# name
Tunicates Illuminate the Enigmatic Evolution of Chordate Metallothioneins by Gene Gains and Losses, Independent Modular Expansions, and Functional Convergences

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
To investigate novel patterns and processes of protein evolution, we have focused in the metallothioneins (MTs), a singular group of metal-binding, cysteine-rich proteins that, due to their high degree of sequence diversity, still represents a 'black hole' in Evolutionary Biology. We have identified and analyzed more than 160 new MTs in nonvertebrate chordates (especially in 37 species of ascidians, 4 thaliaceans, and 3 appendicularians) showing that prototypic tunicate MTs are mono-modular proteins with a pervasive preference for cadmium ions, whereas vertebrate and cephalochordate MTs are bimodular proteins with diverse metal preferences. These structural and functional differences imply a complex evolutionary history of chordate MTs-including de novo emergence of genes and domains, processes of convergent evolution, events of gene gains and losses, and recurrent amplifications of functional domains-that would stand for an unprecedented case in the field of protein evolution.

# metadata.dc.rights[].value
cc by-nc (c) Calatayud, Sara et al., 2021

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Articles publicats en revistes (Genètica, Microbiologia i Estadística)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Tunicates Illuminate the Enigmatic Evolution of Chordate Metallothioneins by Gene Gains and Losses, Independent Modular Expansions, and Functional Convergences