Without genes pilfered from bacteria, ticks would drop dead of the Lyme disease they carry
November 26
..But a recent discovery could one day make deer ticks themselves vulnerable to the disease they transmit. Researchers seeking to discover how genes evolve inside bacteria stumbled across something they had not seen before: They found that the genes they thought were only present in bacteria were also inside more complex life forms — animals such as ticks and mites.
The genes help bacteria develop a weapons system — toxins — used to wage war with competing bacteria. Deer ticks use these genes to produce a toxin that keeps Lyme from replicating to the point that it kills them.
Lees meer Bron: TheWashingtonPost
Transferred interbacterial antagonism genes augment eukaryotic innate immune function
Seemay Chou, Matthew D. Daugherty, S. Brook Peterson, Jacob Biboy, Youyun Yang, Brandon L. Jutras, Lillian K. Fritz-Laylin, Michael A. Ferrin, Brittany N. Harding, Christine Jacobs-Wagner, X. Frank Yang, Waldemar Vollmer, Harmit S. Malik & Joseph D. Mougous
Published online 24 November 2014. Nature (2014) doi:10.1038/nature13965
Horizontal gene transfer allows organisms to rapidly acquire adaptive traits. Although documented instances of horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to eukaryotes remain rare, bacteria represent a rich source of new functions potentially available for co-option.
We speculate that the selective pressure imposed by competition between bacteria has produced a reservoir of genes encoding diverse antimicrobial functions that are tailored for co-option by eukaryotic innate immune systems.
Lees meer Bron: Nature