The plastid genome of some eustigmatophyte algae harbours a bacteria-derived six-gene cluster for biosynthesis of a novel secondary metabolite.

ABSTRACT: Acquisition of genes by plastid genomes (plastomes) via horizontal gene transfer (HGT) seems to be a rare phenomenon. Here, we report an interesting case of HGT revealed by sequencing the plastomes of the eustigmatophyte algae Monodopsis sp. MarTras21 and Vischeria sp. CAUP Q 202. These plastomes proved to harbour a unique cluster of six genes, most probably acquired from a bacterium of the phylum Bacteroidetes, with homologues in various bacteria, typically organized in a conserved uncharacterized putative operon. Sequence analyses of the six proteins encoded by the operon yielded the following annotation for them: (i) a novel family without discernible homologues; (ii) a new family within the superfamily of metallo-dependent hydrolases; (iii) a novel subgroup of the UbiA superfamily of p

SUBMITTER: Yurchenko T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5133447 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature