Pervasive adaptive evolution in primate seminal proteins

Abstract

Seminal fluid proteins show striking effects on reproduction iswoiving manipulation of female behavior and physiology, mechanisms of sperm competition, and pathogen defense, Strong adaptive pressures are expected for such manifestations of sexual selection and host defense, but the extent of positive selection in seminal flyid proteins from divergent taxa is unknown, We identified adaptive evofmtion in primate seminal proteins using genomic resources in a tissue-specific study, We found extensive signatures of positive selection when comparing 161 hyman seminal fluid proteins and 2,858 prostate-expressed genes to those in chimpanzee, Severs of eight outstanding genes yielded statistically significant evidence of positive selection when analyzed in divergent primates, Functiosial clues were gained through divergent analysis, inciudirsg several cases of species-specific loss of function in eopyiatory plug genes, and statistically significant spatial clustering of positively seiected sites near the active site of kallikrein 2, This study reveals previoysSy unidentified positive selection in seven primate seminal proteins, and when considered with findings ira Drosophila, indicates that exterssive positive selection is found in seminal fiuid across divergent taxonomic groups. Copyright: © 2005 Clark and Swanson.