The Common Ancestor of Deinococcus Species was Rod-Shaped

Abstract

Background: The genus Deinococcus consists of species in rod-shape (Bacilli) and spherical shape (Cocci). Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine whether the common ancestor of Deinococcus species was rod-shaped or spherical. Methods: We compared the homologs of the proteins related to the rod-shape in bacteria (MreB, MreC, MreD, MrdA, RodA, and RodZ) in various Deinococcus species and Thermus thermophilus. Results: The phylogenetic trees based on each protein and the homologs reflected the evolutionary relationships of the species, indicating that the Horizontal transfer of the genes did not occur during the Deinococcus evolution. Conclusion: The ancestor of the genus Deinococcus was rod-shaped, and the spherical forms appeared when the rod-shaped formation system was lost during evolution and diversification within the genus. © 2018 Morita and Nishida.