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The general protein secretory pathway: phylogenetic analyses leading to evolutionary conclusions.

We have identified all homologues in the current databases of the ubiquitous protein constituents of the general secretory (Sec) pathway. These prokaryotic/eukaryotic proteins include (1) SecY/Sec61alpha, (2) SecE/Sec61gamma, (3) SecG/Sec61beta, (4) Ffh/SRP54 and (5) FtsY/SRP receptor subunit-alpha. Phylogenetic and sequence analyses lead to major conclusions concerning (1) the ubiquity of these proteins in living organisms, (2) the topological uniformity of some but not other Sec constituents, (3) the orthologous nature of almost all of them, (4) a total lack of paralogues in almost all organisms for which complete genome sequences are available, (5) the occurrence of two or even three paralogues in a few bacteria, plants, and yeast, depending on the Sec constituent, and (6) a tremendous degree of sequence divergence in bacteria compared with that in archaea or eukaryotes. The phylogenetic analyses lead to the conclusion that with a few possible exceptions, the five families of Sec constituents analyzed generally underwent sequence divergence in parallel but at different characteristic rates. The results provide evolutionary insights as well as guides for future functional studies. Because every organism with a fully sequenced genome exhibits at least one orthologue of each of these Sec proteins, we conclude that all living organisms have relied on the Sec system as their primary protein secretory/membrane insertion system. Because most prokaryotes and many eukaryotes encode within their genomes only one of each constituent, we also conclude that strong evolutionary pressure has minimized gene duplication events leading to the establishment of Sec paralogues. Finally, the sequence diversity of bacterial proteins as compared with their archaeal and eukaryotic counterparts is in agreement with the suggestion that bacteria were the evolutionary predecessors of archaea and eukaryotes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Genetic and phylogenetic analyses of HIV-1 corroborate the transmission link hypothesis.

BACKGROUND: Phylogenetic and genetic analyses have proven a valuable tool to infer epidemiological links between human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) isolates. These methods were applied in the present report for studying the genetic relatedness of the viral strains involved in two episodes of suspected HIV-1 transmission. OBJECTIVES: Provide any evidence that may help establish or refute the transmission link. STUDY DESIGN: In the first case, a leukemic patient became HIV-1 positive following the transfusion of platelets from a donor who was subsequently found to have tested false HIV-seronegative and to be sexual partner to an infected woman. In the second, a wife claimed to have acquired the infection from her husband who had concealed his infected status. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The viral pairs detected in each of the suspected transmission cases exhibited common amino acid signatures and low genetic distances and segregated together in phylogenetic trees, thus showing a level of genetic relatedness similar to reference pairs known with certainty to be epidemiologically linked. These findings corroborated the existence of a direct transmission link in both the episodes with a high level of confidence.

Cluster Analysis↗

Phylogenetic analyses of parasites in the new millennium.

Phylogenetic analysis has changed greatly in the last decade, and the most important themes in that change are reviewed here. Sequence data have become the most common source of phylogenetic information. This means that explicit models for evolutionary processes have been developed in a likelihood context, which allow more realistic data analyses. These models are becoming increasingly complex, both for nucleotides and for amino acid sequences, and so all such models need to be quantitatively assessed for each data set, to find the most appropriate one for use in any particular tree-building analysis. Bayesian analysis has been developed for tree-building and is greatly increasing in popularity. This is because a good heuristic strategy exists, which allows large data sets to be analyzed with complex evolutionary models in a practical time. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of tree interpretation is the ongoing confusion between rooted and unrooted trees, while the effect of taxon and character sampling is often overlooked when constructing a phylogeny (especially in parasitology). The review finishes with a detailed consideration of the analysis of a multi-gene data set for several dozen taxa of Cryptosporidium (Apicomplexa), illustrating many of the theoretical and practical points highlighted in the review.

Animals↗

Molecular-phylogenetic analyses of human gastrointestinal microbiota.

Molecular-phylogenetic methods have revolutionized the analysis of complex microbial communities. Polymerase chain reaction amplification and phylogenetic analysis of small-subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequences allow microbes to be identified objectively, even in the absence of cultivation. Furthermore, the sequence information obtained by these means can be used to design sequence-based tools for identifying, tracking, and diagnosing the presence of microbes in complex samples. In this article, we summarize this approach and review its application to the study of the human gastrointestinal microbiota. Although just beginning, molecular-phylogenetic surveys of human gut microbes have revealed that most microbes identified in the gastrointestinal tract represent novel, previously undescribed species. A full description of the microbial constituents of the human gut will set the groundwork for interpreting how the gastrointestinal microbiota influence the health of the host.

Journal Article↗

Phylogenetic analyses of the ATP-binding constituents of bacterial extracytoplasmic receptor-dependent ABC-type nutrient uptake permeases.

Thirty-eight ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein constituents of bacterial extracytoplasmic receptor-dependent nutrient uptake systems, including one homologous chloroplast protein were analysed for sequence conservation and phylogenetic relatedness. The proteins were generally found to cluster in accordance with the clustering patterns previously observed for the extracytoplasmic receptors and the transmembrane channel-forming constituents of these permeases. The results suggest that these transport systems evolved from a single primordial system with minimal shuffling of the three dissimilar protein constituents of the systems.

ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters↗

Base compositional bias and phylogenetic analyses: a test of the "flying DNA" hypothesis.

Phylogenetic methods can produce biased estimates of phylogeny when base composition varies along different lineages. Pettigrew (1994, Curr. Biol. 4:277-280) has suggested that base composition bias is responsible for the apparent support for the monophyly of bats (Chiroptera: megabats and microbats) from several different nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Pettigrew's "flying DNA" hypothesis makes several predictions: (1) that metabolic constraints associated with flying result in elevated levels of adenine and thymine throughout the genome of both megabats and microbats, (2) that the resulting base compositional bias in bats is sufficient to mislead phylogenetic methods and account for the support for bat monophyly from several nuclear and mitochondrial genes, and (3) that phylogenetic analysis using pairwise distances corrected for compositional bias should eliminate the support for bat monophyly. We tested these predictions by analyzing DNA sequences from two nuclear and three mitochondrial genes. The predicted base compositional bias does not appear to exist in some of the genes, and in other genes the differences in AT content are very small. Analyses under a wide diversity of criteria and models of evolution, including analyses that take base composition into account (using log-determinant distances), all strongly support bat monophyly. Moreover, simulation analyses indicate that even extreme bias toward AT-base composition in bats would be insufficient to explain the observed levels of support for bat monophyly. These analyses provide no support for the "flying DNA" hypothesis, whereas the monophyly of bats appears to be well supported by the DNA sequence data.

Animals↗

[Phylogenetic analyses of the family Tetraonchidae (Platyhelminthes: Monogenea)].

A phylogenetic reconstruction of the monogenean family Tetraonchidae was carried out by methods of parsimony-based cladistics. The analysis included 20 species of tetraonchids and two out-groups (Sundanonchus tomanorum and Dactylogyrus amphibothrium) and was based on 34 morphofunctional characters. Software PAUP 4.0 and Winclada were used for the phylogenetic reconstructions. Obtained results allow proposing a preliminary phylogenetic hypothesis of the family Tetraonchidae along with the discussion of host-parasite association. According to the current taxonomic view, the family Tetraonchidae included two genera. Cladistic analysis showed a monophyly of the family and the genus Tetraonchus Diesing, 1858. Two representative of the former genus, Tetraoncus monenteron and T. borealis, parasitize the pikes (Esocoformes: Esocidae) and the grayling (Salmonidae: Thymallinae) respectively. The genus Salmonchus Spassky et Roytman, 1958 has a complicated structure and its intrageneric relationships were not completely resolved; in general, the analysis allows to recognise several species groups: Salmonchus oncorhynchi--the parasite of the Oncorhynchus masou smolt living during the first year of life in fresh water; four species (S. variabilis, S. gussevi, S. grumosus, S. alaskensis) inhabiting specifically the whitefishes (Salmonidae: Coregoninae); all reminder of Salmonchus species occurring on the salmons (Salmonidae: Salmoninae). The bootstrap test gives a support only for the following clades: family Tetraonchidae (75%), genus Tetraonchus (88%); a group of Salmonchus species associated with the whitefishes (93%) and grouping of four species (S. huhonis, S. pseudolenoki, S. skrjabini and S. lenoki) from the lenoks (Brachymystax) and taimens (Hucho) (61%).

Animals↗

Random sampling of constrained phylogenies: conducting phylogenetic analyses when the phylogeny is partially known.

Statistical randomization tests in evolutionary biology often require a set of random, computer-generated trees. For example, earlier studies have shown how large numbers of computer-generated trees can be used to conduct phylogenetic comparative analyses even when the phylogeny is uncertain or unknown. These methods were limited, however, in that (in the absence of molecular sequence or other data) they allowed users to assume that no phylogenetic information was available or that all possible trees were known. Intermediate situations where only a taxonomy or other limited phylogenetic information (e.g., polytomies) are available are technically more difficult. The current study describes a procedure for generating random samples of phylogenies while incorporating limited phylogenetic information (e.g., four taxa belong together in a subclade). The procedure can be used to conduct comparative analyses when the phylogeny is only partially resolved or can be used in other randomization tests in which large numbers of possible phylogenies are needed.

Biometry↗

Phylogenetic analyses of the complete nucleotide sequence of the capsid protein (VP3) of Australian epizootic haemorrhagic disease of deer virus (serotype 2) and cognate genes from other orbiviruses.

The complete nucleotide sequence of the minor capsid protein (VP3) of epizootic haemorrhagic disease of deer virus (EHDV; Australian serotype 2) was determined using a combination of cloning and sequencing methods. Gene segment 3 that coded for the EHDV VP3 capsid protein was 2768 nucleotides in length with a coding region of 2697 nucleotides flanked by 5' and 3' non-coding regions of 17 and 53 nucleotides, respectively. A protein of 899 amino acids (Mr 103,160) having no overall charge at neutral pH was deduced from the nucleotide sequence. Comparisons with equivalent regions from the other Australian EHDV serotypes showed the VP3 genes and the segments that coded for them were similar, varying by a maximum of 5%. Comparisons with known cognate genes from bluetongue viruses showed that their VP3 genes and the proteins translated from them were remarkably similar to those of EHDV, having approximately 70% to 80% homology at either level, respectively. In an attempt to delineate the evolution of orbiviruses, we have obtained sequence data from the VP3 genes from representative members of all Australian orbiviruses now known. Computer analyses of this data enabled a phylogenetic tree for the orbiviruses to be proposed that incorporated the concept of topotypes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Topological and segmental phylogenetic analyses of the anion exchanger (band 3) family of transporters.

Eleven sequenced anion exchanger (AE; band 3) proteins, including five AE1, four AE2 and two AE3 proteins, comprise the anion exchanger family (AEF) of homologous proteins. Eliminating the rat and rabbit proteins that are nearly identical to the corresponding mouse proteins, seven dissimilar members of this family were selected for study, divided into N-terminal, central and C-terminal segments (designated segments 0, 1 and 2, respectively) and analysed separately for sequence similarity and phylogenetic relatedness. Segments 0 are variable in length and sequence, are essentially lacking in some of the members of the AEF, and are not demonstrably homologous in other members of the family. All segments 1 and 2 are homologous, but they exhibit widely differing degrees of sequence divergence. Segments 2 are highly conserved in all AEF proteins. Segments 1 of the AE2 and AE3 proteins are as conserved as are segments 2, but segments 1 of the AE1 proteins have diverged from each other and from the AE2 and AE3 segments 1 much more than have segments 2 of these same proteins. The distributions of various types of amino acid residues in the putative transmembrane helical spanners of the seven dissimilar members of the AEF, based on a modification of the 14-spanner model of Wang et al. (1994) was determined, and this distribution was compared with those of other transmembrane transport proteins of known structure (bacterial rhodopsins, outer membrane porins of Gram-negative bacteria and bacterial photosynthetic reaction centres.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Homologies in phylogenetic analyses--concept and tests.

Analyzing morphological characters in a phylogenetic context comprises two steps, character analysis and cladistic analysis, which are equivalent to two independent tests for hypotheses on homology. The concept of homology concerns comparable parts of the same or different organisms if their correspondences are the consequence of the same genetic or epigenetic information, and consequently of the same origin. The concept of homology is more inclusive than the character concept. Characters are seen as parts of transformation series. In the first step of morphological character analyses correspondences and non-correspondences between two characters are analyzed. A range of different examination methods and accurate study contribute to the severity of test. The hypothesis that two characters are homologous is corroborated if the correspondences outweigh the non-correspondences because the non-correspondences contradict the homology hypothesis whereas the correspondences contradict the analogy hypothesis. Complex characters possess a higher empirical content than less complex characters because they are more severely testable. The cladistic analysis tests characters against other characters which have all passed the first test. Characters which are congruent with the most parsimonious topology are further corroborated; incongruent characters are not seen as 'falsified' but as not further corroborated and subject to re-analysis. To test both homologies and topologies repeatedly is consistent with Popperian testability, and it is in such cycles of research that hypotheses will be critically re-evaluated.

Animals↗

Sequence heterogeneities among 16S ribosomal RNA sequences, and their effect on phylogenetic analyses at the species level.

We have analyzed what phylogenetic signal can be derived by small subunit rRNA comparison for bacteria of different but closely related genera (enterobacteria) and for different species or strains within a single genus (Escherichia or Salmonella), and finally how similar are the ribosomal operons within a single organism (Escherichia coli). These sequences have been analyzed by neighbor-joining, maximum likelihood, and parsimony. The robustness of each topology was assessed by bootstrap. Sequences were obtained for the seven rrn operons of E. coli strain PK3. These data demonstrated differences located in three highly variable domains. Their nature and localization suggest that since the divergence of E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium, most point mutations that occurred within each gene have been propagated among the gene family by conversions involving short domains, and that homogenization by conversions may not have affected the entire sequence of each gene. We show that the differences that exist between the different operons are ignored when sequences are obtained either after cloning of a single operon or directly from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products. Direct sequencing of PCR products produces a mean sequence in which mutations present in the most variable domains become hidden. Cloning a single operon results in a sequence that differs from that of the other operons and of the mean sequence by several point mutations. For identification of unknown bacteria at the species level or below, a mean sequence or the sequence of a single nonidentified operon should therefore be avoided. Taking into account the seven operons and therefore mutations that accumulate in the most variable domains would perhaps increase tree resolution. However, if gene conversions that homogenize the rRNA multigene family are rare events, some nodes in phylogenetic trees will reflect these recombination events and these trees may therefore be gene trees rather than organismal trees.

Bacteria↗

Phylogenetic analyses: a brief introduction to methods and their application.

Phylogenetic analysis of molecular sequence data plays an increasingly important role in clinical medicine, both in the emerging field of molecular epidemiology and in the rational design of new therapeutic agents. The aims of this review are to introduce some of the methods used to construct phylogenetic trees, to illustrate some of the pitfalls that can introduce artifactual results and to speculate on the long-term importance of this area of computational biology in clinical medicine.

Animals↗

Phylogenetic analyses of potassium channel auxiliary subunits.

Results of recent genome-sequencing projects together with advances in biochemical, molecular genetic and physiological experimentation have allowed discovery of many transport auxiliary subunits. These subunits facilitate the proper movement of substrates across cell membranes. Mutations of any of these subunits can cause catastrophic effects to the transport mechanism and cause certain genetic diseases. Auxiliary subunits of ion channels are of particular interest because of their potential to diversify the transport properties of the principal subunits. Furthermore, ion channel auxiliary subunits may function in the capacity of enhancing surface expression, allowing gating, and providing chaperone-like activities. As a result of their evolutionary histories, these proteins can be grouped exclusively by phylogenetic techniques. Many of these families are found to be restricted to a single kingdom of life while others seem to be ubiquitous. Here we report the results of systematic analyses of three families of ion channel auxiliary subunits. Some subunits contain one or more transmembrane segments while others exist only in the cytoplasm. We have also observed potential horizontal transfer across kingdoms with these auxiliary subunits. In this report, we present tabulated results of homology searches, partial multiple alignments, secondary structure analyses, and phylogenetic trees for these families.

Animals↗

A single phylogenetic analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis strains and bacilli species inferred from 16S rRNA gene restriction fragment length polymorphism is congruent with two independent phylogenetic analyses.

AIMS: To assess the congruence between two earlier independent phylogenetic studies on Bacillus thuringiensis strains and on Bacillus-related species and the single, all-encompassing, phylogenetic tree presented here inferred from the combination of the two earlier datasets. METHODS AND RESULTS: A dendrogram was constructed using a combination of the data from our previous studies on 16S rRNA gene fingerprinting of 86 B. thuringiensis strains and of 77 species of Bacillus and related taxa. It revealed that all B. thuringiensis strains were clustered together in four distinct groups at a DNA similarity rate of 93%, except two serovars, bolivia and finitimus. Four bacilli species, Paenibacillus alvei, P. azotofixans, B. lentus and B. licheniformis, share a DNA similarity rate of 92% with Bt Group IV. CONCLUSIONS: Most, but not all, B. thuringiensis strains could be grouped together based on the DNA similarity rate. They were also very close to some other bacilli species. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The combined phylogenetic study presented here, inferred from 16S rRNA gene restriction fragment length polymorphism, is congruent with two earlier independent phylogenetic studies, one on B. thuringiensis and the other on bacilli species.

Bacillus↗

Phylogenetic analyses of the rbcL sequences from haptophytes and heterokont algae suggest their chloroplasts are unrelated.

Using the large subunit of RuBisCo (rbcL) sequences from cyanobacteria, proteobacteria, and diverse groups of algae and green plants, we evaluated the plastid relationship between haptophytes and heterokont algae. The rbcL sequences were determined from three taxa of heterokont algae (Bumilleriopsis filiformis, Pelagomonas calceolata, and Pseudopedinella elastica) and added to 25 published sequences to obtain a data set comprising 1,434 unambiguously aligned sites (approximately 98% of the total rbcL gene). Higher levels of mutational saturation in third codon positions were observed by plotting the pairwise substitutions with and without corrections for multiple substitutions at the same site for first and second codon positions only and for third positions only. In accordance with this finding phylogeny reconstructions were completed by omitting third codon positions, thus using 956 bp in weighted-parsimony and maximum-likelihood analyses. The midpoint-rooted phylogenies showed two major clusters, one containing cyanobacteria, glaucocystophytes, a phototrophic euglenoid, chlorophytes, and embryophytes (the green lineage), the other containing proteobacteria, haptophytes, red algae, a cryptophyte, and heterokont algae (the non-green lineage). In the nongreen lineage, the haptophytes formed a sister group to the clade containing heterokont algae, red algae, and the cryptophyte Guillardia theta. This branching pattern was well supported in terms of bootstrap values in weighted-parsimony and maximum-likelihood analyses (100% and 92%, respectively). However, the phylogenetic relationship among red algae, heterokonts, and a cryptophyte taxon was not especially well resolved. A four-cluster analysis was performed to further explore the statistical significance of the relationship between proteobacteria, red algae (including and excluding Guillardia theta), haptophytes, and heterokont algae. This test strongly favored the hypothesis that the heterokonts and red algae are more closely related to each other than either is to proteobacteria or haptophytes. Hence, this molecular study based on a plastid-encoded gene provides additional evidence for a distant relationship between haptophytes and the heterokont algae. It suggests an evolutionary scenario in which the ancestor of the haptophyte lineage engulfed a phototrophic eukaryote and, more recently, the heterokont lineage became phototrophic by engulfing a red alga.

Base Sequence↗

Comparative phylogenetic analyses of Halomonas variabilis and related organisms based on 16S rRNA, gyrB and ectBC gene sequences.

Halomonas variabilis and phylogenetically related organisms were isolated from various habitats such as Antarctic terrain and saline ponds, deep-sea sediment, deep-sea waters affected by hydrothermal plumes, and hydrothermal vent fluids. Ten strains were selected for physiological and phylogenetic characterization in detail. All of those strains were found to be piezotolerant and psychrotolerant, as well as euryhaline halophilic or halotolerant. Their stress tolerance may facilitate their wide occurrence, even in so-called extreme environments. The 16S rDNA-based phylogenetic relationship was complemented by analyses of the DNA gyrase subunit B gene (gyrB) and genes involved in the synthesis of the major compatible solute, ectoine: diaminobutyric acid aminotransferase gene (ectB) and ectoine synthase gene (ectC). The phylogenetic relationships of H. variabilis and related organisms were very similar in terms of 16S rDNA, gyrB, and ectB. The ectC-based tree was inconsistent with the other phylogenetic trees. For that reason, ectC was inferred to derive from horizontal transfer.

Adaptation, Biological↗

Molecular and phylogenetic analyses of a new amphotropic murine leukemia virus (MuLV-1313).

BACKGROUND: The amphotropic murine leukemia viruses (MuLV-A's) are naturally occurring, exogenously acquired gammaretroviruses that are indigenous to the Southern California wild mice. These viruses replicate in a wide range of cell types including human cells in vitro and they can cause both hematological and neurological disorders in feral as well as in the inbred laboratory mice. Since MuLV-A's also exhibit discrete interference and neutralization properties, the envelope proteins of these viruses have been extremely useful for studying virus-host cell interactions and as vehicles for transfer of foreign genes into a variety of hosts including human cells. However, the genomic structure of any of the several known MuLV-A's has not been established and the evolutionary relationship of amphotropic retroviruses to the numerous exogenous or endogenous MuLV strains remains elusive. Herein we present a complete genetic structure of a novel amphotropic virus designated MuLV-1313 and demonstrate that this retrovirus together with other MuLV-A's belongs to a distinct molecular, biological and phylogenetic class among the MuLV strains isolated from a large number of the laboratory inbred or feral mice. RESULTS: The host range of MuLV-1313 is similar to the previously isolated MuLV-A's except that this virus replicates efficiently in mammalian as well as in chicken cells. Compared to ENV proteins of other MuLV-A's (4070A, 1504A and 10A-1), the gp70 protein of MuLV-1313 exhibits differences in its signal peptides and the proline-rich hinge regions. However, the MuLV-1313 envelope protein is totally unrelated to those present in a broad range of murine retroviruses that have been isolated from various inbred and feral mice globally. Genetic analysis of the entire MuLV-1313 genome by dot plot analyses, which compares each nucleotide of one genome with the corresponding nucleotide of another, revealed that the genome of this virus, with the exception of the env gene, is more closely related to the biologically distinct wild mouse ecotropic retrovirus (Cas-Br-E) isolated from another region of the Southern California, than to any of the 15 MuLV strains whose full-length sequences are present in the GenBank. This finding was corroborated by phylogenetic analyses and hierarchical clustering of the entire genomic sequence of MuLV-1313, which also placed all MULV-A's in a genetically distinct category among the large family of retroviruses isolated from numerous mouse strains globally. Likewise, construction of separate dendrograms for each of the Gag, Pol and Env proteins of MuLV-1313 demonstrated that the amphotropic retroviruses belong to a phylogenetically exclusive group of gammaretroviruses compared to all known MuLV strains. CONCLUSION: The molecular, biological and phylogenetic properties of amphotropic retroviruses including MuLV-1313 are distinct compared to a large family of exogenously- or endogenously-transmitted ecotropic, polytropic and xenotropic MuLV strains of the laboratory and feral mice. Further, both the naturally occurring amphotropic and a biologically discrete ecotropic retrovirus of the Southern California wild mice are more closely related to each other on the evolutionary tree than any other mammalian gammaretrovirus indicating a common origin of these viruses. This is the first report of a complete genomic analysis of a unique group of phylogenetically distinct amphotropic virus.

Animals↗