Massive horizontal gene transfer in bdelloid rotifers.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Horizontal gene transfer in metazoans has been documented in only a few species and is usually associated with endosymbiosis or parasitism. By contrast, in bdelloid rotifers we found many genes that appear to have originated in bacteria, fungi, and plants, concentrated in telomeric regions along with diverse mobile genetic elements. Bdelloid proximal gene-rich regions, however, appeared to lack foreign genes, thereby resembling those of model metazoan organisms. Some of the foreign genes were defective, whereas others were intact and transcribed; some of the latter contained functional spliceosomal introns. One such gene, apparently of bacterial origin, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and yielded an active enzyme. The capture and functional assimilation of exogenous genes may represent an important force in bdelloid evolution.
منابع مشابه
Evidence for meiotic sex in bdelloid rotifers
In their study of genetic exchange in the bdelloid rotifer Adineta vaga, Debortoli et al. [1] conclude that the patchwork pattern of allele sharing among three individuals in the genomic regions they examined is "…unlikely to arise in cases of PTH (Oenothera-like) meiosis since haplotypes are transferred as entire blocks…" and therefore that "Genetic exchange among bdelloid rotifers is more lik...
متن کاملBiochemical Diversification through Foreign Gene Expression in Bdelloid Rotifers
Bdelloid rotifers are microinvertebrates with unique characteristics: they have survived tens of millions of years without sexual reproduction; they withstand extreme desiccation by undergoing anhydrobiosis; and they tolerate very high levels of ionizing radiation. Recent evidence suggests that subtelomeric regions of the bdelloid genome contain sequences originating from other organisms by hor...
متن کاملForeign genes and novel hydrophilic protein genes participate in the desiccation response of the bdelloid rotifer Adineta ricciae.
Bdelloid rotifers are aquatic micro-invertebrates with the ability to survive extreme desiccation, or anhydrobiosis, at any life stage. To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms used by bdelloids during anhydrobiosis, we constructed a cDNA library enriched for genes that are upregulated in Adineta ricciae 24 h after onset of dehydration. Resulting expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were analyse...
متن کاملEvidence Supporting the Uptake and Genomic Incorporation of Environmental DNA in the “Ancient Asexual” Bdelloid Rotifer Philodina roseola
Increasing evidence suggests that bdelloid rotifers regularly undergo horizontal gene transfer, apparently as a surrogate mechanism of genetic exchange in the absence of true sexual reproduction, in part because of their ability to withstand desiccation. We provide empirical support for this latter hypothesis using the bdelloid Philodina roseola, which we demonstrate to readily internalize envi...
متن کاملGenetic Exchange among Bdelloid Rotifers Is More Likely Due to Horizontal Gene Transfer Than to Meiotic Sex
Although strict asexuality is supposed to be an evolutionary dead end, morphological, cytogenetic, and genomic data suggest that bdelloid rotifers, a clade of microscopic animals, have persisted and diversified for more than 60 Myr in an ameiotic fashion. Moreover, the genome of bdelloids of the genus Adineta comprises 8%-10% of genes of putative non-metazoan origin, indicating that horizontal ...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Science
دوره 320 5880 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2008