RJLs: a new family of Ras-related GTP-binding proteins

Ras-dva, a member of novel family of small GTPases, is required for the anterior ectoderm patterning in theXenopus laevisembryo

“…Seven families of proteins were distinguished hitherto within the whole superfamily of small GTPases: Ras, Rab, Rho/Rac/Cdc42, Ran, Arf/Sar, RGK and RJL (Hall, 2000;Nepomuceno-Silva et al, 2004;Pan et al, 2000;Takai et al, 2001). The subdivision of small GTPases into families is implemented in accordance with the following formal criterion: proteins belonging to the same family share more then 50% identity, while identity between members of two different families is around or less than 30% (Hall, 2000;Takai et al, 2001).…”

The RJL family of small GTPases is an ancient eukaryotic invention probably functionally associated with the flagellar apparatus

“…In addition to RJL proteins, we included a set of sequences representing other major families of the Ras superfamily (omitting ARFs and related GTPases, as they are only distantly related to RJL, see Nepomuceno-Silva et al, 2004). Regions outside the shared GTPase domain and ambiguously aligned positions within the domain were removed yielding 154 confidently aligned amino acid positions that were subjected to maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic analyses using RAxML 7.0.4 accessed through the CIPRES (Cyberinfrastructure for Phylogenetic Research) Portal (http://www.phylo.org/sub_sections/portal/).…”

“…The RJL family was previously described as a new independent lineage of the Ras superfamily of GTPases exhibiting a patchy phylogenetic distribution across the eukaryotic tree (Nepomuceno-Silva et al, 2004). The authors proposed that HGT among distant eukaryotic lineages, including protists and deuterostome metazoans, might have shaped this phyletic pattern.…”

Functional studies of TcRjl, a novel GTPase of Trypanosoma cruzi , reveals phenotypes related with MAPK activation during parasite differentiation and after heterologous expression in Drosophila model system

“…The Ras superfamily comprises a large group of monomeric GTP-binding proteins that exhibit essential roles in the dynamic regulation of many events in eukaryotic cellular physiology. A separated group of Ras-related GTPase genes, the Rjl family, was first described in 2004 [16]. Rjl family can be clearly classified in two distinct subfamilies: Rjl and Rbj.…”

“…Rjl family can be clearly classified in two distinct subfamilies: Rjl and Rbj. The Rjl genes are present in many protist lineages, encoding a core GTPase domain, without predictable membrane anchoring signal, while Rbj gene products are found in the choanoflagellata/metazoan lineage as chimaeras of a conventional Rjl protein fused to a "J" domain [16,17]. We have previously shown the involvement of TcRjl protein in cell growth and in vitro metacyclogenesis abrogating differentiation of metacyclic trypomastigotes [18].…”