A major clade of prokaryotes with ancient adaptations to life on land Export

@article{citeulike:3564273, abstract = {Evolutionary trees of prokaryotes usually define the known classes and phyla but less often agree on the relationships among those groups. This has been attributed to the effects of horizontal gene transfer, biases in sequence change, and large evolutionary distances. Furthermore, higher-level clades of prokaryote phyla rarely are supported by information from ecology and cell biology. Nonetheless, common patterns are beginning to emerge as larger numbers of species are analyzed with sophisticated methods. Here we show how combined evidence from phylogenetic, cytological, and environmental data support the existence of an evolutionary group that appears to have had a common ancestor on land early in Earth's history and includes two-thirds of known prokaryote species. Members of this terrestrial clade (Terrabacteria), which includes Cyanobacteria, the Gram-positive phyla (Actinobacteria and Firmicutes), and two phyla with cell walls that differ structurally from typical Gram-positive and Gram-negative phyla (Chloroflexi and Deinococcus-Thermus), possess important adaptations such as resistance to environmental hazards (e.g., desiccation, ultraviolet radiation, and high salinity) and oxygenic photosynthesis. Moreover, the unique properties of the cell wall in Gram-positive taxa, which likely evolved in response to terrestrial conditions, have contributed towards pathogenicity in many species. These results now leave open the possibility that terrestrial adaptations may have played a larger role in prokaryote evolution than currently understood. 10.1093/molbev/msn247}, author = {Battistuzzi, Fabia U. and Hedges, Blair S.}, citeulike-article-id = {3564273}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msn247}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/2/335?etoc}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18988685}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=18988685}, day = {10}, doi = {10.1093/molbev/msn247}, journal = {Mol Biol Evol}, keywords = {cell, cyanobacteria, evolution, wall}, month = {November}, pages = {msn247+}, posted-at = {2008-11-18 07:35:28}, priority = {2}, title = {A major clade of prokaryotes with ancient adaptations to life on land}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msn247}, year = {2008} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3564273 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3564273 N2 - Evolutionary trees of prokaryotes usually define the known classes and phyla but less often agree on the relationships among those groups. This has been attributed to the effects of horizontal gene transfer, biases in sequence change, and large evolutionary distances. Furthermore, higher-level clades of prokaryote phyla rarely are supported by information from ecology and cell biology. Nonetheless, common patterns are beginning to emerge as larger numbers of species are analyzed with sophisticated methods. Here we show how combined evidence from phylogenetic, cytological, and environmental data support the existence of an evolutionary group that appears to have had a common ancestor on land early in Earth's history and includes two-thirds of known prokaryote species. Members of this terrestrial clade (Terrabacteria), which includes Cyanobacteria, the Gram-positive phyla (Actinobacteria and Firmicutes), and two phyla with cell walls that differ structurally from typical Gram-positive and Gram-negative phyla (Chloroflexi and Deinococcus-Thermus), possess important adaptations such as resistance to environmental hazards (e.g., desiccation, ultraviolet radiation, and high salinity) and oxygenic photosynthesis. Moreover, the unique properties of the cell wall in Gram-positive taxa, which likely evolved in response to terrestrial conditions, have contributed towards pathogenicity in many species. These results now leave open the possibility that terrestrial adaptations may have played a larger role in prokaryote evolution than currently understood. 10.1093/molbev/msn247 JF - Mol Biol Evol TI - A major clade of prokaryotes with ancient adaptations to life on land SP - msn247 KW - cell KW - cyanobacteria KW - evolution KW - wall AU - Battistuzzi, Fabia AU - Hedges, Blair PY - 2008/11/10/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msn247 ER -