Molecular Evolution and Characterization of Fish Stathmin Genes

Abstract

Stathmin is a highly conserved microtubule remodeling protein, involved in many biological processes such as signal transduction, cell proliferation, neurogenesis and so on. However, little evolutional information has been reported about this gene family in fish. In this study, 175 stathmin genes were identified in 27 species of fish. Conserved exon-intron structure and motif distributions were found in each group. Divergence of duplicated genes implied the species’ adaptation to the environment. Functional divergence suggested that the evolution of stathmin is mainly influenced by purifying selection, and some residues may undergo positive selection. Moreover, synteny relationship near the stathmin locus was relatively conserved in some fish. Network analyses also exhibited 74 interactions, implying functional diversity. The expression pattern of some stathmin genes was also investigated under pesticide stress. These will provide useful references for their functional research in the future.