Gene transfer is a major factor in bacterial evolution |
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Authors: | Lan R; Reeves PR |
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Institution: | Department of Microbiology, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia. |
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Abstract: | Lateral gene transfer in four strains of Salmonella enterica has been
assessed using genomic subtraction. Strain LT2 (subspecies I serovar
Typhimurium) chromosomal DNA was used as target and subtracted by three
subspecies I strains of serovars Typhimurium (S21), Muenchen (S71), Typhi
(M229), and a subspecies V strain (M321). Data from probing random cosmids
of LT2 DNA with preparations of the residual LT2 DNA after subtraction were
used to estimate the amounts of LT2 DNA not able to hybridize to strains
S21, S71, M229, and M321 to be in the range of 84-106, 191-355, 305-629,
and 778-1,286 kb, respectively. Several lines of evidence indicate that
most of this DNA is from genes not present in strain M321 and not from
genes that have diverged in sequence. The amounts correlate with the
divergence of the four strains as revealed by multilocus enzyme
electrophoresis and sequence variation of housekeeping genes. Sequence of
39 of the fragments from the M321 subtracted residual LT2 DNA revealed only
six inserts of known gene function with evidence of both gain and loss of
genes during the development of S. enterica clones. Sixteen of the 39
segments have 45% or lower G+C content, below the species average, but over
half are within the normal range for the species. We conclude that even
within a species, clones may differ by up to 20% of chromosomal DNA,
indicating a major role for lateral transfer, and that on the basis of G+C
content, a significant proportion of the DNA is from distantly related
species.
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