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Evolutionary Relationships Between Low Potential Ferredoxin and Flavodoxin Electron Carriers.

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Frontiers in Energy Research
|February 26, 2020
PubMed
Summary

This study reveals diverse protein electron carrier (PEC) gene usage across life. Ferredoxins and flavodoxins are key, with gene distribution varying by organism type and evolutionary history.

Keywords:
electron transferevolutionferredoxinflavin mononucleotideflavodoxiniron-sulfur clusteroxidative stressoxidoreductase

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Bioinformatics
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Ferredoxins (Fd) and flavodoxins (Fld) are crucial low-potential electron transfer proteins.
  • These proteins mediate electron transfer between various oxidoreductases.
  • Understanding their distribution is key to comprehending cellular electron transport.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the distribution of ferredoxin and flavodoxin genes across diverse organisms.
  • To investigate the evolutionary patterns of small protein electron carrier (PEC) gene usage.
  • To identify trends in PEC gene families across Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.

Main Methods:

  • Bioinformatic analysis of over 7,000 genomes.
  • Focused on genes encoding small PECs (≤200 residues).
  • Mapped PEC gene distribution onto an evolutionary tree.

Main Results:

  • Average small PEC gene counts vary: Archaea (~13), Bacteria (~8), Eukarya (~3).
  • Organisms are categorized into PEC-lacking (3%), specialists (20%), and generalists (77%).
  • [4Fe-4S] Fds are prevalent in ancient organisms; [2Fe-2S] Fds expanded with photosynthesis; Flds expanded in low-iron environments.

Conclusions:

  • Protein electron carrier gene usage is highly diverse across life.
  • Evolutionary pressures, such as photosynthesis and host environment, shape PEC gene families.
  • Further research into understudied PECs' structure, stability, and function is warranted.