Phylogenetic tree construction of butyrylcholinesterase sequences in life forms.

Butyrylcholinesterase is an enzyme with few known physiological functions. It is related to acetylcholine that was shown to be expressed in a variety of life forms. We performed a search using the human butyrylcholinesterase gene (HGNC:983;MIM:177400), and found the sequence in a broad spectrum including plants, bacteria and animals. Therefore butyrylcholinesterase appears to have evolved early in evolution, and to have been conserved.