Life in an arsenic-containing gold mine: genome and physiology of the autotrophic arsenite-oxidizing bacterium rhizobium sp. NT-26

Arsenic is widespread in the environment and its presence is a result of natural or anthropogenic activities. Microbes have developed different mechanisms to deal with toxic compounds such as arsenic and this is to resist or metabolize the compound. Here, we present the first reference set of genomi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genome biology and evolution 2013-01, Vol.5 (5), p.934-953
Main Authors: Andres, Jérémy, Arsène-Ploetze, Florence, Barbe, Valérie, Brochier-Armanet, Céline, Cleiss-Arnold, Jessica, Coppée, Jean-Yves, Dillies, Marie-Agnès, Geist, Lucie, Joublin, Aurélie, Koechler, Sandrine, Lassalle, Florent, Marchal, Marie, Médigue, Claudine, Muller, Daniel, Nesme, Xavier, Plewniak, Frédéric, Proux, Caroline, Ramírez-Bahena, Martha Helena, Schenowitz, Chantal, Sismeiro, Odile, Vallenet, David, Santini, Joanne M, Bertin, Philippe N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arsenites
Arsenites - chemistry
Arsenites - metabolism
Autotrophic Processes
Bacteria
Bacteria - genetics
Bacteria - isolation & purification
Bacteria - metabolism
Biofilms
Genetic Fitness
Genome, Bacterial
Gold
Gold - chemistry
Life Sciences
Oxidation-Reduction
Phylogeny
Rhizobium
Rhizobium - genetics
Rhizobium - isolation & purification
Rhizobium - metabolism
Symbiosis
Symbiosis - genetics
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Summary:Arsenic is widespread in the environment and its presence is a result of natural or anthropogenic activities. Microbes have developed different mechanisms to deal with toxic compounds such as arsenic and this is to resist or metabolize the compound. Here, we present the first reference set of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data of an Alphaproteobacterium isolated from an arsenic-containing goldmine: Rhizobium sp. NT-26. Although phylogenetically related to the plant-associated bacteria, this organism has lost the major colonizing capabilities needed for symbiosis with legumes. In contrast, the genome of Rhizobium sp. NT-26 comprises a megaplasmid containing the various genes, which enable it to metabolize arsenite. Remarkably, although the genes required for arsenite oxidation and flagellar motility/biofilm formation are carried by the megaplasmid and the chromosome, respectively, a coordinate regulation of these two mechanisms was observed. Taken together, these processes illustrate the impact environmental pressure can have on the evolution of bacterial genomes, improving the fitness of bacterial strains by the acquisition of novel functions.
ISSN:1759-6653
1759-6653
DOI:10.1093/gbe/evt061