Horizontal Gene Transfer as an Indispensable Driver for Evolution of Neocallimastigomycota into a Distinct Gut-Dwelling Fungal Lineage.

ABSTRACT: Survival and growth of the anaerobic gut fungi (AGF; Neocallimastigomycota) in the herbivorous gut necessitate the possession of multiple abilities absent in other fungal lineages. We hypothesized that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) was instrumental in forging the evolution of AGF into a phylogenetically distinct gut-dwelling fungal lineage. The patterns of HGT were evaluated in the transcriptomes of 27 AGF strains, 22 of which were isolated and sequenced in this study, and 4 AGF genomes broadly covering the breadth of AGF diversity. We identified 277 distinct incidents of HGT in AGF transcriptomes, with subsequent gene duplication resulting in an HGT frequency of 2 to 3.5% in AGF genomes. The majority of HGT events were AGF specific (91.7%) and wide (70.8%), indicating their occurrence at

SUBMITTER: Murphy CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6643240 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature