| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000)
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| Research Abstract |
To know a possible relationship between organismal and molecular evolution, the divergence pattern of genes was examined based on a phylogenetic analysis of the GTP binding protein(GTPase)superfamily, the kinesin heavy chain family, and ion pump family by taking special notice of intracellular localization of these proteins. To obtain a rough estimate of times when these genes diverged by gene duplication, the cDNAs were cloned and sequenced from Giardia, a primitive protists lacking mitochondria as well as endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, and we found that the major groups of members belonging to kinesin heavy chain, rab, and ADP-ribosylation factor families diverged by gene duplication before the separation of Giardia and other eukaryotes. A similar divergence pattern was also found in the calcium ion pump family. These results strongly suggest that most of gene duplications that gave rise to diverse genes with different intracellular localization have been completed in the very early evolution of eukaryotes. These results also suggest the secondary loss of endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus in Giardia lineage.
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