New study provides a taxon-wide evolutionary analysis of lysyl oxidades (LOX), a key enzyme in remodelling extracellular matrix. Scientists at IBE have shown that LOX have a pre-animal ancestry, with the domain being present already in archaea and bacteria.

This paper is a collaboration with Fernando Rodriguez-Pascual from Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa and has been published in Scientifi Reports, a journal from Nature Publishing Group. They have also shown how LOX genes were further expanded in animals concomitantly with the expansion of more complex extracellular matrix protein domains.

Reference Article: Grau-Bové, X., Ruiz-Trillo, I., Rodriguez-Pascual, E. (2015). Origin and evolution of lysyl oxidases. Scientific Reports.