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MBE Advance Access originally published online on January 22, 2004
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Mol. Biol. Evol. 21(4):632-646. 2004
DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msh054
© 2004 by the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. ISSN: 0737-4038

Differential Enzyme Targeting As an Evolutionary Adaptation to Herbivory in Carnivora

Graeme M. Birdsey*, Jackie Lewin{dagger}, Andrew A. Cunningham{ddagger}, Michael W. Bruford§ and Christopher J. Danpure*

* Department of Biology, University College London
{dagger} EM Unit, Royal Free and University College Medical School
{ddagger} Institute of Zoology, London, UK
§ Cardiff School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

E-mail: c.danpure{at}ucl.ac.uk.

Not all members of the order Carnivora are carnivorous. Some are omnivorous, and a few, such as the giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, are almost exclusively herbivorous. Although a number of adaptations to increased plant-eating are recognized within Carnivora, few have been studied at the molecular level. One molecular adaptation to diet that is spread widely across Mammalia is the differential intracellular targeting of the intermediary metabolic enzyme alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase (AGT), which tends to be mitochondrial in carnivores, peroxisomal in herbivores, and both mitochondrial and peroxisomal in omnivores. In the present study, we have analyzed the targeting of AGT in Carnivora in relation to species' natural diets. We show not only that there has been an adaptive shift in AGT targeting from the mitochondrion toward the peroxisome as diets have shifted from being mainly carnivorous to ones that are more omnivorous and herbivorous but also that in one lineage, namely that of the giant panda, there is evidence for positive selection pressure at the molecular level on the AGT mitochondrial targeting sequence to decrease its efficiency, thereby allowing more AGT to be targeted to the peroxisomes.

Key Words: molecular adaptation • alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase • dietary selection pressure • protein targeting • mitochondria • peroxisomes


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