Non-Potluck Post from BMC Evolutionary Biology: Tracing the evolution of the heterotrimeric G protein α subunit in Metazoa

Heterotrimeric G proteins are essential signaling proteins comprised of a monomeric subunit and obligate dimer subunit. There are 800 GPCR genes and only 16 Gα paralogs in humans, and therefore the Gα subunit has not attracted as much research interest. A recent study published in BMC Evolutionary Biology computationally characterized the evolution of the G protein subunit, Gα, across all branches of Deuterostomia through 65 species.

 Researchers analyzed curated annotations with ExonMatchSolver, generated phylogenetic maximum likelihood trees with retrieved sequences from the 65 species, reconciled trees using NOTUNG v.2.8.1.7, modeled tertiary structures in retrieved nucleotide sequences, investigated potential protein-binding motifs, predicted natural selection in the GNAO gene, and detected potential Gα retrogenes in primates. These predictions were expected to help more accurately infer Gα evolution, pathways of GPCR signaling evolution, and the emergence of Gα family members in Metazoa. 

Link: https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-018-1147-8#Sec11 

- Evan Holmes