title: Multiple horizontally acquired genes from fungal and prokaryotic donors encode cellulolytic enzymes in the bdelloid rotifer Adineta ricciae.
abstract: The bdelloid rotifer, Adineta ricciae, an anhydrobiotic microinvertebrate, exhibits a high rate of horizontal gene transfer (HGT), with as much as 10% of its transcriptome being of foreign origin. Approximately 80% of these foreign transcripts are involved in metabolic processes, and therefore bdelloids represent a useful model for assessing the contribution of HGT to biochemical diversity. To validate this concept, we focused on cellulose digestion, an unusual activity in animals, which is represented by at least 16 genes encoding cellulolytic enzymes in A. ricciae. These genes have been acquired from a variety of different donor organisms among the bacteria and fungi, demonstrating that bdelloids use diverse genetic resources to construct a novel biochemical pathway. A variable complement of the cellulolytic gene set was found in five other bdelloid species, indicating a dynamic process of gene acquisition, duplication and loss during bdelloid evolution. For example, in A. ricciae, gene duplications have led to the formation of three copies of a gene encoding a GH45 family glycoside hydrolase, at least one of which encodes a functional enzyme; all three of these gene copies are present in a close relative, Adineta vaga, but only one copy was found in each of four Rotaria species. Furthermore, analysis of expression levels of the cellulolytic genes suggests that a bacterial-origin cellobiase is upregulated upon desiccation. In summary, bdelloid rotifers have apparently developed cellulolytic functions by the acquisition and domestication of multiple foreign genes.
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Szydlowski
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Boschetti
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Crisp
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom.
authors: E G G
authors: EG
authors: Barbosa
authors: Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3RA, United Kingdom. Electronic address: at10004@cam.ac.uk.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Tunnacliffe
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002480:Cellulase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism*; D004247:DNA; D020440:Gene Duplication; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011387:Prokaryotic Cells; D012403:Rotifera / Q000201:enzymology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D002482:Cellulose; D004247:DNA; D002480:Cellulase
keywords: Cellobiase; Cellobiohydrolases; Cellulase; Endoglucanase; Horizontal gene transfer; Lateral gene transfer