One origin for metallo-β-lactamase activity, or two? An investigation assessing a diverse set of reconstructed ancestral sequences based on a sample of phylogenetic trees.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria use metallo-β-lactamase enzymes to hydrolyse lactam rings found in many antibiotics, rendering them ineffective. Metallo-β-lactamase activity is thought to be polyphyletic, having arisen on more than one occasion within a single functionally diverse homologous superfamily. Since discovery of multiple origins of enzymatic activity conferring antibiotic resistance has broad implications for the continued clinical use of antibiotics, we test the hypothesis of polyphyly further; if lactamase function has arisen twice independently, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) is not expected to possess lactam-hydrolysing activity. Two major problems present themselves. Firstly, even with a perfectly known phylogeny, ancestral sequence reconstruction is error prone. Secondly, the phylogeny i

SUBMITTER: Alderson RG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4185109 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature