Skip Navigation



MBE Advance Access published online on August 29, 2003
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msg212
Molecular Biology and Evolution © Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution 2003; all rights reserved
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/12/2019    most recent
msg212v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Schmitz, S.
Right arrow Articles by Veigel, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Schmitz, S.
Right arrow Articles by Veigel, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Accepted July 7, 2003
© 2003 Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

Original Articles

Molecular Evolutionary Convergence of the Flight Muscle Protein Arthrin in Diptera and Hemiptera

Stephan Schmitz 1*, Christoph J. Schankin 2, Heino Prinz 3, Rachel S. Curwen 4, Peter D. Ashton 4, Leo S. D. Caves 4, Rainer H. A. Fink 5, John C. Sparrow 4, Peter J. Mayhew 4, and Claudia Veigel 1

1 Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK; National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK
2 Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK; Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Heidelberg, INF 326, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
3 Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, PO Box 50 02 47, 44202 Dortmund, Germany
4 Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
5 Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Heidelberg, INF 326, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: stephan.schmitz{at}nimr.mrc.ac.uk.


  Abstract

Uniquely, the asynchronous flight muscle myofibrils of many insects contain arthrin, a stable 1:1 conjugate between actin and ubiquitin. The function of arthrin is still unknown. Here we survey for the presence of arthrin in 63 species of insect across 9 orders using western blotting. Analysis of the evolutionary distribution shows that arthrin has evolved a limited number of times but at least once in the Diptera and once in the Hemiptera. However, the presence of arthrin does not correlate with any observed common features of flight mechanism, natural history or morphology. We also identify the site of the isopeptide bond in arthrin from Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera) and Lethocerus griseus (Hemiptera) using mass spectrometry. In both species, the isopeptide bond is formed between lysine 118 of the actin and the C-terminal glycine 76 of ubiquitin. Thus, not only has the ubiquitination of actin evolved convergently in Diptera and Hemiptera, but also the site of the isopeptide bond. In terms of the actin monomer lysine 118 is near neither the binding sites of the major actin binding proteins myosin, tropomyosin or the troponins, nor the actin polymerization sites. However, molecular modelling supports the idea that ubiquitin bound to an actin in one F-actin strand might be able to interact with tropomyosin bound to the actin monomers of the other strand and thereby interfere with thin filament regulation.

Key Words: actin, ubiquitin, arthrin, evolution, isopeptide bond


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
R. Herranz, J. Mateos, J. A. Mas, E. Garcia-Zaragoza, M. Cervera, and R. Marco
The Coevolution of Insect Muscle TpnT and TpnI Gene Isoforms
Mol. Biol. Evol., November 1, 2005; 22(11): 2231 - 2242.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Physiol. Rev.Home page
S. L. Hooper and J. B. Thuma
Invertebrate Muscles: Muscle Specific Genes and Proteins
Physiol Rev, July 1, 2005; 85(3): 1001 - 1060.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.