Summary
Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) sequence homology (as determined by comparisons of T1 oligonucleotide catalogs of32P-labeled 16S rRNAs) has been used to assess phylogenetic relationships within the filamentous and unicellular blue-green bacteria, and to identify regions of evolutionary conservatism within blue-green bacterial 16S rRNAs.Nostoc andFischerella, representatives of two morphologically distinct and highly differentiated orders, are shown to be as closely related (on the basis of RNA sequence homology) as typical members of the non-blue-green bacterial genusBacillus. They are further shown to be (on the same basis) indistinguishable from typical unicellular members of a subgroup of the unicellular blue-green bacterial order Chroococcales. These results have general implications for studies of the origin of differentiated prokaryotes and of evolutionary change in prokaryotic macromolecules. In particular, they provide indirect evidence that the divergences of contemporary major prokaryotic groups are truly ancient ones.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Balch, W.E., Magrum, L.J., Fox, G.E., Wolfe, R.S., Woese, C.R. (1977). J. Mol. Evol. (in press)
Bonen, L., Allen, G.V., Dobson, P.R., Doolittle, W.F. (1976). J. Bacteriol.126, 1020–1023
Bonen, L., Doolittle, W.F. (1975). Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA72, 2310–2314
Bonen, L., Doolittle, W.F. (1976). Nature261, 669–673
Broda, E. (1975). The Evolution of the Bioenergetic Process. Oxford: Pergamon Press
Desikichary, T.V. (1973). Status of classical taxonomy. In: The Biology of the Bluegreen Algae, N.G. Carr, B.A. Whitton, eds. pp. 473–481. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications
Edelman, M., Swinton, D., Schiff, J.A., Epstein, H.T., Zeldin, B. (1967). Bacteriol. Revs.31, 315–331
Ehresmann, C., Stiegler, P., Mackie, G.A., Zimmermann, R.A., Ebel, J.P., Fellner, P. (1975). Nucleic Acids Res.2, 265–301
Evans, E.H., Foulds, I., Carr, N.G. (1976). J. Gen. Microbiol.92, 147–155
Fox, G.E., Pechman, K.R., Woese, C.R. (1977). Int. J. Systematic Bacteriol.27, 44–57
Hoare, D.S., Ingram, L.O., Thurston, E.H., Walkup, R. (1971). Arch. Mikrobiol.78, 310–321
Ingram, L.O., Van Baalen, C. (1970). J. Bacteriol.102, 784–789
Kunisawa, R., Cohen-Bazire, G. (1970). Arch. Mikrobiol71, 49–59
Lazaroff, N. (1973). Photomorphogenesis and Nostocacean development. In: The Biology of the Blue-green Algae, N.G. Carr, B.A. Whitton, eds., pp. 279–319. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications
Sanger, F., Brownlee, G.G., Barrell, P.G. (1965). J. Mol. Biol.13, 373–398
Schopf, J.W. (1974). Paleobiology of the Precambrian: the age of blue-green algae. In: Evolutionary Biology, vol. 7, T. Dobzhansky, M.L. Hecht, W.C. Steere, eds., pp. 1–43. New York: Plenum Press
Singh, R.N., Tiwari, D.N. (1969). Nature221, 62–64
Sneath, P.H.A. (1974). Phylogeny of micro-organisms. In: Evolution in the Microbial World. Symposia of the Society for General Microbiology, vol. 24. (M.J. Carlile, J.J. Skehel, eds.), pp. 1–20. Cambridge: University Press
Sneath, P.H.A., Sokal, R.R. (1973). Numerical Taxonomy: The Principles and Practice of Numerical Classification. San Francisco: Freeman and Company
Stanier, R.Y., Kunisawa, R., Mandel, M., Cohen-Bazire, G. (1971). Bacteriol. Revs.35, 171–205
Woese, C.R., Fox, G.E., Zablen, L., Uchida, T., Bonen, L., Pechman, K., Lewis, B.J., Stahl, D. (1975). Nature254, 83–86
Woese, C., Sogin, M., Stahl, D., Lewis, B.J., Bonen, L. (1976). J. Mol. Evol.7, 197–213
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bonen, L., Doolittle, W.F. Ribosomal RNA homologies and the evolution of the filamentous blue-green bacteria. J Mol Evol 10, 283–291 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01734218
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01734218