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MBE Advance Access published online on June 2, 2006
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msl025
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Accepted May 16, 2006

Review

Duplication and Divergence of Two Distinct Pancreatic Ribonuclease Genes in Leaf-Eating African and Asian Colobine Monkeys

John E. Schienman 1, Robert A. Holt 2, Marcy R. Auerbach 3, and Caro-Beth Stewart 4 *

1 Department of Biological Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222; Forensic Science Laboratory, Connecticut Department of Public Safety, 278 Colony Street, Meriden, CT 06451
2 Department of Biological Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222; Canada's Michael Smith Genome Science Centre, BC Cancer Agency, 600 West 10th Room 3427, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V5Z 4E6
3 Department of Biological Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222; Pathology Department, Colombia University, 630 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032
4 Department of Biological Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Caro-Beth Stewart, E-mail: cstewart{at}albany.edu


  Abstract

Unique among primates, the colobine monkeys have adapted to a predominantly leaf-eating diet by evolving a foregut that utilizes bacterial fermentation to breakdown and absorb nutrients from such a food source. It has been hypothesized that pancreatic ribonuclease (pRNase) has been recruited to perform a role as a digestive enzyme in foregut-fermenters, such as artiodactyl ruminants and the colobines. We present molecular analyses of 23 pRNase gene sequences generated from eight primate taxa, including two African and two Asian colobine species. The pRNase gene is single copy in all non-colobine primate species assayed, but has duplicated more than once in both the African and Asian colobine monkeys. Phylogenetic reconstructions show that the pRNase coding and non-coding regions are under different evolutionary constraints, with high levels of concerted evolution among gene duplicates occurring predominantly in the non-coding regions. Our data suggest that two functionally distinct pRNases have been selected for in the colobine monkeys, with one group adapting to the role of a digestive enzyme by evolving at an increased rate with loss of positive charge, namely arginine residues. Conclusions relating our data to general hypotheses of evolution following gene duplication are discussed.

Keywords: positive selection; RNASE A; foregut-fermentation; concerted evolution.
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