Eukaryote to gut bacteria transfer of a glycoside hydrolase gene essential for starch breakdown in plants.

ABSTRACT: Lateral gene transfer (LGT) between bacteria constitutes a strong force in prokaryote evolution, transforming the hierarchical tree of life into a network of relationships between species. In contrast, only a few cases of LGT from eukaryotes to prokaryotes have been reported so far. The distal animal intestine is predominantly a bacterial ecosystem, supplying the host with energy from dietary polysaccharides through carbohydrate-active enzymes absent from its genome. It has been suggested that LGT is particularly important for the human microbiota evolution. Here we show evidence for the first eukaryotic gene identified in multiple gut bacterial genomes. We found in the genome sequence of several gut bacteria, a typically eukaryotic glycoside-hydrolase necessary for starch breakdown in pla

SUBMITTER: Arias MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3429525 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature