The Common Ancestor of Deinococcus Species was Rod-Shaped
Background:The genusDeinococcusconsists of species in rod-shape (Bacilli) and spherical shape (Cocci).Objective:In this study, we aimed to determine whether the common ancestor ofDeinococcusspecies was rod-shaped or spherical.Methods:We compared the homologs of the proteins related to the rod-shape in bacteria (MreB, MreC, MreD, MrdA, RodA, and RodZ) in variousDeinococcusspecies andThermus thermophilus.Results:The phylogenetic trees based on each protein and the homologs reflected the evolutionary relationships of the species, indicating that the Horizontal transfer of the genes did not occur during theDeinococcusevolution.Conclusion:The ancestor of the genusDeinococcuswas rod-shaped, and the spherical forms appeared when the rod-shaped formation system was lost during evolution and diversification within the genus.