H Doré, A R Eisenberg, E N Junkins, G E Leventhal, Anakha Ganesh, O X Cordero, B G Paul, D L Valentine, M A O'Malley, E G Wilbanks
Diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs) are used by bacteria, archaea, and viruses as a targeted mutagenesis tool. Through error-prone reverse transcription, DGRs introduce random mutations at specific genomic loci, enabling rapid evolution of these targeted genes. However, the function and benefits of DGR-diversified proteins in cellular hosts remain elusive. We find that 82% of DGRs from one of the major monophyletic lineages of DGR reverse transcriptases are encoded by multicellular bacteria, which often have two or more DGR loci in their genomes...
February 27, 2024: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America