Evolution, convergent

G Wu, A Eiser, B ter Kuile, A Sail, M Muller. Convergent evolution of Trichomonas vaginalis lactate dehydrogenase from malate dehydrogenase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96 6285-6290, 1999. 

Convergent evolution has produced two different serine proteinoses with similar catalytic mechanisms... 

All the four essential features of the active site of chymotrypsin are thus also present in subtilisin. Furthermore, these features are spatially arranged in the same way in the two enzymes, even though different framework structures bring different loop regions into position in the active site. This is a classical example of convergent evolution at the molecular level. 

Serine proteinases such as chymotrypsin and subtilisin catalyze the cleavage of peptide bonds. Four features essential for catalysis are present in the three-dimensional structures of all serine proteinases a catalytic triad, an oxyanion binding site, a substrate specificity pocket, and a nonspecific binding site for polypeptide substrates. These four features, in a very similar arrangement, are present in both chymotrypsin and subtilisin even though they are achieved in the two enzymes in completely different ways by quite different three-dimensional structures. Chymotrypsin is built up from two p-barrel domains, whereas the subtilisin structure is of the a/p type. These two enzymes provide an example of convergent evolution where completely different loop regions, attached to different framework structures, form similar active sites. 

Several structurally different types of HNLs occur in nature, which likely originated hy convergent evolution from different ancestral proteins. The enzyme from almond (PaHNL) was first crystallized in 1994 and the structure was solved by multiple wavelength anomalous dispersion of a mercury derivative. The first 3D structure analysis of PaHNL was performed in 2001. ° (7 )-PaHNL from almond uses FAD as cofactor and is related to oxidoreductases it exhibits HNL activity only in the oxidized form of FAD." ... 

Dauplais, M., Lecoq, A., Song, J., Cotton, J., Jamin, N., Gilquin, B., Roumestand, C., Vita, C., de Medeiros, C.L.C., Rowan, E.G., Harvey, A.L. and Menez, A. (1997) On the convergent evolution of animal toxins. Conservation of a diad of functional residues in potassium channel-blocking toxins with unrelated structures. Journal of Biological Chemistry 272, 4302 309. 

Convergent evolution is not the only conceivable explanation for MMS, however. An alternative possibility is that MMS evolved separately in each species of plant in response to environmental pressures that may have differed in each case but had nothing to do with ant gardens. Some time thereafter, the ants discovered each of these plants and, in response to the attractive MMS present in each of them, they brought the plants seeds to their nests. In this way, all MMS-bearing plants eventually became established in a single... 

While the functional analogy between ThiS, MoaD, and ubiquitin-like modifiers is widely accepted, the two protein classes are frequently described as unrelated sometimes even a convergent evolution to the energetically favorable ubiquitin fold is discussed. Despite these claims, there is a statistically significant sequence... 

Finally, it should be mentioned that there are a number of protein domains that have some structural resemblance to ubiquitin, although a sequence similarity cannot be established - not even by the most sophisticated methods available today. It cannot be excluded that there are true instances of convergent evolution among these cases. However, it appears more likely that these proteins and domains represent distant members of the ubiquitin superfamily, which have undergone a fundamental change of function and no longer need to conserve sequence positions that are considered hallmarks of ubiquitin-like molecules. In particular three domain classes should be mentioned in this context. The PERM domain (4.1, ezrin,... 

Totrov M (2011) Ligand binding site superposition and comparison based on Atomic Property Fields identification of distant homologues, convergent evolution and PDB-wide clustering of binding sites. BMC Bioinformatics 12 835... 

With convergent evolution, successful solutions arise independently in different animal lines separated in time and place. The reason for the similarity of solutions is clear Animals encounter similar environmental problems and cope with them in a similar way because that solution is an efficient one. These universal solutions will be found on other planets with life. 

HNLs comprise a heterogenous enzyme family, since hydroxynitrile lyase activity has evolved in different structural frames by convergent evolution [17, 18]. Thus, (S) -specific HNLs based on an a/P-hydrolase fold framework from Manihot esculmta (cassava) [19-21], Hevea hrasilensis (rubber tree) [22-26], and Sorghum hicolor (millet) [27-33] have been described. (R)-specific HNLs based on the structural framework of oxidoreductases were isolated from Linum usitatissimum (flax) [30, 34-37] and Rosaceae (e.g., bitter almonds) [31, 38]. Despite their potential in biocatalysis only few HNLs (from cassava and rubber tree) are available by recombinant gene expression, which is a prerequisite for their technical application [20, 24]. Thus, cloning, recombinant expression, and... 

Whitten, W. M., Williams, N. H., Armbruster, W. S., Battiste, M. A., Strekowski, L. and Lindquist, N. (1986). Carvone oxide an example of convergent evolution in euglossine pollinated plants. Systematic Botany 11 222-228. 

Wink, M. and von Nickisch-Rosenegk, E. (1997). Sequence data of mitochondrial 16S rDNA of arctiidae and nymphalidae evidence for a convergent evolution of pyrrolizidine alkaloid and cardiac glycoside sequestration. Journal of Chemical Ecology 23 1549-1568. 

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