A Genome-Wide Survey of Genes for Enzymes Involved in Pigment Synthesis in an Ascidian, Ciona intestinalis

Abstract The draft genome sequence and a large quantity of EST and cDNA information are now available for the ascidian Ciona intestinalis. In the present study, genes involved in pigment synthesis pathways were identified in the decoded genome of Ciona, and information about these genes was obtained from available EST and cDNA sequences. It was found that the Ciona genome contains orthologous genes for each enzyme of the melanin, pteridine, ommochrome, papiliochrome, and heme synthesis pathways. Several appear as independent duplications in the Ciona genome. Because cDNA clones for all but two of these genes have already been isolated by the cDNA project, C. intestinalis will provide an experimental system to explore molecular mechanisms underlying color patterns, through future genome-wide studies.

[1]  A. James,et al.  Analysis of the wild‐type and mutant genes encoding the enzyme kynurenine monooxygenase of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti , 2003, Insect molecular biology.

[2]  T. Tamura.  Deficiency of xanthine dehydrogenase activity in the oq oily mutant of the silkworm, Bombyx mori , 1983 .

[3]  G. Wiederrecht,et al.  Enzymatic conversion of dihydroneopterin triphosphate to the pyrimidodiazepine intermediate involved in the biosynthesis of the drosopterins in Drosophila melanogaster. , 1984, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[4]  E. Giordano,et al.  The clot gene of Drosophila melanogaster encodes a conserved member of the Thioredoxin-like protein superfamily , 2003, Molecular Genetics and Genomics.

[5]  P. Koch,et al.  Insect pigmentation: activities of beta-alanyldopamine synthase in wing color patterns of wild-type and melanic mutant swallowtail butterfly Papilio glaucus. , 2000, Pigment cell research.

[6]  M. Sugumaran.  Comparative biochemistry of eumelanogenesis and the protective roles of phenoloxidase and melanin in insects. , 2002, Pigment cell research.

[7]  T. Burmester.  Origin and evolution of arthropod hemocyanins and related proteins , 2002, Journal of Comparative Physiology B.

[8]  D. Higgins,et al.  See Blockindiscussions, Blockinstats, Blockinand Blockinauthor Blockinprofiles Blockinfor Blockinthis Blockinpublication Clustal: Blockina Blockinpackage Blockinfor Blockinperforming Multiple Blockinsequence Blockinalignment Blockinon Blockina Minicomputer Article Blockin Blockinin Blockin , 2022 .

[9]  E. Ragazzi,et al.  Enzyme activities of tryptophan metabolism along the kynurenine pathway in various species of animals. , 2003, Farmaco.

[10]  F. Solano,et al.  Molecular anatomy of tyrosinase and its related proteins: beyond the histidine-bound metal catalytic center. , 2002, Pigment cell research.

[11]  N. Blau,et al.  Tetrahydrobiopterin biosynthesis, regeneration and functions. , 2000, The Biochemical journal.

[12]  J Schultz,et al.  SMART, a simple modular architecture research tool: identification of signaling domains. , 1998, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[13]  Paul Richardson,et al.  The Draft Genome of Ciona intestinalis: Insights into Chordate and Vertebrate Origins , 2002, Science.

[14]  Ian K Quigley,et al.  Pigment pattern formation in zebrafish: A model for developmental genetics and the evolution of form , 2002, Microscopy research and technique.

[15]  I. Ziegler,et al.  The pteridine pathway in zebrafish: regulation and specification during the determination of neural crest cell-fate. , 2003, Pigment cell research.

[16]  L. L. Searles,et al.  Molecular characterization of the Drosophila vermilion locus and its suppressible alleles. , 1986, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[17]  K. Ikeo,et al.  Ascidian tyrosinase gene: Its unique structure and expression in the developing brain , 1997, Developmental dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists.

[18]  N. Satoh,et al.  A genomewide survey of developmentally relevant genes in Ciona intestinalis , 2003, Development Genes and Evolution.

[19]  G. C. Ferreira.  Heme biosynthesis: Biochemistry, molecular biology, and relationship to disease , 1995, Journal of bioenergetics and biomembranes.

[20]  N. Saitou,et al.  The neighbor-joining method: a new method for reconstructing phylogenetic trees. , 1987, Molecular biology and evolution.

[21]  V. Hearing,et al.  Enzymatic control of pigmentation in mammals , 1991, FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

[22]  Susan J. Brown,et al.  Cloning and characterization of the Tribolium castaneum eye-color genes encoding tryptophan oxygenase and kynurenine 3-monooxygenase. , 2002, Genetics.

[23]  T. Gojobori,et al.  Structure and developmental expression of the ascidian TRP gene: Insights into the evolution of pigment cell–specific gene expression , 1999, Developmental dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists.

[24]  Takeshi Kawashima,et al.  Large scale EST analyses in Ciona intestinalis: its application as Northern blot analyses. , 2003, Development genes and evolution.

[25]  V. del Marmol,et al.  Tyrosinase and related proteins in mammalian pigmentation , 1996, FEBS letters.

[26]  Sudhir Kumar,et al.  MEGA2: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis software , 2001, Bioinform..

[27]  Takeshi Kawashima,et al.  A cDNA resource from the basal chordate Ciona intestinalis , 2002, Genesis.

[28]  T. Burmester,et al.  Putative phenoloxidases in the tunicate Ciona intestinalis and the origin of the arthropod hemocyanin superfamily , 2004, Journal of Comparative Physiology B.

[29]  T. Tokioka,et al.  AN UNUSUALLY ROBUST CIONA FROM THE NORTHEASTERN COAST OF HONSYU ISLAND, JAPAN , 1967 .

[30]  M. Tsusué,et al.  Occurrence of Two Different Enzymes in the Silkworm, Bombyx mori, to reduce Folate and Sepiapterin , 1963, Nature.

[31]  M. Sugumaran,et al.  On the mechanism of side chain oxidation of N-beta-alanyldopamine by cuticular enzymes from Sarcophaga bullata. , 1990, Archives of insect biochemistry and physiology.

[32]  Michael P. Cummings,et al.  MEGA (Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis) , 2004 .

[33]  Robert D. Finn,et al.  The Pfam protein families database , 2004, Nucleic Acids Res..

[34]  D. Knecht,et al.  The rosy Locus in Drosophila melanoguster: Xanthine Dehydrogenase and Eye Pigments , 2002 .

[35]  Stephanie O. Palmer,et al.  Molecular characterization of the cinnabar region of Drosophila melanogaster: Identification of the cinnabar transcription unit , 2004, Genetica.

[36]  J. Casida,et al.  Kynurenine formamidase: determination of primary structure and modeling-based prediction of tertiary structure and catalytic triad. , 2002, Biochimica et biophysica acta.