The Drosophila DCP2 is evolutionarily conserved in sequence and structure : insights from in silico studies of DmDCP2 orthologs and paralogs

The mRNA decapping proteins (DCPs) function to hydrolyze the 7-methylguanosine cap at the 5 end of mRNAs thereby, exposing the transcript for degradation by the exonuclease(s) and hence, play a pioneering role in the mRNA decay pathway. In Drosophila melanogaster, the mRNA decapping protein 2 (DCP2) is the only catalytically active mRNA decapping enzyme present. Despite its presence being reported across diverse species in the phylogenetic tree, a quantitative approach to the index of its conservation in terms of its sequence has not been reported so far. With structural and mechanistic insights being explored in the yeasts, the insect DCP2 has never been explored in the perspectives of structure and the indices of the conservation of its sequence and/or structure vis-a-vis topological facets. Being an evolutionarily conserved protein, the present endeavor aimed at deciphering the evolutionary relationship(s) and the pattern of conservation of the sequence of DCP2 across the phylogenetic tree as well as in sibling species of D. melanogaster through a semi-quantitative approach relying on multiple sequence alignment and analyses of percentage identity matrices. Since NUDIX proteins are functionally diverse, an attempt to identify the other NUDIX proteins (or, DCP2 paralogs) in D. melanogaster and compare and align their structural features with that of DCP2 through in silico approaches was endeavored in parallel. Our observations provide quantitative and structural bases for the observed evolutionary conservation of DCP2 across the diverse phyla and also, identify and reinforce the structural conservation of the NUDIX family in D. melanogaster.