Journal article
Horizontal gene transfer of a Chlamydial tRNA-guanine transglycosylase gene to eukaryotic microbes
Sam Manna, Ashley Harman
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION | ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE | Published : 2016
Abstract
tRNA-guanine transglycosylases are found in all domains of life and mediate the base exchange of guanine with queuine in the anticodon loop of tRNAs. They can also regulate virulence in bacteria such as Shigella flexneri, which has prompted the development of drugs that inhibit the function of these enzymes. Here we report a group of tRNA-guanine transglycosylases in eukaryotic microbes (algae and protozoa) which are more similar to their bacterial counterparts than previously characterized eukaryotic tRNA-guanine transglycosylases. We provide evidence demonstrating that the genes encoding these enzymes were acquired by these eukaryotic lineages via horizontal gene transfer from the Chlamydi..
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Funding Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr Sanja Aracic for a critical review of the manuscript. This work was supported by La Trobe University and Australian Postgraduate Awards.