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GENTAUR Europe BVBA Voortstraat 49, 1910 Kampenhout BELGIUM Tel 0032 16 58 90 45 Fax 0032 16 50 90 45 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
GENTAUR BULGARIA
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GENTAUR France SARL
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GmbH Marienbongard 20
52062 Aachen Deutschland
Tel (+49) 0241 56 00 99 68
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GENTAUR Ltd.
Howard Frank Turnberry House
1404-1410 High Road
Whetstone London N20 9BH
Tel 020 3393 8531
Fax 020 8445 9411
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GENTAUR Poland Sp. z o.o.
ul. Grunwaldzka 88/A m.2
81-771 Sopot, Poland
Tel 058 710 33 44
Fax 058 710 33 48
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GENTAUR Nederland BV
Kuiper 1
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Tel 0208-080893
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GENTAUR SRL IVA IT03841300167
Piazza Giacomo Matteotti, 6, 24122 Bergamo
Tel 02 36 00 65 93
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GENTAUR Spain
Tel 0911876558
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Genprice Inc, Logistics
547, Yurok Circle
San Jose, CA 95123
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(408) 780-0908
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GENPRICE Inc. invoicing/ accounting:
6017 Snell Ave, Suite 357
San Jose, CA. 96123
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Montenegro, Croatia:
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Retrovirus Packaging
We provide high quality Retrovirus packing services.
Retroviral vectors are one of the efficient methods of gene delivery to mammalian cells both in vitro and in vivo. Through years of experience with lentiviral and retroviral vectors, Targatt has developed own proprietary packaging systems and efficient protocols for the rapid generation of pseudoviral particles.
Targatt offers express Retrovirus packaging service to produce high-quality, high-titer virus particles using your viral construct with turnaround time of 10 days. Save your time, receive ready-to-transduce viral particles.
- Production of virus in a state-of-the art BSL-2 facility with robust quality control in accordance with NIH Biosafety Level 2 criteria
- Flexibility of virus production scales to meet your research needs
- Accurate Virus titers as determined by qPCR to measure infectious units per ml ( ifus/ml)
- Depending on level of titer requested, please provide 10-40 μg of endotoxin-free lentivector or retrovector plasmid DNA
- All custom virus production services should come with information on the plasmids which have to be packaged.
- Vector must be able to produce virus (no internal poly A signal, no toxic genes, no unusual 2nd structure, or 5' to 3' LTR size over 8kb.)
Cell Line Gene Modification
Cell line gene modification is a versatile genetic tool for studying gene function, designing diseases models, biopharmaceutical research, drug discovery and many other applications.
Gene targeting is primarily performed in embryonic stem (ES) cells for the purpose of generating knock-out mice. However, targeted gene modification in cultured cell lines can be a considerably easier and more rapid approach of creating valuable research models. Customized gene-targeted mammalian cell lines are a cheap and convenient model system that can be used for many applications in research and drug discovery, including gene function studies and high-throughput screening.
With strong expertise in genetic modification, gene targeting and cell culture, Targatt can help you to make your customized gene modified cell line. We specialized in both adherent and suspension cell culture. We have many traditional mammalian cell lines in stock and we can also adapt our established targeting techniques to less commonly used cell lines. With a great variety of tools for cell line gene modification in place we have successfully generated gene-targeted clonal lines even from hard-to-transfect cells.
Available Gene Modification Strategies (selected):
- Knock-in/knock-out
- Gene replacement
- Gene editing
- Gene therapy
- Mutagenesis
Each project is individually devised and realized. Our service includes an initial project assessment based on your model requirements. A dedicated PhD level project manager will discuss available gene targeting methods, vector design strategies and special culture requirements with you. After targeting we will clonally expand and cryopreserve several stable transgenic cell lines. Upon request we can expand the clones further on a large scale for high-throughput assays.
Applications (selected)
- - Recombinant protein production in CHO cells
- - Disease model in human cell lines for drug discovery
- - Gene therapy in diseased cell line
- - Generation of a specific cell line with TARGATT docking site as a master cell line for site-specific gene knock-in reporter cell line for gene function studies
Targatt also offers additional services wtihin our cell line models line including TARGATT Gene Insertion.
TARGATT Fast & Site-specific Gene Insertion in mammlian cell lines
Based on our proprietary TARGATT Technology for site-specific knock-in mouse generation, we developed a TARGATT system specifically for introducing gene(s) of interest into mammalian cell lines. The unique advantage of this system is that any gene of interest can be inserted efficiently into a defined, transcriptionally-active locus with high gene expression in a single copy fashion.
TARGATT Features:
- Site-specific insertion of any gene
- High integration efficiency
- Single-copy integration
- Stable expression
- Fast: get your transgenic cell line in 3 months!
Targatt proprietary TARGATT Technology enables highly efficient site-specific gene integration in mammalian cells and animals. This technology uses PhiC31 integrase to insert any gene of interest into a specific docking site that was pre-engineered into an intergenic and transcriptionally active genomic locus. Our TARGATT Technology improves several aspects in the generation of transgenic cell lines and animals:
- High integration efficiency mediated by PhiC31 integrase reduces time and cost
- Site-specific integration at a pre-selected genomic locus eliminates position effect and ensures high expression levels of the transgene
- Integration at intergenic region ensures that no internal genes are interrupted
- Single copy gene integration eliminates repeat-induced gene silencing and genomic instability
- Site-specific integration allows a precise comparison of the effects of the transgenes among different lines.
TARGATT Technology can be utilized for a variety of applications including reporter gene expression, gene knockdown and disease models.
Primer caso documentado de curación del sida infantil
Un bebé de dos años que nació con el VIH ha sanado con terapia antirretroviral precoz
Ayer, investigadores de amfAR, (Fundación para la investigación del sida en Estados Unidos) hicieron público en el marco de la 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, el primer caso documentado de curación de sida en un bebé nacido con VIH. Esta sanación, que fue posible con terapia precoz de antirretrovirales según los médicos, señala la necesidad de investigar más sobre el efecto de estos tratamientos en recién nacidos.
Deborah Persaud, doctora de la Johns Hopkins University de Estados Unidos, describió ayer, tres de marzo de 2013, el primer caso documentado de un bebé curado del sida. Su anuncio fue realizado en la 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) de Atlanta (EEUU).
Persaud, investigadora de amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) , detalló el caso de un bebé de dos años de edad de Mississippi diagnosticado con VIH al nacer, y que enseguida fue sometido a terapia antirretroviral.
A los 18 meses, el bebé dejó de tomar los antirretrovirales y su seguimiento médico se interrumpió. Cuando los médicos volvieron a verlo a los 23 meses, a pesar de que había dejado de su terapia durante cinco meses, constataron que el bebé tenía una carga viral indetectable. Una batería de pruebas altamente sensibles posteriores confirmó la ausencia del VIH.
La confirmación de la curación fue posible gracias a una donación que amfAR concedió a la doctora Persaud y a la doctora Katherine Luzuriaga, de la Universidad de Massachusetts, en septiembre de 2012.
La donación permitió que las médicos establecieran un colaboratorio de investigación para explorar y documentar posibles casos pediátricos de curación del VIH. En este colaboratorio participan además los doctores e investigadores Stephen Spector y Richman Doug, de la Universidad de California, San Diego; el Dr. Frank Maldarelli, del Instituto Nacional del Cáncer, y el Dr. Tae-Wook Chun, del Instituto Nacional de Alergias y Enfermedades Infecciosas.
Diversas formas de tratamiento del VIH
"El pediatra del bebé de Mississippi conocía nuestro trabajo y comunicó el caso a nuestro equipo, tan pronto como se enteró," explica Rowena Johnston, vicepresidenta de amfAR. "Gracias a que este colaboratorio ya estaba en marcha, los investigadores pudieron movilizarse inmediatamente y realizar las pruebas necesarias para determinar si realmente se trataba de un caso de curación del SIDA infantil”.
Según Persaud, pruebas exhaustivas han confirmado sin lugar a dudas que la madre y el bebé eran VIH positivo cuando este nació, y que en la actualidad no quedan signos de infección por VIH en el bebé, según los análisis realizados con los medios más sensibles disponibles.
El único caso documentado de cura del VIH hasta la fecha había sido el de Timothy Brown, el llamado "paciente de Berlín." En 2006, mientras era tratado por el VIH, al Sr. Brown le diagnosticaron leucemia.
Su médico trató entonces su leucemia con un trasplante de células madre de una persona nacida con una mutación genética que causa la inmunidad a la infección por VIH. Después del trasplante, el Sr. Brown pudo abandonar el tratamiento para el VIH sin recaídas.
Este nuevo caso apunta a la posibilidad de que diferentes poblaciones de personas con VIH podrían ser curadas de esta enfermedad de diferentes maneras. Mientras que el caso del señor Brown fue el resultado de una serie de complejos y costoso procedimientos de alto riesgo, este nuevo caso parece haber sido el resultado directo de una terapia antirretroviral relativamente barata.
"Teniendo en cuenta que esta sanación parece haberse logrado solo con terapia antirretroviral, es imperativo que aprendamos más acerca del sistema inmunológico de los recién nacidos y en qué se diferencia este del sistema inmunológico de los adultos; así como sobre los factores que han hecho posible que el bebé se haya curado”, explica Johnston.
El caso de Mississippi también pone de relieve la importancia de la identificación del VIH en mujeres embarazadas y de ampliar el acceso a tratamientos para prevenir la transmisión materno-infantil de la enfermedad. Asimismo, revela la necesidad de tratar de inmediato con antirretrovirales a los bebés que nacen seropositivos.
Acerca de amfAR
amfAR, la Fundación para la Investigación del SIDA, es una de las principales organizaciones sin fines de lucro del mundo dedicada al apoyo de la investigación del SIDA, prevención del VIH, educación, tratamiento y su incidencia en las políticas públicas. Desde 1985, amfAR ha invertido más de 366 millones de dólares (unos 280 millones de euros) en sus programas y ha otorgado becas a más de 2.000 equipos de investigación de todo el mundo.
Targatt transgenic Kit
TARGATT Transgenic Kit is designed to create site-specific, knock-in transgenic mice in a more efficient and significantly faster way over traditional methods. Generating transgenic mice by conventional methods (e.g. pronuclear microinjection or lentiviral injection) has several limitations, first of which is random insertion of the transgene. Random insertion of a transgene results in a position effect where either the transgene is prone to silencing or endogenous gene expression is disrupted. Furthermore, this position effect is compounded when a transgene is inserted as multiple copies, resulting in instability at the insertion locus.
Using our proprietary site-specific DNA integration system, TARGATT Transgenic Kit, combined with our genetically TARGATT mouse embryos (cat.# AST-0001, AST-0002, AST-0003, AST-0004). Targatt offers high quality H11(Hipp11) and ROSA26 transgenic mouse kits with our TARGATT technology. Using our TARGATT Technology, you can generate your own knock-in mouse in just three months.
If you prefer to generate a knock-in mouse model on your own, TARGATT Embryo H11(Hipp11) or Rosa26 and Transgenic Kits (2 or 5 microinjection size) are available for purchase.
Background:
TARGATT technology enables highly efficient site-specific gene integration in mammalian cells and animals1, 2. This technology uses øC31 integrase to insert any gene of interest into a docking site, pre-engineered in an intergenic region and transcriptionally active genomic locus. Our TARGATT technology improves several aspects in the generation of transgenic cell lines and animals: (1) High integration efficiency mediated by øC31 integrase reduces time and cost; (2) Site-specific integration at a pre-selected genomic locus eliminates position effect and ensures high level expression of the transgene; (3) Integration at intergenic region ensures that no internal genes are interrupted; (4) Single copy gene integration eliminates repeat-induced gene silencing and genomic instability; (5) Site-specific integration allows a precise comparison of the effects of the transgenes among different lines. TARGATT technology can be utilized for a variety of applications including reporter gene expression, gene knockdown, disease cell and animal models.
TARGATT embryos
TARGATT embryos are derived from one of our genetically engineered mouse models. These mouse embryos can be used as embryo donors for creating site-specific transgenic mice in a more efficient and faster way compared to traditional methods. Generating transgenic mice by conventional methods (e.g. pronuclear microinjection or lentiviral injection) has several limitations, first of which is the random insertion of the transgene. Random insertion of a transgene results in a position effect where either the transgene is prone to silencing or endogenous gene expression is disrupted. Furthermore, this position effect is compounded when transgenes are inserted in multiple copies, resulting in genomic instability at the insertion locus. Using our proprietary site-specific DNA integration technology, TARGATT embryos combined with our TARGATT Transgenic Kit (cat# AST-1001 or AST-1002), you can generate your desired transgenic mouse models with guaranteed gene expression faster.
Gentaur offers high quality H11 and ROSA26 TARGATT frozen embryos. Using our TARGATT Technology, you can generate your own knock-in mouse from H11 or ROSA26 embryos in 3 months. Our H11(Hipp11) and ROSA26 frozen embryos contain 3 straws with a total 45-60 cryopreserved embryos (8-cell stage/morula). They are shipped in a dry shipper containing liquid nitrogen. We also offer fresh H11 and ROSA26 embryos with each vial containing 25-35 fresh embryos (E3.5) in KSOM medium. We offer overnight shipping at ambient temperature. Embryos will be transferred to recipient(s) immediately upon arrival. US customers only.
If you prefer to generate a knock-in mouse model on your own, TARGATT Embryo (H11 or Rosa26) and Transgenic Kits (2 or 5 microinjection size) are available for purchase.
Background:
TARGATT technology enables highly efficient site-specific gene integration in mammalian cells and animals1, 2. This technology uses øC31 integrase to insert any gene of interest into a docking site, pre-engineered in an intergenic region and transcriptionally active genomic locus. Our TARGATT technology improves several aspects in the generation of transgenic cell lines and animals: (1) High integration efficiency mediated by øC31 integrase reduces time and cost; (2) Site-specific integration at a pre-selected genomic locus eliminates position effect and ensures high level expression of the transgene; (3) Integration at intergenic region ensures that no internal genes are interrupted; (4) Single copy gene integration eliminates repeat-induced gene silencing and genomic instability; (5) Site-specific integration allows a precise comparison of the effects of the transgenes among different lines. TARGATT technology can be utilized for a variety of applications including reporter gene expression, gene knockdown, disease cell and animal models.
First Documented Case of Child Cured of HIV
Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins University today described the first documented case of a child being cured of HIV. The landmark findings were announced at the 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Persaud, an amfAR grantee, detailed the case of a two-year-old child in Mississippi diagnosed with HIV at birth and immediately put on antiretroviral therapy. At 18 months, the child ceased taking antiretrovirals and was lost to follow-up. When brought back into care at 23 months, despite being off treatment for five months, the child was found to have an undetectable viral load. A battery of subsequent highly sensitive tests confirmed the absence of HIV.
Confirmation of the cure was made possible by a grant the Foundation awarded to Dr. Persaud and Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga of the University of Massachusetts in September 2012. The grant allowed Drs. Persaud and Luzuriaga to establish a research collaboratory to explore and document possible pediatric HIV cure cases. The collaboratory includes renowned researchers Drs. Stephen Spector and Doug Richman at the University of California, San Diego; Dr. Frank Maldarelli at the National Cancer Institute; and Dr. Tae-Wook Chun at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"The child's pediatrician in Mississippi [Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi] was aware of the work we were doing, and quickly notified our team as soon as this young patient's case came to her attention," said Dr. Rowena Johnston, amfAR vice president and director of research. "Because the collaboratory was already in place, the researchers were able to mobilize immediately and perform the tests necessary to determine if this was in fact a case of a child being cured."
According to Dr. Persaud, comprehensive tests have confirmed beyond doubt that both mother and child were HIV positive when the child was born, and today no signs of HIV infection in the child can be detected by the most sensitive means available.
The only other documented case of an HIV cure to date remains that of Timothy Brown, the so-called "Berlin patient." In 2006, while on treatment for HIV, Mr. Brown was diagnosed with leukemia. His physician was able to treat his leukemia with a stem-cell transplant from a person who was born with a genetic mutation causing immunity to HIV infection. Following the transplant, Mr. Brown was able to stop HIV treatment without experiencing a return of his HIV disease.
This new case points to the tantalizing possibility that different populations of HIV-positive people might be cured in different ways. While Mr. Brown's case was the outcome of a complex, high-risk, and expensive series of procedures, this new case appears to have been the direct result of a comparatively inexpensive course of antiretroviral therapy.
"Given that this cure appears to have been achieved by antiretroviral therapy alone," said Dr. Johnston, "it is also imperative that we learn more about a newborn's immune system, how it differs from an adult's, and what factors made it possible for the child to be cured."
The Mississippi case also underscores the importance of identifying HIV-positive pregnant women, expanding access to treatment regimens than can prevent mother-to-child transmission, and of immediately putting infants on antiretroviral therapy in the event that they are born HIV positive.
"We are proud to have played a leading role in bringing this first pediatric HIV cure to light," said amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost. "The case is a startling reminder that a cure for HIV could come in ways we never anticipated, and we hope this is the first of many children cured of HIV in the months and years to come."
AccuPower PyroHotStart PCR PreMix
The AccuPower PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix is a PCR master mix containing a thermostable DNA polymerase, thermostable pyrophosphatase, reaction buffer, dNTPs, tracking dye, and patented stabilizer in a ready to use hotstart PCR master mix.
Gentaur uses a unique enzyme-mediated HotStart PCR system that provides robust, sensitive and reliable results.
Gentaur's Taq DNA Polymerase is inhibited at lower temperatures (< 70°C) by pyrophosphate. This prevents the formation of mis-primed products and primer-dimers during the reaction set up process resulting in improved PCR specificity. However, Taq DNA Polymerase is rendered fully active at temperatures above 70°C via pyrophosphate hydrolysis with a thermostable pyrophosphatase (Figure 1). AccuPower® PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix is ideal for nucleic acid amplification reactions involving complex genomic or cDNA templates, very low copy targets, and multiplex reactions.
Figure 1. The mechanism of an enzyme-mediated hotstart PCR
Features and Benefits
Ease of use: | Just add template DNA, primers and water to start your reaction. dNTPs, buffer and enzyme are provided. |
Robust Stability: | Stable at room temperature for a month, at 4°C for one year and for 2 years in a -20°C freezer. |
Improved specificity: | Unique enzyme mediated PyroHotstart system results in greater specificity and more robust reactions |
Reproducibility: | Gentaur's strict quality controlled production system ensures that your results will be reproducible experiment after experiment. |
Specifications
5' to 3' exonuclease activity: Yes
3' to 5' exonuclease activity: No
3' – A Overhang: Yes
Fragment size: Up to 5 kb from human genomic DNA and 10 kb from Lambda DNA
Application
- High specificity PCR
- High sensitivity PCR
- Low-copy target PCR
- Multiplex PCR
- cDNA amplification
- TA cloning
Figure 1. Comparison of PCR amplification specificity between AccuPower® PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix from Gentaur and other suppliers' Hot start PCR master mix.
PCR reactions were performed according to each supplier's protocol. The PrP gene was amplified from human genomic DNA with two different primer sets, separately. This data shows that AccuPower® PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix has higher amplification efficiency and specificity than other suppliers' Hot start PCR master mix.
Lane M: 100 bp DNA Ladder(Gentaur, Cat. No.D-1030)
Lane 1: 100 ng DNA, PrP primer set (500 bp)
Lane 2: 10 ng DNA, PrP primer set (500 bp)
Lane 3: 100 ng DNA, PrP primer set (705 bp)
Lane 4: 10 ng DNA, PrP primer set (705 bp)
Figure 2. Comparison of PCR amplification specificity between AccuPower PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix from Gentaur and other suppliers' Hot start PCR master mix.
The ApoE gene was amplifed from 100 ng of human genomic DNA (The PCR product size is 268bp). This data shows thatAccuPower PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix has higher amplificition efficency and specificity than other suppliers' Hot start PCR master mix.
Lane M: 100 bp DNA Ladder (Gentaur, Cat. No. D-1030)
Lane 1: AccuPower PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix
Lane 2: Supplier I Hotstart Taq PCR preMix
Lane 3: Supplier S Hotstart Taq PCR masterMix
Lane 4: Supplier T Hotstart Taq PCR masterMix
Lane 5: Supplier Q Hotstart Taq PCR masterMix
Figure 3. AccuPower PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix has high amplification efficiency and specificity.
Specificity test was performed using 7 different sets of primers targeting the P53 gene. 10 ng of human genomic DNA was used for each PCR reaction. The cycling conditions were 95°C for 5min, 30 cycles of 95°C for 20 sec, 55°C for 40 sec, and 72°C for 1 min, and 72°C for 5 min for final extension.
Lane M: 100bp DNA Ladder (Gentaur, Cat. No. D-1030)
Lane 1: P75/73 primer set (139 bp)
Lane 2: P55/53 primer set (211 bp)
Lane 3: P55/63 primer set (447 bp)
Lane 4: P75/83 primer set (618 bp)
Lane 5: P55/73 primer set (1082 bp)
Lane 6: P65/83 primer set (1296 bp)
Lane 7: P55/83 primer set (1561 bp)
Figure 4. Comparison of PCR amplification between AccuPower PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix from Gentaur and other suppliers' Hot start PCR master mix.
Sensitivity test was performed by amplifying the IRGC gene from a serial dilution of human genomic DNA. This data shows that AccuPower PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix has higher amplification efficiency than other suppliers' Hot start PCR master mix.
Lane M: 100 bp DNA Ladder (Gentaur, Cat. No. D-1030)
Lane 1: 10 ng human genomic DNA
Lane 2: 1 ng human genomic DNA
Lane 3: 100 pg human genomic DNA
Lane 4: 10 pg human genomic DNA
Figure 5. Comparison of cDNA template amplification between AccuPower PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix and other suppliers' Hot start PCR master mix.
cDNA synthesized from 10-fold serial-diluted human total RNA from 10 ng to 10 pg using AccuPower RocketScript™ Cycle RT PreMix (Gentaur, Cat. No. K-2201) was used as a template for PCR amplification. This data shows thatAccuPower® PyroHotStart Taq PCR PreMix has higher amplification efficiency than other suppliers' Hot start PCR master mix.
Lane M: 100 bp DNA Ladder (Gentaur, Cat. No. D-1030)
Lane 1: 10 ng human total cDNA
Lane 2: 1 ng human total cDNA
Lane 3: 100 pg human total cDNA
Lane 4: 10 pg human total cDNA
Tenth of Quirky Creature's Active Genes Are Foreign: Believed to 'Ingest' DNA from Other Simple Organisms
Up to 10 per cent of the active genes of an organism that has survived 80 million years without sex are foreign, a new study from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London reveals. The asexual organism, the bdelloid rotifer, has acquired a tenth of its active genes from bacteria and other simple organisms like fungi and algae.
The findings were reported Nov. 15 in the journal PLoS Genetics.
Bdelloid rotifers are best known for going 80 million years without sex, as they have evolved to reproduce successfully without males. Many asexual creatures go extinct without the benefit of traditional genetic evolution. However, bdelloids have flourished by developing ingenious ways of overcoming the limitations of being asexual.
Bdelloids have also developed the fascinating ability to withstand almost complete desiccation when the freshwater pools they typically live in dry up. They can survive in the dry state for many years only to revive with no ill effect once water becomes available again.
"We were thrilled when we discovered that nearly 10 per cent of bdelloids' active genes are foreign, adding to the weirdness of an already odd little creature," said Professor Alan Tunnacliffe, lead author of the study from the University of Cambridge. "We don't know how the gene transfer occurs, but it almost certainly involves ingesting DNA in organic debris, which their environments are full of. Bdelloids will eat anything smaller than their heads!"
Because some of the foreign genes are activated when the bdelloids begin to dry out, the researchers believe that the genes play a role in bdelloids' ability to survive desiccation.
Professor Tunnacliffe added: "Other researchers have shown that bdelloids contain powerful antioxidants, which help protect them from the toxic oxidising agents that are the by-products of desiccation. These antioxidants have not yet been identified, but we think that some of them result from foreign genes."
For the study, the researchers extracted all of the messenger RNA (genetic code similar to DNA which provides a blueprint for the creation of proteins) from bdelloid rotifers and sequenced each message, creating a library of the animal's active coding information. Using a supercomputer, they then compared these messages with all other known sequences and found that in many cases similar sequences had been found in other organisms.
Strangely, however, these other organisms were often not animals, but simple microbes. This means that bdelloids have genes that are not present in other animals, but have been acquired from micro-organisms and adapted for use in the rotifer.
The research was funded by the Biotechnology and the Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the European Research Council.