Unusual pattern of bacterial ice nucleation gene evolution |
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Authors: | Edwards AR; Van den Bussche RA; Wichman HA; Orser CS |
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Institution: | Department of Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry, University of Idaho, Moscow 83843. |
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Abstract: | Bacterial ice nucleation activity (INA+ phenotype) can be traced to the
product of a single gene, ina. A remarkably sparse distribution of this
phenotype within three bacterial genera indicates that the ina gene may
have followed an unusual evolutionary path. Southern blot analyses, coupled
with assays for ice-nucleating ability, revealed that within four bacterial
species an ina gene is present in some strains but absent from others.
Results of hybridization experiments using DNA fragments that flank the ina
gene suggested that the genotypic dimorphism of ina may be anomalous. A
phylogenetic analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences from a total of
14 ina+ and ina- bacterial strains indicated that the ina+ bacteria are not
monophyletic but instead phylogenetically interspersed among ina- bacteria.
The relationships of ina+ bacteria inferred from ina sequence did not
coincide with those inferred from the 16S data. These results suggest the
possibility of horizontal transfer in the evolution of bacterial ina genes.
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