Molecular Phylogeny and Functional Genomics of {beta}-Galactoside {alpha}2,6-Sialyltransferases That Explain Ubiquitous Expression of st6gal1 Gene in Amniotes.

Daniel Petit (1) , Anne-Marie Mir (2) , Jean-Michel Petit (1) , Christine Thisse (3) , Philippe Delannoy (2) , Rafael Oriol (4) , Bernard Thisse (3) , Anne Harduin-Lepers (2)

1 UMR GMA - Unité de Génétique Moléculaire Animale
2 UGSF - Unité de Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle - UMR 8576
3 IGBMC - Institut de génétique et biologie moléculaire et cellulaire
4 Microenvironnement et Physiopathologie de la Differenciation

Sialyltransferases are key enzymes in the biosynthesis of sialoglycoconjugates that catalyze the transfer of sialic residue from its activated form to an oligosaccharidic acceptor. β-Galactoside α2,6-sialyltransferases ST6Gal I and ST6Gal II are the two unique members of the ST6Gal family described in higher vertebrates. The availability of genome sequences enabled the identification of more distantly related invertebrates' st6gal gene sequences and allowed us to propose a scenario of their evolution. Using a phylogenomic approach, we present further evidence of an accelerated evolution of the st6gal1 genes both in their genomic regulatory sequences and in their coding sequence in reptiles, birds, and mammals known as amniotes, whereas st6gal2 genes conserve an ancestral profile of expression throughout vertebrate evolution.

Mots clés: gene expression; glycolipid; glycoprotein biosynthesis; glycosylation; sialytransferase; sialic acid

Mots clés: evolution

Domaines: Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire

Daniel Petit, Anne-Marie Mir, Jean-Michel Petit, Christine Thisse, Philippe Delannoy, et al.. Molecular Phylogeny and Functional Genomics of {beta}-Galactoside {alpha}2,6-Sialyltransferases That Explain Ubiquitous Expression of st6gal1 Gene in Amniotes.. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2010, 285 (49), pp.38399-414. ⟨10.1074/jbc.M110.163931⟩. ⟨hal-00521411⟩