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Symbiobacterium Lost Carbonic Anhydrase in the Course of Evolution

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Abstract

Recent genetic studies have elucidated that carbonic anhydrase (CA; EC 4.2.1.1), a ubiquitous enzyme catalyzing interconversion between CO2 and bicarbonate, is essential for microbial growth under ambient air but not under high-CO2 air. The irregular distribution of the phylogenetically distinct types of CA in the prokaryotic genome suggests its complex evolutionary history in prokaryotes. This paper deals with the genetic defect of CA in Symbiobacterium thermophilum, a syntrophic bacterium that effectively grows on CO2 generated by other bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis based on 31 ribosomal protein sequences demonstrated the affiliation of Symbiobacterium with the class Clostridia with 100% bootstrap support. The phylogeny of β- and γ-type CA distributed among Clostridia supported the view that S. thermophilum and several related organisms lost this enzyme during the course of evolution. The loss of CA could be based on the availability of a high level of CO2 in their living environments.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the High-Tech Research Center Project of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural Bioinformatics Research Unit, Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Hiromi Nishida

  2. Life Science Research Center, College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, 1866 Kameino, Fujisawa, 252-8510, Japan

    Teruhiko Beppu & Kenji Ueda

Authors
  1. Hiromi Nishida
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  2. Teruhiko Beppu
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  3. Kenji Ueda
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenji Ueda.

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Nishida, H., Beppu, T. & Ueda, K. Symbiobacterium Lost Carbonic Anhydrase in the Course of Evolution. J Mol Evol 68, 90–96 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-008-9191-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00239-008-9191-4

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