List of unusual biological names

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This is a list of unusual biological names, given to biological inventions and discoveries. One might consider the listed names unusual due to their containing pop culture references or puns.

Contents

Genes and proteins

In the early days of genomics, genes were often given creative names upon discovery. A nomenclature committee later established naming guidelines, but several early names remain. [1]

NameExplanationBiological role
Bag-of-marbles
Buttonhead
Cheap date [2] Mutations in this gene cause marked susceptibility to alcohol intoxication
Deadpan
DIABLO Direct IAP binding protein, low
Dreadlocks Mutations in this gene cause cell projections to clump together like dreadlocksMurine ortholog of Nck
Dunce A memory-related geneA memory-related gene associated with Rutabaga
ELMO Engulfment and Cell MotilityContains the family ELMO1, ELMO2, and ELMO3
Exuperantia Named after St. Exuperantia [ citation needed ]A gene associated with dividing the head and body into regions
Fizzy-related
Flippase and floppase Protein that "flips" and "flops" phosphatidylserines on the cell membrane from the inner side and the outer side, respectively
Named for the video game character Sonic the Hedgehog Critical gene involved in development and tumorigenesis
Headcase [3]
Hunchback
Indy Short for I'm not dead yet
Ken and Barbie [4] Mutations in the ken and barbie locus cause loss of external male and female genitalia in a fraction of homozygous fliesDrosophila gene
Lunatic Fringe, Manic Fringe, and Radical Fringe
MAP kinase kinase kinase and MAP kinase kinase kinase kinase
MinosPhrime [5] Named after Minos Prime from the video game ULTRAKILL.bacteriophage
Mothers against decapentaplegic 1–9, and the associated Daughters against dpp [6] Takes the name from "Mothers against drunk driving" and similar campaignsMutations in the gene of the mother cause improper development in the offspring
Moron gene A prophage gene that has no role in the phage's lysogenic cycle.
NEMO NF-kappa-B essential modulator
Methuselah-like proteins Named for Methuselah, extends the lifespan of an organism
NUDEL-GenGerman for "Noodle"NudE Neurodevelopment Protein 1 Like 1 [7]
RING Short for Really Interesting New Gene
POKEMON POKerythroid myeloid ontogenic factor, changed to Zbtb7 after a lawsuit was threatened [8]
Pikachurin
PUMPKIN Short for PLASTID 55 UMP KINASEEncodes a functional UMP Kinase located in the plastid that binds to group II intron plastid transcription products. Mutants show decreased accumulation of target transcripts/proteins. [9]
Salvador
Scramblase An enzyme that "scrambles" phospholipids between the inside and outside of the cell membrane
Slingshot homolog
Slit-Robo and the associated Netrin-Frazzled
SMURF1 and SMURF2, which interacts with Mothers against decapentaplegic 7SMAD Ubiquitination Regulatory Factor 1/2
Son of Sevenless A protein involved in MAPK signal cascade
SPOCK1 Zebrafish with this mutation develop pointed-ears reminiscent of Spock
SWEET transporters Sugars will eventually be exported transporterSugar transporters
Swiss cheese [10] Mutations cause the brain to develop with lesions resembling Swiss cheese
Spätzle based on the spaetzle-like (German for a type of noodle) shape of the larvae of D. melanogaster
Tafazzin Named after the masochistic Italian comic character Tafazzi after alleged hardships in its discovery
Time for Coffee [11] Active in the night.Regulator of circadian clock in Arabidopsis thaliana
Tinman gene Named for the tinman, required for proper development of the heart
Toll-like receptors "Toll" is German for "Amazing", "Awesome". Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and her colleague Prof. Eric Wieschaus sat at a double microscope that allows two people to examine the same object at the same time. When they saw an embryo mutant one day whose development was ventralised, they were both completely surprised and spontaneously exclaimed "Toll" (great).
UNICORNRegulates planar growth in Arabidopsis thaliana [12]

Controversies

Unusual names have caused issues for scientists explaining genetic diseases to lay-people, such as when an individual is affected by a gene with an offensive or insensitive name. [13] This has particularly been noted in patients with a defect in the sonic hedgehog gene pathway and the disease formerly named CATCH22 for "cardiac anomaly, T-cell deficit, clefting and hypocalcaemia for chromosome 22q11.2 microdeletions". This name was abandoned due to the no-win connotations. [14]

In 1993 Alfonso Martinez Arias, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, was ordered to change the name of the gene he had discovered, VELCRO, because of copyright issues with Velcro. [15] The gene was renamed to puckered. [16] In 2005, Pokémon threatened to sue the discoverer of POKEMON because the name was attracting attention when its link to the development of cancer was published. [15]

Molecules

Species

Some species with unusual scientific names, because of length, repetition, or origin or meaning of name, include:

Some species with unusual biological common names include:

Techniques

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> Model plant species in the family Brassicaceae

Arabidopsis thaliana, the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small plant from the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and Africa. Commonly found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land, it is generally considered a weed.

Heterochromatin is a tightly packed form of DNA or condensed DNA, which comes in multiple varieties. These varieties lie on a continuum between the two extremes of constitutive heterochromatin and facultative heterochromatin. Both play a role in the expression of genes. Because it is tightly packed, it was thought to be inaccessible to polymerases and therefore not transcribed; however, according to Volpe et al. (2002), and many other papers since, much of this DNA is in fact transcribed, but it is continuously turned over via RNA-induced transcriptional silencing (RITS). Recent studies with electron microscopy and OsO4 staining reveal that the dense packing is not due to the chromatin.

A genetic screen or mutagenesis screen is an experimental technique used to identify and select individuals who possess a phenotype of interest in a mutagenized population. Hence a genetic screen is a type of phenotypic screen. Genetic screens can provide important information on gene function as well as the molecular events that underlie a biological process or pathway. While genome projects have identified an extensive inventory of genes in many different organisms, genetic screens can provide valuable insight as to how those genes function.

The RNA-induced silencing complex, or RISC, is a multiprotein complex, specifically a ribonucleoprotein, which functions in gene silencing via a variety of pathways at the transcriptional and translational levels. Using single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) fragments, such as microRNA (miRNA), or double-stranded small interfering RNA (siRNA), the complex functions as a key tool in gene regulation. The single strand of RNA acts as a template for RISC to recognize complementary messenger RNA (mRNA) transcript. Once found, one of the proteins in RISC, Argonaute, activates and cleaves the mRNA. This process is called RNA interference (RNAi) and it is found in many eukaryotes; it is a key process in defense against viral infections, as it is triggered by the presence of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA).

In biology, the nuclear matrix is the network of fibres found throughout the inside of a cell nucleus after a specific method of chemical extraction. According to some it is somewhat analogous to the cell cytoskeleton. In contrast to the cytoskeleton, however, the nuclear matrix has been proposed to be a dynamic structure. Along with the nuclear lamina, it supposedly aids in organizing the genetic information within the cell.

Hox genes, a subset of homeobox genes, are a group of related genes that specify regions of the body plan of an embryo along the head-tail axis of animals. Hox proteins encode and specify the characteristics of 'position', ensuring that the correct structures form in the correct places of the body. For example, Hox genes in insects specify which appendages form on a segment, and Hox genes in vertebrates specify the types and shape of vertebrae that will form. In segmented animals, Hox proteins thus confer segmental or positional identity, but do not form the actual segments themselves.

An insulator is a type of cis-regulatory element known as a long-range regulatory element. Found in multicellular eukaryotes and working over distances from the promoter element of the target gene, an insulator is typically 300 bp to 2000 bp in length. Insulators contain clustered binding sites for sequence specific DNA-binding proteins and mediate intra- and inter-chromosomal interactions.

Polycomb-group proteins are a family of protein complexes first discovered in fruit flies that can remodel chromatin such that epigenetic silencing of genes takes place. Polycomb-group proteins are well known for silencing Hox genes through modulation of chromatin structure during embryonic development in fruit flies. They derive their name from the fact that the first sign of a decrease in PcG function is often a homeotic transformation of posterior legs towards anterior legs, which have a characteristic comb-like set of bristles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argonaute</span> Protein that plays a role in RNA silencing process

The Argonaute protein family, first discovered for its evolutionarily conserved stem cell function, plays a central role in RNA silencing processes as essential components of the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). RISC is responsible for the gene silencing phenomenon known as RNA interference (RNAi). Argonaute proteins bind different classes of small non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs). Small RNAs guide Argonaute proteins to their specific targets through sequence complementarity, which then leads to mRNA cleavage, translation inhibition, and/or the initiation of mRNA decay.

The family of heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1) consists of highly conserved proteins, which have important functions in the cell nucleus. These functions include gene repression by heterochromatin formation, transcriptional activation, regulation of binding of cohesion complexes to centromeres, sequestration of genes to the nuclear periphery, transcriptional arrest, maintenance of heterochromatin integrity, gene repression at the single nucleosome level, gene repression by heterochromatization of euchromatin, and DNA repair. HP1 proteins are fundamental units of heterochromatin packaging that are enriched at the centromeres and telomeres of nearly all eukaryotic chromosomes with the notable exception of budding yeast, in which a yeast-specific silencing complex of SIR proteins serve a similar function. Members of the HP1 family are characterized by an N-terminal chromodomain and a C-terminal chromoshadow domain, separated by a hinge region. HP1 is also found at some euchromatic sites, where its binding can correlate with either gene repression or gene activation. HP1 was originally discovered by Tharappel C James and Sarah Elgin in 1986 as a factor in the phenomenon known as position effect variegation in Drosophila melanogaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ASXL1</span> Protein-coding gene in the species Homo sapiens

Putative Polycomb group protein ASXL1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ASXL1 gene.

Epigenomics is the study of the complete set of epigenetic modifications on the genetic material of a cell, known as the epigenome. The field is analogous to genomics and proteomics, which are the study of the genome and proteome of a cell. Epigenetic modifications are reversible modifications on a cell's DNA or histones that affect gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. Epigenomic maintenance is a continuous process and plays an important role in stability of eukaryotic genomes by taking part in crucial biological mechanisms like DNA repair. Plant flavones are said to be inhibiting epigenomic marks that cause cancers. Two of the most characterized epigenetic modifications are DNA methylation and histone modification. Epigenetic modifications play an important role in gene expression and regulation, and are involved in numerous cellular processes such as in differentiation/development and tumorigenesis. The study of epigenetics on a global level has been made possible only recently through the adaptation of genomic high-throughput assays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chromatin immunoprecipitation</span> Genomic technique

Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genomic regions, such as transcription factors on promoters or other DNA binding sites, and possibly define cistromes. ChIP also aims to determine the specific location in the genome that various histone modifications are associated with, indicating the target of the histone modifiers. ChIP is crucial for the advancements in the field of epigenomics and learning more about epigenetic phenomena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SET domain</span>

The SET domain is a protein domain that typically has methyltransferase activity. It was originally identified as part of a larger conserved region present in the Drosophila Trithorax protein and was subsequently identified in the Drosophila Su(var)3-9 and 'Enhancer of zeste' proteins, from which the acronym SET is derived [Su(var)3-9, Enhancer-of-zeste and Trithorax].

H3K4me3 is an epigenetic modification to the DNA packaging protein Histone H3 that indicates tri-methylation at the 4th lysine residue of the histone H3 protein and is often involved in the regulation of gene expression. The name denotes the addition of three methyl groups (trimethylation) to the lysine 4 on the histone H3 protein.

H3K9me3 is an epigenetic modification to the DNA packaging protein Histone H3. It is a mark that indicates the tri-methylation at the 9th lysine residue of the histone H3 protein and is often associated with heterochromatin.

H4K20me is an epigenetic modification to the DNA packaging protein Histone H4. It is a mark that indicates the methylation at the 20th lysine residue of the histone H4 protein. This mark can be mono-, di-, or tri-methylated. It is critical for genome integrity including DNA damage repair, DNA replication and chromatin compaction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MNase-seq</span> Method used to analyse protein interactions with DNA

MNase-seq, short for micrococcal nuclease digestion with deep sequencing, is a molecular biological technique that was first pioneered in 2006 to measure nucleosome occupancy in the C. elegans genome, and was subsequently applied to the human genome in 2008. Though, the term ‘MNase-seq’ had not been coined until a year later, in 2009. Briefly, this technique relies on the use of the non-specific endo-exonuclease micrococcal nuclease, an enzyme derived from the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, to bind and cleave protein-unbound regions of DNA on chromatin. DNA bound to histones or other chromatin-bound proteins may remain undigested. The uncut DNA is then purified from the proteins and sequenced through one or more of the various Next-Generation sequencing methods.

H3S28P is an epigenetic modification to the DNA packaging protein histone H3. It is a mark that indicates the phosphorylation the 28th serine residue of the histone H3 protein.

H3T3P is an epigenetic modification to the DNA packaging protein histone H3. It is a mark that indicates the phosphorylation the 3rd threonine residue of the histone H3 protein.

References

  1. ↑ "The Problem with Naming Genes".
  2. ↑ Moore, Monica S; Dezazzo, Jim; Luk, Alvin Y; Tully, Tim; Singh, Carol M; Heberlein, Ulrike (1998). "Ethanol Intoxication in Drosophila: Genetic and Pharmacological Evidence for Regulation by the cAMP Signaling Pathway". Cell. 93 (6): 997–1007. doi: 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81205-2 . PMID   9635429. S2CID   15312752.
  3. ↑ "Headcase".
  4. ↑ Lukacsovich, Tamas; Yuge, Kazuya; Awano, Wakae; Asztalos, Zoltan; Kondo, Shunzo; Juni, Naoto; Yamamoto, Daisuke (2003). "Theken and barbie gene encoding a putative transcription factor with a BTB domain and three zinc finger motifs functions in terminalia development of Drosophila". Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology. 54 (2): 77–94. doi:10.1002/arch.10105. PMID   14518006.
  5. ↑ "Microbacterium phage MinosPhrime". The Actinobacteriophage Database. Archived from the original on 2023-03-20. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  6. ↑ "FlyBase Gene Report: Dmel\Dad".
  7. ↑ "NDEL1 Gene - GeneCards | NDEL1 Protein | NDEL1 Antibody". www.genecards.org. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  8. ↑ Brendan Sinclair (2005-12-19). "Pokémon USA threatens to sue cancer researchers". GameSpot . Retrieved 2016-01-31.
  9. ↑ "AT3G18680(PUMPKIN)". www.arabidopsis.org. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  10. ↑ Kretzschmar, D; Hasan, G; Sharma, S; Heisenberg, M; Benzer, S (1997). "The swiss cheese mutant causes glial hyperwrapping and brain degeneration in Drosophila". The Journal of Neuroscience. 17 (19): 7425–32. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.17-19-07425.1997. PMC   6573436 . PMID   9295388.
  11. ↑ "TIC - Protein TIME FOR COFFEE - Arabidopsis thaliana (Mouse-ear cress) - TIC gene & protein". www.uniprot.org. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  12. ↑ Enugutti, Balaji; Charlotte, Kirchhelle; Oelschner, Maxi; Ruiz, Ramón Angel Torres; Schliebner, Ivo; Leister, Dario; Schneitz, Kay (2012). "Regulation of planar growth by the Arabidopsis AGC protein kinase UNICORN". PNAS. 109 (37): 15060–15065. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1205089109 . PMC   3443170 . PMID   22927420.
  13. ↑ Hopkin, Michael (2006). "Troublesome gene names get the boot". News@nature. doi: 10.1038/news061106-2 . S2CID   86514270.
  14. ↑ MacLean, Ken (2006). "Humour of gene names lost in translation to patients". Nature. 439 (7074): 266. Bibcode:2006Natur.439..266M. doi: 10.1038/439266d . PMID   16421543.
  15. 1 2 Simonite, Tom (2005). "Pokémon blocks gene name". Nature. 438 (7070): 897. Bibcode:2005Natur.438..897S. doi: 10.1038/438897a . PMID   16355177.
  16. ↑ "puc puckered [ Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) ]".
  17. ↑ Burns, Josh; Shealy, Ben; Feltus, Alex; Smith, Melissa; Ficklin, Stephen (2019). "SystemsGenetics/KINC: Version 3.3.0". Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3256358.
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