Evolutionary novelty in gravity sensing through horizontal gene transfer and high-order protein assembly.

ABSTRACT: Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) can promote evolutionary adaptation by transforming a species' relationship to the environment. In most well-understood cases of HGT, acquired and donor functions appear to remain closely related. Thus, the degree to which HGT can lead to evolutionary novelties remains unclear. Mucorales fungi sense gravity through the sedimentation of vacuolar protein crystals. Here, we identify the octahedral crystal matrix protein (OCTIN). Phylogenetic analysis strongly supports acquisition of octin by HGT from bacteria. A bacterial OCTIN forms high-order periplasmic oligomers, and inter-molecular disulphide bonds are formed by both fungal and bacterial OCTINs, suggesting that they share elements of a conserved assembly mechanism. However, estimated sedimentation velocitie

SUBMITTER: Nguyen TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5915273 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature