Evolutionary origins of archaeal and eukaryotic RNA-guided RNA modification in bacterial IS110 transposons
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Abstract
Transposase genes are ubiquitous in all domains of life and provide a rich reservoir for the evolution of novel protein functions. Here we report deep evolutionary links between bacterial IS110-family transposases, which catalyse RNA-guided DNA recombination using bridge RNAs, and archaeal/eukaryotic Nop5-family proteins, which promote RNA-guided RNA 2'-O-methylation using C/D-box snoRNAs. On the basis of conservation of protein sequence, domain architecture, three-dimensional structure and non-coding RNA features, alongside phylogenetic analyses, we propose that programmable RNA modification emerged through the exaptation of components derived from IS110-like transposons. These findings underscore how recurrent domestication events of transposable elements have driven the evolution of RNA-guided mechanisms.
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Fast and accurate protein structure search with Foldseek
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- Authors
- Vaysset, H., Meers, C., Cury, J., Bernheim, A., & Sternberg, S. H.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Columbia University (US)
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bernheim, Aude
- Sternberg, Samuel H.
- Venue
- Nature Microbiology
- Published
- 2025-01-02
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 20-27
- ISSN
- 2058-5276 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC11930352
- OpenAlex
- W4405995742
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5
- FWCI
- 2.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Microbiology (publishedVersion)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (2239685, CAREER)
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (GM143924)
- Institut Français de Bioinformatique (ANR-11-INBS-0013)
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-11-INBS, ANR-11-INBS-0013)
- National Institutes of Health
- Irving Medical Center, Columbia University
- National Human Genome Research Institute (DP2HG011650, RM1HG009490)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (F32GM143924)
- HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council (101040529)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA modifications and cancer
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA regulation and disease
- Keywords
- box C/D snoRNA, exaptation, protein domain architecture
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