR/CIMAR, Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Agostinho
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Antunes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020440:Gene Duplication; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods*; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D011200:Poultry / Q000235:genetics; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012104:Reptiles / Q000235:genetics; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D053823:Hedgehog Proteins