title: Widespread Positive Selection Drives Differentiation of Centromeric Proteins in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup.
abstract: Rapid evolution of centromeric satellite repeats is thought to cause compensatory amino acid evolution in interacting centromere-associated kinetochore proteins. Cid, a protein that mediates kinetochore/centromere interactions, displays particularly high amino acid turnover. Rapid evolution of both Cid and centromeric satellite repeats led us to hypothesize that the apparent compensatory evolution may extend to interacting partners in the Condensin I complex (i.e., SMC2, SMC4, Cap-H, Cap-D2, and Cap-G) and HP1s. Missense mutations in these proteins often result in improper centromere formation and aberrant chromosome segregation, thus selection for maintained function and coevolution among proteins of the complex is likely strong. Here, we report evidence of rapid evolution and recurrent positive selection in seven centromere-associated proteins in species of the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup, and further postulate that positive selection on these proteins could be a result of centromere drive and compensatory changes, with kinetochore proteins competing for optimal spindle attachment.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242.
authors.forename: Emily A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Genetics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242.|The Department of Biology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Llopart
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002503:Centromere / Q000378:metabolism*; D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone / Q000378:metabolism; D020090:Chromosome Segregation; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000378:metabolism; D020125:Mutation, Missense; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D002868:Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; C108312:condensin complexes; C452193:heterochromatin protein 1, Drosophila; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases