@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref16446, author = {Katileena Lohtander and H. L. Pasonen and Markku K. Aalto and Tapio Palva and Ari Pappinen and Jouko Rikkinen}, title = {Phylogeny of chitinases and implications for estimating horizontal gene transfer from chitinase transgenic silver birch (Betula pendula)}, year = {2008}, keywords = {}, doi = {}, url = {}, pmid = {}, journal = {Environmental Biosafety Research}, volume = {}, number = {}, pages = {}, abstract = {Chitinases are hydrolytic enzymes that have been employed in biotechnology in the attempts to increase plants resistance against fungal pathogens. Genetically modified plants have given rise to concerns of the spreading of transgenes into environment through vertical or horizontal gene transfer (HGT). In this study, chitinase-like sequences from silver birch (Betula pendula) EST-libraries were identified and their phylogenetic relationships to other chitinases were studied. Phylogenetic analyses were used to estimate the frequency of historical gene transfer events of chitinase genes between plants and other organisms, and the usefulness of phylogenetic analyses as a source of information for the risk assessment of transgenic silver birch carrying a sugar beet chitinase IV gene was evaluated. Thirteen partial chitinase-like sequences, with an approximate length of 600 bp, were obtained from the EST-libraries. The sequences belonged to five chitinase classes. Some bacterial chitinases from Streptomyces and Burkholderia, as well as a chitinase from an oomycete Phytophtora infestans grouped together with the class IV chitinases of plants, supporting the hypothesis that some class IV chitinases in bacteria and Phytophtora have evolved from plant chitinases via horizontal gene transfer. According to our analyses, HGT of a chitinase IV gene from eukaryotes to bacteria has occurred presumably only once. Based on this, the likelihood for the HGT of chitinase IV gene from transgenic birch to other organisms is expected to be extremely low. However, as the risk is the function of both the likelihood and consequence, the effects of the rare HGT event(s) will finally determine the level of the risk.} }

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