A horizontally transferred gene.
CYP53A57 of Bradysia coprophila represents the first insect CYP53 clan P450. The CYP53A57 gene of four exons on chromosome 4 is highly similar (about 74%) to CYP53 clan sequences from fungi, specifically Dothideomycetes (Ascomycota). This group of fungi is relatively poorly studied, but they comprise animal and plant pathogens as well as saprobes. The position and phase of the three phase 2 introns in B. coprophila are conserved in Coniosporium apollinis (72.7% id). The gene has an ortholog in B. odoriphaga genome KAG4071074 (94.4% id), and in B. hygida (KAG6633705.1; 78.8% id). The three introns are conserved in B. odoriphaga, but one has been lost in B. hygida. CYP53A57 is flanked by “dynein heavychain 7 axonemal” upstream and “class E bHLH protein 22” downstream in B. coprophila, a locus in conserved synteny in B. odoriphaga (JAFDOW010001058.1)
The CYP53 clan is not universally present in fungi, generally as one CYP53A gene in Ascomycota, while Basidiomycota carry more diverse CYP53 genes (Jawallapersand et al., 2014). The CYP53A enzymes of ascomycetes are known to hydroxylate benzoic acid (Lah et al., 2011) and the CYP53D of basidiomycetes can dealkylate methoxystilbenes (Ide et al., 2012). This suggests that the Bradysia CYP53 may be involved in the metabolism of cyclic aromatic compounds.