Evolutionary Comparisons of RecA-Like Proteins Across All Major Kingdoms of Living Organisms

Protein sequences with similarities to Escherichia coli RecA were compared across the major kingdoms of eubacteria, archaebacteria, and eukaryotes. The archaeal sequences branch monophyletically and are most closely related to the eukaryotic paralogous Rad51 and Dmc1 groups. A multiple alignment of the sequences suggests a modular structure of RecA-like proteins consisting of distinct segments, some of which are conserved only within subgroups of sequences. The eukaryotic and archaeal sequences share an N-terminal domain which may play a role in interactions with other factors and nucleic acids. Several positions in the alignment blocks are highly conserved within the eubacteria as one group and within the eukaryotes and archaebacteria as a second group, but compared between the groups these positions display nonconservative amino acid substitutions. Conservation within the RecA-like core domain identifies possible key residues involved in ATP-induced conformational changes. We propose that RecA-like proteins derive evolutionarily from an assortment of independent domains and that the functional homologs of RecA in noneubacteria comprise an array of RecA-like proteins acting in series or cooperatively. Received: 25 October 1996 / Accepted: 31 December 1996     

Evolutionary origin, diversification and specialization of eukaryotic MutS homolog mismatch repair proteins

Most eubacteria, and all eukaryotes examined thus far, encode homologs of the DNA mismatch repair protein MutS. Although eubacteria encode only one or two MutS-like proteins, eukaryotes encode at least six distinct MutS homolog (MSH) proteins, corresponding to conserved (orthologous) gene families. This suggests evolution of individual gene family lines of descent by several duplication/specialization events. Using quantitative phylogenetic analyses (RASA, or relative apparent synapomorphy analysis), we demonstrate that comparison of complete MutS protein sequences, rather than highly conserved C-terminal domains only, maximizes information about evolutionary relationships. We identify a novel, highly conserved middle domain, as well as clearly delineate an N-terminal domain, previously implicated in mismatch recognition, that shows family-specific patterns of aromatic and charged amino acids. Our final analysis, in contrast to previous analyses of MutS-like sequences, yields a stable phylogenetic tree consistent with the known biochemical functions of MutS/MSH proteins, that now assigns all known eukaryotic MSH proteins to a monophyletic group, whose branches correspond to the respective specialized gene families. The rooted phylogenetic tree suggests their derivation from a mitochondrial MSH1-like protein, itself the descendent of the MutS of a symbiont in a primitive eukaryotic precursor.     

Evolutionary origins of Hsp90 chaperones and a deep paralogy in their bacterial ancestors

The 82-90 kD family of molecular chaperone proteins has homologs in eukaryotes (Hsp90) and many eubacteria (HtpG) but not in Archaebacteria. We used representatives of all four different eukaryotic paralogs (cytosolic, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), chloroplast, mitochondrial) together with numerous eubacterial HtpG proteins for phylogenetic analyses to investigate their evolutionary origins. Our trees confirm that none of the organellar Hsp90s derives from the endosymbionts of early eukaryotes. Contrary to previous suggestions of distant origins through lateral gene transfer (LGT) all eukaryote Hsp90s are related to Gram-positive eubacterial HtpG proteins. The nucleocytosolic, ER and chloroplast Hsp90 paralogs are clearly mutually related. The origin of mitochondrial Hsp90 is more obscure, as these sequences are deeply nested within eubacteria. Our trees also reveal a deep split within eubacteria into a group of mainly long-branching sequences (including the eukaryote mitochondrial Hsp90s) and another group comprising exclusively short-branching HtpG proteins, from which the cytosolic/ER versions probably arose. Both versions are present in several eubacterial phyla, suggesting gene duplication very early in eubacterial evolution and multiple independent losses thereafter. We identified one probable case of LGT within eubacteria. However, multiple losses can simply explain the evolutionary pattern of the eubacterial HtpG paralogs and predominate over LGT. We suggest that the actinobacterial ancestor of eukaryotes harbored genes for both eubacterial HtpG paralogs, as the actinobacterium Streptomyces coelicolor still does; one could have given rise to the mitochondrial Hsp90 and the other, following another duplication event in the ancestral eukaryote, to the cytosolic and ER Hsp90 homologs.     

Sequence comparison of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases from the three urkingdoms: evolutionary implication

The primary structure of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from the archaebacteria shows striking deviation from the known sequences of eubacterial and eukaryotic sequences, despite unequivocal homologies in functionally important regions. Thus, the structural similarity between the eubacterial and eukaryotic enzymes is significantly higher than that between the archaebacterial enzymes and the eubacterial and eukaryotic enzymes. This preferred similarity of eubacterial and eukaryotic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase structures does not correspond to the phylogenetic distances among the three urkingdoms as deduced from comparisons of ribosomal ribonucleic acid sequences. Indications will be presented that the closer relationship of the eubacterial and eukaryotic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase resulted from a gene transfer from eubacteria to eukaryotes after the segregation of the three urkingdoms.     

Cloning and nucleotide sequence of an archaebacterial glutamine synthetase gene: Phylogenetic implications

Summary The glnA gene of the thermophilic sulphur-dependent archaebacterium Sulfolobus solfataricus was identified by hybridization with the corresponding gene of the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis and cloned in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence of the 1696 bp DNA fragment containing the structural gene for glutamine synthetase was determined, and the derived amino acid sequence (471 residues) was compared to the sequences of glutamine synthetases from eubacteria and eukaryotes. The homology between the archaebacterial and the eubacterial enzymes is higher (42%–49%) than that found with the eukaryotic counterpart (less than 20%). This was true also when the five most conserved regions, which it is possible to identify in both eubacterial and eukaryotic glutamine synthetases, were analysed.     

Comprehensive analysis of the origin of eukaryotic genomes

There is currently no consensus on the evolutionary origin of eukaryotes. In the search of the ancestors of eukaryotes, we analyzed the phylogeny of 46 genomes, including those of 2 eukaryotes, 8 archaea, and 36 eubacteria. To avoid the effects of gene duplications, we used inparalog pairs of genes with orthologous relationships. First, we grouped these inparalogs into the functional categories of the nucleus, cytoplasm, and mitochondria. Next, we counted the sister groups of eukaryotes in prokaryotic phyla and plotted them on a standard phylogenetic tree. Finally, we used Pearson's chi-square test to estimate the origin of the genomes from specific prokaryotic ancestors. The results suggest the eukaryotic nuclear genome descends from an archaea that was neither euryarchaeota nor crenarchaeota and that the mitochondrial genome descends from alpha-proteobacteria. In contrast, genes related to the cytoplasm do not appear to originate from a specific group of prokaryotes.     

Eukaryotic pyruvate formate lyase and its activating enzyme were acquired laterally from a Firmicute

Most of the major groups of eukaryotes have microbial representatives that thrive in low oxygen conditions. Those that have been studied in detail generate ATP via pathways involving anaerobically functioning enzymes of pyruvate catabolism that are typically absent in aerobic eukaryotes and whose origins remain controversial. These enzymes include pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase, pyruvate:NADP(+) oxidoreductase, and pyruvate formate lyase (Pfl). Pfl catalyzes the nonoxidative generation of formate and acetyl-Coenzyme A (CoA) from pyruvate and CoA and is activated by Pfl activating enzyme (Pfla). Within eukaryotes, this extremely oxygen-sensitive pathway was first described in the hydrogenosomes of anaerobic chytrid fungi and has more recently been characterized in the mitochondria and chloroplasts of the chlorophyte alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. To clarify the origins of this pathway, we have comprehensively searched for homologs of Pfl and Pfla in publicly available large-scale eukaryotic genomic and cDNA sequencing data, including our own from the anaerobic amoebozoan Mastigamoeba balamuthi. Surprisingly, we find that these enzymes are widely distributed and are present in diverse facultative or obligate anaerobic eukaryotic representatives of the archaeplastidan, metazoan, amoebozoan, and haptophyte lineages. Using maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic methods, we show that the eukaryotic Pfl and Pfla sequences each form monophyletic groups that are most closely related to homologs in firmicute gram-positive bacteria. Topology tests exclude both α-proteobacterial and cyanobacterial affinities for these genes suggesting that neither originated from the endosymbiotic ancestors of mitochondria or chloroplasts. Furthermore, the topologies of the eukaryote portion of the Pfl and Pfla trees significantly differ from well-accepted eukaryote relationships. Collectively, these results indicate that the Pfl pathway was first acquired by lateral gene transfer into a eukaryotic lineage most probably from a firmicute bacterial lineage and that it has since been spread across diverse eukaryotic groups by more recent eukaryote-to-eukaryote transfer events.     

Evolution of proton pumping ATPases: Rooting the tree of life

Proton pumping ATPases are found in all groups of present day organisms. The F-ATPases of eubacteria, mitochondria and chloroplasts also function as ATP synthases, i.e., they catalyze the final step that transforms the energy available from reduction/oxidation reactions (e.g., in photosynthesis) into ATP, the usual energy currency of modern cells. The primary structure of these ATPases/ATP synthases was found to be much more conserved between different groups of bacteria than other parts of the photosynthetic machinery, e.g., reaction center proteins and redox carrier complexes.These F-ATPases and the vacuolar type ATPase, which is found on many of the endomembranes of eukaryotic cells, were shown to be homologous to each other; i.e., these two groups of ATPases evolved from the same enzyme present in the common ancestor. (The term eubacteria is used here to denote the phylogenetic group containing all bacteria except the archaebacteria.) Sequences obtained for the plasmamembrane ATPase of various archaebacteria revealed that this ATPase is much more similar to the eukaryotic than to the eubacterial counterpart. The eukaryotic cell of higher organisms evolved from a symbiosis between eubacteria (that evolved into mitochondria and chloroplasts) and a host organism. Using the vacuolar type ATPase as a molecular marker for the cytoplasmic component of the eukaryotic cell reveals that this host organism was a close relative of the archaebacteria.A unique feature of the evolution of the ATPases is the presence of a non-catalytic subunit that is paralogous to the catalytic subunit, i.e., the two types of subunits evolved from a common ancestral gene. Since the gene duplication that gave rise to these two types of subunits had already occurred in the last common ancestor of all living organisms, this non-catalytic subunit can be used to root the tree of life by means of an outgroup; that is, the location of the last common ancestor of the major domains of living organisms (archaebacteria, eubacteria and eukaryotes) can be located in the tree of life without assuming constant or equal rates of change in the different branches.A correlation between structure and function of ATPases has been established for present day organisms. Implications resulting from this correlation for biochemical pathways, especially photosynthesis, that were operative in the last common ancestor and preceding life forms are discussed.     

Structural Basis of Substrate Selectivity of E. coli Prolidase

Prolidases, metalloproteases that catalyze the cleavage of Xaa-Pro dipeptides, are conserved enzymes found in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In humans, prolidase is crucial for the recycling of collagen. To further characterize the essential elements of this enzyme, we utilized the Escherichia coli prolidase, PepQ, which shares striking similarity with eukaryotic prolidases. Through structural and bioinformatic insights, we have extended previous characterizations of the prolidase active site, uncovering a key component for substrate specificity. Here we report the structure of E. coli PepQ, solved at 2.0 Å resolution. The structure shows an antiparallel, dimeric protein, with each subunit containing N-terminal and C-terminal domains. The C-terminal domain is formed by the pita-bread fold typical for this family of metalloproteases, with two Mg(II) ions coordinated by five amino-acid ligands. Comparison of the E. coli PepQ structure and sequence with homologous structures and sequences from a diversity of organisms reveals distinctions between prolidases from Gram-positive eubacteria and archaea, and those from Gram-negative eubacteria, including the presence of loop regions in the E. coli protein that are conserved in eukaryotes. One such loop contains a completely conserved arginine near the catalytic site. This conserved arginine is predicted by docking simulations to interact with the C-terminus of the substrate dipeptide. Kinetic analysis using both a charge-neutralized substrate and a charge-reversed variant of PepQ support this conclusion, and allow for the designation of a new role for this key region of the enzyme active site.     

Cloning of the HSP70 gene from Halobacterium marismortui: relatedness of archaebacterial HSP70 to its eubacterial homologs and a model for the evolution of the HSP70 gene.

Heat shock induces the synthesis of a set of proteins in Halobacterium marismortui whose molecular sizes correspond to the known major heat shock proteins. By using the polymerase chain reaction and degenerate oligonucleotide primers for conserved regions of the 70-kDa heat shock protein (HSP70) family, we have successfully cloned and sequenced a gene fragment containing the entire coding sequence for HSP70 from H. marismortui. HSP70 from H. marismortui shows between 44 and 47% amino acid identity with various eukaryotic HSP70s and between 51 and 58% identity with its eubacterial and archaebacterial homologs. On the basis of a comparison of all available HSP70 sequences, we have identified a number of unique sequence signatures in this protein family that provide a clear distinction between eukaryotic organisms and prokaryotic organisms (archaebacteria and eubacteria). The archaebacterial (viz., H. marismortui and Methanosarcina mazei) HSP70s have been found to contain all of the signature sequences characteristic of eubacteria (particularly the gram-positive bacteria), which suggests a close evolutionary relationship between these groups. In addition, detailed analyses of HSP70 sequences that we have carried out have revealed a number of additional novel features of the HSP70 protein family. These include (i) the presence of an insertion of about 25 to 27 amino acids in the N-terminal quadrants of all known eukaryotic and prokaryotic HSP70s except those from archaebacteria and the gram-positive group of bacteria, (ii) significant sequence similarity in HSP70 regions comprising its first and second quadrants from organisms lacking the above insertion, (iii) highly significant similarity between a protein, MreB, of Escherichia coli and the N-terminal half of HSP70s, (iv) significant sequence similarity between the N-terminal quadrant of HSP70 (from gram-positive bacteria and archaebacteria) and the m-type thioredoxin of plant chloroplasts. To account for these and other observations, a model for the evolution of HSP70 proteins involving gene duplication is proposed. The model proposes that HSP70 from archaebacteria (H. marismortui and M. mazei) and the gram-positive group of bacteria constitutes the ancestral form of the protein and that all other HSP70s (viz., other eubacteria as well as eukaryotes) containing the insert have evolved from this ancient protein.     

Early origin of foraminifera suggested by SSU rRNA gene sequences

Foraminifera are one of the largest groups of unicellular eukaryotes with probably the best known fossil record. However, the origin of foraminifera and their phylogenetic relationships with other eukaryotes are not well established. In particular, two recent reports, based on ribosomal RNA gene sequences, have reached strikingly different conclusions about foraminifera's evolutionary position within eukaryotes. Here, we present the complete small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequences of three species of foraminifera. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences indicates that they branch very deeply in the eukaryotic evolutionary tree: later than those of the amitochondrial Archezoa, but earlier than those of the Euglenozoa and other mitochondria-bearing phyla. Foraminifera are clearly among the earliest eukaryotes with mitochondria, but because of the peculiar nature of their SSU genes we cannot be certain that they diverged first, as our data suggest.      

Phylogenetic analysis of 70 kD heat shock protein sequences suggests a chimeric origin for the eukaryotic cell nucleus

Background: The evolutionary relationships between archaebacteria, eubacteria and eukaryotic cells are of central importance in biology. The current view is that each of these three groups of organisms constitutes a monophyletic domain, and that eukaryotic cells have evolved from an archaebacterial ancestor. Recent studies on a number of highly conserved protein sequences do not, however, support this view and raise important questions concerning the evolutionary relationships between all extant organisms, particularly regarding the origin of eukaryotic cells.Results We have used sequences of 70 kD heat shock protein (hsp70) — the most conserved protein found to date in all species — to examine the evolutionary relationship between various species. We have obtained two new archaebacterial hsp70 sequences from the species, Thermoplasma acidophilum and Halobacterium cutirubrum. A global comparison of hsp70 sequences, including our two new sequences, shows that all known archaebacterial homologs share a number of sequence signatures with the Gram-positive group of bacteria that are not found in any other prokaryotic or eukaryotic species. In contrast, the eukaryotic homologs are shown to share a number of unique sequence features with the Gram-negative bacteria that are not present in any archaebacteria. Detailed phylogenetic analyses of hsp70 sequences strongly support a specific evolutionary relationship between archaebacteria and Gram-positive bacteria on the one hand, and Gram-negative bacteria and eukaryotes on the other. The phylogenetic analyses also indicate a polyphyletic branching of archaebacteria within the Gram-positive species. The possibility that the observed relationships are due to horizontal gene transfers can be excluded on the basis of sequence characteristics of different groups of homologs.Conclusion Our results do not support the view that archaebacteria constitute a monophyletic domain, but instead suggest a close evolutionary linkage between archaebacteria and Gram-positive bacteria. Furthermore, in contrast to the presently accepted view, eukaryotic hsp70s show a close and specific relationship to those from Gram-negative species. To explain the phylogenies based on different gene sequences, a chimeric model for the origin of the eukaryotic cell nucleus involving fusion between an archaebacterium and a Gram-negative eubacterium is proposed. Several predictions from the chimeric model are discussed.     

Evolution of the enzymes of the citric acid cycle and the glyoxylate cycle of higher plants. A case study of endosymbiotic gene transfer.

The citric acid or tricarboxylic acid cycle is a central element of higher-plant carbon metabolism which provides, among other things, electrons for oxidative phosphorylation in the inner mitochondrial membrane, intermediates for amino-acid biosynthesis, and oxaloacetate for gluconeogenesis from succinate derived from fatty acids via the glyoxylate cycle in glyoxysomes. The tricarboxylic acid cycle is a typical mitochondrial pathway and is widespread among alpha-proteobacteria, the group of eubacteria as defined under rRNA systematics from which mitochondria arose. Most of the enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle are encoded in the nucleus in higher eukaryotes, and several have been previously shown to branch with their homologues from alpha-proteobacteria, indicating that the eukaryotic nuclear genes were acquired from the mitochondrial genome during the course of evolution. Here, we investigate the individual evolutionary histories of all of the enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the glyoxylate cycle using protein maximum likelihood phylogenies, focusing on the evolutionary origin of the nuclear-encoded proteins in higher plants. The results indicate that about half of the proteins involved in this eukaryotic pathway are most similar to their alpha-proteobacterial homologues, whereas the remainder are most similar to eubacterial, but not specifically alpha-proteobacterial, homologues. A consideration of (a) the process of lateral gene transfer among free-living prokaryotes and (b) the mechanistics of endosymbiotic (symbiont-to-host) gene transfer reveals that it is unrealistic to expect all nuclear genes that were acquired from the alpha-proteobacterial ancestor of mitochondria to branch specifically with their homologues encoded in the genomes of contemporary alpha-proteobacteria. Rather, even if molecular phylogenetics were to work perfectly (which it does not), then some nuclear-encoded proteins that were acquired from the alpha-proteobacterial ancestor of mitochondria should, in phylogenetic trees, branch with homologues that are no longer found in most alpha-proteobacterial genomes, and some should reside on long branches that reveal affinity to eubacterial rather than archaebacterial homologues, but no particular affinity for any specific eubacterial donor.     

Heat Shock Protein 70 Family: Multiple Sequence Comparisons, Function, and Evolution

The heat shock protein 70 kDa sequences (HSP70) are of great importance as molecular chaperones in protein folding and transport. They are abundant under conditions of cellular stress. They are highly conserved in all domains of life: Archaea, eubacteria, eukaryotes, and organelles (mitochondria, chloroplasts). A multiple alignment of a large collection of these sequences was obtained employing our symmetric-iterative ITERALIGN program (Brocchieri and Karlin 1998). Assessments of conservation are interpreted in evolutionary terms and with respect to functional implications. Many archaeal sequences (methanogens and halophiles) tend to align best with the Gram-positive sequences. These two groups also miss a signature segment [about 25 amino acids (aa) long] present in all other HSP70 species (Gupta and Golding 1993). We observed a second signature sequence of about 4 aa absent from all eukaryotic homologues, significantly aligned in all prokaryotic sequences. Consensus sequences were developed for eight groups [Archaea, Gram-positive, proteobacterial Gram-negative, singular bacteria, mitochondria, plastids, eukaryotic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) isoforms, eukaryotic cytoplasmic isoforms]. All group consensus comparisons tend to summarize better the alignments than do the individual sequence comparisons. The global individual consensus ``matches' 87% with the consensus of consensuses sequence. A functional analysis of the global consensus identifies a (new) highly significant mixed charge cluster proximal to the carboxyl terminus of the sequence highlighting the hypercharge run EEDKKRRER (one-letter aa code used). The individual Archaea and Gram-positive sequences contain a corresponding significant mixed charge cluster in the location of the charge cluster of the consensus sequence. In contrast, the four Gram-negative proteobacterial sequences of the alignment do not have a charge cluster (even at the 5% significance level). All eukaryotic HSP70 sequences have the analogous charge cluster. Strikingly, several of the eukaryotic isoforms show multiple mixed charged clusters. These clusters were interpreted with supporting data related to HSP70 activity in facilitating chaperone, transport, and secretion function. We observed that the consensus contains only a single tryptophan residue and a single conserved cysteine. This is interpreted with respect to the target rule for disaggregating misfolded proteins. The mitochondrial HSP70 connections to bacterial HSP70 are analyzed, suggesting a polyphyletic split of Trypanosoma and Leishmania protist mitochondrial (Mt) homologues separated from Mt-animal/fungal/plant homologues. Moreover, the HSP70 sequences from the amitochondrial Entamoeba histolytica and Trichomonas vaginalis species were analyzed. The E. histolytica HSP70 is most similar to the higher eukaryotic cytoplasmic sequences, with significantly weaker alignments to ER sequences and much diminished matching to all eubacterial, mitochondrial, and chloroplast sequences. This appears to be at variance with the hypothesis that E. histolytica rather recently lost its mitochondrial organelle. T. vaginalis contains two HSP70 sequences, one Mt-like and the second similar to eukaryotic cytoplasmic sequences suggesting two diverse origins. Received: 29 January 1998 / Accepted: 14 May 1998     

Single eubacterial origin of eukaryotic sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase,a mitochondrial enzyme conserved from the early evolution of eukaryotes during anoxic and sulfidic times

Mitochondria occur as aerobic, facultatively anaerobic, and, in the case of hydrogenosomes, strictly anaerobic forms. This physiological diversity of mitochondrial oxygen requirement is paralleled by that of free-living alpha-proteobacteria, the group of eubacteria from which mitochondria arose, many of which are facultative anaerobes. Although ATP synthesis in mitochondria usually involves the oxidation of reduced carbon compounds, many alpha-proteobacteria and some mitochondria are known to use sulfide (H2S) as an electron donor for the respiratory chain and its associated ATP synthesis. In many eubacteria, the oxidation of sulfide involves the enzyme sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (SQR). Nuclear-encoded homologs of SQR are found in several eukaryotic genomes. Here we show that eukaryotic SQR genes characterized to date can be traced to a single acquisition from a eubacterial donor in the common ancestor of animals and fungi. Yet, SQR is not a well-conserved protein, and our analyses suggest that the SQR gene has furthermore undergone some lateral transfer among prokaryotes during evolution, leaving the precise eubacterial lineage from which eukaryotes obtained their SQR difficult to discern with phylogenetic methods. Newer geochemical data and microfossil evidence indicate that major phases of early eukaryotic diversification occurred during a period of the Earth's history from 1 to 2 billion years before present in which the subsurface ocean waters contained almost no oxygen but contained high concentrations of sulfide, suggesting that the ability to deal with sulfide was essential for prokaryotes and eukaryotes during that time. Notwithstanding poor resolution in deep SQR phylogeny and lack of a specifically alpha-protebacterial branch for the eukaryotic enzyme on the basis of current lineage sampling, a single eubacterial origin of eukaryotic SQR and the evident need of ancient eukaryotes to deal with sulfide, a process today germane to mitochondrial quinone reduction, are compatible with the view that eukaryotic SQR was an acquisition from the mitochondrial endosymbiont.     

Phylogenetic analysis of the triterpene cyclase protein family in prokaryotes and eukaryotes suggests bidirectional lateral gene transfer

Functional constraints to modifications in triterpene cyclase amino acid sequences make them good candidates for evolutionary studies on the phylogenetic relatedness of these enzymes in prokaryotes as well as in eukaryotes. In this study, we used a set of identified triterpene cyclases, a group of mainly bacterial squalene cyclases and a group of predominantly eukaryotic oxidosqualene cyclases, as seed sequences to identify 5288 putative triterpene cyclase homologues in publicly available databases. The Cluster Analysis of Sequences software was used to detect groups of sequences with increased pairwise sequence similarity. The sequences fall into two main clusters, a bacterial and a eukaryotic. The conserved, informative regions of a multiple sequence alignment of the family were used to construct a neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree using the AsaturA and maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree using the PhyML software. Both analyses showed that most of the triterpene cyclase sequences were similarly grouped to the accepted taxonomic relationships of the organism the sequences originated from, supporting the idea of vertical transfer of cyclase genes from parent to offspring as the main evolutionary driving force in this protein family. However, a small group of sequences from three bacterial species ( Stigmatella , Gemmata and Methylococcus ) grouped with an otherwise purely eukaryotic cluster of oxidosqualene cyclases, while a small group of sequences from seven fungal species and a sequence from the fern Adiantum grouped consistently with a cluster of otherwise purely bacterial squalene cyclases. This suggests that lateral gene transfer may have taken place, entailing a transfer of oxidosqualene cyclases from eukaryotes to bacteria and a transfer of squalene cyclase from bacteria to an ancestor of the group of Pezizomycotina fungi.     

Molecular Evolution of Translin Superfamily Proteins Within the Genomes of Eubacteria, Archaea and Eukaryotes

Translin and its interacting partner protein, TRAX, are members of the translin superfamily. These proteins are involved in mRNA regulation and in promoting RISC activity by removing siRNA passenger strand cleavage products, and have been proposed to play roles in DNA repair and recombination. Both homomeric translin and heteromeric translin-TRAX complex bind to ssDNA and RNA; however, the heteromeric complex is a key activator in siRNA-mediated silencing in human and drosophila. The residues critical for RNase activity of the complex reside in TRAX sequence. Both translin and TRAX are well conserved in eukaryotes. In present work, a single translin superfamily protein is detected in Chloroflexi eubacteria, in the known phyla of archaea and in some unicellular eukaryotes. The prokaryotic proteins essentially share unique sequence motifs with eukaryotic TRAX, while the proteins possessing both the unique sequences and conserved indels of TRAX or translin can be identified from protists. Intriguingly, TRAX protein in all the known genomes of extant Chloroflexi share high sequence similarity and conserved indels with the archaeal protein, suggesting occurrence of TRAX at least at the time of Chloroflexi divergence as well as evolutionary relationship between Chloroflexi and archaea. The mirror phylogeny in phylogenetic tree, constructed using diverse translin and TRAX sequences, indicates gene duplication event leading to evolution of translin in unicellular eukaryotes, prior to divergence of multicellular eukayrotes. Since Chloroflexi has been debated to be near the last universal common ancestor, the present analysis indicates that TRAX may be useful to understand the tree of life.     

Evolution of HSP70 gene and its implications regarding relationships between archaebacteria,eubacteria, and eukaryotes

The 70-kDa heat-shock protein (HSP70) constitutes the most conserved protein present in all organisms that is known to date. Based on global alignment of HSP70 sequences from organisms representing all three domains, numerous sequence signatures that are specific for prokaryotic and eukaryotic homologs have been identified. HSP70s from the two archaebacterial species examined (viz., Halobacterium marismortui and Methanosarcina mazei) have been found to contain all eubacterial but no eukaryotic signature sequences. Based on several novel features of the HSP70 family of proteins (viz., presence of tandem repeats of a 9-amino-acid [a.a.] polypeptide sequence and structural similarity between the first and second quadrants of HSP70, homology of the N-terminal half of HSP70 to the bacterial MreB protein, presence of a conserved insert of 23–27 a.a. in all HSP70s except those from archaebacteria and gram-positive eubacteria) a model for the evolution of HSP70 gene from an early stage is proposed. The HSP70 homologs from archaebacteria and gram-positive bacteria lacking the insert in the N-terminal quadrants are indicated to be the ancestral form of the protein. Detailed phylogenetic analyses of HSP70 sequence data (viz., by bootstrap analyses, maximum parsimony, and maximum likelihood methods) provide evidence that archaebacteria are not monophyletic and show a close evolutionary linkage with the gram-positive eubacteria. These results do not support the traditional archaebacterial tree, where a close relationship between archaebacterial and eukaryotic homologs is observed. To explain the phylogenies based on HSP70 and other gene sequences, a model for the origin of eukaryotic cells involving fusion between archaebacteria and gram-negative eubacteria is proposed. Correspondence to: R. S. Gupta