ArticleNature2015
Transferred interbacterial antagonism genes augment eukaryotic innate immune function.
Article in Nature, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 62 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
62 citing papers in PubMed, 124 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evolutionary innovation through fusion of sequences from across the tree of life.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Comparative analysis of 163 ant genomes reveals recurrent horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to ants.GigaScience · 2026Article
- Article
- Horizontal Transfer of Bacterial Operons into Eukaryote Genomes.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Experimental horizontal transfer of phage-derived genes to Drosophila confers innate immunity to parasitoids.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- The Tick Microbiome: The "Other Bacterial Players" in Tick Biocontrol.Microorganisms · 2024Review
- Metatranscriptomics provide insights into the role of the symbiont Midichloria mitochondrii in Ixodes ticks.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2024Article
- Bdelloid rotifers deploy horizontally acquired biosynthetic genes against a fungal pathogen.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Metatranscriptomic investigation of singlemSystems · 2024Article
- Changes in saliva protein profile throughout Rhipicephalus microplus blood feeding.Parasites & vectors · 2024Article
- The immune factors involved in the rapid clearance of bacteria from the midgut of the tickFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- Widespread horizontal gene transfer between plants and bacteria.ISME communications · 2024Article
- Similarities betweenCurrent research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2024Article
- Acquired stress resilience through bacteria-to-nematode interdomain horizontal gene transfer.The EMBO journal · 2023Article
- Insight Into the Dynamics of the Ixodes ricinus Nymphal Midgut Proteome.Molecular & cellular proteomics : MCP · 2023Article
- CBASS to cGAS-STING: The Origins and Mechanisms of Nucleotide Second Messenger Immune Signaling.Annual review of virology · 2023Review
- NlpC/P60 peptidoglycan hydrolases of Trichomonas vaginalis have complementary activities that empower the protozoan to control host-protective lactobacilli.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Bacterial origin of a key innovation in the evolution of the vertebrate eye.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Dome1-JAK-STAT signaling between parasite and host integrates vector immunity and development.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2023Article
- Immune evasion strategies of major tick-transmitted bacterial pathogens.Trends in microbiology · 2023Review
2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Horizontal gene transfer allows organisms to rapidly acquire adaptive traits. Although documented instances of horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to eukaryotes remain rare, bacteria represent a rich source of new functions potentially available for co-option. One benefit that genes of bacterial origin could provide to eukaryotes is the capacity to produce antibacterials, which have evolved in prokaryotes as the result of eons of interbacterial competition. The type VI secretion amidase effector (Tae) proteins are potent bacteriocidal enzymes that degrade the cell wall when delivered into competing bacterial cells by the type VI secretion system. Here we show that tae genes have been transferred to eukaryotes on at least six occasions, and that the resulting domesticated amidase effector (dae) genes have been preserved for hundreds of millions of years through purifying selection. We show that the dae genes acquired eukaryotic secretion signals, are expressed within recipient organisms, and encode active antibacterial toxins that possess substrate specificity matching extant Tae proteins of the same lineage. Finally, we show that a dae gene in the deer tick Ixodes scapularis limits proliferation of Borrelia burgdorferi, the aetiologic agent of Lyme disease. Our work demonstrates that a family of horizontally acquired toxins honed to mediate interbacterial antagonism confers previously undescribed antibacterial capacity to eukaryotes. We speculate that the selective pressure imposed by competition between bacteria has produced a reservoir of genes encoding diverse antimicrobial functions that are tailored for co-option by eukaryotic innate immune systems.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.