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Rapid evolution of variants in a rodent multigene family encoding salivary proteins.

A survey of polypeptides encoded by RNA isolated from the submandibular glands of members of the Muridae (species of Mus and Rattus), in conjunction with cDNA cloning, has identified a class of salivary proteins that we term "spot proteins." Although clearly homologous, these proteins show dramatic differences between species in their polypeptide length. On the basis of the sequence of the corresponding clones, it is inferred that the rat spot 1 protein has a size of 6,370 daltons (Da), whereas that of the inbred mouse spot 1 is 11,603 Da. A second component is expressed in some stocks and strains of Mus, and this spot 2 protein has a size of up to 19,212 Da. The sizes of the corresponding mRNAs show parallel differences, and the variation in the sizes of mRNAs in different species of Mus correlates with the pattern of speciation, the size increasing with increased relatedness to inbred mice. The spot protein sequence comprises three domains: an N-terminal domain rich in hydroxy and acidic amino acids, a central domain consisting of repeats of a 9-amino-acid sequence, and a C-terminal domain that in the mouse is very basic. Variation in the number of repeats largely accounts for the differences in size between the mouse and rat mRNAs and their encoded polypeptides, and the coding sequence appears to have been expanding during speciation in the Muridae. There is extensive divergence in sequence between the mouse and rat mRNAs and their encoded proteins. The pattern of amino acid replacements and nucleotide substitutions is consistent with little, if any, selection constraint on the precise sequence of the spot proteins, suggesting that it is the overall architecture of the molecule, rather than the precise structure, that is important for function. There is strong evidence for a gene conversion event having occurred between the two mouse sequences. Frequent recombination by unequal crossing-over between spot protein coding sequences, if it occurs between active and silent genes, could account not only for the expansion in their size but also for their rapid divergence.