Lateral gene transfer of family A DNA polymerases between thermophilic viruses, aquificae, and apicomplexa.

ABSTRACT: Bioinformatics and functional screens identified a group of Family A-type DNA Polymerase (polA) genes encoded by viruses inhabiting circumneutral and alkaline hot springs in Yellowstone National Park and the US Great Basin. The proteins encoded by these viral polA genes (PolAs) shared no significant sequence similarity with any known viral proteins but were remarkably similar to PolAs encoded by two of three families of the bacterial phylum Aquificae and by several apicoplast-targeted PolA-like proteins found in the eukaryotic phylum Apicomplexa, which includes the obligate parasites Plasmodium, Babesia, and Toxoplasma. The viral gene products share signature elements previously associated only with Aquificae and Apicomplexa PolA-like proteins and were similar to proteins encoded by propha

SUBMITTER: Schoenfeld TW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3684859 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature