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Transposases are the most abundant, most ubiquitous genes in nature.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2010 Jul; 38(13):4207-17
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18 Nov 2011
New Finding
DOI: 10.3410/f.13370981.14741087
This article presents a statistical analysis of different functional gene classes from annotated genomes and metagenomes. The results indicate that genes annotated as 'transposase' are by far the most numerous in both the genomic and metagenomic databases. However, even this high apparent contribution...Continue reading
This article presents a statistical analysis of different functional gene classes from annotated genomes and metagenomes. The results indicate that genes annotated as 'transposase' are by far the most numerous in both the genomic and metagenomic databases. However, even this high apparent contribution to the global gene pool is an underestimate because transposases are generally poorly annotated, often with the name 'integrase', for example. The contribution of the transposable elements themselves is even more severely underestimated because they tend to undergo decay to generate fragments (for example, MITES) that no longer include an entire transposase gene and that are no longer captured by the annotation.
Disclosures
None declared
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Chandler M: F1000Prime Recommendation of [Aziz RK et al., Nucleic Acids Res 2010, 38(13):4207-17]. In F1000Prime, 18 Nov 2011; DOI: 10.3410/f.13370981.14741087. F1000Prime.com/13370981#eval14741087
F1000Prime Recommendations, Dissents and Comments for [Aziz RK et al., Nucleic Acids Res 2010, 38(13):4207-17]. In F1000Prime, 19 May 2013; F1000Prime.com/13370981
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Genes, like organisms, struggle for existence, and the most successful genes persist and widely disseminate in nature. The unbiased determination of the most successful genes requires access to sequence data from a wide range of phylogenetic taxa and ecosystems, which has finally become achievable thanks to the deluge of genomic and metagenomic sequences. Here, we analyzed 10 million protein-encoding genes and gene tags in sequenced bacterial, archaeal, eukaryotic and viral genomes and metagenomes, and our analysis demonstrates that genes encoding transposases are the most prevalent genes in nature. The finding that these genes, classically considered as selfish genes, outnumber essential or housekeeping genes suggests that they offer selective advantage to the genomes and ecosystems they inhabit, a hypothesis in agreement with an emerging body of literature. Their mobile nature not only promotes dissemination of transposable elements within and between genomes but also leads to mutations and rearrangements that can accelerate biological diversification and--consequently--evolution. By securing their own replication and dissemination, transposases guarantee to thrive so long as nucleic acid-based life forms exist.
DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkq140
PMID: 20215432
