Search results for "Multigene"
showing 10 items of 145 documents
Chromosomal stasis versus plasmid plasticity in aphid endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola.
2005
The study of three genomes of the aphid endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola has revealed an extraordinary stasis: conservation of gene order and genetic composition of the chromosome, while the chromosome size and number of genes has reduced. The reduction in genome size appears to be ongoing since some lineages we now know to have even smaller chromosomes than the first B. aphidicola analysed. The current sequencing by our group of one of these smaller genomes with an estimated size of 450 kb, and its comparison with the other three available genomes provide insights into the nature of processes involved in shrinkage. We discuss whether B. aphidicola might be driven to extinction and be repla…
Concerted Evolution of Multigene Families and Homoeologous Recombination
2012
The dynamism of genomes is one of the most thoroughly documented paradigms in the genomic era, envisaged by the cytogenetic school during middle decades of the twentieth century. Such dynamism refers not just to the evolutionary changes that take place across deep time but also to the myriad changes at different levels (from SNPs to large structural rearrangements) that shape and adjust genomes over a smaller time scale. This chapter reviews two of the many forces that provide genome dynamism in plants. These two forces, concerted evolution of multigene families and homoeologous recombination of hybridized genomes, in principle contribute to shape the plant genomes through opposite effects …
Insights from the genome of the biotrophic fungal plant pathogen Ustilago maydis.
2006
Ustilago maydis is a ubiquitous pathogen of maize and a well-established model organism for the study of plant-microbe interactions. This basidiomycete fungus does not use aggressive virulence strategies to kill its host. U. maydis belongs to the group of biotrophic parasites (the smuts) that depend on living tissue for proliferation and development. Here we report the genome sequence for a member of this economically important group of biotrophic fungi. The 20.5-million-base U. maydis genome assembly contains 6,902 predicted protein-encoding genes and lacks pathogenicity signatures found in the genomes of aggressive pathogenic fungi, for example a battery of cell-wall-degrading enzymes. Ho…
The Biosynthesis of Rare Homo-Amino Acid Containing Variants of Microcystin by a Benthic Cyanobacterium
2019
Microcystins are a family of chemically diverse hepatotoxins produced by distantly related cyanobacteria and are potent inhibitors of eukaryotic protein phosphatases 1 and 2A. Here we provide evidence for the biosynthesis of rare variants of microcystin that contain a selection of homo-amino acids by the benthic cyanobacterium Phormidium sp. LP904c. This strain produces at least 16 microcystin chemical variants many of which contain homophenylalanine or homotyrosine. We retrieved the complete 54.2 kb microcystin (mcy) gene cluster from a draft genome assembly. Analysis of the substrate specificity of McyB1 and McyC adenylation domain binding pockets revealed divergent substrate specificity …
Transcription of genes in the biosynthetic pathway for fumonisin mycotoxins is epigenetically and differentially regulated in the fungal maize pathog…
2012
ABSTRACT When the fungal pathogen Gibberella moniliformis (anamorph, Fusarium verticillioides ) colonizes maize and maize-based products, it produces class B fumonisin (FB) mycotoxins, which are a significant threat to human and animal health. FB biosynthetic enzymes and accessory proteins are encoded by a set of clustered and cotranscribed genes collectively named FUM, whose molecular regulation is beginning to be unraveled by researchers. FB accumulation correlates with the amount of transcripts from the key FUM genes, FUM1 , FUM21 , and FUM8 . In fungi in general, gene expression is often partially controlled at the chromatin level in secondary metabolism; when this is the case, the deac…
The Physcomitrella genome reveals evolutionary insights into the conquest of land by plants
2008
We report the draft genome sequence of the model moss Physcomitrella patens and compare its features with those of flowering plants, from which it is separated by more than 400 million years, and unicellular aquatic algae. This comparison reveals genomic changes concomitant with the evolutionary movement to land, including a general increase in gene family complexity; loss of genes associated with aquatic environments (e.g., flagellar arms); acquisition of genes for tolerating terrestrial stresses (e.g., variation in temperature and water availability); and the development of the auxin and abscisic acid signaling pathways for coordinating multicellular growth and dehydration response. The …
Purification of Leuconostoc mesenteroides citrate lyase and cloning and characterization of the citCDEFG gene cluster
1998
ABSTRACT A citrate lyase (EC 4.1.3.6 ) was purified 25-fold from Leuconostoc mesenteroides and was shown to contain three subunits. The first 42 amino acids of the β subunit were identified, as well as an internal peptide sequence spanning some 20 amino acids into the α subunit. Using degenerated primers from these sequences, we amplified a 1.2-kb DNA fragment by PCR from Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris . This fragment was used as a probe for screening a Leuconostoc genomic bank to identify the structural genes. The 2.7-kb gene cluster encoding citrate lyase of L. mesenteroides is organized in three open reading frames, citD , citE , and citF , encoding, respectively, the three ci…
Mutational Events in Cefotaximase Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamases of the CTX-M-1 Cluster Involved in Ceftazidime Resistance
2008
ABSTRACT CTX-M β-lactamases, which show a high cefotaxime hydrolytic activity, constitute the most prevalent extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) type found among clinical isolates. The recent explosive diversification of CTX-M enzymes seems to have taken place due to the appearance of more efficient enzymes which are capable of hydrolyzing both cefotaxime and ceftazidime, especially among the CTX-M-1 cluster. A combined strategy of in vitro stepwise evolution experiments using bla CTX-M-1 , bla CTX-M-3 , and bla CTX-M-10 genes and site-directed mutagenesis has been used to evaluate the role of ceftazidime and other β-lactam antibiotics in triggering the diversity found among enzymes belong…
Oxygen-Controlled Bacterial Growth in the Sponge Suberites domuncula: toward a Molecular Understanding of the Symbiotic Relationships between Sponge …
2004
ABSTRACT Sponges (phylum Porifera), known to be the richest producers among the metazoans of bioactive secondary metabolites, are assumed to live in a symbiotic relationship with microorganisms, especially bacteria. Until now, the molecular basis of the mutual symbiosis, the exchange of metabolites for the benefit of the other partner, has not been understood. We show with the demosponge Suberites domuncula as a model that the sponge expresses under optimal aeration conditions the enzyme tyrosinase, which synthesizes diphenols from monophenolic compounds. The cDNA isolated was used as a probe to determine the steady-state level of gene expression. The gene expression level parallels the lev…
Requirement of the Lactobacillus casei MaeKR two-component system for L-malic acid utilization via a malic enzyme pathway.
2009
ABSTRACTLactobacillus caseican metabolizel-malic acid via malolactic enzyme (malolactic fermentation [MLF]) or malic enzyme (ME). Whereas utilization ofl-malic acid via MLF does not support growth, the ME pathway enablesL. caseito grow onl-malic acid. In this work, we have identified in the genomes ofL. caseistrains BL23 and ATCC 334 a cluster consisting of two diverging operons,maePEandmaeKR, encoding a putative malate transporter (maeP), an ME (maeE), and a two-component (TC) system belonging to the citrate family (maeKandmaeR). Homologous clusters were identified inEnterococcus faecalis,Streptococcus agalactiae,Streptococcus pyogenes, andStreptococcus uberis. Our results show that ME is …