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Assessment of phylogenetic positions of predicted gene and protein sequences is a routine step in any genome project, useful for validating the species' taxonomic position and for evaluating hypotheses about genome evolution and function. Several recent eukaryotic genome projects have reported multiple gene sequences that were much more similar to homologues in bacteria than to any eukaryotic sequence. In the spirit of the times, horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to eukaryotes has been invoked in some of these cases. Here, we show, using comparative sequence analysis, that some of those bacteria-like genes indeed appear likely to have been horizontally transferred from bacteria to eukaryotes. In other cases, however, the evidence strongly indicates that the eukaryotic DNA sequenced in the genome project contains a sample of non-integrated DNA from the actual bacteria, possibly providing a window into the host microbiome. Recent literature suggests also that common reagents, kits and laboratory equipment may be systematically contaminated with bacterial DNA, which appears to be sampled by metagenome projects non-specifically. We review several bioinformatic criteria that help to distinguish putative horizontal gene transfers from the admixture of genes from autonomously replicating bacteria in their hosts' genome databases or from the reagent contamination., (© 2015 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Analysis of the genome sequence of the starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, reveals many genes whose products are phylogenetically closer to proteins encoded by bacteria or bacteriophages than to any metazoan homologs. One explanation for such sequence affinities could be that these genes have been horizontally transferred from bacteria to the Nematostella lineage. We show, however, that bacterium-like and phage-like genes sequenced by the N. vectensis genome project tend to cluster on separate scaffolds, which typically do not include eukaryotic genes and differ from the latter in their GC contents. Moreover, most of the bacterium-like genes in N. vectensis either lack introns or the introns annotated in such genes are false predictions that, when translated, often restore the missing portions of their predicted protein products. In a freshwater cnidarian, Hydra, for which a proteobacterial endosymbiont is known, these gene features have been used to delineate the DNA of that endosymbiont sampled by the genome sequencing project. We predict that a large fraction of bacterium-like genes identified in the N. vectensis genome similarly are drawn from the contemporary bacterial consorts of the starlet sea anemone. These uncharacterized bacteria associated with N. vectensis are a proteobacterium and a representative of the phylum Bacteroidetes, each represented in the database by an apparently random sample of informational and operational genes. A substantial portion of a putative bacteriophage genome was also detected, which would be especially unlikely to have been transferred to a eukaryote.

The emergence of ribosomes and translation factors is central for understanding the origin of life. Recruitment of translation factors to bacterial ribosomes is mediated by the L12 stalk composed of protein L10 and several copies of protein L12, the only multi-copy protein of the ribosome. Here we predict stoichiometries of L12 stalk for >1,200 bacteria, mitochondria and chloroplasts by a computational analysis, and validate the predictions by quantitative mass spectrometry. The majority of bacteria have L12 stalks allowing for binding of four or six copies of L12, largely independent of the taxonomic group or living conditions of the bacteria, whereas some cyanobacteria have eight copies. Mitochondrial and chloroplast ribosomes can accommodate six copies of L12. The last universal common ancestor probably had six molecules of L12 molecules bound to L10. Changes of the stalk composition provide a unique possibility to trace the evolution of protein components of the ribosome.

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) form a recently characterized type of prokaryotic antiphage defense system. The phage-host interactions involving CRISPRs have been studied in experiments with selected bacterial or archaeal species and, computationally, in completely sequenced genomes. However, these studies do not allow one to take prokaryotic population diversity and phage-host interaction dynamics into account. This gap can be filled by using metagenomic data: in particular, the largest existing data set, generated from the Sorcerer II Global Ocean Sampling expedition. The application of three publicly available CRISPR recognition programs to the Global Ocean metagenome produced a large proportion of false-positive results. To address this problem, a filtering procedure was designed. It resulted in about 200 reliable CRISPR cassettes, which were then studied in detail. The repeat consensuses were clustered into several stable classes that differed from the existing classification. Short fragments of DNA similar to the cassette spacers were more frequently present in the same geographical location than in other locations (P, <0.0001). We developed a catalogue of elementary CRISPR-forming events and reconstructed the likely evolutionary history of cassettes that had common spacers. Metagenomic collections allow for relatively unbiased analysis of phage-host interactions and CRISPR evolution. The results of this study demonstrate that CRISPR cassettes retain the memory of the local virus population at a particular ocean location. CRISPR evolution may be described using a limited vocabulary of elementary events that have a natural biological interpretation.

Background: Since bactericidal properties of some lysozymes are independent of their glycosidase activity, we have investigated this phenomenon for destabilase-lysozyme (DL) from medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis)., Methods: Glycosidase activity was determined on Micrococcus luteus, non-enzymatic antibacterial activity of heat-treated DL and of synthetic peptides alpha1, alpha2 and alpha3 (fragments of its primary structure) on M. luteus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus brevis and Streptomyces chrysomallus., Results: Glycosidase activity disappeared after the heating of native DL at 100 degrees C for 40 min. Antibacterial activity of heat-treated DL for M. luteus MDMSU128 and MDMSU140 expressed as minimal inhibitory concentration was 9.8.10(-8) and 12.10(-8) M, respectively, and to E. coli MDMSU52 11.10(-8) M. Antibacterial activity of synthetic peptide alpha1 for M. luteus MDMSU128 and for E. coli MDMSU52 was 8.3.10(-5) and 4.9.10(-5) M, respectively., Conclusion: DL is the first invertebrate lysozyme with combined enzymatic and non-enzymatic antibacterial action.