Chapter category:

Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of the Coronin Gene Family

This chapter appears in the following book:

The Coronin Family of Proteins

Edited by: Christoph Clemen, Ludwig Eichinger and Vasily Rybakin
ISBN: 978-0-387-09594-3
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Reginald O. Morgan and M. Pilar Fernandez

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The coronin gene family comprises seven vertebrate paralogs and at least five unclassified subfamilies in nonvertebrate metazoa, fungi and protozoa, but no representatives in plants or distant protists. All known members exhibit elevated structural conservation in two unique domains of unknown function (DUF1899 and DUF1900) interspaced by three canonical WD40 domains (plus additional pseudo domains) that form part of a 7‑bladed β‑propeller scaffold, plus a C‑terminal variable “coiled coil domain” responsible for oligomerization. Phylogenetic analysis of the N‑terminal conserved region in known members (i.e. 420 aa in 250 taxa) established the origin of the founding monomeric unit and a dimeric paralog in unicellular eukaryotes. The monomeric ancestor duplicated to two distinct lineages in basal metazoa and later propagated during the whole genome duplications in primitive chordates 450‑550 million years ago to form six vertebrate‑specific genes. The delineation of 12 subfamily clades in distinct phyla provided a rational basis for proposing a simplified, universal nomenclature for the coronin family in accordance with evolutionary history, structural relationships and functional divergence.

Reginald O. Morgan
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Oviedo and Instituto Universitario de Biotecnología de Asturias (IUBA)

M. Pilar Fernandez

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Role of Mammalian Coronin 7 in the Biosynthetic Pathway

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Editorial:
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Chapter category:

Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of the Coronin Gene Family

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