Role of diversity-generating retroelements for regulatory pathway tuning in cyanobacteria.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cyanobacteria maintain extensive repertoires of regulatory genes that are vital for adaptation to environmental stress. Some cyanobacterial genomes have been noted to encode diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs), which promote protein hypervariation through localized retrohoming and codon rewriting in target genes. Past research has shown DGRs to mainly diversify proteins involved in cell-cell attachment or viral-host attachment within viral, bacterial, and archaeal lineages. However, these elements may be critical in driving variation for proteins involved in other core cellular processes.

Results

Members of 31 cyanobacterial genera encode at least one DGR, and together, their retroelements form a monophyletic clade of closely-related reverse transcriptases.

SUBMITTER: Vallota-Eastman A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7517822 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature