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Bioinformatics Advance Access published online on October 10, 2006
Bioinformatics, doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btl498
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© 2006 The Author(s)
Received August 8, 2006
Revised September 26, 2006
Accepted September 27, 2006

Discovery note

Meisetz and the birth of the KRAB motif

Zoë Birtle 1 and Chris P. Ponting 1 *

1 MRC Functional Genetics Unit, University of Oxford, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QX, UK

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Chris P. Ponting, E-mail: chris.ponting{at}anat.ox.ac.uk


  Abstract

The largest family of transcription factors in mammals is of Cys2His2 zinc finger-proteins, each with an NH2-terminal KRAB motif. Extensive expansions of this family have occurred in separate mammalian lineages, with approximately 400 such genes known in the human genome. Despite their widespread occurrence, the evolutionary provenance of the KRAB motif is unclear since previously it has not been found outside of the tetrapod vertebrates. Here, we show that homologues of the histone methyltransferase Meisetz are present within the sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) genome. Sea urchin and mammalian Meisetz sequences each contain an N-terminal KRAB motif which thereby establishes an early origin of the KRAB motif prior to the divergence of echinoderm and chordate lineages. Finally, we present evidence that KRAB motifs derive from a novel family of KRI (KRAB Interior) motifs that were present in the last common ancestor of animals, plants and fungi.

Associate Editor: Alex Bateman
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