GroEL buffers against deleterious mutations (original) (raw)

Endosymbiotic bacteria

Nature volume 417, page 398 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

GroEL, a heat-shock protein that acts as a molecular chaperone1, is overproduced in endosymbiotic but not in free-living bacteria2,3,4, presumably to assist in the folding of conformationally damaged proteins. Here we show that the overproduction of GroEL in Escherichia coli masks the effects of harmful mutations that have accumulated during a simulated process of vertical transmission. This molecular mechanism, which may be an adaptation to the bacterium's intracellular lifestyle, is able to rescue lineages from a progressive fitness decline resulting from the fixation of deleterious mutations under strong genetic drift5,6.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.90 per issue

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

Figure 1: Effect of the overexpression of the groE operon on the fitness of randomly mutated strains of Escherichia coli.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sigler, P. B. et al. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 67, 581–608 (1998).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  2. Sato, S. & Ishikawa, H. J. Bacteriol. 179, 2300–2304 (1997).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  3. Aksoy, S. Insect Mol. Biol. 4, 32–29 (1995).
    Google Scholar
  4. Charles, H., Heddi, A., Guillaud, J., Nardon, C. & Nardon, P. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 239, 769–774 (1997).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  5. Moran, N. A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 93, 2873–2878 (1996).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  6. Rutherford, S. L. & Lindquist, S. Nature 396, 336–342 (1998).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  7. Funk, D. J., Wernegreen, J. J. & Moran, N. A. Genetics 157, 477–489 (2001).
    CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar
  8. Muller, H. J. Mutat. Res. 1, 2–9 (1964).
    Article Google Scholar
  9. Moran, N. A. & Wernegreen, J. J. Trends Ecol. Evol. 15, 321–326 (2000).
    Article CAS Google Scholar
  10. de Visser, J. A. G. M., Zeyl, C., Gerrish, P. J., Blanchard, J. L. & Lenski, R. E. Science 283, 404–406 (1999).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  11. Lenski, R. E., Rose, M. R., Simpson, S. C. & Tadler, S. C. Am. Nat. 138, 1315–1341 (1991).
    Article Google Scholar
  12. Kibota, T. T. & Lynch, M. Nature 381, 694–696 (1996).
    Article ADS CAS Google Scholar
  13. Zyskind, J. W. & Bernstein, S. I. Recombinant DNA Laboratory Manual (Academic, San Diego, 1989).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva and Departament de Genètica, Universitat de València, PO Box 22085, València, 46071, Spain
    Mario A. Fares, Mario X. Ruiz-González, Andrés Moya, Santiago F. Elena & Eladio Barrio

Authors

  1. Mario A. Fares
  2. Mario X. Ruiz-González
  3. Andrés Moya
  4. Santiago F. Elena
  5. Eladio Barrio

Corresponding author

Correspondence toEladio Barrio.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fares, M., Ruiz-González, M., Moya, A. et al. GroEL buffers against deleterious mutations.Nature 417, 398 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/417398a

Download citation

This article is cited by