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Horizontal gene transfer promoted evolution of the ability to propagate under anaerobic conditions in yeasts

Author

  • Z Gojković
  • W Knecht
  • E Zameitat
  • J Warneboldt
  • J-B Coutelis
  • Y Pynyaha
  • C Neuveglise
  • K Møller
  • M Löffler
  • J Piskur

Summary, in English

The ability to propagate under anaerobic conditions is an essential and unique trait of brewer's or baker's yeast ( Saccharomyces cervisiae). To understand the evolution of facultative anaerobiosis we studied the dependence of de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis, more precisely the fourth enzymic activity catalysed by dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODase), on the enzymes of the respiratory chain in several yeast species. While the majority of yeasts possess a mitochondrial DHODase, Saccharomyces cerevisiae has a cytoplasmatic enzyme, whose activity is independent of the presence of oxygen. From the phylogenetic point of view, this enzyme is closely related to a bacterial DHODase from Lactococcus lactis. Here we show that S. kluyveri, which separated from the S. cerevisiae lineage more than 100 million years ago, represents an evolutionary intermediate, having both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial DHODases. We show that these two S. kluyveri enzymes, and their coding genes, differ in their dependence on the presence of oxygen. Only the cytoplasmic DHODase promotes growth in the absence of oxygen. Apparently a Saccharomyces yeast progenitor which had a eukaryotic-like mitochondrial DHODase acquired a bacterial gene for DHODase, which subsequently allowed cell growth gradually to become independent of oxygen.

Publishing year

2004

Language

English

Pages

387-393

Publication/Series

Molecular Genetics and Genomics

Volume

271

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Biological Sciences

Keywords

  • Anaerobiosis
  • Biological Evolution
  • Cell Division
  • Cytoplasm/enzymology
  • DNA, Fungal/genetics
  • Electron Transport
  • Gene Transfer, Horizontal
  • Mitochondria/enzymology
  • Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-CH Group Donors/metabolism
  • Oxygen/metabolism
  • Phylogeny
  • Pyrimidines/biosynthesis
  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae/enzymology
  • Subcellular Fractions/enzymology

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1617-4615