Unique mobile elements and scalable gene flow at the prokaryote-eukaryote boundary revealed by circularized Asgard archaea genomes.

ABSTRACT: Eukaryotic genomes are known to have garnered innovations from both archaeal and bacterial domains but the sequence of events that led to the complex gene repertoire of eukaryotes is largely unresolved. Here, through the enrichment of hydrothermal vent microorganisms, we recovered two circularized genomes of Heimdallarchaeum species that belong to an Asgard archaea clade phylogenetically closest to eukaryotes. These genomes reveal diverse mobile elements, including an integrative viral genome that bidirectionally replicates in a circular form and aloposons, transposons that encode the 5,000 amino acid-sized proteins Otus and Ephialtes. Heimdallaechaeal mobile elements have garnered various genes from bacteria and bacteriophages, likely playing a role in shuffling functions across domains.

SUBMITTER: Wu F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8813620 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature