Disease relevance of Marsupialia

• Photoreactivation of UV-induced pyrimidine dimers and erythema in the marsupial Monodelphis domestica [1].
• This is, to our knowledge, the first report of an aortic prosthetic grafting for ruptured aortic aneurysm in association with a marsupial cava [2].
• Developmental expression of the androgen receptor during virilization of the urogenital system of a marsupial [3].
• The induction and photorepair of pyrimidine dimers in DNA have been measured in the ultraviolet-irradiated, corneal epithelium of the marsupial, Monodelphis domestica, using damage-specific nucleases from Micrococcus luteus in conjunction with agarose gel electrophoresis [4].
• Forty-four marsupials, 77 rodents and 161 ticks were captured in an Atlantic Forest Reserve in Cotia county, State of São Paulo, where human cases of Lyme disease (LD) simile were reported [5].

High impact information on Marsupialia

• Marsupial RBM1 is closely related to human RBM1, but, like the related autosomal gene hnRNPG, lacks the amplification of an exon [6].
• Widespread expression of the testis-determining gene SRY in a marsupial [7].
• Marsupials, placentals and their close therian relatives possess complex (tribosphenic) molars that are capable of versatile occlusal functions [8].
• We have used a human SRY probe to identify and clone related genes from the Y chromosome of two marsupial species [9].
• This implies ZFY is not the primary sex-determining gene in marsupials [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Marsupialia

• Here we describe the acute phase response in a marsupial species, the South American polyprotodont marsupial Monodelphis domestica, after brain surgery or injection of lipopolysaccharide [11].
• 1,4-Dithiothreitol (DTT) was found to diminish the amount of chromosomal breakage in leucocyte cultures of the marsupial Potorous tridactylus and in the Don strain of Chinese hamster cells (LHI) [12].

Biological context of Marsupialia

• Sequences homologous to ZFY, a candidate human sex-determining gene, are autosomal in marsupials [10].
• The cDNA sequences encoding the adult alpha- and beta-globin polypeptides of a marsupial, the native cat Dasyurus viverrinus, have been cloned and their nucleotide sequences have been determined [13].
• Surprisingly, active homologues of ATRX were detected on the marsupial Y as well as the X chromosome [14].
• Furthermore, we show that omega-globin is unlinked to the previously characterized beta-globin gene cluster of marsupials, making this the first report of an orphaned beta-like globin gene expressed in a vertebrate [15].
• The SRY gene on the human, mouse, and marsupial Y chromosomes is the testis-determining gene that initiates male development in mammals [16].

Anatomical context of Marsupialia

• In some cell types, however, such as human HeLa or marsupial PtK-2 cells, only one posttranslationally modified form of tubulin, i.e., acetylated or detyrosinated, respectively, was detectable in microtubules [17].
• The antibodies to GP-260 did not bind to chicken gizzard filamin or pig brain MAP-2, but they did react with high molecular weight polypeptides from man, a marsupial, a fish, a clam, a myxomycete, and two other amebas [18].
• This, as well as the sex reversal of ATRX patients, suggests that ATRY is involved in testis development in marsupials and may represent an ancestral testis-determining mechanism that predated the evolution of SRY as the primary mammalian male sex-determining gene [14].
• Purification of marsupial mitochondria and in vitro aminoacylation of isolated tRNAs with lysine, followed by analysis of aminoacylated tRNAs, show that a nuclear-encoded tRNA(Lys) is associated with marsupial mitochondria [19].
• Two marsupial casein genes have been isolated from a tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) mammary gland cDNA library [20].

Associations of Marsupialia with chemical compounds

• Phenypressin (Phe2-Arg8-vasopressin), a new neurohypophysial peptide found in marsupials [21].
• The opossum, Monodelphis domestica, was used because cells of these marsupials have an enzyme that is activated by visible light (photoreactivating enzyme) and repairs ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced pyrimidine dimers in DNA [22].
• In contrast to most vertebrate species that possess one oxytocin-like hormone and one vasopressin-like hormone, a few groups, such as marsupials or cartilaginous fishes, are endowed with two peptides of either or both types, suggesting possible gene duplications [23].
• Prostate formation in a marsupial is mediated by the testicular androgen 5 alpha-androstane-3 alpha,17 beta-diol [24].
• Given that the interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein gene is a single-copy gene that functions in the visual cycle and that the marsupial mole is blind with degenerate eyes, this finding suggests that phenotypic degeneration of the eyes is accompanied by parallel changes at the molecular level as a result of relaxed selective constraints [25].

Gene context of Marsupialia

• The human sex-reversing ATRX gene has a homologue on the marsupial Y chromosome, ATRY: implications for the evolution of mammalian sex determination [14].
• SYBL1, however, has been found to be on the X chromosome in all mammals tested, from marsupials to humans [26].
• Smcy is well conserved on the Y in mouse, man and even marsupials [27].
• The autosomal localization of marsupial homologues of human PAR1 genes and their co-localization with human Xp22 genes implies that the human PAR1 represents a relic of part of an autosomal region added to both X and Y chromosomes between 80 and 130 MYrBP [28].
• Previous studies revealed that Igf2 and Mpr/Igf2r are imprinted in eutherian mammals and marsupials but not in monotremes or birds [29].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Marsupialia

• Using PCR, we searched for IL-2 gene sequences in a wide variety of mammals, including marsupials and monotremes, as well as in birds [30].
• The effect of intravenous infusion of angiotensin II on drinking in the Australian marsupial Trichosurus vulpecula [31].
• The organisation and cytoarchitecture of the serotonergic neurons in a diprotodont marsupial were examined by using serial sections of the brainstem processed for serotonin immunohistochemistry and routine histology [32].
• Localization of G6PD and HPRT to different arms of the X chromosome of the North American marsupial (Didelphis virginiana) by in situ hybridization and deletion mapping: evolutionary significance [33].
• We used comparative gene mapping of sex chromosomes from the three major groups of extant mammals (eutherians, marsupials and monotremes) to deduce how the X and Y evolved from a pair of autosomes, and how SRY assumed control of sex determination [34].

References