Abstract: The objective of this study was to trace the route of avian Mx (myxo-virus resistance) gene evolution and knowledge of its structure and function variations. Mx gene cDNA sequences of six galliform and anseriform avians were used in this study. Datamonkey and DAMBE were used to detect recombination events and test nucleotide substitution saturation. PAML4b were used to test the selective pressure on amino acid sites. Saturation test did not indicate any sign of substitution saturation. Single breakpoint scanning and genetic algorithm scanning by Datamonkey found two breakpoints, located, respectively in 162 and 999 bp and divided the sequences into three nonrecombination split partitions. The selection test of site-specific mode showed that avian Mx gene sequences had suffered positive selection pressure. Likelihood Ratio Test (LTR) suggested M2a and M8 be more advantageous models,and in a total of eight positive sites with >95% posterior probability were identified in three nonrecombination split partitions. These detected positive sites distributed in N-ternimal and GTP-binding domain of Mx protein and might be important candidate marks for improving avian antiviral activity.
Y.F. Zhu, H.F. Li, W. Han, J.T. Shu, W.T. Song, X.Y. Zhang and K.W. Chen, 2010. Detecting Adaptive Evolution of Galliform and Anseriform Avians Mx Genes. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 9: 1811-1815.