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Two Origins for the Gene Encoding α-Isopropylmalate Synthase in Fungi
BACKGROUND: The biosynthesis of leucine is a biochemical pathway common to prokaryotes, plants and fungi, but absent from humans and animals. The pathway is a proposed target for antimicrobial therapy. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we identified the leuA gene encoding α-isopropylmalate syntha...
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Public Library of Science
2010
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2904702/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20657649 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011605 |
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author | Larson, Erica M. Idnurm, Alexander |
author_facet | Larson, Erica M. Idnurm, Alexander |
author_sort | Larson, Erica M. |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: The biosynthesis of leucine is a biochemical pathway common to prokaryotes, plants and fungi, but absent from humans and animals. The pathway is a proposed target for antimicrobial therapy. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we identified the leuA gene encoding α-isopropylmalate synthase in the zygomycete fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus using a genetic mapping approach with crosses between wild type and leucine auxotrophic strains. To confirm the function of the gene, Phycomyces leuA was used to complement the auxotrophic phenotype exhibited by mutation of the leu3(+) gene of the ascomycete fungus Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the leuA gene in Phycomyces, other zygomycetes, and the chytrids is more closely related to homologs in plants and photosynthetic bacteria than ascomycetes or basidiomycetes, and suggests that the Dikarya have acquired the gene more recently. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The identification of leuA in Phycomyces adds to the growing body of evidence that some primary metabolic pathways or parts of them have arisen multiple times during the evolution of fungi, probably through horizontal gene transfer events. |
format | Text |
id | pubmed-2904702 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2010 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-29047022010-07-23 Two Origins for the Gene Encoding α-Isopropylmalate Synthase in Fungi Larson, Erica M. Idnurm, Alexander PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: The biosynthesis of leucine is a biochemical pathway common to prokaryotes, plants and fungi, but absent from humans and animals. The pathway is a proposed target for antimicrobial therapy. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we identified the leuA gene encoding α-isopropylmalate synthase in the zygomycete fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus using a genetic mapping approach with crosses between wild type and leucine auxotrophic strains. To confirm the function of the gene, Phycomyces leuA was used to complement the auxotrophic phenotype exhibited by mutation of the leu3(+) gene of the ascomycete fungus Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the leuA gene in Phycomyces, other zygomycetes, and the chytrids is more closely related to homologs in plants and photosynthetic bacteria than ascomycetes or basidiomycetes, and suggests that the Dikarya have acquired the gene more recently. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The identification of leuA in Phycomyces adds to the growing body of evidence that some primary metabolic pathways or parts of them have arisen multiple times during the evolution of fungi, probably through horizontal gene transfer events. Public Library of Science 2010-07-15 /pmc/articles/PMC2904702/ /pubmed/20657649 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011605 Text en Larson, ldnurm. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Larson, Erica M. Idnurm, Alexander Two Origins for the Gene Encoding α-Isopropylmalate Synthase in Fungi |
title | Two Origins for the Gene Encoding α-Isopropylmalate Synthase in Fungi |
title_full | Two Origins for the Gene Encoding α-Isopropylmalate Synthase in Fungi |
title_fullStr | Two Origins for the Gene Encoding α-Isopropylmalate Synthase in Fungi |
title_full_unstemmed | Two Origins for the Gene Encoding α-Isopropylmalate Synthase in Fungi |
title_short | Two Origins for the Gene Encoding α-Isopropylmalate Synthase in Fungi |
title_sort | two origins for the gene encoding α-isopropylmalate synthase in fungi |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2904702/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20657649 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011605 |
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