Ecologically Driven Competence for Exogenous DNA Uptake in Yeast

Abstract

Unlike prokaryotes, eukaryotic organisms do not seem to be equipped with natural cell process(es) designated for exogenous DNA uptake. However, it is barely known that under laboratory circumstances resembling wild fungal environment(s), at least some lower eukaryotes could become naturally competent for exogenous DNA uptake. Thus, apart from the known fact that non-manipulated cells of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae take exogenous DNA by conjugation with certain bacteria, there are also mechanical and physiological mechanisms enabling their transformation under environmental conditions. This clearly shows that lower eukaryotes are amenable to transformation without applying man-made technology (i.e., naturally). However, this topic failed to raise critical scientific interest. Therefore, this review aims to scrutinize the overall implication of the phenomenon stressing its fundamental and applicable importance. It also summarizes all axiomatic laboratory circumstances/vehicles hitherto known to provoke yeast competence naturally and critically discusses plausible mechanisms behind. Possible pathways underlying the phenomenon are emphasized and a unifying model is proposed. This story potentially spans several different research fields, from evolutionary genetics to genetic transformation technology.

Living Organisms Author Their Read-Write Genomes in Evolution

“…Nonetheless, despite our knowledge of various bacterial-eukaryotic cell interactions, it has been rather surprising to discover the extent and variety of naturally-occurring DNA transfers that occur across the widest taxonomic distances ( Table 6 ). It has also been surprising to find that certain processes that were thought to be exclusively prokaryotic, like transformation, also occur naturally in eukaryotes [ 185 ].…”

Natural Transformation in Gram-Positive Bacteria and Its Biotechnological Relevance to Lactic Acid Bacteria

“…Since its discovery in 1928, transformation by means of natural competence has been reported to be the most prevalent form of HGT (Carvalho et al 2020), with examples throughout the Kingdom Bacteria and some examples in Archaea and Fungi (Blokesch 2016, Lipscomb et al 2011, Lorenz & Wackernagel 1994, Mitrikeski 2015). In most studied microorganisms, the development of competence appears to be very tightly regulated and difficult to induce under laboratory conditions.…”