Centromeres have central functions in chromosome segregation, but centromeric DNA and centromere‐binding proteins evolve rapidly in most eukaryotes. The selective pressure(s) underlying the fast evolution of centromere‐binding proteins are presently unknown. An attractive possibility is that selfish centromeres promote their preferential inclusion in the oocyte and centromeric proteins evolve to suppress meiotic drive (centromere drive hypothesis). We analysed the selective patterns of mammalian genes that encode kinetochore proteins and microtubule (MT)‐destabilizing factors. We show that several of these proteins evolve at the same rate or faster than proteins with a role in centromere specification. Elements of the kinetochore that bind MTs or that bridge the interaction between MTs and the centromere represented the major targets of positive selection. These data are in line with the possibility that the genetic conflict fuelled by meiotic drive extends beyond genes involved in centromere specification. However, we cannot exclude that different selective pressures underlie the rapid evolution of MT‐destabilizing factors and kinetochore components. Whatever the nature of such pressures, they must have been constant during the evolution of eutherian mammals, as we found a surprisingly good correlation in dN/dS (ratio of the rate of nonsynonymous and synonymous substitutions) across orders/clades. Finally, when phylogenetic relationships were accounted for, we found little evidence that the evolutionary rates of these genes change with testes size, a proxy for sperm competition. Our data indicate that, in analogy to centromeric proteins, kinetochore components are fast evolving in mammals. This observation may imply that centromere drive plays out at multiple levels or that these proteins adapt to lineage‐specific centromeric features.

中文翻译：

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线粒体蛋白和微管破坏因子在快速的哺乳动物中快速发展

着丝粒在染色体分离中起着中心作用，但是着丝粒DNA和着丝粒结合蛋白在大多数真核生物中迅速发展。目前着迷于着丝粒结合蛋白快速进化的选择性压力是未知的。一个诱人的可能性是，自私的着丝粒促进了它们优先地包含在卵母细胞中，着丝粒蛋白进化为抑制减数分裂驱动（着丝粒驱动假说）。我们分析了编码动线粒蛋白和微管（MT）破坏因子的哺乳动物基因的选择性模式。我们显示这些蛋白质中的几种进化速度或速度快于着丝粒规格中的蛋白质。结合MT或连接MT和着丝粒之间相互作用的动线粒元素代表了积极选择的主要目标。这些数据与减数分裂驱动力引发的遗传冲突超出了着丝粒规格所涉及的基因的可能性相符。但是，我们不能排除不同的选择压力是MT不稳定因素和动线粒成分快速发展的基础。无论这种压力的性质如何，在欧亚哺乳动物的进化过程中，它们一定是恒定的，因为我们发现跨订单/进化枝的dN / dS（非同义和同义替代率的比率）令人惊讶地具有良好的相关性。最后，在考虑了系统发育关系之后，我们几乎没有发现证据表明这些基因的进化速率随睾丸大小而变化，而睾丸大小是精子竞争的代表。我们的数据表明，类似于着丝粒蛋白，线粒体组分在哺乳动物中快速进化。该观察结果可能暗示着丝粒驱动在多个水平上发挥作用，或者这些蛋白适应于谱系特异性着丝粒特征。