University at Buffalo scientists find relationship between beetle guts and yeast evolution

In New York state, University at Buffalo scientists have found evidence that different species of yeast have shared genes originally acquired from an ancient virus—and the guts and droppings of beetles may have helped make it happen.

Published in Molecular Biology and Evolution, the study shows that genetic material from that virus has evolved into a cluster of four related genes in yeasts in the genus Scheffersomyces. The study found that the cluster has moved between different species of these yeasts at least three times.

The study makes several findings about the cluster, which the researchers have named STORM (Scheffersomyces Totivirus-like ORF Repeat Module). The cluster has persisted in yeast genomes for at least 15 million years, yet its genes have evolved at unexpectedly high rates: about seven times faster than their counterparts in related viruses.

Tags: beetle guts, New York state, University at Buffalo

Category: Research