Gaining and losing the thermophilic adaptation in prokaryotes

Pere Puigbò; Alberto Pasamontes; Santiago Garcia-Vallve

doi:10.1016/j.tig.2007.10.005

Gaining and losing the thermophilic adaptation in prokaryotes

Trends Genet. 2008 Jan;24(1):10-4. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2007.10.005. Epub 2007 Dec 3.

Authors

Pere Puigbò¹, Alberto Pasamontes, Santiago Garcia-Vallve

Affiliation

¹ Evolutionary Genomics Group, Biochemistry and Biotechnology Department, Rovira i Virgili University (URV), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.

PMID: 18054113
DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2007.10.005

Abstract

We studied the evolution of thermophily in prokaryotes using the phylogenetic relationships between 279 bacteria and archaea and their thermophilic amino acid composition signature. Our findings suggest several examples in which the capacity of thermophilic adaptation has been gained or lost over relatively short evolutionary periods throughout the evolution of prokaryotes.

MeSH terms

Adaptation, Physiological*
Amino Acids
Phylogeny
Prokaryotic Cells / metabolism*
Proteome / chemistry
Temperature*

Substances

Amino Acids
Proteome