Indian Journal of Comparative Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases

  • Year: 2024
  • Volume: 45
  • Issue: 2

Genus and phylum-level phylogenetic analysis revealed a high frequency of horizontal gene transfer in the bacterial methionyl-tRNA synthetase gene

  • Author:
  • Prabhakar B. Ghorpade1,*, Venkateswarlu Ronda2, Avinash Pange3, Bhaskar Sharma4
  • Total Page Count: 9
  • Published Online: Sep 25, 2025
  • Page Number: 80 to 88

1Assistant Professor, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, (MAFSU, Nagpur), Parbhani, Maharashtra, India

2Senior Scientist, ICAR–Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad-50030, Telangana, India

3Livestock Development Officer, Department of Animal Husbandry, Maharashtra, India

4Retired Principal Scientist & National Professor, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MetRS) is a single-copy informational gene in Salmonella serovar Typhimurium. Informational genes are more conserved than operational genes. In this study, we analyzed HGT events within MetG sequences of different bacterial genera. A species tree based on 16S rRNA sequences of the same genus was drawn and evaluated against the generally accepted species tree of the bacteria. The MetG phylogenetic tree was evaluated against the 16S rRNA tree, and an HGT event was identified. Similarly, phyla trees were made, and HGT events were identified. Twenty-four HGT events were identified between genera and eleven within phyla. MetG is considered a conserved gene; finding so many HGT events in this gene indicates that horizontal gene transfer is very common in this gene.

Keywords

Methionyl tRNA synthetase, Horizontal gene transfer, Topological difference, MEGA, T-REX