Background and aims: Soil salinity is a worldwide environmental problem that can hinder plant development and therefore negatively impact crop production. Inoculation of halophytic plants with plant growth-promoting (PGP) actinobacteria has been suggested as one strategy to improve salt tolerance. Here we performed a glasshouse experiment to test the effect of a PGP halotolerant endophytic actinomycete strain, KLBMP 5084 on the performance of the halophyte Limonium sinense under conditions of salt stress. Methods: Strain KLBMP 5084 was identified and screened for multiple PGP traits. The complete genome of strain KLBMP 5084 was sequenced and analyzed. L. sinense control seedlings (no…
Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica bacteria are important foodborne pathogens with major economic impact. Some isolates exhibit increased heat tolerance, a concern for food safety. Analysis of a finished-quality genome sequence of an isolate commonly used in heat resistance studies, S. enterica subsp. enterica serovar Senftenberg 775W (ATCC 43845), demonstrated an interesting observation that this strain contains not just one, but two horizontally acquired thermotolerance locus homologs. These two loci reside on a large 341.3-kbp plasmid that is similar to the well-studied IncHI2 R478 plasmid but lacks any antibiotic resistance genes found on R478 or other IncHI2 plasmids. As this historical…
Chronic bacterial infections of the lung are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis patients. Tracking bacterial evolution during chronic infections can provide insights into how host selection pressures-including immune responses and therapeutic interventions-shape bacterial genomes. We carried out genomic and phenotypic analyses of 215 serially collected Burkholderia cenocepacia isolates from 16 cystic fibrosis patients, spanning a period of 2-20 yr and a broad range of epidemic lineages. Systematic phenotypic tests identified longitudinal bacterial series that manifested progressive changes in liquid media growth, motility, biofilm formation, and acute insect virulence, but not in mucoidy. The results suggest…
In this study, we present the characterization and genomic data of three Achromobacter phages belonging to the family Siphoviridae. Phages 83-24, JWX and JWF were isolated from sewage samples in Paris and Braunschweig, respectively, and infect Achromobacter xylosoxidans, an emerging nosocomial pathogen in cystic fibrosis patients. Analysis of morphology and growth parameters revealed that phages 83-24 and JWX have similar properties, both have nearly the same head and tail measurements, and both have a burst size between 85 and 100 pfu/cell. In regard to morphological properties, JWF had a much longer and more flexible tail compared to other phages. The…
Pannonibacter phragmitetus is a bioremediation reagent for the detoxification of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs) while it rarely infects healthy populations. However, infection by the opportunistic pathogen P. phragmitetus complicates diagnosis and treatments, and poses a serious threat to immunocompromised patients owing to its multidrug resistance. Unfortunately, genome features, antimicrobial resistance, and virulence potentials in P. phragmitetus have not been reported before. A predominant colony (31801) was isolated from a liver abscess patient, indicating that it accounted for the infection. To investigate its infection mechanism(s) in depth, we sequenced this bacterial genome and tested its antimicrobial resistance. Average…
This work characterized mega plasmid pSY153-MDR, carrying blaIMP-45 and armA, from a multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas putida isolate from the urine of a cerebral infarction patient in China. The backbone of pSY153-MDR was closely related to Pseudomonas plasmids p12969-DIM, pOZ176, pBM413, pTTS12, and pRBL16, and could not be assigned to any of the known incompatibility groups. The accessory modules of pSY153-MDR were composed of 10 individual insertion sequence elements and two different MDR regions, and differed dramatically from the above plasmids. Fifteen non-redundant resistance markers were identified to be involved in resistance to at least eight distinct classes of antibiotics. All…
Microbial degradation of nicotine is an important process to control nicotine residues in the aqueous environment. In this study, a high active nicotine degradation strain namedPseudomonassp. JY-Q was isolated from tobacco waste extract (TWE). This strain could completely degrade 5.0 g l-1nicotine in 24 h under optimal culture conditions, and it showed some tolerance even at higher concentrations (10.0 g l-1) of nicotine. The complete genome of JY-Q was sequenced to understand the mechanism by which JY-Q could degrade nicotine and tolerate such high nicotine concentrations. Comparative genomic analysis indicated that JY-Q degrades nicotine through putative novel mechanisms. Two candidate…
The rapid adoption of microbial whole genome sequencing in public health, clinical testing, and forensic laboratories requires the use of validated measurement processes. Well-characterized, homogeneous, and stable microbial genomic reference materials can be used to evaluate measurement processes, improving confidence in microbial whole genome sequencing results. We have developed a reproducible and transparent bioinformatics tool, PEPR, Pipelines for Evaluating Prokaryotic References, for characterizing the reference genome of prokaryotic genomic materials. PEPR evaluates the quality, purity, and homogeneity of the reference material genome, and purity of the genomic material. The quality of the genome is evaluated using high coverage paired-end sequence…
The recently isolated strain L21-Fru-AB(T) represents moderately halophilic, obligately anaerobic and saccharolytic bacteria that thrive in the suboxic transition zones of hypersaline microbial mats. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA genes, RpoB proteins and gene content indicated that strain L21-Fru-AB(T) represents a novel species and genus affiliated with a distinct phylum-level lineage originally designated Verrucomicrobia subdivision 5. A survey of environmental 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that members of this newly recognized phylum are wide-spread and ecologically important in various anoxic environments ranging from hypersaline sediments to wastewater and the intestine of animals. Characteristic phenotypic traits of the novel strain…
Carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative bacilli have been a global concern over the past 2 decades because these organisms can cause severe infections with high mortality rates. Carbapenemase genes are often carried by mobile genetic elements, and resistance plasmids can be transferred through conjugation. We conducted whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to demonstrate that the same plasmid harboring a metallo-ß-lactamase gene was detected in two different species isolated from a single patient. Metallo-ß-lactamase-producing Achromobacter xylosoxidans (KUN4507), non-metallo-ß-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KUN4843), and metallo-ß-lactamase-producing K. pneumoniae (KUN5033) were sequentially isolated from a single patient and then analyzed in this study. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, molecular typing (pulsed-field gel…
Myxobacteria are members of d-proteobacteria and are typified by large genomes, well-coordinated social behavior, gliding motility, and starvation-induced fruiting body formation. Here, we report the 10.33 Mb whole genome of a starch-degrading myxobacterium Sandaracinus amylolyticus DSM 53668(T) that encodes 8,962 proteins, 56 tRNA, and two rRNA operons. Phylogenetic analysis, in silico DNA-DNA hybridization and average nucleotide identity reveal its divergence from other myxobacterial species and support its taxonomic characterization into a separate family Sandaracinaceae, within the suborder Sorangiineae. Sequence similarity searches using the Carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZyme) database help identify the enzyme repertoire of S. amylolyticus involved in starch, agar, chitin,…
Species of the genus Bordetella associate with various animal hosts, frequently causing respiratory disease. Bordetella pertussis is the primary agent of whooping cough and other Bordetella species can cause similar cough illness. Here, we report four complete genome sequences from isolates of different Bordetella species recovered from human respiratory infections. Copyright © 2016 Weigand et al.
Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are a family of recalcitrant pollutants mainly used as plasticizer. The strain Gordonia sp.YC-JH1, isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil, is capable of efficiently degrading a wide range of PAEs. In order to pertinently investigate the genetic mechanism of PAEs catabolism by strain YC-JH1, its complete genome sequencing has been performed by SMRT sequencing technology. The genome comprises a circular chromosome and a plasmid with a size of 4,101,557 bp and 91,767 bp respectively. Based on the genome sequence, 3563 protein-coding genes are predicted, of which the genes responsible for PAEs degradation are identified, including the two genes…
To clarify the resistance mechanisms of Pannonibacter phragmitetus 31801, isolated from the blood of a liver abscess patient, at the genomic level, we performed whole genomic sequencing using a PacBio RS II single-molecule real-time long-read sequencer. Bioinformatic analysis of the resulting sequence was then carried out to identify any possible resistance genes. Analyses included Basic Local Alignment Search Tool searches against the Antibiotic Resistance Genes Database, ResFinder analysis of the genome sequence, and Resistance Gene Identifier analysis within the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database. Prophages, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), and other putative virulence factors were also identified using…
Achromobacter spanius is a newly described, non-fermenting, Gram-negative, coccoid pathogen isolated from human blood. Whole-genome sequencing of the A. spanius type strain was performed to investigate the mechanism of pathogenesis of this strain at a genomic level.The complete genome of A. spanius type strain DSM 23806T was sequenced using single-molecule real-time (SMRT) DNA sequencing.The complete genome of DSM 23806T consists of one circular DNA chromosome of 6425783bp with a G+C content of 64.26%. The entire genome contains 5804 predicted coding sequences (CDS) and 55 tRNAs. Genomic island (GI) analysis showed that this strain encodes several important pathogenesis- and resistance-related genes.These…