A Unique Gene Module in Thermococcales Archaea Centered on a Hypervariable Protein Containing Immunoglobulin Domains.

ABSTRACT: Molecular mechanisms involved in biological conflicts and self vs nonself recognition in archaea remain poorly characterized. We apply phylogenomic analysis to identify a hypervariable gene module that is widespread among Thermococcales. These loci consist of an upstream gene coding for a large protein containing several immunoglobulin (Ig) domains and unique combinations of downstream genes, some of which also contain Ig domains. In the large Ig domain containing protein, the C-terminal Ig domain sequence is hypervariable, apparently, as a result of recombination between genes from different Thermococcales. To reflect the hypervariability, we denote this gene module VARTIG (VARiable Thermococcales IG). The overall organization of the VARTIG modules is similar to the o

SUBMITTER: Makarova KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8416519 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature