El. Braun et al., IDENTIFICATION OF THE FIRST FUNGAL ANNEXIN - ANALYSIS OF ANNEXIN GENEDUPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR EUKARYOTIC EVOLUTION, Journal of molecular evolution, 47(5), 1998, pp. 531-543
Annexin homologues have been found in animals, plants, and distinct pr
otist lineages. We report the identification of the first fungal annex
in, encoded by the anx14 gene of the filamentous ascomycete Neurospora
crassa, Annexins have a complex evolutionary history and exhibit a la
rge number of gene duplications and gene losses in various taxa, inclu
ding the complete loss of annexin sequences from another ascomycete, t
he budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Surprisingly, the N. crassa
annexin homologue is most closely related to the annexin homologue of
the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, suggesting a phylogenetic li
nk between cellular slime molds and true fungi. Both of these annexin
homologues are closely related to the family of annexin homologues pre
sent in animals, an observation consistent with the existence of the a
nimal-fungal clade. These data further suggest that the gene duplicati
ons that generated the family of annexin sequences present in animals,
fungi, and slime molds began prior to the divergence of these taxa.