title: Occurrence of horizontal gene transfer of P(IB)-type ATPase genes among bacteria isolated from the uranium rich deposit of Domiasiat in North East India.
abstract: Uranium (U) tolerant aerobic heterotrophs were isolated from the subsurface soils of one of the pre-mined U-rich deposits at Domiasiat located in the north-eastern part of India. On screening of genomic DNA from 62 isolates exhibiting superior U and heavy metal tolerance, 32 isolates were found to be positive for P(IB)-type ATPase genes. Phylogenetic incongruence and anomalous DNA base compositions revealed the acquisition of P(IB)-type ATPase genes by six isolates through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Three of these instances of HGT appeared to have occurred at inter-phylum level and the other three instances indicated to have taken place at intra-phylum level. This study provides an insight into one of the possible survival strategies that bacteria might employ to adapt to environments rich in uranium and heavy metals.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, North-Eastern Hill University, Umshing, Shillong, Meghalaya, India.
authors.forename: Macmillan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nongkhlaw
authors.forename: Rakshak
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Celin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Acharya
authors.forename: Santa Ram
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Joshi
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D023281:Genomics; D007194:India; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D008906:Mining; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D014501:Uranium / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; D014501:Uranium; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases