The objective of this research has been to characterize the evolution of the GATA family of transcription factors through phylogenetic, molecular, and biochemical analyses. From a phylogenetic perspective, we address three major questions. First, does this protein family represent a monophyletic or polyphyletic group? Second, what methods of gene or modular duplication are utilized within different organisms to propagate and maintain this group of proteins? Third, what are the structural or functional constraints on evolution of the conserved DNA-binding domain? These questions are addressed through a combination of computational and molecular methods. Phylogenetic analyses provide evidence of monophyletic origin for the GATA family followed by gene duplication and modular evolution, accompanied by considerable divergence outside the conserved zinc finger DNA-binding domain. Genomic comparisons permit the tracing of GATA factor evolution and provide insight into mechanisms utilized by respective organisms. Finally, mutational and biochemical analyses enable the separation of phylogenetic and structural/functional constraints on the conserved zinc finger DNA-binding domain. The result of this research is a predictive motif for classifying potentially homologous proteins to be discovered in future studies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-11272002-123604 |
| Date | 03 December 2002 |
| Creators | Lowry, Jason Allen |
| Contributors | William R. Atchley, Steven L. Spiker, Michael D. Purugganan, Jeffrey L. Thorne |
| Publisher | NCSU |
| Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-11272002-123604/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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