How a Genetically Stable Extremophile Evolves: Modes of Genome Diversification in the Archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius.

ABSTRACT: In order to analyze in molecular terms how Sulfolobus genomes diverge, damage-induced mutations and natural polymorphisms (PMs) were identified in laboratory constructs and wild-type isolates, respectively, of Sulfolobus acidocaldarius Among wild-type isolates drawn from one local population, pairwise nucleotide divergence averaged 4 × 10^-6, which is about 0.15% of the corresponding divergence reported for Sulfolobus islandicus The most variable features of wild-type S. acidocaldarius genomes were homopolymer (mononucleotide) tracts and longer tandem repeats, consistent with the spontaneous mutations that occur under laboratory conditions. Natural isolates, however, also revealed large insertions/deletions and inversions, which did not occur in any of

SUBMITTER: Mao D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5553033 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature