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MBE Advance Access published online on December 3, 2008
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msn278
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© The Author 2008. 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

Letter

Large number of ultraconserved elements were already present in the jawed vertebrate ancestor

Jianli Wang*, Alison P. Lee*, Rimantas Kodzius, Sydney Brenner and Byrappa Venkatesh

Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Biopolis, Singapore 138673

Corresponding author: B. Venkatesh, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 61, Biopolis Drive, Singapore 138673, Tel: 65 – 65869571; Fax: 65 – 67791117, Email: mcbbv{at}imcb.a-star.edu.sg

Received for publication September 13, 2008. Revision received November 7, 2008. Accepted for publication November 23, 2008.

Stephen et al. (2008, 25: 402; doi:10.1093/molbev/msm268) identified 13,736 ultraconserved elements (UCEs) in placental mammals and investigated their evolution in opossum, chicken, frog and fugu. They found that there was a massive expansion of UCEs during tetrapod evolution and the substitution rate in UCEs showed a significant decline in tetrapods compared to fugu, suggesting they were exapted in tetrapods. They considered it unlikely that these elements are ancient but evolved at a higher rate in teleost fishes. In this study, we investigated the evolution of UCEs in a cartilaginous fish, the elephant shark and show that nearly half the UCEs were present in the jawed vertebrate ancestor. The substitution rate in UCEs is higher in fugu than in elephant shark, and approximately one-third of ancient UCEs have diverged beyond recognition in teleost fishes. These data indicate that UCEs have evolved at a higher rate in teleost fishes, which may have implications for their vast diversity and evolutionary success.

Key Words: ultraconserved elements • elephant shark • teleost fish

* These authors contributed equally to this work.


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