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AS3MT-mediated tolerance to arsenic evolved by multiple independent horizontal gene transfers from bacteria to eukaryotes.

ABSTRACT: Organisms have evolved the ability to tolerate toxic substances in their environments, often by producing metabolic enzymes that efficiently detoxify the toxicant. Inorganic arsenic is one of the most toxic and carcinogenic substances in the environment, but many organisms, including humans, metabolise inorganic arsenic to less toxic metabolites. This multistep process produces mono-, di-, and trimethylated arsenic metabolites, which the organism excretes. In humans, arsenite methyltransferase (AS3MT) appears to be the main metabolic enzyme that methylates arsenic. In this study, we examined the evolutionary origin of AS3MT and assessed the ability of different genotypes to produce methylated arsenic metabolites. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that multiple, independent horizontal gene transfers between different bacteria, and from bacteria to eukaryotes, increased tolerance to environmental arsenic during evolution. These findings are supported by the observation that genetic variation in AS3MT correlates with the capacity to methylate arsenic. Adaptation to arsenic thus serves as a model for how organisms evolve to survive under toxic conditions.

SUBMITTER: Palmgren M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5398495 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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AS3MT-mediated tolerance to arsenic evolved by multiple independent horizontal gene transfers from bacteria to eukaryotes.

Palmgren Michael M Engström Karin K Hallström Björn M BM Wahlberg Karin K Søndergaard Dan Ariel DA Säll Torbjörn T Vahter Marie M Broberg Karin K

PloS one 20170420 4

Organisms have evolved the ability to tolerate toxic substances in their environments, often by producing metabolic enzymes that efficiently detoxify the toxicant. Inorganic arsenic is one of the most toxic and carcinogenic substances in the environment, but many organisms, including humans, metabolise inorganic arsenic to less toxic metabolites. This multistep process produces mono-, di-, and trimethylated arsenic metabolites, which the organism excretes. In humans, arsenite methyltransferase ( ...[more]

PMID: 28426741

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Project description:The proteins of the ammonium transporter/methylammonium permease/Rhesus factor family (AMT/MEP/Rh family) are responsible for the movement of ammonia or ammonium ions across the cell membrane. Although it has been established that the Rh proteins are distantly related to the other members of the family, the evolutionary history of the AMT/MEP/Rh family remains unclear. Here, we use phylogenetic analysis to infer the evolutionary history of this family of proteins across 191 genomes representing all main lineages of life and to provide a new classification of the proteins in this family. Our phylogenetic analysis suggests that what has heretofore been conceived of as a protein family with two clades (AMT/MEP and Rh) is instead a protein family with three clades (AMT, MEP, and Rh). We show that the AMT/MEP/Rh family illustrates two contrasting modes of gene transmission: The AMT family as defined here exhibits vertical gene transfer (i.e., standard parent-to-offspring inheritance), whereas the MEP family as defined here is characterized by several ancient independent horizontal gene transfers (HGTs). These ancient HGT events include a gene replacement during the early evolution of the fungi, which could be a defining trait for the kingdom Fungi, a gene gain from hyperthermophilic chemoautolithotrophic prokaryotes during the early evolution of land plants (Embryophyta), and an independent gain of this same gene in the filamentous ascomycetes (Pezizomycotina) that was subsequently lost in most lineages but retained in even distantly related lichenized fungi. This recircumscription of the ammonium transporters/ammonia permeases family into MEP and AMT families informs the debate on the mechanism of transport in these proteins and on the nature of the transported molecule because published crystal structures of proteins from the MEP and Rh clades may not be representative of the AMT clade. The clades as depicted in this phylogenetic study appear to correspond to functionally different groups, with AMTs and ammonia permeases forming two distinct and possibly monophyletic groups.

Project description:Arsenic is a very potent toxicant. One major susceptibility factor for arsenic-related toxicity is the efficiency of arsenic metabolism. The efficiency, in turn, is associated with non-coding single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the arsenic methyltransferase AS3MT on chromosome 10q24. However, the mechanism of action for these SNPs is not yet clarified. Here, we assessed the influence of genetic variation in AS3MT on DNA methylation and gene expression within 10q24, in people exposed to arsenic in drinking water. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood from women in the Argentinean Andes (N?=?103) and from cord blood from new-borns in Bangladesh (N?=?127). AS3MT SNPs were analyzed with Sequenom or Taqman assays. Whole genome epigenetic analysis with Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip was performed on bisulphite-treated DNA. Whole genome gene expression analysis was performed with Illumina DirectHyb HumanHT-12 v4.0 on RNA from peripheral blood. Arsenic exposure was assessed by HPLC-ICPMS. In the Argentinean women, the major AS3MT haplotype, associated with more efficient arsenic metabolism, showed increased methylation of AS3MT (p?=?10(-6)) and also differential methylation of several other genes within about 800 kilobasepairs: CNNM2 (p<10(-16)), NT5C2 (p<10(-16)), C10orf26 (p?=?10(-8)), USMG5 (p?=?10(-5)), TRIM8 (p?=?10(-4)), and CALHM2 (p?=?0.038) (adjusted for multiple comparisons). Similar, but weaker, associations between AS3MT haplotype and DNA methylation in 10q24 were observed in cord blood (Bangladesh). The haplotype-associated altered CpG methylation was correlated with reduced expression of AS3MT and CNNM2 (r(s)?=?-0.22 to -0.54), and with increased expression of NT5C2 and USMG5 (r(s)?=?0.25 to 0.58). Taking other possibly influential variables into account in multivariable linear models did only to a minor extent alter the strength of the associations. In conclusion, the AS3MT haplotype status strongly predicted DNA methylation and gene expression of AS3MT as well as several genes in 10q24. This raises the possibility that several genes in this region are important for arsenic metabolism.

Project description:BackgroundArsenic (As) occurs as monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) in humans, and the methylation pattern demonstrates large interindividual differences. The fraction of urinary MMA is a marker for susceptibility to As-related diseases.ObjectivesWe evaluated the impact of polymorphisms in five methyltransferase genes on As metabolism in two populations, one in South America and one in Southeast Asia. The methyltransferase genes were arsenic(+III oxidation state) methyltransferase (AS3MT), DNA-methyltransferase 1a and 3b (DNMT1a and DNMT3b, respectively), phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PEMT), and betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase (BHMT). AS3MT expression was analyzed in peripheral blood.MethodsSubjects were women exposed to As in drinking water in the Argentinean Andes [n = 172; median total urinary As (U-As), 200 µg/L] and in rural Bangladesh (n = 361; U-As, 100 µg/L; all in early pregnancy). Urinary As metabolites were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Polymorphisms (n = 22) were genotyped with Sequenom, and AS3MT expression was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction using TaqMan expression assays.ResultsSix AS3MT polymorphisms were significantly associated with As metabolite patterns in both populations (p ≤ 0.01). The most frequent AS3MT haplotype in Bangladesh was associated with a higher percentage of MMA (%MMA), and the most frequent haplotype in Argentina was associated with a lower %MMA and a higher percentage of DMA. Four polymorphisms in the DNMT genes were associated with metabolite patterns in Bangladesh. Noncoding AS3MT polymorphisms affected gene expression of AS3MT in peripheral blood, demonstrating that one functional impact of AS3MT polymorphisms may be altered levels of gene expression.ConclusionsPolymorphisms in AS3MT significantly predicted As metabolism across these two very different populations, suggesting that AS3MT may have an impact on As metabolite patterns in populations worldwide.

Dataset Information

AS3MT-mediated tolerance to arsenic evolved by multiple independent horizontal gene transfers from bacteria to eukaryotes.

Publications

AS3MT-mediated tolerance to arsenic evolved by multiple independent horizontal gene transfers from bacteria to eukaryotes.

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