Cross-species gene-family fluctuations reveal the dynamics of horizontal transfers.

ABSTRACT: Prokaryotes vary their protein repertoire mainly through horizontal transfer and gene loss. To elucidate the links between these processes and the cross-species gene-family statistics, we perform a large-scale data analysis of the cross-species variability of gene-family abundance (the number of members of the family found on a given genome). We find that abundance fluctuations are related to the rate of horizontal transfers. This is rationalized by a minimal theoretical model, which predicts this link. The families that are not captured by the model show abundance profiles that are markedly peaked around a mean value, possibly because of specific abundance selection. Based on these results, we define an abundance variability index that captures a family's evolutionary behavior (and thus s

SUBMITTER: Grilli J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4066789 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature