Sequence of the hyperplastic genome of the naturally competent Thermus scotoductus SA-01
Entity
UAM. Departamento de Biología MolecularPublisher
BioMed Central Ltd.Date
2011-11-24Citation
10.1186/1471-2164-12-577
BMC Genomics 12 (2011): 577
ISSN
1471-2164DOI
10.1186/1471-2164-12-577Funded by
Funding for the project was provided by: DL and EvH: The Advanced Biomolecular Research Cluster of the Strategic Academic Cluster Initiative of the University of the Free State, the National Research Foundation (South Africa) HICD - Institutional Research Development Programme (IRDP - RNAs) (Grant number 62692), the SA/Germany Agreement on Cooperation in Science and Technology (UID69440) and the Technology Innovation Agency/University of the Free State Metagenomics Platform. OR and BK: The Southern African Biochemistry and Informatics for Natural Products Network (SABINA), the National Research Foundation (South Africa) grant for National Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics Programme (Grant number 71261). RD: The Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (grant number SUA08/12) JB: Bilateral, South Africa/Spain collaborative project (HS2007-0013)Editor's Version
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-12-577Subjects
Biología y Biomedicina / BiologíaNote
Gounder et al.: Sequence of the hyperplastic genome of the naturally competent Thermus scotoductus SA-01. BMC Genomics 2011 12:577. The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/12/577Rights
© 2011 Gounder et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.Abstract
Background: Many strains of Thermus have been isolated from hot environments around the world. Thermus scotoductus SA-01 was isolated from fissure water collected 3.2 km below surface in a South African gold mine. The isolate is capable of dissimilatory iron reduction, growth with oxygen and nitrate as terminal electron acceptors and the ability to reduce a variety of metal ions, including gold, chromate and uranium, was demonstrated. The genomes from two different Thermus thermophilus strains have been completed. This paper represents the completed genome from a second Thermus species - T. scotoductus.Results: The genome of Thermus scotoductus SA-01 consists of a chromosome of 2,346,803 bp and a small plasmid which, together are about 11% larger than the Thermus thermophilus genomes. The T. thermophilus megaplasmid genes are part of the T. scotoductus chromosome and extensive rearrangement, deletion of nonessential genes and acquisition of gene islands have occurred, leading to a loss of synteny between the chromosomes of T. scotoductus and T. thermophilus. At least nine large inserts of which seven were identified as alien, were found, the most remarkable being a denitrification cluster and two operons relating to the metabolism of phenolics which appear to have been acquired from Meiothermus ruber. The majority of acquired genes are from closely related species of the Deinococcus-Thermus group, and many of the remaining genes are from microorganisms with a thermophilic or hyperthermophilic lifestyle. The natural competence of Thermus scotoductus was confirmed experimentally as expected as most of the proteins of the natural transformation system of Thermus thermophilus are present. Analysis of the metabolic capabilities revealed an extensive energy metabolism with many aerobic and anaerobic respiratory options. An abundance of sensor histidine kinases, response regulators and transporters for a wide variety of compounds are indicative of an oligotrophic lifestyle.Conclusions: The genome of Thermus scotoductus SA-01 shows remarkable plasticity with the loss, acquisition and rearrangement of large portions of its genome compared to Thermus thermophilus. Its ability to naturally take up foreign DNA has helped it adapt rapidly to a subsurface lifestyle in the presence of a dense and diverse population which acted as source of nutrients. The genome of Thermus scotoductus illustrates how rapid adaptation can be achieved by a highly dynamic and plastic genome.
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Google Scholar:Gounder, Kamini
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Brzuszkiewicz, Elzbieta B.
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Liesegang, Heiko
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Wollherr, Antje
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Daniel, Rolf
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Gottschalk, Gerhard
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Reva, Oleg N.
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Kumwenda, Ben
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Srivastava, Malay
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Bricio, Carlos
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Berenguer Carlos, José
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Van Heerden, Esta
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Litthauer, Derek
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