History of the ADP/ATP-translocase-encoding gene, a parasitism gene transferred from a Chlamydiales ancestor to plants 1 billion years ago.

Nonmitochondrial ADP/ATP translocase is an energy parasite enzyme. Its encoding gene, tlc, is found only in Rickettsiales, Chlamydiales, and plant and alga plastids. We demonstrate the presence of tlc in Parachlamydia acanthamoebae. This gene shares more similarity with the tlc1 gene of Chlamydiaceae and the tlc of plant and alga plastids than with the tlc2 gene of Chlamydiaceae. Phylogenetic analysis, including all other tlc homologs found in GenBank, showed that tlc was duplicated in a Chlamydiales ancestor before the appearance of multicellular eukaryotes. A time scale, calibrated with seven independent time points obtained from fossil estimates and from the 16S rRNA molecular clock, was congruent with the molecular clock provided by tlc. Plant and alga plastids acquired tlc approximately when Parachlamydiaceae and Chlamydiaceae diverged, at the eucaryotic radiation time, ca. 1 billion years ago.