Evolution of genome architecture in archaea: spontaneous generation of a new chromosome in Haloferax volcanii

Ausiannikava, Darya, Mitchell, Laura, Marriott, Hannah, Smith, Victoria, Hawkins, Michelle, Makarova, Kira S., Koonin, Eugene V., Nieduszynski, Conrad A. and Allers, Thorsten (2018) Evolution of genome architecture in archaea: spontaneous generation of a new chromosome in Haloferax volcanii. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 38 (8). pp. 1855-1868. ISSN 1537-1719

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Abstract

The common ancestry of archaea and eukaryotes is evident in their genome architecture. All eukaryotic and several archaeal genomes consist of multiple chromosomes, each replicated from multiple origins. Three scenarios have been proposed for the evolution of this genome architecture: (1) mutational diversification of a multi-copy chromosome; (2) capture of a new chromosome by horizontal transfer; (3) acquisition of new origins and splitting into two replication-competent chromosomes. We report an example of the third scenario: the multi-origin chromosome of the archaeon Haloferax volcanii has split into two elements via homologous recombination. The newly-generated elements are bona fide chromosomes, because each bears ‘chromosomal’ replication origins, rRNA loci and essential genes. The new chromosomes were stable during routine growth but additional genetic manipulation, which involves selective bottlenecks, provoked further rearrangements. To the best of our knowledge, rearrangement of a naturally-evolved prokaryotic genome to generate two new chromosomes has not been described previously.

Item Type: Article
RIS ID: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/948626
Keywords: Chromosome, Genome architecture, Multipartite genome, Homologous recombination, Genome stability, Archaea, Haloferax volcanii
Schools/Departments: University of Nottingham, UK > Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Life Sciences
Identification Number: 10.1093/molbev/msy075
Depositing User: Allers, Thorsten
Date Deposited: 17 Apr 2018 10:15
Last Modified: 04 May 2020 19:48
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/51181

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