Ancestor of land plants acquired the DNA-3-methyladenine glycosylase (MAG) gene from bacteria through horizontal gene transfer.

ABSTRACT: The origin and evolution of land plants was an important event in the history of life and initiated the establishment of modern terrestrial ecosystems. From water to terrestrial environments, plants needed to overcome the enhanced ultraviolet (UV) radiation and many other DNA-damaging agents. Evolving new genes with the function of DNA repair is critical for the origin and radiation of land plants. In bacteria, the DNA-3-methyladenine glycosylase (MAG) recognizes of a variety of base lesions and initiates the process of the base excision repair for damaged DNA. The homologs of MAG gene are present in all major lineages of streptophytes, and both the phylogenic and sequence similarity analyses revealed that green plant MAG gene originated through an ancient horizontal gene transfer (HGT) ev

SUBMITTER: Fang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5570899 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature