Recombination between elongation factor 1alpha genes from distantly related archaeal lineages.

ABSTRACT: Homologous recombination (HR) and lateral gene transfer are major processes in genome evolution. The combination of the two processes, HR between genes in different species, has been documented but is thought to be restricted to very similar sequences in relatively closely related organisms. Here we report two cases of interspecific HR in the gene encoding the core translational protein translation elongation factor 1alpha (EF-1alpha) between distantly related archaeal groups. Maximum-likelihood sliding window analyses indicate that a fragment of the EF-1alpha gene from the archaeal lineage represented by Methanopyrus kandleri was recombined into the orthologous gene in a common ancestor of the Thermococcales. A second recombination event appears to have occurred between the EF-1alpha gene

SUBMITTER: Inagaki Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1450205 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature