Evidence for Multiple Retroposition Events and Gene Evolution in the ADP/ATP Translocase Gene Family in Ranid Frogs

Analysis of partial ADP/ATP Translocase gene (Aat) sequences from 11 species of Ranid frogs (Amphibia: Ranidae) identified multiple Aat gene copies. All frog species examined had at least one of the 2 Aat gene copies differing mainly by presence or absence of an approximately 85-bp intron sequence. The sequence data suggest that the gene variant with intron is the ancestral Aat form, whereas the other variants are retroposed copies. Surprisingly, a phylogenetic analysis suggests that multiple reptroposition events have taken place in the Ranid frogs. An analysis including sequences from Drosophila, zebra fish, Xenopus, mouse, and human indicated that all the frog Aat sequences form a monophyletic group with mammalian X-chromosomal Ant2 as a sister unit. Furthermore, the selection test suggested that different variants of the Aat gene appear to have evolved under different modes of evolution (viz., neutral, purifying, and positive selection), and the evolutionary history of different AAT variants appears to differ even among different species.