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Lateral transfer of organophosphate degradation (opd) genes among soil bacteria: mode of transfer and contributions to organismal fitness

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Abstract

Genes encoding structurally independent phosphotriesterases (PTEs) are identified in soil bacteria. These pte genes, often identified on mobilizable and self-transmissible plasmids are organized as mobile genetic elements. Their dissemination through lateral gene transfer is evident due to the detection of identical organophosphate degradation genes among soil bacteria with little or no taxonomic relationship. Convergent evolution of PTEs provided selective advantages to the bacterial strain as they convert toxic phosphotriesters (PTs) into a source of phosphate. The residues of organophosphate (OP) compounds that accumulate in a soil are proposed to contribute to the evolution of PTEs through substrate-assisted gain-of-function. This review provides comprehensive information on lateral transfer of pte genes and critically examines proposed hypotheses on their evolution in the light of the short half-life of OPs in the environment. The review also proposes alternate factors that have possibly contributed to the evolution and lateral mobility of PTEs by taking into account their biology and analyses of pte genes in genomic and metagenomic databases.

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Acknowledgements

DS received research grants from CSIR and DST, New Delhi. Department of Animal Biology is funded through DST-FIST level-II. The School of Life Science received special assistance through DBT-BUILDER programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 500 046, India

    Dayananda Siddavattam, Harshita Yakkala & Devyani Samantarrai

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  1. Dayananda Siddavattam
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  2. Harshita Yakkala
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  3. Devyani Samantarrai
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Correspondence to Dayananda Siddavattam.

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Corresponding editor: H. A. Ranganath.

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Siddavattam, D., Yakkala, H. & Samantarrai, D. Lateral transfer of organophosphate degradation (opd) genes among soil bacteria: mode of transfer and contributions to organismal fitness. J Genet 98, 23 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-019-1068-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-019-1068-3

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