Comparative analysis of Xenopus immune-related genes (43.22)

Abstract

Abstract Evolutionarily, Xenopus species shared a common ancestor with humans ~350 million years ago, and it is one of the high connectivity animals linking mammals to lower vertebrate taxa. Through an in silico approach, we have uncovered many new genes that have important roles in the Xenopus immune system and have analyzed their syntenic relationships relative to other vertebrates. We found that, in contrast to teleost fish, the genomic synteny is remarkably similar between the human and Xenopus, yet in some cases apparent ancestral syntenies can be still found only in the Xenopus genome. We predict that the evolutionarily conserved genes might have vital roles in fundamental immune function, whereas novel genes found only in particular species, especially those within ancient linkage groups, could impart new insights into the immune system. We are specifically interested in the genes that belong to the variable (V) and the constant (C1)-type of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF), including immunoglobulin, T cell receptor, MHC, and B7. In order to understand the phylogenetic relationship and the evolutionary history of these gene families, we used comparative approach; database searches and comparative genomics among different vertebrate classes. Our analysis revealed insights into the architecture of the primordial immune complex that might have played important roles during evolution.