Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #181653
Title: LATERAL GENE TRANSFER IN MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM SUBSP. PARATUBERCULOSIS

Author
item REDDY, M. - MCMASTER UNIV., CANADA
item Bannantine, John
item GOLDING, M. - MCMASTER UNIV., CANADA

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/25/2005
Publication Date: 6/25/2005
Citation: Reddy, M.P., Bannantine, J.P., Golding, M.B. 2005. Lateral gene transfer in mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis [abstract]. Annual Meeting of the International Society for Computational Biology.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Mycoabcterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (M. a. paratuberculosis) is a pathogenic bacteria that causes Johne's disease in cattle. Its genome is 99% identical to M. avium subsp. avium. We report instances of lateral gene transfer from a genome wide survey of M. a. paratuberculosis. We analyzed the genes in this organism for lateral transfers by first identifying unique genes and then phylogenetically classifying these genes. A total of 804 genes, classified as unique were phylogenetically analyzed and the presumed ancestral species for 146 of these genes (33 functionally characterized and 113 hypothetical) were identified. Of the 33 functionally characterized genes, 24 were newly acquired, eight were xenologous displacements and one was a very distant paralog of an existing gene. Prominent laterally transferred genes included the pcaBGH gene cluster involved in protocatechuate degradation, rsbR - a regulator of sigma factor and MAP3614 and MAP3757 from Eukaryotes. Most of the acquired genes were from proteobacteria or soil dwelling actinobacteria suggesting that M. a. paratubersulosis may have evolved by acquiring the genes necessary for it's survival in soil. The results of this study suggest that, like most other bacteria, lateral gene transfers seem to be a common feature in M. a. paratuberculosis and that proteobacteria contribute most of these genetic exchanges.