Table 3. Molecular functions of DD DEGs with limited conservation.

Gene	Molecular function	S/T	Only
ampA	Unknown	S	4
carB	cAMP receptor	T	4
carC	cAMP receptor	T	4*
carD	cAMP receptor	T	4*
catB	Catalase B	−	II
chtC	Unknown	T	4
comC	Has EGF domains	S+T	4
comH	GATA zinc finger	−	DD
cotA	Spore coat protein	S	II
cotB	Spore coat protein	S	4
cotC	Spore coat protein	S	4
cotE	Spore coat protein	S	II
ctnB	Has saposin domain	S	4
ctnC	Has saposin domain	S	4
DDB_G 0268314	Has EGF-like domains	T	DD
DDB_G 0279727	Unknown	S	4
dtfA	Unknown	−	DD
ecmA	Matrix protein	S	DD
iptA	Isopentenyltransferase	−	4
manH	Beta-mannosidase	−	DD
pde4	cAMP phosphodiesterase	T	II
pdiA	PdsA inhibitor	S	DD
ponA	Anchors actin to plasma membrane	−	DD
psiA	Secreted signal	S	II
psiF	Exposed signal	S	4
psiN	Exposed signal	S	4
pslA	Nuclear protein	−	DD
rtoA	Catalyses vesicle fusion	S	4
smlA	Unknown	−	4
srsA	Unknown	T	II
sslA1	Unknown	−	DD
tagB	ABC transporter	T	DD
tgrB1	Cell adhesion	S+T	4
tgrC1	Cell adhesion	S+T	DD
tgrD1	Cell adhesion	S+T	DD
zak1	Tyrosine kinase	−	DD
zak2	Tyrosine kinase	−	DD

cAMP, cyclic AMP; DD, D. discoideum; DP, D. purpureum; DL, D. lacteum; DEGs, developmentally essential genes.

DD DEGs with limited conservation across Dictyostelia are listed with their experimentally determined (underlined) or bioinformatically inferred (regular text) molecular function, presence of signal peptide (S) or transmembrane domain (T) and their conservation in DD only, group 4 (DD+DP) or branch II (DD+DP+DL). The phenotypes associated with deletion of these genes in DD are listed in Supplementary Data 1, while annotated gene trees are shown in Supplementary Data 2.

^*Genes were detected by PCR in several group 4 species³⁴.