Molecular Evolution of Protein Atomic Composition

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 293; no. 5528; pp. 297 - 300
• Main Authors: Baudouin-Cornu, Peggy, Surdin-Kerjan, Yolande, Marlière, Philippe, Thomas, Dominique
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 13.07.2001; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Amino acids; Animals; Atoms; Bacterial Proteins - chemistry; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Biological evolution; Brackish; Carbon; Carbon - analysis; carbon-assimilatory enzymes; Chemical composition; Coding; ecological genetics; Ecology; Enzymes; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - chemistry; Escherichia coli - enzymology; Escherichia coli - genetics; Evolution, Molecular; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungal Proteins - chemistry; Fungal Proteins - genetics; General aspects; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Genomics; Habitats; Humans; Marine; Metabolism; Microbiology; molecular evolution; Molecules; Nitrogen; Nitrogen - analysis; Physiological assimilation; protein atomic composition; Protein metabolism; Proteins; Rats; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - chemistry; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - enzymology; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - genetics; Saccharomyces cerevisiae - metabolism; Statistical Significance; Sulfur; Sulfur - analysis; sulfur-assimilatory enzymes; Yeasts; United States; Yeast; Enzyme; Escherichia coli; Ecology; Metabolism; Nutrient starvation; Carbon; Protein; Fungi; Molecular evolution; Bacteria; Ascomycetes; Chemical composition; Sulfur; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Enterobacteriaceae; Thallophyta
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1061052

Living organisms encounter various growth conditions in their habitats, raising the question of whether ecological fluctuations could alter biological macromolecules. The advent of complete genome sequences and the characterization of whole metabolic pathways allowed us to search for such ecological imprints. Significant correlations between atomic composition and metabolic function were found in sulfur- and carbon-assimilatory enzymes, which appear depleted in sulfur and carbon, respectively, in both the bacterium Escherichia coli and the eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In addition to genetic instructions, genomic data thus also provide paleontological records of environmental nutrient availability and of metabolic costs.