Gene make-up: rapid and massive intron gains after horizontal transfer of a bacterial α-amylase gene to Basidiomycetes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Increasing genome data show that introns, a hallmark of eukaryotes, already existed at a high density in the last common ancestor of extant eukaryotes. However, intron content is highly variable among species. The tempo of intron gains and losses has been irregular and several factors may explain why some genomes are intron-poor whereas other are intron-rich.

Results

We studied the dynamics of intron gains and losses in an α-amylase gene, whose product breaks down starch and other polysaccharides. It was transferred from an Actinobacterium to an ancestor of Agaricomycotina. This gene underwent further duplications in several species. The results indicate a high rate of intron insertions soon after the gene settled in the fungal genome. A number of these oldest int

SUBMITTER: Da Lage JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3584928 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature