Chen, P., Doležel, D. and Smýka, V. from BCAS present a open access study about the evolution of steroid receptor coactivator Taiman in arthropods. DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2026.104592
A few years ago, we identified TAIMAN as a novel component of the insect circadian clock (Smykal et al., 2023, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010924). Given the diverse roles of this large protein in development, reproduction, ecdysteroid signaling, and juvenile hormone signaling, we performed a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis across arthropods. This analysis enabled us to define conserved and variable domains, including both previously known and newly identified regions. In addition, we uncovered conserved alternative splicing patterns shared by insects and crustaceans. Notably, Diptera show a progressive loss of the C-terminal motifs, with the most extensive reduction observed in Drosophila.