Frequent ectopic recombination of virulence factor genes in telomeric chromosome clusters of P. falciparum

Freitas‐Junior, Lúcio H.; Bottius, Emmanuel; Pirrit, Lindsay A.; Deitsch, Kirk W.; Scheidig, Christine; Guinet, Françoise; Nehrbass, Ulf; Wellems, Thomas E.; Scherf, Artur

doi:10.1038/35039531

Cited by 500 publications

(465 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

438

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…A similar observation for wheat chromosome 3 and rice chromosome 1 led Akhunov et al (39) to conclude that chromosomes lose synteny from each other at a faster rate in high-recombination regions. In Plasmodium vivax the telomerically located var genes show elevated recombination, which promotes the diversification of antigenic and adhesive phenotypes (40). Nonterminal regions of NSH EST concentration along the chromosome length might be explained by recombination hot spots (41).…”

Section: Genetic Recombination and The Genomic Distribution Of Divergentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gene evolution at the ends of wheat chromosomes

See

Brooks

Nelson

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wheat ESTs mapped to deletion bins in the distal 42% of the long arm of chromosome 4B (4BL) were ordered in silico based on blastn homology against rice pseudochromosome 3. The ESTs spanned 29 cM on the short arm of rice chromosome 3, which is known to be syntenic to long arms of group-4 chromosomes of wheat. Fine-scale deletion-bin and genetic mapping revealed that 83% of ESTs were syntenic between wheat and rice, a far higher level of synteny than previously reported, and 6% were nonsyntenic (not located on rice chromosome 3). One inversion spanning a 5-cM region in rice and three deletion bins in wheat was identified. The remaining 11% of wheat ESTs showed no sequence homology in rice and mapped to the terminal 5% of the wheat chromosome 4BL. In this region, 27% of ESTs were duplicated, and it accounted for 70% of the recombination in the 4BL arm. Globally in wheat, no sequence homology ESTs mapped to the terminal bins, and ESTs rarely mapped to interstitial chromosomal regions known to be recombination hot spots. The wheat–rice comparative genomics analysis indicated that gene evolution occurs preferentially at the ends of chromosomes, driven by duplication and divergence associated with high rates of recombination.

show abstract

Section: Genetic Recombination and The Genomic Distribution Of Divergentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gene evolution at the ends of wheat chromosomes

See

Brooks

Nelson

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Analogous distributions of nonessential genes are also found in other species. For example, in Plasmodium falciparum, the peripheral regions encode variable surface antigen genes (contingency genes) that help this parasite evade the host's immune defenses (Freitas-Junior et al 2000;Barry et al 2003). Many of the genes found in such regions are members of multicopy gene families that allow structural variation to occur through ectopic homologous recombination events similar to those detected in JAY270.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome structure of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain widely used in bioethanol production

Argueso

Carazzolle

Mieczkowski³

et al. 2009

Genome Res.

238

236

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bioethanol is a biofuel produced mainly from the fermentation of carbohydrates derived from agricultural feedstocks by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. One of the most widely adopted strains is PE-2, a heterothallic diploid naturally adapted to the sugar cane fermentation process used in Brazil. Here we report the molecular genetic analysis of a PE-2 derived diploid (JAY270), and the complete genome sequence of a haploid derivative (JAY291). The JAY270 genome is highly heterozygous (;2 SNPs/kb) and has several structural polymorphisms between homologous chromosomes. These chromosomal rearrangements are confined to the peripheral regions of the chromosomes, with breakpoints within repetitive DNA sequences. Despite its complex karyotype, this diploid, when sporulated, had a high frequency of viable spores. Hybrid diploids formed by outcrossing with the laboratory strain S288c also displayed good spore viability. Thus, the rearrangements that exist near the ends of chromosomes do not impair meiosis, as they do not span regions that contain essential genes. This observation is consistent with a model in which the peripheral regions of chromosomes represent plastic domains of the genome that are free to recombine ectopically and experiment with alternative structures. We also explored features of the JAY270 and JAY291 genomes that help explain their high adaptation to industrial environments, exhibiting desirable phenotypes such as high ethanol and cell mass production and high temperature and oxidative stress tolerance. The genomic manipulation of such strains could enable the creation of a new generation of industrial organisms, ideally suited for use as delivery vehicles for future bioenergy technologies.

show abstract

“…Gene conversion has been reported for other P. falciparum loci, such as falcipain 2 [48] and var [49], as a source of genetic diversity. In this study, we show that clag3.1/3.2, which interchange their sequences by gene conversion, evolved more rapidly than clag2.…”

Section: Evolution Of Pfrhoph1/clag Polymorphism Of the Extant P Falmentioning

confidence: 98%

Diversity and evolution of the rhoph1/clag multigene family of Plasmodium falciparum

Iriko

Kaneko

Otsuki

et al. 2008

Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A complex of high molecular mass proteins (PfRhopH) of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum induces host protective immunity and therefore is a candidate for vaccine development. Understanding the level of polymorphism and the evolutionary processes is important for advancements in both vaccine design and knowledge of the evolution of cell invasion in this parasite. In the present study, we sequenced the entire open reading frames of seven genes encoding the proteins of the PfRhopH complex (rhoph2, rhoph3, and five rhoph1/clag gene paralogs). We found that four rhoph1/clag genes (clag2, 3.1, 3.2, and 8) were highly polymorphic. Amino acid substitutions and indels are predominantly clustered around amino acid positions 1000-1200 of these four rhoph1/clag genes. An excess of nonsynonymous substitutions over synonymous substitutions was detected for clag8 and 9, indicating positive selection. The McDonald-Kreitman test with a Plasmodium reichenowi orthologous sequence also supports positive selection on clag8. Based on the ratio of interspecific genetic distance to intraspecific distance, the time to the most recent common ancestor of the clag2 and 8 polymorphisms was estimated to be 1.89 and 0.87 million years ago, respectively, assuming divergence of P. falciparum and P. reichenowi 6 million years ago. In addition to a copy number polymorphism, gene conversion events were detected for the rhoph1/clag genes on chromosome 3, which likely play a role in increasing the diversity of each locus. Our results indicate that a high diversity of the PfRhopH1/Clag multigene family is maintained by diversifying selection forces over a considerably long period.

show abstract

Frequent ectopic recombination of virulence factor genes in telomeric chromosome clusters of P. falciparum

Cited by 500 publications

References 30 publications

Gene evolution at the ends of wheat chromosomes

Gene evolution at the ends of wheat chromosomes

Genome structure of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain widely used in bioethanol production

Diversity and evolution of the rhoph1/clag multigene family of Plasmodium falciparum

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About