The real IM?; stealing genes (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, October 11, 2016, 20:26 (2751 days ago) @ David Turell

A virus has been found using the gene black widow spiders use to make their poison:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2108671-virus-steals-black-widow-poison-gene-to-he...

"In one of the most unexpected genetic thefts ever, a virus that infects bacteria appears to have stolen the gene coding for the poison of the black widow spiders. The virus, named WO, probably uses the gene to help it attack its targets.

"Viruses often steal genes from their hosts. But because bacterial viruses – also called bacteriophages – only attack bacteria, genes from other domains of life are usually beyond their reach. That would include higher organisms known as eukaryotes, which have cells that contain a nucleus.

"WO, however, faces an unusual challenge: its targets are Wolbachia bacteria living within the cells of insects, spiders, and some other animals. That means that for it to infect new bacterial cells, WO has to escape not only from its existing Wolbachia host, but also from the eukaryotic cell – and then the virus particles have to evade the eukaryote’s powerful immune system.

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"They found several genes closely related to ones found in eukaryotes, including the gene for latrotoxin, the poison used by black widow spiders. It kills by poking holes in cell membranes, making it a plausible tool for a virus needing to escape from a eukaryotic cell. WO also had other genes like those in eukaryotes, and these may help it evade the immune system.

"This is the first time eukaryotic genes have turned up in a bacterial virus. What’s more, the eukaryote genes make up almost half of WO’s genome.

“'For a phage to devote about half its genome to these eukaryotic-like genes, they must be important to the phage function,” says Sarah Bordenstein. WO probably picks up the eukaryote DNA after breaking out of a Wolbachia cell into the animal cell."

Comment: Another neat say to provide changes in evolution. Was this mechanism present in initial life or developed later? Did God act or provide the mechanism early on?