The widespread occurrence of repetitive stretches of DNA in genomes of organisms across the tree of life imposes fundamental challenges for sequencing, genome assembly, and automated annotation of genes and proteins. This multi-level problem can lead to errors in genome and protein databases that are often not recognized or acknowledged. As a consequence, end users working with sequences with repetitive regions are faced with ‘ready-to-use’ deposited data whose trustworthiness is difficult to determine, let alone to quantify. Here, we provide a review of the problems associated with tandem repeat sequences that originate from different stages during the sequencing-assembly-annotation-deposition workflow, and…
Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the sole causative agent of gonorrhea, constitutively undergoes diversification of the Type IV pilus. Gene conversion occurs between one of the several donor silent copies located in distinct loci and the recipient pilE gene, encoding the major pilin subunit of the pilus. A guanine quadruplex (G4) DNA structure and a cis-acting sRNA (G4-sRNA) are located upstream of the pilE gene and both are required for pilin antigenic variation (Av). We show that the reduced sRNA transcription lowers pilin Av frequencies. Extended transcriptional elongation is not required for Av, since limiting the transcript to 32 nt allows for normal…
A marine psychrophilic bacterium _Paenisporosarcina antarctica_ CGMCC 1.6503T (= JCM 14646T) was isolated off King George Island, Antarctica (62°13’31? S 58°57’08? W). In this study, we report the complete genome sequence of _Paenisporosarcina antarctica_, which is comprised of 3,972,524?bp with a mean G?+?C content of 37.0%. By gene function and metabolic pathway analyses, studies showed that strain CGMCC 1.6503T encodes a series of genes related to cold adaptation, including encoding fatty acid desaturases, dioxygenases, antifreeze proteins and cold shock proteins, and possesses several two-component regulatory systems, which could assist this strain in responding to the cold stress, the oxygen stress…
Shewanella baltica 128 is a specific spoilage organism (SSO) isolated from the refrigerated shrimp that results in shrimp spoilage. This study reported the complete genome sequencing of this strain, with the primary annotations associated with amino acid transport and metabolism (8.66%), indicating that S. baltica 128 has good potential for degrading proteins. In vitro experiments revealed Shewanella baltica 128 could adapt to the stress conditions by regulating its growth and biofilm formation. Genes that related to the spoilage-related metabolic pathways, including trimethylamine metabolism (torT), sulfur metabolism (cysM), putrescine metabolism (speC), biofilm formation (rpoS) and serine protease production (degS), were identified.…
Pseudoalteromonas strains are widely distributed in the marine environment and most have attracted considerable interest owing to their ability to synthesize biologically active metabolites. In this study, we report and describe the genome sequence of Pseudoalteromonas sp. MEBiC 03485, isolated from the deep-sea sediment of Pacific Ocean at a depth of 2000?m. The complete genome consisted of three contigs with a total genome size of 4,167,407?bp and a GC content of 40.76?l%, and was predicted to contain 4194 protein-coding genes and 131 non-coding RNA genes. The strain MEBiC 03485 genome was also shown to contain genes for diverse metabolic pathways.…
Bacillus velezensis JT3-1 is a probiotic strain isolated from feces of the domestic yak (Bos grunniens) in the Gansu province of China. It has strong antagonistic activity against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, Mannheimia haemolytica, Staphylococcus hominis, Clostridium perfringens, and Mycoplasma bovis. These properties have made the JT3-1 strain the focus of commercial interest. In this study, we describe the complete genome sequence of JT3-1, with a genome size of 3,929,799 bp, 3761 encoded genes and an average GC content of 46.50%. Whole genome sequencing of Bacillus velezensis JT3-1 will lay a good foundation for elucidation of…
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of Staphylococcus aureus is increasingly used as part of infection prevention practices, but most applications are focused on conserved core genomic regions due to limitations of short-read technologies. In this study we established a long-read technology-based WGS screening program of all first-episode MRSA blood infections at a major urban hospital. A survey of 132 MRSA genomes assembled from long reads revealed widespread gain/loss of accessory mobile genetic elements among established hospital- and community-associated lineages impacting >10% of each genome, and frequent megabase-scale inversions between endogenous prophages. We also characterized an outbreak of a CC5/ST105/USA100 clone among 3…
Escherichia coli C forms more robust biofilms than the other laboratory strains. Biofilm formation and cell aggregation under a high shear force depends on temperature and salt concentrations. It is the last of five E. coli strains (C, K12, B, W, Crooks) designated as safe for laboratory purposes whose genome has not been sequenced. Here we present the complete genomic sequence of this strain in which we utilized both long-read PacBio-based sequencing and high resolution optical mapping to confirm a large inversion in comparison to the other laboratory strains. Notably, DNA sequence comparison revealed the absence of several genes thought…
The evolution and global transmission of antimicrobial resistance has been well documented in Gram-negative bacteria and healthcare-associated epidemic pathogens, often emerging from regions with heavy antimicrobial use. However, the degree to which similar processes occur with Gram-positive bacteria in the community setting is less well understood. Here, we trace the recent origins and global spread of a multidrug resistant, community-associated Staphylococcus aureus lineage from the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal Bay clone (ST772). We generated whole genome sequence data of 340 isolates from 14 countries, including the first isolates from Bangladesh and India, to reconstruct the evolutionary history and genomic epidemiology…
We report the complete genome sequence of the anaerobic, sulfonate-respiring, sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans IC1. The genome was assembled into a single 3.25-Mb circular chromosome with 2,680 protein-coding genes identified. Sequencing of sulfonate-metabolizing anaerobes is key for understanding sulfonate degradation and its role in the sulfur cycle.Copyright © 2019 Day et al.
Acinetobacter baumannii is an important Gram-negative pathogen in hospital-related infections. However, treatment options for A. baumannii infections have become limited due to multidrug resistance. Bacterial virulence is often associated with capsule genes found in the K locus, many of which are essential for biosynthesis of the bacterial envelope. However, the roles of other genes in the K locus remain largely unknown. From an in vitro evolution experiment, we obtained an isolate of the virulent and multidrug-resistant A. baumannii strain MDR-ZJ06, called MDR-ZJ06M, which has an insertion by the ISAba16 transposon in gnaA (encoding UDP-N-acetylglucosamine C-6 dehydrogenase), a gene found in…
Our studies reveal that the oral colonizer and cause of infective endocarditis Streptococcus oralis subsp. dentisani displays a striking monolateral distribution of surface fibrils. Furthermore, our data suggest that these fibrils impact the structure of adherent bacterial chains. Mutagenesis studies indicate that these fibrils are dependent on three serine-rich repeat proteins (SRRPs), here named fibril-associated protein A (FapA), FapB, and FapC, and that each SRRP forms a different fibril with a distinct distribution. SRRPs are a family of bacterial adhesins that have diverse roles in adhesion and that can bind to different receptors through modular nonrepeat region domains. Amino acid…
Salmonella genomic island 3 (SGI3) was first described as a chromosomal island in Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:-, a monophasic variant of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium. The SGI3 DNA sequence detected from Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:- isolated in Japan was identical to that of a previously reported one across entire length of 81?kb. SGI3 consists of 86 open reading frames, including a copper homeostasis and silver resistance island (CHASRI) and an arsenic tolerance operon, in addition to genes related to conjugative transfer and DNA replication or partitioning, suggesting that the island is a mobile genetic element. We successfully selected transconjugants that acquired SGI3…
The pathogenic extended-spectrum-beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli lineage ST648 is increasingly reported from multiple origins. Our study of a large and global ST648 collection from various hosts (87 whole-genome sequences) combining core and accessory genomics with functional analyses and in vivo experiments suggests that ST648 is a nascent and generalist lineage, lacking clear phylogeographic and host association signals. By including large numbers of ST131 (n?=?107) and ST10 (n?=?96) strains for comparative genomics and phenotypic analysis, we demonstrate that the combination of multidrug resistance and high-level virulence are the hallmarks of ST648, similar to international high-risk clonal lineage ST131. Specifically, our in…
Development of dental plaque begins with the adhesion of salivary bacteria to the acquired pellicle covering the tooth surface. In this study, we collected in vivo dental plaque formed on hydroxyapatite disks for 6 h from 74 young adults and identified initial colonizing taxa based on full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences. A long-read, single-molecule sequencer, PacBio Sequel, provided 100,109 high-quality full-length 16S rRNA gene sequence reads from the early plaque microbiota, which were assigned to 90 oral bacterial taxa. The microbiota obtained from every individual mostly comprised the 21 predominant taxa with the maximum relative abundance of over 10% (95.8?±?6.2%,…