Author URLs
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2009
MeSH Terms
Inteins, Introns
Subject: LCSH
Introns, Proteins
Disciplines
Biology | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Abstract
Background: Inteins and introns are genetic elements that are removed from proteins and RNA after translation or transcription, respectively. Previous studies have suggested that these genetic elements are found in conserved parts of the host protein. To our knowledge this type of analysis has not been done for group II introns residing within a gene. Here we provide quantitative statistical support from an analyses of proteins that host inteins, group I introns, group II introns and spliceosomal introns across all three domains of life. Results: To determine whether or not inteins, group I, group II, and spliceosomal introns are found preferentially in conserved regions of their respective host protein, conservation profiles were generated and intein and intron positions were mapped to the profiles. Fisher's combined probability test was used to determine the significance of the distribution of insertion sites across the conservation profile for each protein. For a subset of studied proteins, the conservation profile and insertion positions were mapped to protein structures to determine if the insertion sites correlate to regions of functional activity. All inteins and most group I introns were found to be preferentially located within conserved regions; in contrast, a bacterial intein-like protein, group II and spliceosomal introns did not show a preference for conserved sites. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that inteins and group I introns are found preferentially in conserved regions of their respective host proteins. Homing endonucleases are often located within inteins and group I introns and these may facilitate mobility to conserved regions. Insertion at these conserved positions decreases the chance of elimination, and slows deletion of the elements, since removal of the elements has to be precise as not to disrupt the function of the protein. Furthermore, functional constrains on the targeted site make it more difficult for hosts to evolve immunity to the homing endonuclease. Therefore, these elements will better survive and propagate as molecular parasites in conserved sites. In contrast, spliceosomal introns and group II introns do not show significant preference for conserved sites and appear to have adopted a different strategy to evade loss.
DOI
10.1186/1471-2148-9-303
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Repository Citation
Swithers, Kristen; Senejani, Ali; Fournier, Gregory P.; and Gogarten, Peter J., "Conservation of Intron and Intein Insertion Sites: Implications for Life Histories of Parasitic Genetic Elements" (2009). Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications. 47.
https://digitalcommons.newhaven.edu/biology-facpubs/47
Publisher Citation
Swithers K.S., Senejani A.G, Fournier G.P., Gogarten J.P. “Conservation of intron and intein insertion sites: implications for life histories of parasitic genetic elements” BMC Evol Biol. 2009; 9:303
Comments
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© 2009 Swithers et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.