Evolutionary paths toward multi-level convergence of lactic acid bacteria in fructose-rich environments.

ABSTRACT: Convergence provides clues to unveil the non-random nature of evolution. Intermediate paths toward convergence inform us of the stochasticity and the constraint of evolutionary processes. Although previous studies have suggested that substantial constraints exist in microevolutionary paths, it remains unclear whether macroevolutionary convergence follows stochastic or constrained paths. Here, we performed comparative genomics for hundreds of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) species, including clades showing a convergent gene repertoire and sharing fructose-rich habitats. By adopting phylogenetic comparative methods we showed that the genomic convergence of distinct fructophilic LAB (FLAB) lineages was caused by parallel losses of more than a hundred orthologs and the gene losses followed signifi

SUBMITTER: Konno N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11269746 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature