Evolutionary rates for tuf genes in endosymbionts of aphids |
| |
Authors: | Brynnel EU; Kurland CG; Moran NA; Andersson SG |
| |
Institution: | Department of Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Sweden. |
| |
Abstract: | The gene encoding elongation factor Tu (tuf) in aphid endosymbionts (genus
Buchnera) evolves at rates of 1.3 x 10(-10) to 2.5 x 10(-10) nonsynonymous
substitutions and 3.9 x 10(-9) to 8.0 x 10(-9) synonymous substitutions per
position per year. These rates, which are at present among the most
reliable substitution rates for protein-coding genes of bacteria, have been
obtained by calibrating the nodes in the phylogenetic tree produced from
the Buchnera EF-Tu sequences using divergence times for the corresponding
ancestral aphid hosts. We also present data suggesting that the rates of
nonsynonymous substitutions are significantly higher in the endosymbiont
lineages than in the closely related free-living bacteria Escherichia coli
and Salmonella typhimurium. Synonymous substitution rates for Buchnera
approximate estimated mutation rates for E. coli and S. typhimurium, as
expected if synonymous changes act as neutral mutations in Buchnera. We
relate the observed differences in substitution frequencies to the absence
of selective codon preferences in Buchnera and to the influence of Muller's
ratchet on small asexual populations.
|
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 Oxford 等数据库收录! |
|