| 1. |
- Ettema, Thijs J G, et al.
(författare)
-
Molecular characterization of a conserved archaeal copper resistance (cop) gene cluster and its copper-responsive regulator in Sulfolobus solfataricus P2.
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Microbiology. - : Microbiology Society. - 1350-0872 .- 1465-2080. ; 152:Pt 7, s. 1969-79
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Using a comparative genomics approach, a copper resistance gene cluster has been identified in multiple archaeal genomes. The cop cluster is predicted to encode a metallochaperone (CopM), a P-type copper-exporting ATPase (CopA) and a novel, archaea-specific transcriptional regulator (CopT) which might control the expression of the cop genes. Sequence analysis revealed that CopT has an N-terminal DNA-binding helix-turn-helix domain and a C-terminal TRASH domain; TRASH is a novel domain which has recently been proposed to be uniquely involved in metal-binding in sensors, transporters and trafficking proteins in prokaryotes. The present study describes the molecular characterization of the cop gene cluster in the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus. The polycistronic copMA transcript was found to accumulate in response to growth-inhibiting copper concentrations, whereas copT transcript abundance appeared to be constitutive. DNA-binding assays revealed that CopT binds to the copMA promoter at multiple sites, both upstream and downstream of the predicted TATA-BRE site. Copper was found to specifically modulate the affinity of DNA binding by CopT. This study describes a copper-responsive operon in archaea, a new family of archaeal DNA-binding proteins, and supports the idea that this domain plays a prominent role in the archaeal copper response. A model is proposed for copper-responsive transcriptional regulation of the copMA gene cluster.
|
|
| 2. |
- Ettema, Thijs J. G., et al.
(författare)
-
The alpha-proteobacteria : the Darwin finches of the bacterial world
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Biology Letters. - : The Royal Society. - 1744-9561 .- 1744-957X. ; 5:3, s. 429-432
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The alpha-proteobacteria represent one of the most diverse bacterial subdivisions, displaying extreme variations in lifestyle, geographical distribution and genome size. Species for which genome data are available have been classified into a species tree based on a conserved set of vertically inherited core genes. By mapping the variation in gene content onto the species tree, genomic changes can be associated with adaptations to specific growth niches. Genes for adaptive traits are mostly located in 'plasticity zones' in the bacterial genome, which also contain mobile elements and are highly variable across strains. By physically separating genes for information processing from genes involved in interactions with the surrounding environment, the rate of evolutionary change can be substantially enhanced for genes underlying adaptation to new growth habitats, possibly explaining the ecological success of the alpha-proteobacterial subdivision.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Dutilh, Bas E., et al.
(författare)
-
Signature genes as a phylogenomic tool
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford journals. - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 25:8, s. 1659-1667
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gene content has been shown to contain a strong phylogenetic signal, yet its usage for phylogenetic questions is hampered by horizontal gene transfer and parallel gene loss and until now required completely sequenced genomes. Here, we introduce an approach that allows the phylogenetic signal in gene content to be applied to any set of sequences, using signature genes for phylogenetic classification. The hundreds of publicly available genomes allow us to identify signature genes at various taxonomic depths, and we show how the presence of signature genes in an unspecified sample can be used to characterize its taxonomic composition. We identify 8,362 signature genes specific for 112 prokaryotic taxa. We show that these signature genes can be used to address phylogenetic questions on the basis of gene content in cases where classic gene content or sequence analyses provide an ambiguous answer, such as for Nanoarchaeum equitans, and even in cases where complete genomes are not available, such as for metagenomics data. Cross-validation experiments leaving out up to 30% of the species show that approximately 92% of the signature genes correctly place the species in a related clade. Analyses of metagenomics data sets with the signature gene approach are in good agreement with the previously reported species distributions based on phylogenetic analysis of marker genes. Summarizing, signature genes can complement traditional sequence-based methods in addressing taxonomic questions.
|
|
| 5. |
- Ettema, Thijs J. G., et al.
(författare)
-
The non-phosphorylating glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPN) of Sulfolobus solfataricus : a key-enzyme of the semi-phosphorylative branch of the Entner-Doudoroff pathway
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Extremophiles. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1431-0651 .- 1433-4909. ; 12:1, s. 75-88
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Archaea utilize a branched modification of the classical Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway for sugar degradation. The semi-phosphorylative branch merges at the level of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate (GAP) with the lower common shunt of the Emden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway. In Sulfolobus solfataricus two different GAP converting enzymes-classical phosphorylating GAP dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and the non-phosphorylating GAPDH (GAPN)-were identified. In Sulfolobales the GAPN encoding gene is found adjacent to the ED gene cluster suggesting a function in the regulation of the semi-phosphorylative ED branch. The biochemical characterization of the recombinant GAPN of S. solfataricus revealed that-like the well-characterized GAPN from Thermoproteus tenax-the enzyme of S. solfataricus exhibits allosteric properties. However, both enzymes show some unexpected differences in co-substrate specificity as well as regulatory fine-tuning, which seem to reflect an adaptation to the different lifestyles of both organisms. Phylogenetic analyses and database searches in Archaea indicated a preferred distribution of GAPN (and/or GAP oxidoreductase) in hyperthermophilic Archaea supporting the previously suggested role of GAPN in metabolic thermoadaptation. This work suggests an important role of GAPN in the regulation of carbon degradation via modifications of the EMP and the branched ED pathway in hyperthermophilic Archaea.
|
|
| 6. |
- Lindås, Ann-Christin, et al.
(författare)
-
A unique cell division machinery in the Archaea
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 105:48, s. 18942-18946
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In contrast to the cell division machineries of bacteria, euryarchaea, and eukaryotes, no division components have been identified in the second main archaeal phylum, Crenarchaeota. Here, we demonstrate that a three-gene operon, cdv, in the crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, forms part of a unique cell division machinery. The operon is induced at the onset of genome segregation and division, and the Cdv proteins then polymerize between segregating nucleoids and persist throughout cell division, forming a successively smaller structure during constriction. The cdv operon is dramatically down-regulated after UV irradiation, indicating division inhibition in response to DNA damage, reminiscent of eukaryotic checkpoint systems. The cdv genes exhibit a complementary phylogenetic range relative to FtsZ-based archaeal division systems such that, in most archaeal lineages, either one or the other system is present. Two of the Cdv proteins, CdvB and CdvC, display homology to components of the eukaryotic ESCRT-III sorting complex involved in budding of luminal vesicles and HIV-1 virion release, suggesting mechanistic similarities and a common evolutionary origin.
|
|
| 7. |
- Smits, Paulien, et al.
(författare)
-
Reconstructing the evolution of the mitochondrial ribosomal proteome
- 2007
-
Ingår i: Nucleic Acids Research. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0305-1048 .- 1362-4962. ; 35:14, s. 4686-4703
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For production of proteins that are encoded by the mitochondrial genome, mitochondria rely on their own mitochondrial translation system, with the mitoribosome as its central component. Using extensive homology searches, we have reconstructed the evolutionary history of the mitoribosomal proteome that is encoded by a diverse subset of eukaryotic genomes, revealing an ancestral ribosome of alpha-proteobacterial descent that more than doubled its protein content in most eukaryotic lineages. We observe large variations in the protein content of mitoribosomes between different eukaryotes, with mammalian mitoribosomes sharing only 74 and 43% of its proteins with yeast and Leishmania mitoribosomes, respectively. We detected many previously unidentified mitochondrial ribosomal proteins (MRPs) and found that several have increased in size compared to their bacterial ancestral counterparts by addition of functional domains. Several new MRPs have originated via duplication of existing MRPs as well as by recruitment from outside of the mitoribosomal proteome. Using sensitive profile-profile homology searches, we found hitherto undetected homology between bacterial and eukaryotic ribosomal proteins, as well as between fungal and mammalian ribosomal proteins, detecting two novel human MRPs. These newly detected MRPs constitute, along with evolutionary conserved MRPs, excellent new screening targets for human patients with unresolved mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation disorders.
|
|
