Polynucleobacter necessarius, a model for genome reduction in both free-living and symbiotic bacteria

We present the complete genomic sequence of the essential symbiont Polynucleobacter necessarius (Betaproteobacteria), which is a valuable case study for several reasons. First, it is hosted by a ciliated protist, Euplotes ; bacterial symbionts of ciliates are still poorly known because of a lack of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2013-11, Vol.110 (46), p.18590-18595
Main Authors: Boscaro, Vittorio, Felletti, Michele, Vannini, Claudia, Ackerman, Matthew S., Chain, Patrick S. G., Malfatti, Stephanie, Vergez, Lisa M., Shin, Maria, Doak, Thomas G., Lynch, Michael, Petroni, Giulio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino acid metabolism
Amino Acid Sequence
Amino acids
Bacteria
Base Sequence
Biological Sciences
Burkholderiaceae - genetics
case studies
Ciliophora
Comparative analysis
Computational Biology
DNA
DNA polymerase
DNA-directed DNA polymerase
Enzymes
Euplotes
Euplotes - microbiology
Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
freshwater
genome
Genome Size - genetics
Genome, Bacterial - genetics
Genomes
Genomics
Metabolism
microsymbionts
Molecular Sequence Annotation
Molecular Sequence Data
nucleotide sequences
Polynucleobacter necessarius
Sequence Alignment
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Symbionts
Symbiosis
Symbiosis - genetics
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Summary:We present the complete genomic sequence of the essential symbiont Polynucleobacter necessarius (Betaproteobacteria), which is a valuable case study for several reasons. First, it is hosted by a ciliated protist, Euplotes ; bacterial symbionts of ciliates are still poorly known because of a lack of extensive molecular data. Second, the single species P. necessarius contains both symbiotic and free-living strains, allowing for a comparison between closely related organisms with different ecologies. Third, free-living P. necessarius strains are exceptional by themselves because of their small genome size, reduced metabolic flexibility, and high worldwide abundance in freshwater systems. We provide a comparative analysis of P. necessarius metabolism and explore the peculiar features of a genome reduction that occurred on an already streamlined genome. We compare this unusual system with current hypotheses for genome erosion in symbionts and free-living bacteria, propose modifications to the presently accepted model, and discuss the potential consequences of translesion DNA polymerase loss.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1316687110