Ancestral sequence reconstruction

Ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) – also known as ancestral gene/sequence reconstruction/resurrection – is a technique used in the study of molecular evolution. The method uses related sequences to reconstruct an "ancestral" gene from a multiple sequence alignment.[1]

The method can be used to 'resurrect' ancestral proteins and was suggested in 1963 by Linus Pauling and Emile Zuckerkandl.[2] In the case of enzymes, this approach has been called paleoenzymology (British: palaeoenzymology). Some early efforts were made in the 1980s and 1990s, led by the laboratory of Steven A. Benner, showing the potential of this technique.[3] Thanks to the improvement of algorithms and of better sequencing and synthesis techniques, the method was developed further in the early 2000s to allow the resurrection of a greater variety of and much more ancient genes.[4] Over the last decade, ancestral protein resurrection has developed as a strategy to reveal the mechanisms and dynamics of protein evolution.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference thornton was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Pauling L, Zuckerkandl E (1963). "Chemical paleogenetics: molecular restoration studies of extinct forms of life". Acta Chemica Scandinavica. 17: S9–S16.]
  3. ^ Jermann TM, Opitz JG, Stackhouse J, Benner SA (March 1995). "Reconstructing the evolutionary history of the artiodactyl ribonuclease superfamily". Nature. 374 (6517): 57–59. Bibcode:1995Natur.374...57J. doi:10.1038/374057a0. PMID 7532788. S2CID 4315312.
  4. ^ Thornton JW, Need E, Crews D (September 2003). "Resurrecting the ancestral steroid receptor: ancient origin of estrogen signaling". Science. 301 (5640): 1714–1717. Bibcode:2003Sci...301.1714T. doi:10.1126/science.1086185. PMID 14500980. S2CID 37628350.
  5. ^ Pearson H (March 2012). "Prehistoric proteins: Raising the dead". Nature. 483 (7390). London: 390–3. doi:10.1038/483390a. PMID 22437590.