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Molecular evidence for the evolution of the eukaryotic mitochondrial arginyl‐tRNA synthetase from the prokaryotic suborder Cystobacterineae
Author(s) -
Igloi Gabor L.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1002/1873-3468.13665
Subject(s) - transfer rna , biology , mitochondrial dna , aminoacyl trna synthetase , genetics , biochemistry , gene , rna
The evolutionary origin of the family of eukaryotic aminoacyl‐tRNA synthetases that are essential to all living organisms is a matter of debate. In order to shed molecular light on the ancient source of arginyl‐tRNA synthetase, a total of 1347 eukaryotic arginyl‐tRNA synthetase sequences were mined from databases and analyzed. Their multiple sequence alignment reveals a signature sequence that is characteristic of the nuclear‐encoded enzyme, which is imported into mitochondria. Using this molecular beacon, the origins of this gene can be traced to modern prokaryotes. In this way, a previous phylogenetic analysis linking Myxococcus to the emergence of the eukaryotic mitochondrial arginyl‐tRNA synthetase is supported by the unique existence of the molecular signature within the suborder Cystobacterineae that includes Myxococcus.