The Contribution of Horizontal Gene Transfer to the Evolution of Fungi.
Date
2007-05-10
Author
Advisors
Dietrich, Fred S
Heitman, Joseph
Lutzoni, Francois
McCusker, John
Mitchell, Thomas
Rausher, Mark
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Abstract
The genomes of the hemiascomycetes Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Ashbya gossypii have
been completely sequenced, allowing a comparative analysis of these two genomes, which
reveals that a small number of genes appear to have entered these genomes as a result
of horizontal gene transfer from bacterial sources. One potential case of horizontal
gene transfer in A. gossypii and 10 potential cases in S. cerevisiae were identified,
of which two were investigated further. One gene, encoding the enzyme dihydroorotate
dehydrogenase (DHOD), is potentially a case of horizontal gene transfer, as shown
by sequencing of this gene from additional bacterial and fungal species to generate
sufficient data to construct a well-supported phylogeny. The DHOD-encoding gene found
in S. cerevisiae, URA1 (YKL216W), appears to have entered the Saccharomycetaceae after
the divergence of the S. cerevisiae lineage from the Candida albicans lineage and
possibly since the divergence from the A. gossypii lineage. This gene appears to have
come from the Lactobacillales, and following its acquisition the endogenous eukaryotic
DHOD gene was lost. It was also shown that the bacterially derived horizontally transferred
DHOD is required for anaerobic synthesis of uracil in S. cerevisiae. The other gene
discussed in detail is BDS1, an aryl- and alkyl-sulfatase gene of bacterial origin
that we have shown allows utilization of sulfate from several organic sources. Among
the eukaryotes, this gene is found in S. cerevisiae and Saccharomyces bayanus and
appears to derive from the alpha-proteobacteria.
Type
DissertationDepartment
Molecular Genetics and MicrobiologyPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/202Citation
Hall, Charles Robert (2007). The Contribution of Horizontal Gene Transfer to the Evolution of Fungi. Dissertation, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/202.Collections
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