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Lapierre P,
Shial R,
Gogarten JP,
( 2006 ) Distribution of F- and A/V-type ATPases in Thermus scotoductus and other closely related species. PMID : 16423651 : DOI : 10.1016/j.syapm.2005.06.004 Abstract >>
The presence of an A/V-type ATPase in different Thermus species and in the deeper branching species Meiothermus ruber and Deinococcus radiodurans suggests that the presence of the archaeal-type ATPase is a primitive character of the Deinococci that was acquired through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). However, the presence of a bacterial type F-ATPases was reported in two newly identified Thermus species (Thermus scotoductus DSM 8553 and Thermus filiformis DSM 4687). Two different scenarios can explain this finding, either the recent replacement of the ancestral A/V-type ATPase in Thermus scotoductus and Thermus filiformis with a newly acquired F-type ATPase or a long-term persistence of both F and A type ATPase in the Deinococci, which would imply several independent losses of the F-type ATPase in the Deinococci. Using PCR with redundant primers, sequencing and Southern blot analyses, we tried to confirm the presence of an F-type ATPase in the genome of Thermus scotoductus and Thermus filiformis, and determine its phylogenetic affinities. Initial experiments appeared to confirm the presence of an F-type ATPase in Thermus scotoductus that was similar to the F-ATPases found in Bacillus. However, further experiments revealed that the detection of an F-ATPase was due to a culture contamination. For all the Thermus and Deinococcus species surveyed, including Thermus scotoductus, cultures that were free of contamination only contained an A/V-type ATP synthases.
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Griffiths E,
Gupta RS,
( 2004 ) Distinctive protein signatures provide molecular markers and evidence for the monophyletic nature of the deinococcus-thermus phylum. PMID : 15126471 : DOI : 10.1128/jb.186.10.3097-3107.2004 PMC : PMC400596 Abstract >>
The Deinococcus-Thermus group of species is currently recognized as a distinct phylum solely on the basis of their branching in 16S rRNA trees. No unique biochemical or molecular characteristics that can distinguish this group from all other bacteria are known at present. In this work, we describe eight conserved indels (viz., inserts or deletions) in seven widely distributed proteins that are distinctive characteristics of the Deinococcus-Thermus phylum but are not found in any other group of bacteria. The identified signatures include a 7-amino-acid (aa) insert in threonyl-tRNA synthetase, 1- and 3-aa inserts in the RNA polymerase beta' subunit, a 5-aa deletion in signal recognition particle (Ffh/SR54), a 2-aa insert in major sigma factor 70 (sigma70), a 2-aa insert in seryl-tRNA synthetase (SerRS), a 1-aa insert in ribosomal protein L1, and a 2-aa insert in UvrA homologs. By using PCR primers for conserved regions, fragments of these genes were amplified from a number of Deinococcus-Thermus species, and all such fragments (except SerRS in Deinococcus proteolyticus) were found to contain the indicated signatures. The presence of these signatures in various species from all three known genera within this phylum, viz., Deinococcus, Thermus, and Meiothermus, provide evidence that they are likely distinctive characteristics of the entire phylum which were introduced in a common ancestor of this group. The signature in SerRS, which is absent in D. proteolyticus, was likely introduced after the branching of this species. Phylogenetic studies as well as the nature of the inserts in some of these proteins (viz., sigma70 and SerRS) also support a sister group relationship between the Thermus and the Meiothermus genera. The identified signatures provide strong evidence for the monophyletic nature of the Deinococcus-Thermus phylum. These molecular markers should prove very useful in the identification of new species related to this group.
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