Dissemination of theblaKPCgene by clonal spread and horizontal gene transfer: comparative study of incidence and molecular mechanisms

AbstractAcquisition of genes through horizontal gene transfer (HGT) allows microbes to rapidly gain new capabilities and adapt to new or changing environments. Identifying widespread HGT regions within multispecies microbiomes can pinpoint the molecular mechanisms that play key roles in microbiome assembly. We sought to identify horizontally transferred genes within a model microbiome, the cheese rind. Comparing 31 newly-sequenced and 134 previously sequenced bacterial isolates from cheese rinds, we identified over 200 putative horizontally transferred genomic regions containing 4,733 protein coding genes. The largest of these regions are enriched for genes involved in siderophore acquisition, and are widely distributed in cheese rinds in both Europe and the US. These results suggest that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is prevalent in cheese rind microbiomes, and the identification of genes that are frequently transferred in a particular environment may provide insight into the selective forces shaping microbial communities.

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Parasitism-evoked horizontal gene transfer between plants as a novel trigger for specialized metabolism evolution

10.21203/rs.3.rs-885568/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Eiichiro Ono ◽

Kohki Shimizu ◽

Jun Murata ◽

Akira Shiraishi ◽

Ryusuke Yokoyama ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Transfer ◽

Horizontal Gene Transfer ◽

Host Plants ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Sequence Similarity ◽

Metabolic Evolution ◽

Apparent Lack ◽

Cuscuta Campestris ◽

Genomic Studies ◽

Biological Impacts

Abstract Recent genomic studies of parasitic plants have revealed that there are numerous footprints indicative of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) to the parasites from their host plants. However, the molecular mechanisms and biological impacts of this phenomenon have remained largely unknown. Here, we made the striking observation that two parasitic dodders, Cuscuta campestris and C. australis, have functional homologues of Si_CYP81Q1, which encodes piperitol/sesamin synthase (PSS) in the phylogenetically remote plant Sesamum indicum (sesame). The apparent lack of sequence similarity between the regions flanking PSS in Sesamum and Cuscuta spp. suggests the occurrence of HGT tightly associated with the PSS gene. Upon parasitism, C. campestris induced expression of the host Si_CYP81Q1 at the parasitic interface and mature and intron-retained Si_CYP81Q1 mRNA was transferred to C. campestris, suggesting that CYP81Q1 was translocated via RNA-mediated HGT. Thus, parasitism-evoked HGT might have had an unexpected role in the metabolic evolution of plants.

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Extensive horizontal gene transfer in cheese-associated bacteria

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.22144 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Kevin S Bonham ◽

Benjamin E Wolfe ◽

Rachel J Dutton

Keyword(s):

Gene Transfer ◽

Horizontal Gene Transfer ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Protein Coding ◽

Associated Bacteria ◽

The Us ◽

Selective Forces ◽

Genomic Regions ◽

Microbiome Assembly ◽

Insight Into

Acquisition of genes through horizontal gene transfer (HGT) allows microbes to rapidly gain new capabilities and adapt to new or changing environments. Identifying widespread HGT regions within multispecies microbiomes can pinpoint the molecular mechanisms that play key roles in microbiome assembly. We sought to identify horizontally transferred genes within a model microbiome, the cheese rind. Comparing 31 newly sequenced and 134 previously sequenced bacterial isolates from cheese rinds, we identified over 200 putative horizontally transferred genomic regions containing 4733 protein coding genes. The largest of these regions are enriched for genes involved in siderophore acquisition, and are widely distributed in cheese rinds in both Europe and the US. These results suggest that HGT is prevalent in cheese rind microbiomes, and that identification of genes that are frequently transferred in a particular environment may provide insight into the selective forces shaping microbial communities.

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