Thermus thermophilus biosynthesizes lysine through the α-aminoadipate (AAA) pathway: this observation was the first discovery of lysine biosynthesis through the AAA pathway in archaea and bacteria. Genes homologous to the T. thermophilus lysine biosynthetic genes are widely distributed in bacteria of the Deinococcus-Thermus phylum. Our phylogenetic analyses strongly suggest that a common ancestor of the Deinococcus-Thermus phylum had the ancestral genes for bacterial lysine biosynthesis through the AAA pathway. In addition, our findings suggest that the ancestor lacked genes for lysine biosynthesis through the diaminopimelate (DAP) pathway. Interestingly, Deinococcus proteolyticus does not have the genes for lysine biosynthesis through the AAA pathway but does have the genes for lysine biosynthesis through the DAP pathway. Phylogenetic analyses of D. proteolyticus lysine biosynthetic genes showed that the key gene cluster for the DAP pathway was transferred horizontally from a phylogenetically distant organism. 1. Introduction The Deinococcus-Thermus phylum constitutes one of the major bacterial evolutionary lineages [1, 2]. At present, the genome sequence data of 6 genera (13 organisms) belonging to this phylum are available in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database [3]. Two pathways for lysine biosynthesis have been described, namely, the α-aminoadipate (AAA) pathway and the diaminopimelate (DAP) pathway [5]. The AAA pathway has two different types [6]. In T. thermophilus, a gene cluster was found for lysine biosynthesis not through the DAP pathway but through the AAA pathway [6–8]. Although Deinococcus radiodurans has genes homologous to the T. thermophilus lysine biosynthetic genes, these genes are scattered on the genome [9]. In addition, the D. radiodurans aspartate kinase that catalyzes the phosphorylation of L-aspartate (the first reaction in the DAP pathway) is structurally and phylogenetically very different from that of T. thermophilus [10]. Recent studies have shown that the genome signatures of these 2 bacteria are different [4], supporting the theory that Deinococcus species acquired genes from various other bacteria to survive different kinds of environmental stresses, whereas Thermus species have acquired genes from thermophilic bacteria to adapt to high-temperature environments [11]. The distribution of lysine biosynthetic genes in the Deinococcus-Thermus phylum has not been clearly described. In this study, we compared the distribution of the genes for lysine biosynthesis between 13 organisms (D. deserti, D.
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