Evidence of methanesulfonate utilizers in the Sargasso Sea metagenome

Methanesulfonate (MSA) is one of the products of the photo-oxidation of dimethylsulfide in the atmosphere. The genes responsible for the import of MSA into the cell (msm EFGH) and for its oxidation to formaldehyde (msm ABCD) have been previously sequenced from the soil bacterium Methylosulfonomonas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of basic microbiology 2009-09, Vol.49 (S1), p.S24-S30
Main Authors: Leitão, Elsa, Moradas-Ferreira, Pedro, De Marco, Paolo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Genes, Bacterial
Genome, Bacterial
Mesylates - metabolism
Metagenome
Methanesulfonic acid
Methylotrophy
Mixed Function Oxygenases - genetics
Mixed Function Oxygenases - metabolism
Molecular Sequence Data
Multigene Family
Operon
Oxygenase
Rhodobacteraceae - genetics
Rhodobacteraceae - metabolism
Sea water
Seawater - microbiology
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sulfur
Water Microbiology
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Summary:Methanesulfonate (MSA) is one of the products of the photo-oxidation of dimethylsulfide in the atmosphere. The genes responsible for the import of MSA into the cell (msm EFGH) and for its oxidation to formaldehyde (msm ABCD) have been previously sequenced from the soil bacterium Methylosulfonomonas methylovora str. M2 while genes for an MSA monooxygenase have been sequenced from marine bacterium Marinosulfonomonas methylotropha str. TR3. We performed a sequence-based screening of the Sargasso Sea metagenome for homologues of the MSA monooxygenase (MSAMO) and MSA import genes. Our search retrieved one scaffold bearing genes with high identity to the msm ABCD cluster plus two scaffolds bearing genes highly identical to the msm EFGH operon. We increased the available data by sequencing two metagenome plasmids, which revealed more msm genes. In these three cases synteny with the original msm operons was revealed. We also retrieved several singletons showing high identity to shorter segments of the msm clusters or individual msm genes. Furthermore, a characteristic 26-aa internal spacer of the MsmA Rieske-type motif was conserved. Our findings support the case for a significant role of MSA degraders in the marine sulfur cycle and seem to suggest that they may be prominent members of the methylotrophic community in surface ocean waters. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH '' Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
ISSN:0233-111X
1521-4028
DOI:10.1002/jobm.200800223