Synthetic cross-phyla gene replacement and evolutionary assimilation of major enzymes.

ABSTRACT: The ability of DNA to produce a functional protein even after transfer to a foreign host is of fundamental importance in both evolutionary biology and biotechnology, enabling horizontal gene transfer in the wild and heterologous expression in the lab. However, the influence of genetic particulars on DNA functionality in a new host is poorly understood, as are the evolutionary mechanisms of assimilation and refinement. Here, we describe an automation-enabled large-scale experiment wherein Escherichia coli strains were evolved in parallel after replacement of the genes pgi or tpiA with orthologous DNA from donor species spanning all domains of life, from humans to hyperthermophilic archaea. Via analysis of hundreds of clones evolved for 50,000+ cumulative generations across dozens of indepen

SUBMITTER: Sandberg TE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7529951 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature