Thymidine Kinases in Archaea |
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Authors: | A. R. Clausen A. Matakos M. P. B. Sandrini J. Piškur |
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Affiliation: | 1. Cell and Organism Biology , Lund University , Lund, Sweden;2. Cell and Organism Biology , Lund University , Lund, Sweden;3. BioCentrum—DTU , Technical University of Denmark , Lyngby, Denmark |
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Abstract: | Twenty-six fully sequenced archaeal genomes were searched for genes coding for putative deoxyribonucleoside kinases (dNKs). We identified only 5 human-like thymidine kinase 1 genes (TK1s) and none for non-TK1 kinases. Four TK1s were identified in the Euryarchaea and one was found in the Crenarchaea, while none was found in Nanoarchaeum. The identified TK1s have high identity to Gram-positive bacteria TK1s. The TK1s from archaea, Gram-positive bacteria and eukaryotes share the same common ancestor, while the TK1s from Gram-negative bacteria belong to a less-related subgroup. It seems that a functional deoxyribonucleoside salvage pathway is not crucial for the archaeal cell. |
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Keywords: | Thymidine kinase Deoxyribonucleosides kinase Salvage pathway Archaea Evolution |
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