ABSTRACT
á : Some tumor cells can evolve into transmissible parasites. Notable examples include the Tasmanian devil facial tumor disease, the canine transmissible venereal tumor and transmissible cancers of mollusks. We present a hypothesis that such transmissible tumors existed in the past and that some modern animal taxa are descendants of these tumors. We expect potential candidates for SCANDALs (speciated by cancer development animals) to be simplified relatives of more complex metazoans and have genomic alterations typical for cancer progression (such as deletions of universal apoptosis genes). We considered several taxa of simplified animals for our hypothesis: dicyemida, orthonectida, myxosporea and trichoplax. Based on genomic analysis we conclude that Myxosporea appear to be the most suitable candidates for a tumor ancestry. They are simplified parasitic cnidarians that universally lack major genes implicated in cancer progression including all genes with Caspase and BCL2 domains as well as any p53 and apoptotic protease activating factor - 1 (Apaf-1) homologs, suggesting the disruption of main apoptotic pathways in their early evolutionary history. Further comparative genomics and single-cell transcriptomic studies may be helpful to test our hypothesis of speciation via a cancerous stage. REVIEWERS: This article was reviewed by Eugene Koonin, Mikhail Gelfand and Gregory M Woods.
Subject(s)
Biological Evolution , Genome , Myxozoa/genetics , Neoplasms/genetics , Animals , Evolution, MolecularABSTRACT
During the last decade several new orders were established in the class Chytridiomycetes on the basis of zoospore ultrastructure and molecular phylogeny. Here we present the ultrastructure and molecular phylogeny of strain x-51 CALU - a parasite of the alga Tribonema gayanum, originally described as Rhizophydium sp. based on light microscopy. Detailed investigation revealed that the zoospore ultrastructure of this strain has unique characters not found in any order of Chytridiomycetes: posterior ribosomal core unbounded by the endoplasmic reticulum and detached from the nucleus or microbody-lipid complex, and kinetosome composed of microtubular doublets. An isolated phylogenetic position of x-51 is further confirmed by the analysis of 18S and 28S rRNA sequences, and motivates the description of a new genus and species Gromochytrium mamkaevae. The sister position of G. mamkaevae branch relative to Mesochytrium and a cluster of environmental sequences, as well as the ultrastructural differences between Gromochytrium and Mesochytrium zoospores prompted us to establish two new orders: Gromochytriales and Mesochytriales.
ABSTRACT
The pLF1311 natural plasmid from Lactobacillus fermentum 1311 was used to construct a single-replicon vector suitable for rapid cloning in a wide range of gram-positive hosts and Escherichia coli. The new vector is capable of conjugative mobilization from E. coli to various hosts by conjugal transfer. The final vector (3.4 kb) showed a high segregational and structural stability and a high copy number. Glutamyl endopeptidase genes from Bacillus licheniformis (gseBL) and B. intermedius (gseBI) were cloned in both pLF9 and pLF14 vectors and introduced to B. subtilis. The yield of enzymes in the pLF-derived producers was 6- to 30-fold more than in the natural producers and reached 100-150 mg/L of mature protease.
