Key Factors in Protein Evolution
Author Information
Author(s): Armin Schmitt, Johannes Schuchhardt, Gudrun A. Brockmann
Primary Institution: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Hypothesis
How do physico-chemical forces and the structure of the genetic code influence amino acid exchanges over time?
Conclusion
Protein evolution is primarily influenced by the genetic code shortly after divergence, while physico-chemical properties become more significant as divergence increases.
Supporting Evidence
- The genetic code is the main factor controlling amino acid exchanges shortly after divergence.
- Physico-chemical properties gain importance as protein sequence divergence increases.
- Hydrophobic character conservation becomes the most influential factor after 20% divergence.
Takeaway
When proteins change over time, the way they swap building blocks (amino acids) is first controlled by the genetic code, but later, the properties of the amino acids themselves matter more.
Methodology
The study constructed substitution matrices from protein alignments and analyzed the influence of genetic code and physico-chemical properties on amino acid exchanges.
Potential Biases
Potential bias from using only human paralogous sequences and not accounting for non-standard genetic codes.
Limitations
The study did not distinguish between the two directions of amino acid substitutions, which may not be identical.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.05
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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