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The Evolutionary History of Lysine Biosynthesis Pathways Within Eukaryotes

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Abstract

Lysine biosynthesis occurs in two ways: the diaminopimelate (DAP) pathway and the α-aminoadipate (AAA) pathway. The former is present in eubacteria, plants, and algae, whereas the latter was understood to be almost exclusive to fungi. The recent finding of the α-aminoadipate reductase (AAR) gene, one of the core genes of the AAA pathway, in the marine protist Corallochytrium limacisporum was, therefore, believed to be a molecular synapomorphy of fungi and C. limacisporum. To test this hypothesis, we undertook a broader search for the AAR gene in eukaryotes, and also analyzed the distribution of the lysA gene, a core gene of the DAP pathway. We show that the evolutionary history of both genes, AAR and lysA, is much more complex than previously believed. Furthermore, the AAR gene is present in several unicellular opisthokonts, thus rebutting the theory that its presence is a molecular synapomorphy between C. limacisporum and fungi. AAR gene seems to be exclusive of Excavata and Unikonts, whereas the lysA gene is present in several unrelated taxa within all major eukaryotic lineages, indicating a role for several lateral gene transfer (LGT) events. Our data imply that the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis and the “choanozoan” Capsaspora owczarzaki acquired their lysA copies from a proteobacterial ancestor. Overall, these observations represent new evidence that the role of LGT in the evolutionary history of eukaryotes may have been more significant than previously thought.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to bioportal and to Andrew J. Roger for providing access to their computer resources. We thank Kamran Shalchian-Tabrizi for providing us with the sequence of Ministeria vibrans and Bernard Degnan for accession to the Amphimedon proteome data. We also thank Eric Bapteste, Tom Cavalier-Smith and Franz Lang for helpful insights. We also thank Roser Rotchés for her support. This work was supported by an ICREA contract and an ERC Starting Grant to IR-T, as well as a Grant BFU2006-06003 from MEC to JP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departament de Genètica & Institut de Recerca en Biodiversitat (Irbio), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Guifré Torruella, Hiroshi Suga, Marta Riutort & Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo

  2. Institució Catalana per a la Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Parc Científic de Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona, Edifici Hèlix; 1planta, Baldiri Reixac 15, 08028, Barcelona, Spain

    Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo

  3. Departament de Bioquímica i Biologia Molecular, Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain

    Juli Peretó

  4. CIBER d’Epidemiologia i Salut Pública, Barcelona, Spain

    Juli Peretó

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  1. Guifré Torruella
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Correspondence to Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo.

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Torruella, G., Suga, H., Riutort, M. et al. The Evolutionary History of Lysine Biosynthesis Pathways Within Eukaryotes. J Mol Evol 69, 240–248 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-009-9266-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-009-9266-x

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