The ADAM (A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease) gene family encodes proteins with adhesion and proteolytic functions. ADAM proteins are associated with diseases like cancers. Twenty ADAM genes have been identified in humans. However, little is known about the evolution of the family. We analyzed the repertoire of ADAM genes in a vast number of eukaryotic genomes to clarify the main gene copy number expansions. For the first time, we provide compelling evidence that early-branching green algae (Mamiellophyceae) have ADAM genes, suggesting that they originated in the last common ancestor of eukaryotes, before the split of plants, fungi and animals. The ADAM family expanded in early metazoans, with the most significative gene expansion happening during the first steps of vertebrate evolution. We concluded that most of mammal ADAM diversity can be explained by gene duplications in early bone fish. Our data suggest that ADAM genes were lost early in green plant evolution.

ADAM（AD isintegrin A和Metalloprotease）基因家族编码具有粘附和蛋白水解功能的蛋白质。ADAM 蛋白与癌症等疾病有关。已经在人类中鉴定了 20 个 ADAM 基因。然而，人们对这个家庭的演变知之甚少。我们分析了大量真核基因组中的 ADAM 基因库，以阐明主要的基因拷贝数扩展。我们第一次提供了令人信服的证据，表明早期分枝的绿藻（Mamiellophyceae）具有 ADAM 基因，这表明它们起源于真核生物的最后一个共同祖先，在植物、真菌和动物分裂之前。ADAM 家族在早期后生动物中扩展，最重要的基因扩展发生在脊椎动物进化的第一步。我们得出结论，大多数哺乳动物 ADAM 多样性可以通过早期骨鱼的基因重复来解释。我们的数据表明 ADAM 基因在绿色植物进化的早期丢失。