Rapid birth-and-death evolution of imprinted snoRNAs in the Prader-Willi syndrome locus: implications for neural development in Euarchontoglires

PLoS One. 2014 Jun 19;9(6):e100329. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100329. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Imprinted small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are only found in eutherian genomes and closely related to brain functions. A complex human neurological disease, Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), is primarily attributed to the deletion of imprinted snoRNAs in chromosome 15q11-q13. Here we investigated the snoRNA repertoires in the PWS locus of 12 mammalian genomes and their evolution processes. A total of 613 imprinted snoRNAs were identified in the PWS homologous loci and the gene number was highly variable across lineages, with a peak in Euarchontoglires. Lineage-specific gene gain and loss events account for most extant genes of the HBII-52 (SNORD115) and the HBII-85 (SNORD116) gene family, and remarkable high gene-birth rates were observed in the primates and the rodents. Meanwhile, rapid sequence substitution occurred only in imprinted snoRNA genes, rather than their flanking sequences or the protein-coding genes located in the same imprinted locus. Strong selective constraints on the functional elements of these imprinted snoRNAs further suggest that they are subjected to birth-and-death evolution. Our data suggest that the regulatory role of HBII-52 on 5-HT2CR pre-mRNA might originate in the Euarchontoglires through adaptive process. We propose that the rapid evolution of PWS-related imprinted snoRNAs has contributed to the neural development of Euarchontoglires.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Genetic Loci / genetics*
  • Genomic Imprinting / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Mammals / genetics*
  • Neurogenesis / genetics*
  • Open Reading Frames / genetics
  • Phylogeny
  • Prader-Willi Syndrome / genetics*
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • RNA, Small Nucleolar / genetics*
  • Selection, Genetic

Substances

  • RNA, Messenger
  • RNA, Small Nucleolar

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30830066) to Liang-Hu Qu. National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81301431), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2012M511866 and No. 2013T60824) to Yi-Jun Zhang. The National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.31370791); the funds from Guangdong Province (No. S2012010010510, S2013010012457); the project of Science and Technology New Star in ZhuJiang Guangzhou city (No. 2012J2200025) to Jian-Hua Yang. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.