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    Widespread convergence in toxin resistance by predictable molecular evolution

    Access Status
    Open access via publisher
    Authors
    Ujvari, B.
    Casewell, N.
    Sunagar, K.
    Arbuckle, K.
    Wüster, W.
    Lo, N.
    O'Meally, D.
    Beckmann, C.
    King, G.
    Deplazes, Evelyne
    Madsen, T.
    Hillis, D.
    Date
    2015
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Ujvari, B. and Casewell, N. and Sunagar, K. and Arbuckle, K. and Wüster, W. and Lo, N. and O'Meally, D. et al. 2015. Widespread convergence in toxin resistance by predictable molecular evolution. PNAS. 112 (38): pp. 11911-11916.
    Source Title
    PNAS
    DOI
    10.1073/pnas.1511706112
    ISSN
    0027-8424
    School
    School of Biomedical Sciences
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27384
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    The question about whether evolution is unpredictable and stochastic or intermittently constrained along predictable pathways is the subject of a fundamental debate in biology, in which understanding convergent evolution plays a central role. At the molecular level, documented examples of convergence are rare and limited to occurring within specific taxonomic groups. Here we provide evidence of constrained convergent molecular evolution across the metazoan tree of life. We show that resistance to toxic cardiac glycosides produced by plants and bufonid toads is mediated by similar molecular changes to the sodium-potassium-pump (Na+/K+-ATPase) in insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. In toad-feeding reptiles, resistance is conferred by two point mutations that have evolved convergently on four occasions, whereas evidence of a molecular reversal back to the susceptible state in varanid lizards migrating to toad-free areas suggests that toxin resistance is maladaptive in the absence of selection. Importantly, resistance in all taxa is mediated by replacements of 2 of the 12 amino acids comprising the Na+/K+-ATPase H1–H2 extracellular domain that constitutes a core part of the cardiac glycoside binding site. We provide mechanistic insight into the basis of resistance by showing that these alterations perturb the interaction between the cardiac glycoside bufalin and the Na+/K+-ATPase. Thus, similar selection pressures have resulted in convergent evolution of the same molecular solution across the breadth of the animal kingdom, demonstrating how a scarcity of possible solutions to a selective challenge can lead to highly predictable evolutionary responses.

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