© 2004 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
In Search of Food: Exploring the Evolutionary Link Between cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinase (PKG) and Behaviour1
1 Department of Biology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Rd. N, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1C6, Canada
Despite an immense amount of variation in organisms throughout the animal kingdom many of their genes show substantial conservation in DNA sequence and protein function. Here we explore the potential for a conserved evolutionary relationship between genes and their behavioural phenotypes. We investigate the evolutionary history of cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) and its possible conserved function in food-related behaviours. First identified for its role in the foraging behaviour of fruit flies, the PKG encoded by the foraging gene has since been associated with the maturation of behaviour (from nurse to forager) in honey bees and the roaming and dwelling food-related locomotion in nematodes. These parallels encouraged us to construct protein phylogenies using 32 PKG sequences that include 19 species. Our analyses suggest five possible evolutionary histories that can explain the apparent conserved link between PKG and behaviour in fruit flies, honey bees and nematodes. Three of these raise the hypothesis that PKG influences the food-related behaviours of a wide variety of animals including vertebrates. Moreover, it appears that the PKG gene was duplicated some time between the evolution of nematodes and a common ancestor of vertebrates and insects whereby current evidence suggests only the for-like PKG might be associated with food-related behaviour.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K. R. Kaun, C. A. L. Riedl, M. Chakaborty-Chatterjee, A. T. Belay, S. J. Douglas, A. G. Gibbs, and M. B. Sokolowski Natural variation in food acquisition mediated via a Drosophila cGMP-dependent protein kinase J. Exp. Biol., October 15, 2007; 210(20): 3547 - 3558. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. R. Papaj and E. C. Snell-Rood Memory flies sooner from flies that learn faster PNAS, August 21, 2007; 104(34): 13539 - 13540. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 F. Hofmann, R. Feil, T. Kleppisch, and J. Schlossmann Function of cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinases as Revealed by Gene Deletion Physiol Rev, January 1, 2006; 86(1): 1 - 23. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. U. Rao, L. K. Carta, E. Lesuisse, and I. Hamza Lack of heme synthesis in a free-living eukaryote PNAS, March 22, 2005; 102(12): 4270 - 4275. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. G. Kamita, K. Nagasaka, J. W. Chua, T. Shimada, K. Mita, M. Kobayashi, S. Maeda, and B. D. Hammock A baculovirus-encoded protein tyrosine phosphatase gene induces enhanced locomotory activity in a lepidopteran host PNAS, February 15, 2005; 102(7): 2584 - 2589. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 F. Hofmann The Biology of Cyclic GMP-dependent Protein Kinases J. Biol. Chem., January 7, 2005; 280(1): 1 - 4. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|