Antarctic DNA moving forward: genomic plasticity and biotechnological potential

Martínez-Rosales, Cecilia; Fullana, Natalia; Musto, Héctor; Castro‐Sowinski, Susana

doi:10.1111/j.1574-6968.2012.02531.x

Cited by 39 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…In general, HGT hardly occurs between fungi (eukaryote) and bacteria (prokaryote) because of the difference in codon usage and incompatibility of promoters . However, it is known that HGT frequently occurs under specific stress from harsh environmental conditions and provides a selective advantage to the recipient organism . Thus, extremely cold environments accompanied by ice crystal formation are likely to exert a strong selection pressure on microorganisms, and there is a strong demand for IBPs to adapt to this special environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice‐binding proteins from the fungus Antarctomyces psychrotrophicus possibly originate from two different bacteria through horizontal gene transfer

et al. 2018

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Various microbes, including fungi and bacteria, that live in cold environments produce ice‐binding proteins (IBPs) that protect them from freezing. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota are two major phyla of fungi, and Antarctomyces psychrotrophicus is currently designated as the sole ascomycete that produces IBP (AnpIBP). However, its complete amino acid sequence, ice‐binding property, and evolutionary history have not yet been clarified. Here, we determined the peptide sequences of three new AnpIBP isoforms by total cDNA analysis and compared them with those of other microbial IBPs. The AnpIBP isoforms and ascomycete‐putative IBPs were found to be phylogenetically close to the bacterial ones but far from the basidiomycete ones, which is supported by the higher sequence identities to bacterial IBPs than basidiomycete IBPs, although ascomycetes are phylogenetically distant from bacteria. In addition, two of the isoforms of AnpIBP share low sequence identity and are not close in the phylogenetic tree. It is hence presumable that these two AnpIBP isoforms were independently acquired from different bacteria through horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which implies that ascomycetes and bacteria frequently exchange their IBP genes. The non‐colligative freezing‐point depression ability of AnpIBP was not very high, whereas it exhibited significant abilities of ice recrystallization inhibition, ice shaping, and cryo‐protection against freeze–thaw cycles even at submicromolar concentrations. These results suggest that HGT is crucial for the cold‐adaptive evolution of ascomycetes, and their IBPs offer freeze resistance to organisms to enable them to inhabit the icy environments of Antarctica. Databases Nucleotide sequence data are available in the DDBJ database under the accession numbers , , for AnpIBP1a, AnpIBP1b, AnpIBP2, respectively.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ice‐binding proteins from the fungus Antarctomyces psychrotrophicus possibly originate from two different bacteria through horizontal gene transfer

et al. 2018

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“…Furthermore, numerous strains have been subjected to genomic investigations. This research has been mainly focused on their mechanisms of cold adaptation, which are interesting from both an evolutionary and a biotechnological point of view (Casanueva et al, 2010; Martinez-Rosales et al, 2012). Unfortunately, very little attention has been paid to the range and direction of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) among cold-active bacteria.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plasmids of psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria and their role in adaptation to cold environments

Dziewit

Bartosik

2014

Front. Microbiol.

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Extremely cold environments are a challenge for all organisms. They are mostly inhabited by psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria, which employ various strategies to cope with the cold. Such harsh environments are often highly vulnerable to the influence of external factors and may undergo frequent dynamic changes. The rapid adjustment of bacteria to changing environmental conditions is crucial for their survival. Such “short-term” evolution is often enabled by plasmids—extrachromosomal replicons that represent major players in horizontal gene transfer. The genomic sequences of thousands of microorganisms, including those of many cold-active bacteria have been obtained over the last decade, but the collected data have yet to be thoroughly analyzed. This report describes the results of a meta-analysis of the NCBI sequence databases to identify and characterize plasmids of psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria. We have performed in-depth analyses of 66 plasmids, almost half of which are cryptic replicons not exceeding 10 kb in size. Our analyses of the larger plasmids revealed the presence of numerous genes, which may increase the phenotypic flexibility of their host strains. These genes encode enzymes possibly involved in (i) protection against cold and ultraviolet radiation, (ii) scavenging of reactive oxygen species, (iii) metabolism of amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleotides and lipids, (iv) energy production and conversion, (v) utilization of toxic organic compounds (e.g., naphthalene), and (vi) resistance to heavy metals, metalloids and antibiotics. Some of the plasmids also contain type II restriction-modification systems, which are involved in both plasmid stabilization and protection against foreign DNA. Moreover, approx. 50% of the analyzed plasmids carry genetic modules responsible for conjugal transfer or mobilization for transfer, which may facilitate the spread of these replicons among various bacteria, including across species boundaries.

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“…As mentioned earlier, various polar microorganisms are known to produce antimicrobial compounds [11,29,30], while antibiotic resistance genes have even been identified from Arctic permafrost cores [71]. It is unknown how frequently horizontal gene transfer occurs, but a number of mobile elements have been identified from Antarctic soils, with evidence of past transfer events [72,73]. …”

Section: Factors Influencing the Relative Success Of Polar Microormentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Competition in Polar Soils: A Review of an Understudied but Potentially Important Control on Productivity

Bell

Callender

Whyte

et al. 2013

Biology

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Intermicrobial competition is known to occur in many natural environments, and can result from direct conflict between organisms, or from differential rates of growth, colonization, and/or nutrient acquisition. It has been difficult to extensively examine intermicrobial competition in situ, but these interactions may play an important role in the regulation of the many biogeochemical processes that are tied to microbial communities in polar soils. A greater understanding of how competition influences productivity will improve projections of gas and nutrient flux as the poles warm, may provide biotechnological opportunities for increasing the degradation of contaminants in polar soil, and will help to predict changes in communities of higher organisms, such as plants.

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Antarctic DNA moving forward: genomic plasticity and biotechnological potential

Cited by 39 publications

References 70 publications

Ice‐binding proteins from the fungus Antarctomyces psychrotrophicus possibly originate from two different bacteria through horizontal gene transfer

Ice‐binding proteins from the fungus Antarctomyces psychrotrophicus possibly originate from two different bacteria through horizontal gene transfer

Plasmids of psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria and their role in adaptation to cold environments

Microbial Competition in Polar Soils: A Review of an Understudied but Potentially Important Control on Productivity

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