Natural Transformation is Facilitated by a Membrane Bound DNA Transporter TctA
A major driver of evolution in microbial organisms is the acquisition of new genetic material via horizontal gene transfer (HGT). One mechanism of HGT is natural transformation, a process in which organisms take up DNA directly from their environment. Natural transformation in bacteria has been well-characterized. Although it is a highly prevalent process in archaea, the genetic mechanisms behind archaeal natural transformation have yet to be explored. Additionally, no homologous genes involved in natural transformation have been identified between archaea and their bacterial counterparts. Here we describe a high efficiency method for generating transposon libraries in archaea and identify the putative membrane bound DNA transporter TctA to be essential for archaeal natural transformation.