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Variation in Macronuclear Genome Content of Three Ciliates with Extensive Chromosomal Fragmentation: A Preliminary Analysis
Author(s) -
McGRATH CASEY L.,
ZUFALL REBECCA A.,
KATZ LAURA A.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of eukaryotic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 1066-5234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.2007.00257.x
Subject(s) - biology , genome , genetics , gene , chromosome , gc content
. The genome architecture of ciliates, including features such as nuclear dualism and large‐scale genome rearrangements, impacts gene and genome evolution in these organisms. To better understand the structure of macronuclear chromosomes in ciliates with extensively processed chromosomes, a sample of complete macronuclear chromosomes was sequenced from three ciliate species: Metopus es (Class [Cl]: Armophorea), Nyctotherus ovalis (Cl: Armophorea), and Chilodonella uncinata (Cl: Phyllopharyngea). By cloning whole macronuclear chromosomes into a plasmid vector, we generated nine clones from each of M. es and C. uncinata , and 37 clones from N. ovalis . Analysis of these macronuclear chromosomes provides insight into the evolution of genome features such as chromosome content, gene structure, and genetic code. Phylogenetic patterns can be found in telomere structure and codon usage, which are both more similar in M. es and N. ovalis than C. uncinata . In addition, we provide evidence of lateral transfer of a bacterial endo‐β‐mannanase gene onto a M. es chromosome and report the discovery of a 42‐bp conserved sequence motif within N. ovalis untranslated regions.