Genomic Species Are Ecological Species as Revealed by Comparative Genomics in Agrobacterium tumefaciens
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The definition of bacterial species is based on genomic similarities, giving rise to the operational concept of genomic species, but the reasons of the occurrence of differentiated genomic species remain largely unknown. We used the Agrobacterium tumefaciens species complex and particularly the genomic species presently called genomovar G8, which includes the sequenced strain C58, to test the hypothesis of genomic species having specific ecological adaptations possibly involved in the speciation process. We analyzed the gene repertoire specific to G8 to identify potential adaptive genes. By hybridizing 25 strains of A. tumefaciens on DNA microarrays spanning the C58 genome, we highlighted the presence and absence of genes homologous to C58 in the taxon. We found 196 genes specific to genomovar G8 that were mostly clustered into seven genomic islands on the C58 genome—one on the circular chromosome and six on the linear chromosome—suggesting higher plasticity and a major adaptive role of the latter. Clusters encoded putative functional units, four of which had been verified experimentally. The combination of G8-specific functions defines a hypothetical species primary niche for G8 related to commensal interaction with a host plant. This supports that the G8 ancestor was able to exploit a new ecological niche, maybe initiating ecological isolation and thus speciation. Searching genomic data for synapomorphic traits is a powerful way to describe bacterial species. This procedure allowed us to find such phenotypic traits specific to genomovar G8 and thus propose a Latin binomial, Agrobacterium fabrum, for this bona fide genomic species.
Date Issued
2011-07-27
Date Acceptance
2011-07-04
Citation
Genome Biology and Evolution, 2011, 3, pp.762-781
ISSN
1759-6653
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Start Page
762
End Page
781
Journal / Book Title
Genome Biology and Evolution
Volume
3
Copyright Statement
© 2011 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000295693200032&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Evolutionary Biology
Genetics & Heredity
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
GENETICS & HEREDITY
bacterial species
Agrobacterium
ecological niche
bacterial evolution
linear chromosome
AD-HOC-COMMITTEE
FERULIC ACID
RHIZOBIUM-LEGUMINOSARUM
TI PLASMIDS
SP NOV.
EVOLUTION
GENES
BACTERIA
FAMILY
C58
Adaptation, Biological
Agrobacterium tumefaciens
Bacterial Proteins
Ecology
Evolution, Molecular
Genetic Speciation
Genome, Bacterial
Genomics
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny
0604 Genetics
0603 Evolutionary Biology
Developmental Biology
Publication Status
Published