Molecular Biology and Evolution, Vol 14, 69-80, Copyright © 1997 by Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution
BF McAllister and JH Werren
This study examines the evolutionary dynamics of a retrotransposon in a
group of parasitoid wasps. A region containing the reverse transcriptase
(RT) domain was sequenced for 43 elements from the genomes of nine
different wasp species. Phylogenetic analysis of the elements revealed
concordance with taxonomic classification of the host species, and the
pattern was consistent with that expected for vertical transmission of a
multicopy element during differentiation of the species. Twenty-three of
the 43 elements had comparable intact open reading frames in the amplified
region, and these were used in an analysis of evolutionary constraint on
the amino acid sequence. As previously documented for retroelements,
closely related elements exhibited nearly equal substitution rates at
nonsynonymous and synonymous sites, but relative nonsynonymous substitution
rates decreased as increasingly divergent elements were compared. A
statistical test indicated that the decrease was not due to saturation of
weakly selected sites. The pattern is most likely caused by a "pseudogene
effect." Individual elements are not subject to purifying selection, and
therefore, synonymous and nonsynonymous substitutions accumulate at equal
rates. Comparisons among closely related elements are influenced strongly
by this pseudogene evolution, whereas comparisons among distantly related
elements reveal selection on the actively replicating lineages connecting
the elements. These distant comparisons more accurately reflect the
constraints on the amino acid sequence, and the comparisons among elements
in this study indicated strong constraints on RT.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Phylogenetic analysis of a retrotransposon with implications for strong evolutionary constraints on reverse transcriptase
Department of Biology, University of Rochester, USA. bryant@pondside.uchicago.edu
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