Shared properties of gene transfer agent and core genes revealed by comparative genomics of Alphaproteobacteria.

ABSTRACT: Gene transfer agents (GTAs) are phage-like particles that transfer pieces of cellular genomic DNA to other cells. Homologues of the Rhodobacter capsulatus GTA (RcGTA) structural genes are widely distributed in the Alphaproteobacteria and particularly well conserved in the order Rhodobacterales. Possible reasons for their widespread conservation are still being discussed. It has been suggested that these alphaproteobacterial elements originate from a prophage that was present in an ancestral bacterium and subsequently evolved into a GTA that is now widely maintained in extant descendant lineages. Here, we analysed genomic properties that might relate to the conservation of these alphaproteobacterial GTAs. This revealed that the chromosomal locations of the GTA gene clusters are biase

SUBMITTER: Koppenhofer S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9836097 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature