부산대학교 도서관

Subtelomeres are dynamic genomic regions shaped by elevated rates of recombination, mutation, and gene birth/death. These processes contribute to formation of lineage-specific gene family expansions that commonly occupy subtelomeres across eukaryotes. Investigating the evolution of subtelomeric gene families is complicated by the presence of repetitive DNA and high sequence similarity among gene family members that prevents accurate assembly from whole genome sequences. Here, we investigated the evolution of the telomere-associated (TLO) gene family in Candida albicans using 189 complete coding sequences retrieved from 23 genetically diverse strains across the species. Tlo genes conformed to the 3 major architectural groups (a/b/c) previously defined in the genome reference strain but significantly differed in the degree of within-group diversity. One group, Tlob, was always found at the same chromosome arm with strong sequence similarity among all strains. In contrast, diverse Tloa sequences have proliferated among chromosome arms. Tloc genes formed 7 primary clades that included each of the previously identified Tloc genes from the genome reference strain with 3 Tloc genes always found on the same chromosome arm among strains. Architectural groups displayed regions of high conservation that resolved newly identified functional motifs, providing insight into potential regulatory mechanisms that distinguish groups. Thus, by resolving intraspecies subtelomeric gene variation, it is possible to identify previously unknown gene family complexity that may underpin adaptive functional variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]