Fast Breaking Comment by Bernard Dujon

Bernard Dujon answers a few questions about this month's fast breaking paper in Multidisciplinary field.

From •>>August 2005

Field: Multidisciplinary
Article Title: Genome evolution in yeasts
Authors: Dujon, B;Sherman, D;Fischer, G;Durrens, P;Casaregola, S;Lafontaine, I;de Montigny, J;Marck, C;Neuveglise, C;Talla, E;Goffard, N;Frangeul, L;Aigle, M;Anthouard, V;Babour, A;Barbe, V;Barnay, S;Blanchin, S;Beckerich, JM;Beyne, E;Bleykasten, C;Boisrame, A;Boyer, J;Cattolico, L;Confanioleri, F;de Daruvar, A;Despons, L;Fabre, E;Fairhead, C;Ferry-Dumazet, H;Groppi, A;Hantraye, F;Hennequin, C;Jauniaux, N;Joyet, P;Kachouri, R;Kerrest, A;Koszul, R;Lemaire, M;Lesur, I;Ma, L;Muller, H;Nicaud, JM;Nikolski, M;Oztas, S;Ozier-Kalogeropoulos, O;Pellenz, S;Potier, S;Richard, GF;Straub, ML;Suleau, A;Swennen, D;Tekaia, F;Wesolowski-Louvel, M;Westhof, E;Wirth, B;Zeniou-Meyer, M;Zivanovic, I;Bolotin-Fukuhara, M;Thierry, A;Bouchier, C;Caudron, B;Scarpelli, C;Gaillardin, C;Weissenbach, J;Wincker, P;Souciet, JL
Journal: NATURE
Volume: 430
Page: 35-44
Year: JUL 1 2004
* Univ Strasbourg 1, Lab Dynam Evolut & Express Genomes Microorganisme, CNRS, FRE 2326, 28 Rue Goethe, F-67000 Strasbourg, France.
* Univ Strasbourg 1, Lab Dynam Evolut & Express Genomes Microorganisme, CNRS, FRE 2326, F-67000 Strasbourg, France.
* Univ Paris 06, CNRS, UFR 927, Unite Genet Mol Levures, F-75724 Paris 15, France.
* Univ Paris 06, CNRS, URA 2171, Unite Genet Mol Levures, F-75724 Paris 15, France.
* Pasteur Genopole Ile de France, Plate Forme Genom, F-75724 Paris 15, France.
* Inst Pasteur, CNRS, URA 2171, Unite Genet Interact Macormol, F-75724 Paris 15, France.
* Inst Pasteur, Grp Logiciels & Banques Donnees, F-75724 Paris 15, France.
* LaBRI, CNRS, UMR 5800, F-33405 Talence, France.
* Univ Bordeaux 2, Ctr Bioinformat Bordeaux, F-33076 Bordeaux, France.
* Univ Bordeaux 2, CNRS, UMR 5095, Inst Biochim & Genet Cellulaires, F-33077 Bordeaux, France.
* INAPG, INRA, UMR 216, Collect Levures Interet Biotechnol, F-78850 Thiverval Grignon, France.
* INAPG, INRA, UMR 216, Lab Genet Mol & Cellulaire, F-78850 Thiverval Grignon, France.
* INAPG, CNRS, URA 1925, F-78850 Thiverval Grignon, France.
* CEA Saclay, Serv Biochim & Genet Mol, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France.
* CNRS, UMR 8030, F-91057 Evry, France.
* Univ Paris 11, Inst Genet Mol, CNRS, UMR 8621, F-91405 Orsay, France.
* CNRS, UPR 9002, IBMC, F-67000 Strasbourg, France.
* Univ Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR 5122, Lab Genet Levures, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.

This paper has also been named the New Hot Paper in the Multidisciplinary field for September 2005.

Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

“The article was the first attempt to reconstitute the major steps of evolution of the Hemiascomycete yeasts...”

This article represents the original reference for the complete genome sequences and analysis of four novel yeasts, carefully selected to illustrate the diversity of the entire Hemiascomycete class:

Candida glabrata, a human pathogen, phylogenetically linked to Saccharomyces cerevisiae but not to other Candida.

Kluyveromyces lactis, a petite negative yeast commonly used in bioindustry as well as in laboratories.

Debaryomyces hansenii, a halotolerant yeast using a non-universal genetic code.

Yarrowia lipolytica, an alcane utilizing yeast with a significantly larger genome size and numerous similarities with filamentous fungi.

Does it describe a new discovery or a new methodology that's useful to others?

The article contains multidimensional comparisons between the four yeasts, plus Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and touches upon a large number of questions regarding genome evolution within a single eukaryotic phylum—common core genes and species-specific genes, expansion and reduction of gene families, gene loss and reductive evolution, mechanisms of duplication, tandem gene repeat formation and horizontal gene transfer. The article was the first attempt to reconstitute the major steps of evolution of the Hemiascomycete yeasts, showing the multiplicity of mechanisms involved and the superposition of events in a group of unicellular organisms that, despite their morphological similarity and common lifestyle, represent at the molecular level a larger evolutionary span than the entire phylum of Chordates.

Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

The comparison of genome structures and organizations between various yeast species (which are much more different than they superfically look) reveals some of the details of the molecular mechanisms of evolution which act on other eukaryotic genomes such as our own. But with yeasts, these mechanisms are amenable to precise and unlimited experimentations to characterize them in details.

How did you become involved in this research?

I have had a long-term interest in yeast genetics and molecular biology. In the 1990s , I was involved in the genome sequencing of Saccharomyces cerevisiae which, in 1996, became the first eukaryote entirely sequenced. Since then, I have extended my interest to comparative genomics and, together with colleagues whose names and affiliations appear in the article, we have started the first large-scale genomic exploration of various yeast species (published in 2000).

Bernard Dujon
Professor at the University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris
Professor at the Institut Pasteur, Paris
Member of the Institut Universitaire de France (Academie des Sciences)
Director of the Research Department: “Structure and Dynamics of Genomes”
at the Institut Pasteur
Institut Pasteur
Paris, France

ESI Special Topics, August 2005
Citing URL - http://www.esi-topics.com/fbp/2005/august05-BernardDujon.html