Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics (CGEB), Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Laura Eme
Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics (CGEB), Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Sergio A Muñoz-Gómez
Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics (CGEB), Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Alejandro Cohen
Proteomics Core Facility, Life Sciences Research Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Department of Pathology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Jennifer N Shepherd
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Gonzaga University, Spokane, United States
James P Fawcett
Proteomics Core Facility, Life Sciences Research Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada; Department of Pharmacology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada; Department of Surgery, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics (CGEB), Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Under hypoxic conditions, some organisms use an electron transport chain consisting of only complex I and II (CII) to generate the proton gradient essential for ATP production. In these cases, CII functions as a fumarate reductase that accepts electrons from a low electron potential quinol, rhodoquinol (RQ). To clarify the origins of RQ-mediated fumarate reduction in eukaryotes, we investigated the origin and function of rquA, a gene encoding an RQ biosynthetic enzyme. RquA is very patchily distributed across eukaryotes and bacteria adapted to hypoxia. Phylogenetic analyses suggest lateral gene transfer (LGT) of rquA from bacteria to eukaryotes occurred at least twice and the gene was transferred multiple times amongst protists. We demonstrate that RquA functions in the mitochondrion-related organelles of the anaerobic protist Pygsuia and is correlated with the presence of RQ. These analyses reveal the role of gene transfer in the evolutionary remodeling of mitochondria in adaptation to hypoxia.
