title: Horizontal transfer of a bacterial gene involved in polyglutamate biosynthesis to the plant-parasitic nematode Meloidogyne artiellia.
abstract: Analysis of a genomic fragment from the plant parasitic nematode Meloidogyne artiellia revealed the presence of a gene which, in bacteria, is involved in the formation of polyglutamate capsule. Searching of various databases, including the Caenorhabditis elegans genome sequence and the large EST datasets from a variety of parasitic nematodes, showed that no similar genes have been identified in other nematodes or in any other eukaryotic organisms. The M. artiellia gene has a typical eukaryotic structure and its mRNA is present in the intestine. The gene is expressed in all life cycle stages tested. These findings demonstrate horizontal gene transfer may be important in catalyzing the diversification of nematode lineages.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare, Universita di Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Veronico
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Vito
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Giorgi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005091:Exons; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D016678:Genome; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D007422:Intestines / Q000201:enzymology; D007438:Introns; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011099:Polyglutamic Acid / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D018510:RNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017855:Transferases (Other Substituted Phosphate Groups) / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D014431:Tylenchoidea / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D018510:RNA, Helminth; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011099:Polyglutamic Acid; D017855:Transferases (Other Substituted Phosphate Groups); C020676:CDP-diacylglycerol-glycerol-3-phosphate 3-phosphatidyltransferase