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Bacterial gene import and mesophilic adaptation in archaea

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 13, pages 447–456 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

It is widely believed that the archaeal ancestor was hyperthermophilic, but during archaeal evolution, several lineages — including haloarchaea and their sister methanogens, the Thaumarchaeota, and the uncultured Marine Group II and Marine Group III Euryarchaeota (MGII/III) — independently adapted to lower temperatures. Recent phylogenomic studies suggest that the ancestors of these lineages were recipients of massive horizontal gene transfer from bacteria. Many of the acquired genes, which are often involved in metabolism and cell envelope biogenesis, were convergently acquired by distant mesophilic archaea. In this Opinion article, we explore the intriguing hypothesis that the import of these bacterial genes was crucial for the adaptation of archaea to mesophilic lifestyles.

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Figure 1: Growth temperature and horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to the archaeal lineages.
Figure 2: Proportion of bacterial genes transferred to the ancestors of archaeal taxa as a function of average optimum growth temperature and genome size.
Figure 3: Imported bacterial genes shared by distant lineages of mesophilic archaea.
Figure 4: Maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees showing cases of convergent bacterial gene acquisition by mesophilic archaea.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the three anonymous reviewers for their constructive criticism. This work was supported by the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the French Agence National de la Recherche (grant ANR-08-GENM-024-001) and the European Research Council (ERC Grant Agreement 322669).

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  1. Unité d'Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 8079, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, 91405, France

    Purificación López-García, Philippe Deschamps & David Moreira

  2. Institut de Génétique et Microbiologie, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR 8621, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, 91405, France

    Yvan Zivanovic

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Functional COG classification of imported bacterial genes. (PDF 417 kb)

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Functional KEGG classification of imported bacterial genes. (PDF 295 kb)

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Phylogenetic tree of CspA homologues. (PDF 201 kb)

Supplementary information S4 (table)

Optimal growth temperatures for different archaeal taxa. (PDF 193 kb)

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Reconstruction of phylogenetic trees (PDF 156 kb)

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López-García, P., Zivanovic, Y., Deschamps, P. et al. Bacterial gene import and mesophilic adaptation in archaea. Nat Rev Microbiol 13, 447–456 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3485

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