Transcription factor gene GATA2: Association of leukemia and nonsynonymous to the synonymous substitution rate across five mammals

- The codons ending with G/C base was mostly favored over A/T-ending base in the coding sequences of GATA2 across mammals.
- Correlation coefficients between codon usage and GC3s suggested that codon usage of GATA2 has been influenced by GC bias.
- RSCU values of GATA2 gene suggested that the C-ending codons were mostly favored in comparison to G-ending codons.
- Significant difference in nonsynonymous substitution rate indicates a divergent evolution in the mammals for GATA2 gene.
- Mutation pressure played a minor role while natural selection played a major role in the codon usage patterns of GATA2 gene.

GATA2 gene encodes a member of the GATA family of zinc-finger transcription factors that play a pivotal role during the transition of primitive blood forming cells into white blood cells. Mutation in GATA2 results in the loss of function or even gain of function, including abnormal proliferation of white blood cells that may predispose to acute myeloid leukemia. Our results showed that the codon usage in GATA2 has been influenced by GC mutation bias where nature has highly favored fourteen most over represented codons but disfavored the ATA codon across five mammals. Purifying natural selection has affected GATA2 gene in human and other mammals to maintain its protein function during the period of evolution. Our findings report an insight into the codon usage patterns in gaining the clues for codon optimization to alter the translational efficiency as well as for the functional conservation of gene expression and the significance of nucleotide composition in GATA2 gene within mammals.