Structural Convergence during Protein Evolution
Several recent protein crystallographic structure determinations have demonstrated the existence of considerable tertiary structural similarity among proteins otherwise having little similarity in either amino acid sequence or biological function. In order to assess the possibility that such protein...
Gespeichert in:
Veröffentlicht in: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1977-07, Vol.74 (7), p.2820-2824 |
---|---|
Hauptverfasser: | , , |
Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
Schlagworte: | |
Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
Zusammenfassung: | Several recent protein crystallographic structure determinations have demonstrated the existence of considerable tertiary structural similarity among proteins otherwise having little similarity in either amino acid sequence or biological function. In order to assess the possibility that such proteins may have arisen through processes of divergent evolution from a common ancestor, a graphical presentation is given which correlates the pattern of allowed single base substitutions defined by the genetic code with the associated changes in the structural properties of the encoded amino acids. The results show that while a large degree of structural conservation is evident due to codon synonomy, there is, in general, little tendency for the code to be structurally conservative in the majority of the cases where codon single-base changes result in amino acid substitutions. The possible consequences of this pattern of potential amino acid substitutions are discussed in relation to protein evolutionary processes. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.74.7.2820 |