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A putative origin of the insect chemosensory receptor superfamily in the last common eukaryotic ancestor

Benton, R; Dessimoz, C; Moi, D; (2020) A putative origin of the insect chemosensory receptor superfamily in the last common eukaryotic ancestor. eLife , 9 , Article e62507. 10.7554/eLife.62507. Green open access

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Abstract

The insect chemosensory repertoires of Odorant Receptors (ORs) and Gustatory Receptors (GRs) together represent one of the largest families of ligand-gated ion channels. Previous analyses have identified homologous 'Gustatory Receptor-Like (GRL)' proteins across Animalia, but the evolutionary origin of this novel class of ion channels is unknown. We describe a survey of unicellular eukaryotic genomes for GRLs, identifying several candidates in fungi, protists and algae that contain many structural features characteristic of animal GRLs. The existence of these proteins in unicellular eukaryotes, together with ab initio protein structure predictions, provide evidence for homology between GRLs and a family of uncharacterized plant proteins containing the DUF3537 domain. Together, our analyses suggest an origin of this protein superfamily in the last common eukaryotic ancestor.

Type: Article
Title: A putative origin of the insect chemosensory receptor superfamily in the last common eukaryotic ancestor
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.62507
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62507
Language: English
Additional information: © 2020, Benton et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Keywords: A. thaliana, D. melanogaster, evolutionary biology, genetics, genomics
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10117084
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