Affiliations: Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Russian Academy of
Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia | ORYX, 3 rue Bourdaloue, 75009 Paris, France
Note: [] Corresponding author: Leonid V. Omelyanchuk, Institute of
Cytology and Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 10 Lavrent'ev Ave., 630090
Novosibirsk, Russia. E-mail: ome@bionet.nsc.ru
Abstract: Previous evolutionary study of the tumor suppressor Merlin revealed
that this protein family was produced by very early metazoans with the
exception of some or all flatworm lineages [Golovnina et al., 2005]. We
ask whether other tumor-suppressor proteins had also been in existence in these
times and focus our attention on Hyperplastic Discs (Hyd) protein, a classic
tumor suppressor in Drosophila melanogaster which, when mutated, may
cause over-proliferation and malignancy. Phylogenetic analysis of the Hyd
protein indicates that it was present among metazoa by the time Trichoplax
adhaerens had emerged from the common unicellular ancestor of the Animalia.
