The Evolution of Reverse Gyrase Suggests a Nonhyperthermophilic Last Universal Common Ancestor.

ABSTRACT: Reverse gyrase (RG) is the only protein found ubiquitously in hyperthermophilic organisms, but absent from mesophiles. As such, its simple presence or absence allows us to deduce information about the optimal growth temperature of long-extinct organisms, even as far as the last universal common ancestor of extant life (LUCA). The growth environment and gene content of the LUCA has long been a source of debate in which RG often features. In an attempt to settle this debate, we carried out an exhaustive search for RG proteins, generating the largest RG data set to date. Comprising 376 sequences, our data set allows for phylogenetic reconstructions of RG with unprecedented size and detail. These RG phylogenies are strikingly different from those of universal proteins inferred to be present in

SUBMITTER: Catchpole RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6878951 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature