Purifying selection leads to low protein diversity of the mitochondrial cyt b gene in avian malaria parasites
Abstract Background Mitochondrial respiration plays a central role in the survival of many eukaryotes, including apicomplexan parasites. A 479-bp fragment from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene is widely used as a barcode to identify genetic lineages of avian malaria parasites Plasmodium and relat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-09-01
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| Series: | BMC Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02155-5 |
| _version_ | 1797454118327943168 |
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| author | Xinyi Wang Staffan Bensch Xi Huang Lu Dong |
| author_facet | Xinyi Wang Staffan Bensch Xi Huang Lu Dong |
| author_sort | Xinyi Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Mitochondrial respiration plays a central role in the survival of many eukaryotes, including apicomplexan parasites. A 479-bp fragment from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene is widely used as a barcode to identify genetic lineages of avian malaria parasites Plasmodium and related haemosporidians. Here we looked for evidence of selection in the avian Plasmodium cyt b gene, using tests of selection and protein structure modeling. We also tested for the association between cyt b polymorphism and the host specificity of these parasites. Results Based on 1,089 lineages retrieved from the Malavi database, we found that the frequency of the most conserved amino acids in most sites was more than 90%, indicating that the protein diversity of the avian Plasmodium cyt b barcode was low. The exceptions were four amino acid sites that were highly polymorphic, though the substitutions had only slight functional impacts on the encoded proteins. The selection analyses revealed that avian Plasmodium cyt b was under strong purifying selection, and no positively selected sites were detected. Besides, lineages with a wide host range tend to share cyt b protein haplotypes. Conclusions Our research indicates that purifying selection is the dominant force in the evolution of the avian Plasmodium cyt b lineages and leads to its low diversity at the protein level. Host specificity may also play a role in shaping the low mitochondrial diversity in the evolution of avian malaria parasites. Our results highlight the importance of considering selection pressure on the cyt b barcode region and lay a foundation for further understanding the evolutionary pattern of mitochondrial genes in avian malaria. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:33:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e9a81e35880e45cb998d708ff570ef0e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2730-7182 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:33:37Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-e9a81e35880e45cb998d708ff570ef0e2023-11-26T12:09:26ZengBMCBMC Ecology and Evolution2730-71822023-09-012311810.1186/s12862-023-02155-5Purifying selection leads to low protein diversity of the mitochondrial cyt b gene in avian malaria parasitesXinyi Wang0Staffan Bensch1Xi Huang2Lu Dong3MOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal UniversityDepartment of Biology, Molecular Ecology and Evolution Laboratory, Lund UniversityMOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal UniversityMOE Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal UniversityAbstract Background Mitochondrial respiration plays a central role in the survival of many eukaryotes, including apicomplexan parasites. A 479-bp fragment from the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene is widely used as a barcode to identify genetic lineages of avian malaria parasites Plasmodium and related haemosporidians. Here we looked for evidence of selection in the avian Plasmodium cyt b gene, using tests of selection and protein structure modeling. We also tested for the association between cyt b polymorphism and the host specificity of these parasites. Results Based on 1,089 lineages retrieved from the Malavi database, we found that the frequency of the most conserved amino acids in most sites was more than 90%, indicating that the protein diversity of the avian Plasmodium cyt b barcode was low. The exceptions were four amino acid sites that were highly polymorphic, though the substitutions had only slight functional impacts on the encoded proteins. The selection analyses revealed that avian Plasmodium cyt b was under strong purifying selection, and no positively selected sites were detected. Besides, lineages with a wide host range tend to share cyt b protein haplotypes. Conclusions Our research indicates that purifying selection is the dominant force in the evolution of the avian Plasmodium cyt b lineages and leads to its low diversity at the protein level. Host specificity may also play a role in shaping the low mitochondrial diversity in the evolution of avian malaria parasites. Our results highlight the importance of considering selection pressure on the cyt b barcode region and lay a foundation for further understanding the evolutionary pattern of mitochondrial genes in avian malaria.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02155-5Purifying selectionCytochrome BHost specificityAvian malaria |
| spellingShingle | Xinyi Wang Staffan Bensch Xi Huang Lu Dong Purifying selection leads to low protein diversity of the mitochondrial cyt b gene in avian malaria parasites BMC Ecology and Evolution Purifying selection Cytochrome B Host specificity Avian malaria |
| title | Purifying selection leads to low protein diversity of the mitochondrial cyt b gene in avian malaria parasites |
| title_full | Purifying selection leads to low protein diversity of the mitochondrial cyt b gene in avian malaria parasites |
| title_fullStr | Purifying selection leads to low protein diversity of the mitochondrial cyt b gene in avian malaria parasites |
| title_full_unstemmed | Purifying selection leads to low protein diversity of the mitochondrial cyt b gene in avian malaria parasites |
| title_short | Purifying selection leads to low protein diversity of the mitochondrial cyt b gene in avian malaria parasites |
| title_sort | purifying selection leads to low protein diversity of the mitochondrial cyt b gene in avian malaria parasites |
| topic | Purifying selection Cytochrome B Host specificity Avian malaria |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-023-02155-5 |
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