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Koper K, Han SW, Kothadia R, Salamon H, Yoshikuni Y, Maeda HA. Multisubstrate specificity shaped the complex evolution of the aminotransferase family across the tree of life. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2405524121. [PMID: 38885378 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2405524121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Aminotransferases (ATs) are an ancient enzyme family that play central roles in core nitrogen metabolism, essential to all organisms. However, many of the AT enzyme functions remain poorly defined, limiting our fundamental understanding of the nitrogen metabolic networks that exist in different organisms. Here, we traced the deep evolutionary history of the AT family by analyzing AT enzymes from 90 species spanning the tree of life (ToL). We found that each organism has maintained a relatively small and constant number of ATs. Mapping the distribution of ATs across the ToL uncovered that many essential AT reactions are carried out by taxon-specific AT enzymes due to wide-spread nonorthologous gene displacements. This complex evolutionary history explains the difficulty of homology-based AT functional prediction. Biochemical characterization of diverse aromatic ATs further revealed their broad substrate specificity, unlike other core metabolic enzymes that evolved to catalyze specific reactions today. Interestingly, however, we found that these AT enzymes that diverged over billion years share common signatures of multisubstrate specificity by employing different nonconserved active site residues. These findings illustrate that AT family enzymes had leveraged their inherent substrate promiscuity to maintain a small yet distinct set of multifunctional AT enzymes in different taxa. This evolutionary history of versatile ATs likely contributed to the establishment of robust and diverse nitrogen metabolic networks that exist throughout the ToL. The study provides a critical foundation to systematically determine diverse AT functions and underlying nitrogen metabolic networks across the ToL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaan Koper
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
| | - Sang-Woo Han
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Department of Biotechnology, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, South Korea
| | - Ramani Kothadia
- The US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Hugh Salamon
- The US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Yasuo Yoshikuni
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
- The US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Global Center for Food, Land, and Water Resources, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan 060-8589
- Institute of Global Innovation Research, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 183-8538, Japan
| | - Hiroshi A Maeda
- Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706
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2
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Myers T, Dykstra CM. Teaching old dogs new tricks: genetic engineering methanogens. Appl Environ Microbiol 2024:e0224723. [PMID: 38856201 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02247-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Methanogenic archaea, which are integral to global carbon and nitrogen cycling, currently face challenges in genetic manipulation due to unique physiology and limited genetic tools. This review provides a survey of current and past developments in the genetic engineering of methanogens, including selection and counterselection markers, reporter systems, shuttle vectors, mutagenesis methods, markerless genetic exchange, and gene expression control. This review discusses genetic tools and emphasizes challenges tied to tool scarcity for specific methanogenic species. Mutagenesis techniques for methanogens, including physicochemical, transposon-mediated, liposome-mediated mutagenesis, and natural transformation, are outlined, along with achievements and challenges. Markerless genetic exchange strategies, such as homologous recombination and CRISPR/Cas-mediated genome editing, are also detailed. Finally, the review concludes by examining the control of gene expression in methanogens. The information presented underscores the urgent need for refined genetic tools in archaeal research. Despite historical challenges, recent advancements, notably CRISPR-based systems, hold promise for overcoming obstacles, with implications for global health, agriculture, climate change, and environmental engineering. This comprehensive review aims to bridge existing gaps in the literature, guiding future research in the expanding field of archaeal genetic engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler Myers
- Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Christy M Dykstra
- Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
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3
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Arahal DR, Bull CT, Christensen H, Chuvochina M, Dedysh SN, Fournier PE, Konstantinidis KT, Parker CT, Ventosa A, Young P, Göker M. Judicial Opinion 129. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2024; 74. [PMID: 38376502 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.006064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Opinion 129 addresses the status of Firmicutes corrig. Gibbons and Murray 1978 (Approved Lists 1980). The name has the category 'division' and was included in the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names, although that category had previously been removed from the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (1975 revision onwards). When the category 'phylum' was introduced into the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) in 2021, equivalence between 'phylum' and 'division' was not stipulated. Since the definition of the taxonomic categories and their relative order is one of the principal tasks of every code of nomenclature, the inclusion of Firmicutes corrig. Gibbons and Murray 1978 in the Approved Lists was an error. The name is either not validly published or illegitimate because its category is not covered by the ICNP. If Firmicutes corrig. Gibbons and Murray 1978 (Approved Lists 1980) was a validly published phylum name, it would be illegitimate because it would contravene Rule 8, which does not permit any deviation from the requirement to derive a phylum name from the name of the type genus. Since Firmicutes corrig. Gibbons and Murray 1978 is also part of a 'misfitting megaclassification' recognized in Opinion 128, the name is rejected, without any pre-emption regarding a hypothetically validly published name Firmicutes at the rank of phylum. Gracilicutes Gibbons and Murray 1978 (Approved Lists 1980) and Anoxyphotobacteriae Gibbons and Murray 1978 (Approved Lists 1980) are also rejected. The validly published phylum names have a variety of advantages over their not validly published counterparts and cannot be replaced with ad hoc names suggested in the literature. To ease the transition, it is recommended to mention the not validly published phylum names which strongly deviate in spelling from their validly published counterparts along with the latter in publications during the next years.
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Affiliation(s)
- David R Arahal
- Departamento de Microbiología y Ecología, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Carolee T Bull
- Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, Pennsylvania State University, 211 Buckhout Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Henrik Christensen
- Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Stigbøjlen 4, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
| | - Maria Chuvochina
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, Australian Centre for Ecogenomics, The University of Queensland, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Svetlana N Dedysh
- Research Center of Biotechnology RAS, Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Prospect 60-letya Octyabrya 7/2, Moscow 117312, Russia
| | | | - Konstantinos T Konstantinidis
- School of Civil & Environmental Engineering and School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Charles T Parker
- Department of Energy, Joint Genome Institute, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Antonio Ventosa
- Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sevilla, C/. Prof. Garcia Gonzalez 2, ES-41012 Sevilla, Spain
| | - Peter Young
- Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Markus Göker
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstrasse 7B, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany
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Göker M, Oren A. Valid publication of names of two domains and seven kingdoms of prokaryotes. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2024; 74. [PMID: 38252124 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.006242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) now includes the categories domain and kingdom. For the purpose of the valid publication of their names under the ICNP, we consider here the two known domains, 'Bacteria' and 'Archaea', as well as a number of taxa suitable for the rank of kingdom, based on previous phylogenetic and taxonomic studies. It is proposed to subdivide the domain Bacteria into the kingdoms Bacillati, Fusobacteriati, Pseudomonadati and Thermotogati. This arrangement reflects contemporary phylogenetic hypotheses as well as previous taxonomic proposals based on cell wall structure, including 'diderms' vs. 'monoderms', Gracilicutes vs. Firmicutes, 'Negibacteria' vs. 'Unibacteria', 'Hydrobacteria' vs. 'Terrabacteria', and 'Hydrobacterida' vs. 'Terrabacterida'. The domain Archaea is proposed to include the kingdoms Methanobacteriati, Nanobdellati and Thermoproteati, reflecting the previous division into 'Euryarchaeota', 'DPANN superphylum' and 'TACK superphylum'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Göker
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstrasse 7B, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Aharon Oren
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Institute of Life Sciences, Edmond J. Safra Campus - Givat Ram, 9190401 Jerusalem, Israel
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Awala SI, Gwak JH, Kim Y, Seo C, Strazzulli A, Kim SG, Rhee SK. Methylacidiphilum caldifontis gen. nov., sp. nov., a thermoacidophilic methane-oxidizing bacterium from an acidic geothermal environment, and descriptions of the family Methylacidiphilaceae fam. nov. and order Methylacidiphilales ord. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2023; 73. [PMID: 37791995 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.006085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Strain IT6T, a thermoacidophilic and facultative methane-oxidizing bacterium, was isolated from a mud-water mixture collected from Pisciarelli hot spring in Pozzuoli, Italy. The novel strain is white when grown in liquid or solid media and forms Gram-negative rod-shaped, non-flagellated, non-motile cells. It conserves energy by aerobically oxidizing methane and hydrogen while deriving carbon from carbon dioxide fixation. Strain IT6T had three complete pmoCAB operons encoding particulate methane monooxygenase and genes encoding group 1d and 3b [NiFe] hydrogenases. Simple carbon-carbon substrates such as ethanol, 2-propanol, acetone, acetol and propane-1,2-diol were used as alternative electron donors and carbon sources. Optimal growth occurred at 50-55°C and between pH 2.0-3.0. The major fatty acids were C18 : 0, C15 : 0 anteiso, C14 : 0 iso, C16 : 0 and C14 : 0, and the main polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, aminophospholipid, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, some unidentified phospholipids and glycolipids, and other unknown polar lipids. Strain IT6T has a genome size of 2.19 Mbp and a G+C content of 40.70 mol%. Relative evolutionary divergence using 120 conserved single-copy marker genes (bac120) and phylogenetic analyses based on bac120 and 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain IT6T is affiliated with members of the proposed order 'Methylacidiphilales' of the class Verrucomicrobiia in the phylum Verrucomicrobiota. It shared a 16S rRNA gene sequence identity of >96 % with cultivated isolates in the genus 'Methylacidiphilum' of the family 'Methylacidiphilaceae', which are thermoacidophilic methane-oxidizing bacteria. 'Methylacidiphilum sp.' Phi (100 %), 'Methylacidiphilum infernorum' V4 (99.02 %) and 'Methylacidiphilum sp.' RTK17.1 (99.02 %) were its closest relatives. Its physiological and genomic properties were consistent with those of other isolated 'Methylacidiphilum' species. Based on these results, we propose the name Methylacidiphilum caldifontis gen. nov., sp. nov. to accommodate strain IT6T (=KCTC 92103T=JCM 39288T). We also formally propose that the names Methylacidiphilaceae fam. nov. and Methylacidiphilales ord. nov. to accommodate the genus Methylacidiphilum gen. nov.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Imisi Awala
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Joo-Han Gwak
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Yongman Kim
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Chanmee Seo
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Andrea Strazzulli
- Department of Biology, University of Naples "Federico II", Complesso Universitario Di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cupa Nuova Cinthia 21, 80126, Naples, Italy
| | - Song-Gun Kim
- University of Science and Technology, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-850, Republic of Korea
- Biological Resource Center/ Korean Collection for Type Culture (KCTC), Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 181 Ipsingil, Jeongeup-si, Jeollabuk-do, 56212, Republic of Korea
| | - Sung-Keun Rhee
- Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-Gu, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea
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Li B, Liang J, Phillips MA, Michael AJ. Neofunctionalization of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase into pyruvoyl-dependent L-ornithine and L-arginine decarboxylases is widespread in bacteria and archaea. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:105005. [PMID: 37399976 PMCID: PMC10407285 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Abstract
S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (AdoMetDC/SpeD) is a key polyamine biosynthetic enzyme required for conversion of putrescine to spermidine. Autocatalytic self-processing of the AdoMetDC/SpeD proenzyme generates a pyruvoyl cofactor from an internal serine. Recently, we discovered that diverse bacteriophages encode AdoMetDC/SpeD homologs that lack AdoMetDC activity and instead decarboxylate L-ornithine or L-arginine. We reasoned that neofunctionalized AdoMetDC/SpeD homologs were unlikely to have emerged in bacteriophages and were probably acquired from ancestral bacterial hosts. To test this hypothesis, we sought to identify candidate AdoMetDC/SpeD homologs encoding L-ornithine and L-arginine decarboxylases in bacteria and archaea. We searched for the anomalous presence of AdoMetDC/SpeD homologs in the absence of its obligatory partner enzyme spermidine synthase, or the presence of two AdoMetDC/SpeD homologs encoded in the same genome. Biochemical characterization of candidate neofunctionalized genes confirmed lack of AdoMetDC activity, and functional presence of L-ornithine or L-arginine decarboxylase activity in proteins from phyla Actinomycetota, Armatimonadota, Planctomycetota, Melainabacteria, Perigrinibacteria, Atribacteria, Chloroflexota, Sumerlaeota, Omnitrophota, Lentisphaerota, and Euryarchaeota, the bacterial candidate phyla radiation and DPANN archaea, and the δ-Proteobacteria class. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that L-arginine decarboxylases emerged at least three times from AdoMetDC/SpeD, whereas L-ornithine decarboxylases arose only once, potentially from the AdoMetDC/SpeD-derived L-arginine decarboxylases, revealing unsuspected polyamine metabolic plasticity. Horizontal transfer of the neofunctionalized genes appears to be the more prevalent mode of dissemination. We identified fusion proteins of bona fide AdoMetDC/SpeD with homologous L-ornithine decarboxylases that possess two, unprecedented internal protein-derived pyruvoyl cofactors. These fusion proteins suggest a plausible model for the evolution of the eukaryotic AdoMetDC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Li
- Department of Biochemistry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Jue Liang
- Department of Biochemistry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Margaret A Phillips
- Department of Biochemistry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Anthony J Michael
- Department of Biochemistry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
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Göker M, Oren A. Proposal to include the categories kingdom and domain in the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2023; 73. [PMID: 36749690 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.005650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Observations made after introduction of the phylum category into the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) indicate that the addition of a category should usually be conducted before informal names at that rank become widely used. It is thus investigated whether it would be beneficial to add further categories. An extrapolation from the number of names validly published under the ICNP at the distinct principal categories was conducted. This extrapolation indicated that two principal ranks above phylum rank would also harbour validly published names if the according categories were covered by the ICNP. The appropriate categories would be kingdom and domain, regarded as separate principal ranks. The benefit from introducing these ranks is confirmed by analysing the previous taxonomic activity above phylum level and the nomenclatural problems associated with this activity. An etymological examination of the way names of taxa above genus level are formed under distinct codes of nomenclature provides hints for implementing additional categories. According emendations of the ICNP are proposed to include kingdom and domain as a means of further stabilizing prokaryotic nomenclature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Göker
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstrasse 7B, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Aharon Oren
- The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Institute of Life Sciences, Edmond J. Safra Campus - Givat Ram, 9190401 Jerusalem, Israel
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Eco-evolutionary modelling of microbial syntrophy indicates the robustness of cross-feeding over cross-facilitation. Sci Rep 2023; 13:907. [PMID: 36650168 PMCID: PMC9845244 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-27421-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Syntrophic cooperation among prokaryotes is ubiquitous and diverse. It relies on unilateral or mutual aid that may be both catalytic and metabolic in nature. Hypotheses of eukaryotic origins claim that mitochondrial endosymbiosis emerged from mutually beneficial syntrophy of archaeal and bacterial partners. However, there are no other examples of prokaryotic syntrophy leading to endosymbiosis. One potential reason is that when externalized products become public goods, they incite social conflict due to selfish mutants that may undermine any mutualistic interactions. To rigorously evaluate these arguments, here we construct a general mathematical framework of the ecology and evolution of different types of syntrophic partnerships. We do so both in a general microbial and in a eukaryogenetic context. Studying the case where partners cross-feed on each other's self-inhibiting waste, we show that cooperative partnerships will eventually dominate over selfish mutants. By contrast, systems where producers actively secrete enzymes that cross-facilitate their partners' resource consumption are not robust against cheaters over evolutionary time. We conclude that cross-facilitation is unlikely to provide an adequate syntrophic origin for endosymbiosis, but that cross-feeding mutualisms may indeed have played that role.
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Santana-Molina C, del Saz-Navarro DM, Devos DP. Early origin and evolution of the FtsZ/tubulin protein family. Front Microbiol 2023; 13:1100249. [PMID: 36704558 PMCID: PMC9871819 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1100249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The origin of the FtsZ/tubulin protein family was extremely relevant for life since these proteins are present in nearly all organisms, carrying out essential functions such as cell division or forming a major part of the cytoskeleton in eukaryotes. Therefore, investigating the early evolution of the FtsZ/tubulin protein family could reveal crucial aspects of the diversification of the three domains of life. In this study, we revisited the phylogenies of the FtsZ/tubulin protein family in an extensive prokaryotic diversity, focusing on the main evolutionary events that occurred during its evolution. We found evidence of its early origin in the last universal common ancestor since FtsZ was present in the last common ancestor of Bacteria and Archaea. In bacteria, ftsZ genes are genomically associated with the bacterial division gene cluster, while in archaea, ftsZ duplicated prior to archaeal diversification, and one of the copies is associated with protein biosynthesis genes. Archaea have expanded the FtsZ/tubulin protein family with sequences closely related to eukaryotic tubulins. In addition, we report novel CetZ-like groups in Halobacterota and Asgardarchaeota. Investigating the C-termini of prokaryotic paralogs basal to eukaryotic tubulins, we show that archaeal CetZ, as well as the plasmidic TubZ from Firmicutes, most likely originated from archaeal FtsZ. Finally, prokaryotic tubulins are restricted to Odinarchaeaota and Prosthecobacter species, and they seem to belong to different molecular systems. However, their phylogenies suggest that they are closely related to α/β-tubulins pointing to a potential ancestrality of these eukaryotic paralogs of tubulins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Santana-Molina
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Junta de Andalucía, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain
- Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), University of Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - DMaría del Saz-Navarro
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Junta de Andalucía, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain
| | - Damien P. Devos
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Junta de Andalucía, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain
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Göker M. Filling the gaps: missing taxon names at the ranks of class, order and family. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2022; 72. [PMID: 36748602 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.005638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) recently underwent some major modifications regarding the higher taxonomic ranks. On the one hand, the phylum category was introduced into the ICNP, which rapidly led to the valid publication of more than forty names of phyla. On the other hand, a decision on the retroactivity of Rule 8 regarding the names of classes was made, which removed most of the nomenclatural uncertainty that had affected those names during the last decade. However, it turned out that a number of names at the ranks of class, order and family are either not validly published or are validly published but illegitimate, although these names occur in the literature and are based on the type genus of a phylum with a validly published name. A closer examination of the literature for these and similar cases indicates that the names are unavailable under the ICNP either because of minor formal errors in the original descriptions, because another name should have been adopted for the taxon when the name was proposed, because of taxonomic uncertainties that were settled in the meantime, or because the names were placed on the list of rejected names. The purpose of this article is to fill the gaps by providing the missing formal descriptions and to ensure that the resulting taxon names are attributed to the original authors who did the taxonomic work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Göker
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstrasse 7B, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany
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11
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Schavemaker PE, Muñoz-Gómez SA. The role of mitochondrial energetics in the origin and diversification of eukaryotes. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:1307-1317. [PMID: 35915152 PMCID: PMC9575660 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01833-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The origin of eukaryotic cell size and complexity is often thought to have required an energy excess supplied by mitochondria. Recent observations show energy demands to scale continuously with cell volume, suggesting that eukaryotes do not have higher energetic capacity. However, respiratory membrane area scales superlinearly with the cell surface area. Furthermore, the consequences of the contrasting genomic architectures between prokaryotes and eukaryotes have not been precisely quantified. Here, we investigated (1) the factors that affect the volumes at which prokaryotes become surface area-constrained, (2) the amount of energy divested to DNA due to contrasting genomic architectures and (3) the costs and benefits of respiring symbionts. Our analyses suggest that prokaryotes are not surface area-constrained at volumes of 100‒103 µm3, the genomic architecture of extant eukaryotes is only slightly advantageous at genomes sizes of 106‒107 base pairs and a larger host cell may have derived a greater advantage (lower cost) from harbouring ATP-producing symbionts. This suggests that eukaryotes first evolved without the need for mitochondria since these ranges hypothetically encompass the last eukaryotic common ancestor and its relatives. Our analyses also show that larger and faster-dividing prokaryotes would have a shortage of respiratory membrane area and divest more energy into DNA. Thus, we argue that although mitochondria may not have been required by the first eukaryotes, eukaryote diversification was ultimately dependent on mitochondria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul E. Schavemaker
- Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, The Biodesign
Institute, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, 727 E. Tyler St.
Tempe, AZ 85281-5001, U.S.A.,Correspondence to:
;
| | - Sergio A. Muñoz-Gómez
- Unité d’Ecologie, Systématique et
Evolution, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France.,Correspondence to:
;
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12
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13
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Metwally NH, Badawy MA, Okpy DS. Synthesis, biological evaluation of novel thiopyrano[2,3-d]thiazoles incorporating arylsulfonate moiety as potential inhibitors of tubulin polymerization, and molecular modeling studies. J Mol Struct 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molstruc.2022.132648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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14
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Meyer BH, Adam PS, Wagstaff BA, Kolyfetis GE, Probst AJ, Albers SV, Dorfmueller HC. Agl24 is an ancient archaeal homolog of the eukaryotic N-glycan chitobiose synthesis enzymes. eLife 2022; 11:67448. [PMID: 35394422 PMCID: PMC8993221 DOI: 10.7554/elife.67448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein N-glycosylation is a post-translational modification found in organisms of all domains of life. The crenarchaeal N-glycosylation begins with the synthesis of a lipid-linked chitobiose core structure, identical to that in Eukaryotes, although the enzyme catalyzing this reaction remains unknown. Here, we report the identification of a thermostable archaeal β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase, named archaeal glycosylation enzyme 24 (Agl24), responsible for the synthesis of the N-glycan chitobiose core. Biochemical characterization confirmed its function as an inverting β-D-GlcNAc-(1→4)-α-D-GlcNAc-diphosphodolichol glycosyltransferase. Substitution of a conserved histidine residue, found also in the eukaryotic and bacterial homologs, demonstrated its functional importance for Agl24. Furthermore, bioinformatics and structural modeling revealed similarities of Agl24 to the eukaryotic Alg14/13 and a distant relation to the bacterial MurG, which are catalyzing the same or a similar reaction, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of Alg14/13 homologs indicates that they are ancient in Eukaryotes, either as a lateral transfer or inherited through eukaryogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin H Meyer
- Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology (EMB), Aquatic Microbial Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.,Division of Molecular Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom.,Molecular Biology of Archaea, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Panagiotis S Adam
- Group for Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Chemistry University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Ben A Wagstaff
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
| | - George E Kolyfetis
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Alexander J Probst
- Centre of Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Sonja V Albers
- Molecular Biology of Archaea, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Helge C Dorfmueller
- Division of Molecular Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom
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15
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Jüttner M, Ferreira-Cerca S. Looking through the lens of the ribosome biogenesis evolutionary history: possible implications for archaeal phylogeny and eukaryogenesis. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:6547259. [PMID: 35275997 PMCID: PMC8997704 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Our understanding of microbial diversity and its evolutionary relationships has increased substantially over the last decade. Such an understanding has been greatly fueled by culture-independent metagenomics analyses. However, the outcome of some of these studies and their biological and evolutionary implications, such as the origin of the eukaryotic lineage from the recently discovered archaeal Asgard superphylum, is debated. The sequences of the ribosomal constituents are amongst the most used phylogenetic markers. However, the functional consequences underlying the analysed sequence diversity and their putative evolutionary implications are essentially not taken into consideration. Here, we propose to exploit additional functional hallmarks of ribosome biogenesis to help disentangle competing evolutionary hypotheses. Using selected examples, such as the multiple origins of halophily in archaea or the evolutionary relationship between the Asgard archaea and Eukaryotes, we illustrate and discuss how function-aware phylogenetic framework can contribute to refining our understanding of archaeal phylogeny and the origin of eukaryotic cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Jüttner
- Regensburg Center for Biochemistry, Biochemistry III - Institute for Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Sébastien Ferreira-Cerca
- Regensburg Center for Biochemistry, Biochemistry III - Institute for Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
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16
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Was the Last Bacterial Common Ancestor a Monoderm after All? Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13020376. [PMID: 35205421 PMCID: PMC8871954 DOI: 10.3390/genes13020376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2021] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The very nature of the last bacterial common ancestor (LBCA), in particular the characteristics of its cell wall, is a critical issue to understand the evolution of life on earth. Although knowledge of the relationships between bacterial phyla has made progress with the advent of phylogenomics, many questions remain, including on the appearance or disappearance of the outer membrane of diderm bacteria (also called Gram-negative bacteria). The phylogenetic transition between monoderm (Gram-positive bacteria) and diderm bacteria, and the associated peptidoglycan expansion or reduction, requires clarification. Herein, using a phylogenomic tree of cultivated and characterized bacteria as an evolutionary framework and a literature review of their cell-wall characteristics, we used Bayesian ancestral state reconstruction to infer the cell-wall architecture of the LBCA. With the same phylogenomic tree, we further revisited the evolution of the division and cell-wall synthesis (dcw) gene cluster using homology- and model-based methods. Finally, extensive similarity searches were carried out to determine the phylogenetic distribution of the genes involved with the biosynthesis of the outer membrane in diderm bacteria. Quite unexpectedly, our analyses suggest that all cultivated and characterized bacteria might have evolved from a common ancestor with a monoderm cell-wall architecture. If true, this would indicate that the appearance of the outer membrane was not a unique event and that selective forces have led to the repeated adoption of such an architecture. Due to the lack of phenotypic information, our methodology cannot be applied to all extant bacteria. Consequently, our conclusion might change once enough information is made available to allow the use of an even more diverse organism selection.
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17
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Cevallos MA, Degli Esposti M. New Alphaproteobacteria Thrive in the Depths of the Ocean with Oxygen Gradient. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10020455. [PMID: 35208909 PMCID: PMC8879329 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10020455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
We survey here the Alphaproteobacteria, a large class encompassing physiologically diverse bacteria which are divided in several orders established since 2007. Currently, there is considerable uncertainty regarding the classification of an increasing number of marine metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) that remain poorly defined in their taxonomic position within Alphaproteobacteria. The traditional classification of NCBI taxonomy is increasingly complemented by the Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB), but the two taxonomies differ considerably in the classification of several Alphaproteobacteria, especially from ocean metagenomes. We analyzed the classification of Alphaproteobacteria lineages that are most common in marine environments, using integrated approaches of phylogenomics and functional profiling of metabolic features that define their aerobic metabolism. Using protein markers such as NuoL, the largest membrane subunit of complex I, we have identified new clades of Alphaproteobacteria that are specific to marine niches with steep oxygen gradients (oxycline). These bacteria have relatives among MAGs found in anoxic strata of Lake Tanganyika and together define a lineage that is distinct from either Rhodospirillales or Sneathiellales. We characterized in particular the new ‘oxycline’ clade. Our analysis of Alphaproteobacteria also reveals new clues regarding the ancestry of mitochondria, which likely evolved in oxycline marine environments.
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18
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Genome Sequence of Litorilinea aerophila, an Icelandic Intertidal Hot Springs Bacterium. Microbiol Resour Announc 2022; 11:e0120621. [PMID: 35084223 PMCID: PMC8793728 DOI: 10.1128/mra.01206-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The hot springs bacterium Litorilinea aerophila PRI-4131T (= ATCC BAA-2444T) was found in Isafjardardjup, in northwest Iceland. In this paper, we present a draft genome sequence for the type strain, with a total predicted genome length of 6,043,010 bp, 4,608 protein-coding sequences, 54 RNAs, 9 CRISPR arrays, and a G+C content of 64.61%.
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19
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Chazan A, Rozenberg A, Mannen K, Nagata T, Tahan R, Yaish S, Larom S, Inoue K, Béjà O, Pushkarev A. Diverse heliorhodopsins detected via functional metagenomics in freshwater Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi and Archaea. Environ Microbiol 2022; 24:110-121. [PMID: 34984789 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The recently discovered rhodopsin family of heliorhodopsins (HeRs) is abundant in diverse microbial environments. So far, the functional and biological roles of HeRs remain unknown. To tackle this issue, we combined experimental and computational screens to gain some novel insights. Here, 10 readily expressed HeR genes were found using functional metagenomics on samples from two freshwater environments. These HeRs originated from diverse prokaryotic groups: Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi and Archaea. Heterologously expressed HeRs absorbed light in the green and yellow wavelengths (543-562 nm) and their photocycles exhibited diverse kinetic characteristics. To approach the physiological function of the HeRs, we used our environmental clones along with thousands of microbial genomes to analyze genes neighbouring HeRs. The strongest association was found with the DegV family involved in activation of fatty acids, which allowed us to hypothesize that HeRs might be involved in light-induced membrane lipid modifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariel Chazan
- Faculty of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Andrey Rozenberg
- Faculty of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Kentaro Mannen
- The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8581, Japan
| | - Takashi Nagata
- The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8581, Japan.,PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan
| | - Ran Tahan
- Faculty of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Shir Yaish
- Faculty of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Shirley Larom
- Faculty of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Keiichi Inoue
- The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8581, Japan.,PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan
| | - Oded Béjà
- Faculty of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
| | - Alina Pushkarev
- Faculty of Biology, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, 32000, Israel
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20
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Bergsten P, Vannier P, Mougeolle A, Rigaud L, Marteinsson VT. Rhodothermus bifroesti sp. nov., a thermophilic bacterium isolated from the basaltic subsurface of the volcanic island Surtsey. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2022; 72. [PMID: 35072600 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.005214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Novel thermophilic heterotrophic bacteria were isolated from the subsurface of the volcanic island Surtsey off the south coast of Iceland. The strains were isolated from tephra core and borehole fluid samples collected below 70 m depth. The Gram-negative bacteria were rod-shaped (0.3-0.4 µm wide, 1.5-7 µm long), aerobic, non-sporulating and non-motile. Optimal growth was observed at 70 °C, at pH 7-7.5 and with 1% NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis identified the strains as members of the genus Rhodothermus. The type strain, ISCAR-7401T, was genetically distinct from its closest relatives Rhodothermus marinus DSM 4252T and Rhodothermus profundi PRI 2902T based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (95.81 and 96.01%, respectively), genomic average nucleotide identity (73.73 and 72.61%, respectively) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (17.6 and 16.9%, respectively). The major fatty acids of ISCAR-7401T were iso-C17:0, anteiso-C15:0, anteiso-C17:0 and iso-C15:0 (>10 %). The major isoprenoid quinone was MK-7 while phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified aminophospholipid and a phospholipid were the predominant polar lipid components. Based on comparative chemotaxonomic, genomic and phylogenetic analyses, we propose that the isolated strain represents a novel species of the genus Rhodothermus with the name Rhodothermus bifroesti sp. nov. The type strain is ISCAR-7401T (=DSM 112103T=CIP 111906T).
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Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Bergsten
- Matís, Exploration & Utilization of Genetic Resources, Reykjavík, Iceland
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Pauline Vannier
- Matís, Exploration & Utilization of Genetic Resources, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Alan Mougeolle
- Matís, Exploration & Utilization of Genetic Resources, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Louise Rigaud
- Matís, Exploration & Utilization of Genetic Resources, Reykjavík, Iceland
| | - Viggó Thór Marteinsson
- Matís, Exploration & Utilization of Genetic Resources, Reykjavík, Iceland
- Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
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21
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Abstract
The rebuttal of the prokaryote-eukaryote dichotomy and the elaboration of the three domains concept by Carl Woese and colleagues has been a breakthrough in biology. With the methodologies available at this time, they have shown that a single molecule, the 16S ribosomal RNA, could reveal the global organization of the living world. Later on, mining archaeal genomes led to major discoveries in archaeal molecular biology, providing a third model for comparative molecular biology. These analyses revealed the strong eukaryal flavor of the basic molecular fabric of Archaea and support rooting the universal tree between Bacteria and Arcarya (the clade grouping Archaea and Eukarya). However, in contradiction with this conclusion, it remains to understand why the archaeal and bacterial mobilomes are so similar and so different from the eukaryal one. These last years, the number of recognized archaea lineages (phyla?) has exploded. The archaeal nomenclature is now in turmoil and debates about the nature of the last universal common ancestor, the last archaeal common ancestor, and the topology of the tree of life are still going on. Interestingly, the expansion of the archaeal eukaryome, especially in the Asgard archaea, has provided new opportunities to study eukaryogenesis. In recent years, the application to Archaea of the new methodologies described in the various chapters of this book have opened exciting avenues to study the molecular biology and the physiology of these fascinating microorganisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Forterre
- Institut Pasteur, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75015, Paris, France.
- Institute for Integrative biology of the Cell. université Paris-Saclay, Gif sur Yvette, France.
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22
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The soil microbial food web revisited: Predatory myxobacteria as keystone taxa? THE ISME JOURNAL 2021; 15:2665-2675. [PMID: 33746204 PMCID: PMC8397742 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-021-00958-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2018] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Trophic interactions are crucial for carbon cycling in food webs. Traditionally, eukaryotic micropredators are considered the major micropredators of bacteria in soils, although bacteria like myxobacteria and Bdellovibrio are also known bacterivores. Until recently, it was impossible to assess the abundance of prokaryotes and eukaryotes in soil food webs simultaneously. Using metatranscriptomic three-domain community profiling we identified pro- and eukaryotic micropredators in 11 European mineral and organic soils from different climes. Myxobacteria comprised 1.5-9.7% of all obtained SSU rRNA transcripts and more than 60% of all identified potential bacterivores in most soils. The name-giving and well-characterized predatory bacteria affiliated with the Myxococcaceae were barely present, while Haliangiaceae and Polyangiaceae dominated. In predation assays, representatives of the latter showed prey spectra as broad as the Myxococcaceae. 18S rRNA transcripts from eukaryotic micropredators, like amoeba and nematodes, were generally less abundant than myxobacterial 16S rRNA transcripts, especially in mineral soils. Although SSU rRNA does not directly reflect organismic abundance, our findings indicate that myxobacteria could be keystone taxa in the soil microbial food web, with potential impact on prokaryotic community composition. Further, they suggest an overlooked, yet ecologically relevant food web module, independent of eukaryotic micropredators and subject to separate environmental and evolutionary pressures.
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23
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Abstract
The evolutionary theory of aging has set the foundations for a comprehensive understanding of aging. The biology of aging has listed and described the "hallmarks of aging," i.e., cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in human aging. The present paper is the first to infer the order of appearance of the hallmarks of bilaterian and thereby human aging throughout evolution from their presence in progressively narrower clades. Its first result is that all organisms, even non-senescent, have to deal with at least one mechanism of aging - the progressive accumulation of misfolded or unstable proteins. Due to their cumulation, these mechanisms are called "layers of aging." A difference should be made between the first four layers of unicellular aging, present in some unicellular organisms and in all multicellular opisthokonts, that stem and strike "from the inside" of individual cells and span from increasingly abnormal protein folding to deregulated nutrient sensing, and the last four layers of metacellular aging, progressively appearing in metazoans, that strike the cells of a multicellular organism "from the outside," i.e., because of other cells, and span from transcriptional alterations to the disruption of intercellular communication. The evolution of metazoans and eumetazoans probably solved the problem of aging along with the problem of unicellular aging. However, metacellular aging originates in the mechanisms by which the effects of unicellular aging are kept under control - e.g., the exhaustion of stem cells that contribute to replace damaged somatic cells. In bilaterians, additional functions have taken a toll on generally useless potentially limited lifespan to increase the fitness of organisms at the price of a progressively less efficient containment of the damage of unicellular aging. In the end, this picture suggests that geroscience should be more efficient in targeting conditions of metacellular aging rather than unicellular aging itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maël Lemoine
- CNRS, ImmunoConcEpT, UMR 5164, Univ. Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
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24
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Devos DP. Reconciling Asgardarchaeota Phylogenetic Proximity to Eukaryotes and Planctomycetes Cellular Features in the Evolution of Life. Mol Biol Evol 2021; 38:3531-3542. [PMID: 34229349 PMCID: PMC8382908 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msab186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The relationship between the three domains of life—Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya—is one of Biology’s greatest mysteries. Current favored models imply two ancestral domains, Bacteria and Archaea, with eukaryotes originating within Archaea. This type of models has been supported by the recent description of the Asgardarchaeota, the closest prokaryotic relatives of eukaryotes. However, there are many problems associated with any scenarios implying that eukaryotes originated from within the Archaea, including genome mosaicism, phylogenies, the cellular organization of the Archaea, and their ancestral character. By contrast, all models of eukaryogenesis fail to consider two relevant discoveries: the detection of membrane coat proteins, and of phagocytosis-related processes in Planctomycetes, which are among the bacteria with the most developed endomembrane system. Consideration of these often overlooked features and others found in Planctomycetes and related bacteria suggest an evolutionary model based on a single ancestral domain. In this model, the proximity of Asgard and eukaryotes is not rejected but instead, Asgard are considered as diverging away from a common ancestor instead of on the way toward the eukaryotic ancestor. This model based on a single ancestral domain solves most of the ambiguities associated with the ones based on two ancestral domains. The single-domain model is better suited to explain the origin and evolution of all three domains of life, blurring the distinctions between them. Support for this model as well as the opportunities that it presents not only for reinterpreting previous results, but also for planning future experiments, are explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damien P Devos
- Centro Andaluz de Biología del Desarrollo (CABD) - CSIC, Junta de Andalucía, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Carretera de Utrera Km 1, Seville, 41013, Spain
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25
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Evolutionary Origins of DNA Repair Pathways: Role of Oxygen Catastrophe in the Emergence of DNA Glycosylases. Cells 2021; 10:cells10071591. [PMID: 34202661 PMCID: PMC8307549 DOI: 10.3390/cells10071591] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2021] [Revised: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
It was proposed that the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) evolved under high temperatures in an oxygen-free environment, similar to those found in deep-sea vents and on volcanic slopes. Therefore, spontaneous DNA decay, such as base loss and cytosine deamination, was the major factor affecting LUCA’s genome integrity. Cosmic radiation due to Earth’s weak magnetic field and alkylating metabolic radicals added to these threats. Here, we propose that ancient forms of life had only two distinct repair mechanisms: versatile apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonucleases to cope with both AP sites and deaminated residues, and enzymes catalyzing the direct reversal of UV and alkylation damage. The absence of uracil–DNA N-glycosylases in some Archaea, together with the presence of an AP endonuclease, which can cleave uracil-containing DNA, suggests that the AP endonuclease-initiated nucleotide incision repair (NIR) pathway evolved independently from DNA glycosylase-mediated base excision repair. NIR may be a relic that appeared in an early thermophilic ancestor to counteract spontaneous DNA damage. We hypothesize that a rise in the oxygen level in the Earth’s atmosphere ~2 Ga triggered the narrow specialization of AP endonucleases and DNA glycosylases to cope efficiently with a widened array of oxidative base damage and complex DNA lesions.
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26
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Degli Esposti M, Moya-Beltrán A, Quatrini R, Hederstedt L. Respiratory Heme A-Containing Oxidases Originated in the Ancestors of Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:664216. [PMID: 34211444 PMCID: PMC8239418 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.664216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Respiration is a major trait shaping the biology of many environments. Cytochrome oxidase containing heme A (COX) is a common terminal oxidase in aerobic bacteria and is the only one in mammalian mitochondria. The synthesis of heme A is catalyzed by heme A synthase (CtaA/Cox15), an enzyme that most likely coevolved with COX. The evolutionary origin of COX in bacteria has remained unknown. Using extensive sequence and phylogenetic analysis, we show that the ancestral type of heme A synthases is present in iron-oxidizing Proteobacteria such as Acidithiobacillus spp. These bacteria also contain a deep branching form of the major COX subunit (COX1) and an ancestral variant of CtaG, a protein that is specifically required for COX biogenesis. Our work thus suggests that the ancestors of extant iron-oxidizers were the first to evolve COX. Consistent with this conclusion, acidophilic iron-oxidizing prokaryotes lived on emerged land around the time for which there is the earliest geochemical evidence of aerobic respiration on earth. Hence, ecological niches of iron oxidation have apparently promoted the evolution of aerobic respiration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauro Degli Esposti
- Center for Genomic Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - Ana Moya-Beltrán
- Fundación Ciencia & Vida, Santiago, Chile
- ANID–Millennium Science Initiative Program–Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
| | - Raquel Quatrini
- Fundación Ciencia & Vida, Santiago, Chile
- ANID–Millennium Science Initiative Program–Millennium Nucleus in the Biology of the Intestinal Microbiota, Santiago, Chile
- Facultad de Medicina y Ciencia, Universidad San Sebastian, Santiago, Chile
| | - Lars Hederstedt
- The Microbiology Group, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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27
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Phylogenetic analysis of mutational robustness based on codon usage supports that the standard genetic code does not prefer extreme environments. Sci Rep 2021; 11:10963. [PMID: 34040064 PMCID: PMC8154912 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-90440-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The mutational robustness of the genetic code is rarely discussed in the context of biological diversity, such as codon usage and related factors, often considered as independent of the actual organism's proteome. Here we put the living beings back to picture and use distortion as a metric of mutational robustness. Distortion estimates the expected severities of non-synonymous mutations measuring it by amino acid physicochemical properties and weighting for codon usage. Using the biological variance of codon frequencies, we interpret the mutational robustness of the standard genetic code with regards to their corresponding environments and genomic compositions (GC-content). Employing phylogenetic analyses, we show that coding fidelity in physicochemical properties can deteriorate with codon usages adapted to extreme environments and these putative effects are not the artefacts of phylogenetic bias. High temperature environments select for codon usages with decreased mutational robustness of hydrophobic, volumetric, and isoelectric properties. Selection at high saline concentrations also leads to reduced fidelity in polar and isoelectric patterns. These show that the genetic code performs best with mesophilic codon usages, strengthening the view that LUCA or its ancestors preferred lower temperature environments. Taxonomic implications, such as rooting the tree of life, are also discussed.
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28
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Léonard RR, Leleu M, Van Vlierberghe M, Cornet L, Kerff F, Baurain D. ToRQuEMaDA: tool for retrieving queried Eubacteria, metadata and dereplicating assemblies. PeerJ 2021; 9:e11348. [PMID: 33996287 PMCID: PMC8106394 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.11348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 04/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
TQMD is a tool for high-performance computing clusters which downloads, stores and produces lists of dereplicated prokaryotic genomes. It has been developed to counter the ever-growing number of prokaryotic genomes and their uneven taxonomic distribution. It is based on word-based alignment-free methods (k-mers), an iterative single-linkage approach and a divide-and-conquer strategy to remain both efficient and scalable. We studied the performance of TQMD by verifying the influence of its parameters and heuristics on the clustering outcome. We further compared TQMD to two other dereplication tools (dRep and Assembly-Dereplicator). Our results showed that TQMD is primarily optimized to dereplicate at higher taxonomic levels (phylum/class), as opposed to the other dereplication tools, but also works at lower taxonomic levels (species/strain) like the other dereplication tools. TQMD is available from source and as a Singularity container at [https://bitbucket.org/phylogeno/tqmd ].
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Affiliation(s)
- Raphaël R Léonard
- InBioS - Centre d'Ingénierie des Protéines, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium.,InBioS -PhytoSYSTEMS, Eukaryotic Phylogenomics, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Marie Leleu
- InBioS -PhytoSYSTEMS, Eukaryotic Phylogenomics, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium.,UGSF -Unité de Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle, Université de Lille/CNRS, Lille, France
| | - Mick Van Vlierberghe
- InBioS -PhytoSYSTEMS, Eukaryotic Phylogenomics, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Luc Cornet
- InBioS -PhytoSYSTEMS, Eukaryotic Phylogenomics, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium.,Mycology and Aerobiology, Sciensano, Service Public Fédéral, Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Frédéric Kerff
- InBioS - Centre d'Ingénierie des Protéines, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Denis Baurain
- InBioS -PhytoSYSTEMS, Eukaryotic Phylogenomics, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium
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29
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Tria FDK, Brueckner J, Skejo J, Xavier JC, Kapust N, Knopp M, Wimmer JLE, Nagies FSP, Zimorski V, Gould SB, Garg SG, Martin WF. Gene Duplications Trace Mitochondria to the Onset of Eukaryote Complexity. Genome Biol Evol 2021; 13:evab055. [PMID: 33739376 PMCID: PMC8175051 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evab055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The last eukaryote common ancestor (LECA) possessed mitochondria and all key traits that make eukaryotic cells more complex than their prokaryotic ancestors, yet the timing of mitochondrial acquisition and the role of mitochondria in the origin of eukaryote complexity remain debated. Here, we report evidence from gene duplications in LECA indicating an early origin of mitochondria. Among 163,545 duplications in 24,571 gene trees spanning 150 sequenced eukaryotic genomes, we identify 713 gene duplication events that occurred in LECA. LECA's bacterial-derived genes include numerous mitochondrial functions and were duplicated significantly more often than archaeal-derived and eukaryote-specific genes. The surplus of bacterial-derived duplications in LECA most likely reflects the serial copying of genes from the mitochondrial endosymbiont to the archaeal host's chromosomes. Clustering, phylogenies and likelihood ratio tests for 22.4 million genes from 5,655 prokaryotic and 150 eukaryotic genomes reveal no evidence for lineage-specific gene acquisitions in eukaryotes, except from the plastid in the plant lineage. That finding, and the functions of bacterial genes duplicated in LECA, suggests that the bacterial genes in eukaryotes are acquisitions from the mitochondrion, followed by vertical gene evolution and differential loss across eukaryotic lineages, flanked by concomitant lateral gene transfer among prokaryotes. Overall, the data indicate that recurrent gene transfer via the copying of genes from a resident mitochondrial endosymbiont to archaeal host chromosomes preceded the onset of eukaryotic cellular complexity, favoring mitochondria-early over mitochondria-late hypotheses for eukaryote origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando D K Tria
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Julia Brueckner
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Josip Skejo
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
- Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Joana C Xavier
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Nils Kapust
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Michael Knopp
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Jessica L E Wimmer
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Falk S P Nagies
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Verena Zimorski
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Sven B Gould
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Sriram G Garg
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - William F Martin
- Institute for Molecular Evolution, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
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30
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Abstract
Timing the events in the evolution of eukaryotic cells is crucial to understanding this major transition. A recent study reconstructs the origins of thousands of gene families ancestral to eukaryotes and, using a controversial approach, aims to order the events of eukaryogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Roger
- Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada.
| | - Edward Susko
- Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada; Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Michelle M Leger
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Barcelona 08003, Spain
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31
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Oren A, Garrity GM. Notification of changes in taxonomic opinion previously published outside the IJSEM. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2021; 71. [PMID: 33513089 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.004596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Aharon Oren
- The Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Edmond J. Safra Campus, 9190401 Jerusalem, Israel
| | - George M Garrity
- Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Biomedical Physical Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-4320, USA
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32
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Genome-wide analysis of the Firmicutes illuminates the diderm/monoderm transition. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 4:1661-1672. [PMID: 33077930 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01299-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The transition between cell envelopes with one membrane (Gram-positive or monoderm) and those with two membranes (Gram-negative or diderm) is a fundamental open question in the evolution of Bacteria. Evidence of the presence of two independent diderm lineages, the Halanaerobiales and the Negativicutes, within the classically monoderm Firmicutes has blurred the monoderm/diderm divide and specifically anticipated that other members with an outer membrane (OM) might exist in this phylum. Here, by screening 1,639 genomes of uncultured Firmicutes for signatures of an OM, we highlight a third and deep branching diderm clade, the Limnochordia, strengthening the hypothesis of a diderm ancestor and the occurrence of independent transitions leading to the monoderm phenotype. Phyletic patterns of over 176,000 protein families constituting the Firmicutes pan-proteome identify those that strongly correlate with the diderm phenotype and suggest the existence of new potential players in OM biogenesis. In contrast, we find practically no largely conserved core of monoderms, a fact possibly linked to different ways of adapting to repeated OM losses. Phylogenetic analysis of a concatenation of main OM components totalling nearly 2,000 amino acid positions illustrates the common origin and vertical evolution of most diderm bacterial envelopes. Finally, mapping the presence/absence of OM markers onto the tree of Bacteria shows the overwhelming presence of diderm phyla and the non-monophyly of monoderm ones, pointing to an early origin of two-membraned cells and the derived nature of the Gram-positive envelope following multiple OM losses.
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33
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Esposti MD. On the evolution of cytochrome oxidases consuming oxygen. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOENERGETICS 2020; 1861:148304. [PMID: 32890468 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbabio.2020.148304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Revised: 08/21/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
This review examines the current state of the art on the evolution of the families of Heme Copper Oxygen reductases (HCO) that oxidize cytochrome c and reduce oxygen to water, chiefly cytochrome oxidase, COX. COX is present in many bacterial and most eukaryotic lineages, but its origin has remained elusive. After examining previous proposals for COX evolution, the review summarizes recent insights suggesting that COX enzymes might have evolved in soil dwelling, probably iron-oxidizing bacteria which lived on emerged land over two billion years ago. These bacteria were the likely ancestors of extant acidophilic iron-oxidizers such as Acidithiobacillus spp., which belong to basal lineages of the phylum Proteobacteria. Proteobacteria may thus be considered the originators of COX, which was then laterally transferred to other prokaryotes. The taxonomy of bacteria is presented in relation to the current distribution of COX and C family oxidases, from which COX may have evolved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauro Degli Esposti
- Center for Genomic Sciences UNAM, Ave. Universidad 701, Cuernavaca, CP 62130, Morelos, Mexico.
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34
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Gaisin VA, Kooger R, Grouzdev DS, Gorlenko VM, Pilhofer M. Cryo-Electron Tomography Reveals the Complex Ultrastructural Organization of Multicellular Filamentous Chloroflexota ( Chloroflexi) Bacteria. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:1373. [PMID: 32670237 PMCID: PMC7332563 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The cell biology of Chloroflexota is poorly studied. We applied cryo-focused ion beam milling and cryo-electron tomography to study the ultrastructural organization of thermophilic Roseiflexus castenholzii and Chloroflexus aggregans, and mesophilic “Ca. Viridilinea mediisalina.” These species represent the three main lineages within a group of multicellular filamentous anoxygenic phototrophic Chloroflexota bacteria belonging to the Chloroflexales order. We found surprising structural complexity in the Chloroflexales. As with filamentous cyanobacteria, cells of C. aggregans and “Ca. Viridilinea mediisalina” share the outer membrane-like layers of their intricate multilayer cell envelope. Additionally, cells of R. castenholzii and “Ca. Viridilinea mediisalina” are connected by septal channels that resemble cyanobacterial septal junctions. All three strains possess long pili anchored close to cell-to-cell junctions, a morphological feature comparable to that observed in cyanobacteria. The cytoplasm of the Chloroflexales bacteria is crowded with intracellular organelles such as different types of storage granules, membrane vesicles, chlorosomes, gas vesicles, chemoreceptor-like arrays, and cytoplasmic filaments. We observed a higher level of complexity in the mesophilic strain compared to the thermophilic strains with regards to the composition of intracellular bodies and the organization of the cell envelope. The ultrastructural details that we describe in these Chloroflexales bacteria will motivate further cell biological studies, given that the function and evolution of the many discovered morphological traits remain enigmatic in this diverse and widespread bacterial group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vasil A Gaisin
- Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.,Algatech, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, Czechia
| | - Romain Kooger
- Institute of Molecular Biology & Biophysics, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Denis S Grouzdev
- Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Vladimir M Gorlenko
- Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Martin Pilhofer
- Institute of Molecular Biology & Biophysics, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
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