Taxonomic utility of a phylogenetic analysis of phosphoglycerate kinase proteins of Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukaryota: Insights by Bayesian analyses

We studied 131 protein sequences of the essentially ubiquitous glycolytic enzyme 3-phosphoglycerate kinase (3-PGK) by Bayesian analyses in three Domains: 15 Archaea, 83 Bacteria, and 33 Eukaryota. The posterior distribution of phylogenetic trees developed were based on a uniform prior, the WAG model of protein evolution, Metropolis-Hastings sampling in a Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis, and a package of diagnostics to critically evaluate the validity of the analyses. The 15 Archaea separated with high posterior probability. The archaean Phyla Euryarchaeota and the apparently Euryarchaeota derived Crenarchaeota were monophyletic. The 33 Eukaryota separated into two main groups: the non-chlorophyllous forms with coherent sub-groupings of Euglenozoa, Alveolata, Fungi, and Metazoa and all the chlorophyllous species studied: the Plantae (Viridaeplantae), chlorophyllous Stramenopiles, and the chlorophyllous Bacteria. This association supports other opinions concerning the related lineage of cyanobacteria and the Plantae. The 3-PGK sequences from 83 Bacteria in almost every instance associated by their recognized taxal group: α-, β-, γ-, ε-proteobacteria, Chlamydia, Actinobacteridae, and Firmicutes. Firmicutes sequences were subdivided into three apparently monophyletic groups: the anaerobic Clostridia, the spore-forming Bacillales and a group containing the Mollicutes, Lactobacillales and non-spore-forming Bacillales. The 3-PGK-gene tree assemblage was notable both for its pervasive clustering in three Domains according to recognized taxonomic groupings of Class, Order, Family, and Genus. The 3-PGK enzyme or 3-PGK-like activity may have played a central role in the metabolism of the Universal Ancestor.