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July 7, 2019

Complete and assembled genome sequence of an NDM-9- and CTX-M-15-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae ST147 wastewater isolate from Switzerland.

Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae have emerged worldwide and represent a major threat to human health. Here we report the genome sequence of K. pneumoniae 002SK2, an NDM-9- and CTX-M-15-producing strain isolated from wastewater in Switzerland and belonging to the international high-risk clone sequence type 147 (ST147).Whole-genome sequencing of K. pneumoniae 002SK2 was performed using Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) technology RS2 reads (C4/P6 chemistry). De novo assembly was performed using Canu assembler, and sequences were annotated using the NCBI Prokaryotic Genome Annotation Pipeline (PGAP).The genome of K. pneumoniae 002SK2 consists of a 5.4-Mbp chromosome containing blaSHV-11 and fosA6, a 159-kb IncFIB(K) plasmid carrying the heavy metal resistance genes ars and sil, and a 77-kb IncR plasmid containing blaCTX-M-15, blaNDM-9, blaOXA-9 and blaTEM-1.Multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae harbouring blaNDM-9 and blaCTX-M-15 are spreading into the environment, most probably via wastewater from clinical settings. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Chemotherapy of Infection and Cancer. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


July 7, 2019

Probiotic genomes: Sequencing and annotation in the past decade

Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer many health benefits to the host when administered in adequate quantities. These health benefits have garnered much attention towards Probiotics and have given an impetus to their use as dietary supplements for the improvement of general health and as adjuvant therapies for certain diseases. The increased demand for probiotic products in the recent times has provided the thrust for probiotic research applied to several areas of human biology. The advances in genomic technologies have further facilitated the sequencing of the genomes of such probiotic bacteria and their genomic analyses to identify the genes that endow the beneficial effects they are known to exert. This work reviews the application of genomic strategies on probiotic bacteria, while providing the details about the probiotic strains whose genome sequences are available. It also consolidates the Genomic tools used for the sequencing, assembly and annotation of the probiotic genes and how it has helped in comparative genomic analyses.


July 7, 2019

Thauera sinica sp. nov., a phenol derivative-degrading bacterium isolated from activated sludge.

A bacterial strain, K11T, capable of degrading phenol derivatives was isolated from activated sludge of a sewage treatment plant in China. This strain, which can degrade more than ten phenol derivatives, was identified as a Gram-stain negative, rod-shaped, asporogenous, facultative anaerobic bacterium with a polar flagellum. The strain was found to grow in tryptic soy broth in the presence of 0-2.5% (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0-1%), at 4-43 °C (optimum 30-35 °C) and pH 4.5-10.5 (optimum 7.5-8). Comparative analysis of nearly full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that this strain belongs to the genus Thauera. The 16S rRNA gene sequence was found to show high similarity (97.5%) to that of Thauera chlorobenzoica 3CB-1T, with lesser similarity to other recognised Thauera strains. The G+C content of the DNA of the strain was determined to be 67.8 mol%. The DNA-DNA hybridization value between K11T and Thauera aromatica DSM6984T was 10.4 ± 4.5%. The genomic OrthoANI values of K11T with the other nine type strains of genus Thauera were less than 81.1%. Chemotaxonomic analysis of strain K11T revealed that Q-8 is the predominant quinone; the polar lipids contain phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, two unidentified phospholipids and five uncharacterised lipids; the major cellular fatty acid was identified as summed feature 3 (C16:1 ?7c and/or iso-C15:0 2-OH; 45.9%), followed by C16:0 (20.5%) and C18:1 ?7c (15.8%). Based on the phenotypic and phylogenetic evidence, DNA-DNA hybridisation, OrthoANI, chemotaxonomic analysis and results of the physiological and biochemical tests, a new species named Thauera sinica sp. nov. is proposed with strain K11T (= CGMCC 1.15731T = KACC 19216T) designated as the type strain.


July 7, 2019

Darwin: A genomics co-processor provides up to 15,000 X acceleration on long read assembly

of life in fundamental ways. Genomics data, however, is far outpacing Moore’s Law. Third-generation sequencing tech- nologies produce 100× longer reads than second generation technologies and reveal a much broader mutation spectrum of disease and evolution. However, these technologies incur prohibitively high computational costs. Over 1,300 CPU hours are required for reference-guided assembly of the human genome (using [47]), and over 15,600 CPU hours are required for de novo assembly [57]. This paper describes “Darwin” — a co-processor for genomic sequence alignment that, without sacrificing sensitivity, provides up to 15,000× speedup over the state-of-the-art software for reference-guided assembly of third-generation reads. Darwin achieves this speedup through hardware/algorithm co-design, trading more easily accelerated alignment for less memory-intensive filtering, and by optimizing the memory system for filtering. Darwin combines a hardware-accelerated version of D-SOFT, a novel filtering algorithm, with a hardware-accelerated version of GACT, a novel alignment algorithm. GACT generates near-optimal alignments of arbitrarily long genomic sequences using constant memory for the compute-intensive step. Dar- win is adaptable, with tunable speed and sensitivity to match emerging sequencing technologies and to meet the requirements of genomic applications beyond read assembly.


July 7, 2019

Complete genome sequence of Bacillus licheniformis BL-010.

The biodegradation of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is an industry of increasing importance. Bacillus licheniformis BL-010 was isolated from the aflatoxin contaminated corn feed storage, and was shown to degrade AFB1 efficiently. Here we present the complete genome sequence of BL-010, the genome comprises 4,287,714 bp in a circular chromosome with a GC content of 46.12% and contains genes encoding AFB1 degrading enzymes. The genome sequence displayed that this strain contains genes involved in production of laccase, aromatic ring-opening dioxygenase which could detoxify AFB1. Complete genome sequence of the strain BL-010 can further provide the genomic basis for the biotechnological application of strain BL-010 as an effective way to degrade AFB1. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


July 7, 2019

Complete genome of Pseudoalteromonas marina ECSMB14103, a mussel settlement-inducing bacterium isolated from the East China Sea

Pseudoalteromonas marina ECSMB14103, a strain isolated from natural multiple-species biofilms formed in the East China Sea, induces the settlement of larvae and plantigrades in Mytilus coruscus. Here, we report the complete genome of this strain; the genome is 3,441,076?bp in size, has a GC content of 39.90% and contains a total of 3200 predicted genes. These genomic data will provide significant datasets to help improve understanding of the physiological potential and molecular mechanisms of settlement induction by P. marina ECSMB14103.


July 7, 2019

Emerging mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria and fungi: advances in the era of genomics.

Bacteria and fungi continue to develop new ways to adapt and survive the lethal or biostatic effects of antimicrobials through myriad mechanisms. Novel antibiotic resistance genes such as lsa(C), erm(44), VCC-1, mcr-1, mcr-2, mcr-3, mcr-4, bla KLUC-3 and bla KLUC-4 were discovered through comparative genomics and further functional studies. As well, mutations in genes that hitherto were unknown to confer resistance to antimicrobials, such as trm, PP2C, rpsJ, HSC82, FKS2 and Rv2887, were shown by genomics and transcomplementation assays to mediate antimicrobial resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecium, Saccharomyces cerevisae, Candida glabrata and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, respectively. Thus, genomics, transcriptomics and metagenomics, coupled with functional studies are the future of antimicrobial resistance research and novel drug discovery or design.


July 7, 2019

Genome sequence resources for the wheat stripe rust pathogen (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) and the barley stripe rust pathogen (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. hordei)

Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici causes devastating stripe (yellow) rust on wheat and P. striiformis f. sp. hordei causes stripe rust on barley. Several P. striiformis f. sp. tritici genomes are available, but no P. striiformis f. sp. hordei genome is available. More genomes of P. striiformis f. sp. tritici and P. striiformis f. sp. hordei are needed to understand the genome evolution and molecular mechanisms of their pathogenicity. We sequenced P. striiformis f. sp. tritici isolate 93-210 and P. striiformis f. sp. hordei isolate 93TX-2, using PacBio and Illumina technologies and RNA sequencing. Their genomic sequences were assembled to contigs with high continuity and showed significant structural differences. The circular mitochondria genomes of both were complete. These genomes provide high-quality resources for deciphering the genomic basis of rapid evolution and host adaptation, identifying genes for avirulence and other important traits, and studying host-pathogen interactions.


July 7, 2019

Complete genome sequence of Celeribacter baekdonensis strain LH4, a thiosulfate-oxidizing alphaproteobacterial isolate from Gulf of Mexico continental slope sediments.

We report here the closed genome sequences of Celeribacter baekdonensis strain LH4 and five unnamed plasmids obtained through PacBio sequencing with 99.99% consensus concordance. The genomes contained several distinctive features not found in other published Celeribacter genomes, including the potential to aerobically degrade styrene and other phenolic compounds. Copyright © 2018 Flood et al.


July 7, 2019

Optimise wheat A-genome.

The wild einkorn wheat Triticum urartu (Tu) is the A-genome progenitor of tetraploid (AABB) and hexaploid (AABBDD) wheat. A draft genome of Tu was published in 2013, but a better reference sequence is urgently needed by scientists and breeders. Hong-Qing Ling, from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and colleagues have now completed a high-quality Tu genome using multiple methods.


July 7, 2019

Isolation and identification of an anthracimycin analogue from Nocardiopsis kunsanensis, a halophile from a saltern, by genomic mining strategy.

Modern medicine is unthinkable without antibiotics; yet, growing issues with microbial drug resistance require intensified search for new active compounds. Natural products generated by Actinobacteria have been a rich source of candidate antibiotics, for example anthracimycin that, so far, is only known to be produced by Streptomyces species. Based on sequence similarity with the respective biosynthetic cluster, we sifted through available microbial genome data with the goal to find alternative anthracimycin-producing organisms. In this work, we report about the prediction and experimental verification of the production of anthracimycin derivatives by Nocardiopsis kunsanensis, a non-Streptomyces actinobacterial microorganism. We discovered N. kunsanensis to predominantly produce a new anthracimycin derivative with methyl group at C-8 and none at C-2, labeled anthracimycin BII-2619, besides a minor amount of anthracimycin. It displays activity against Gram-positive bacteria with similar low level of mammalian cytotoxicity as that of anthracimycin.


July 7, 2019

The draft genome of the lichen-forming fungus Lasallia hispanica (Frey) Sancho & A. Crespo

Lasallia hispanica (Frey) Sancho & A. Crespo is one of three Lasallia species occurring in central-western Europe. It is an orophytic, photophilous Mediterranean endemic which is sympatric with the closely related, widely distributed, highly clonal sister taxon L. pustulata in the supra- and oro-Mediterranean belts. We sequenced the genome of L. hispanica from a multispore isolate. The total genome length is 41·2 Mb, including 8488 gene models. We present the annotation of a variety of genes that are involved in protein secretion, mating processes and secondary metabolism, and we report transposable elements. Additionally, we compared the genome of L. hispanica to the closely related, yet ecologically distant, L. pustulata and found high synteny in gene content and order. The newly assembled and annotated L. hispanica genome represents a useful resource for future investigations into niche differentiation, speciation and microevolution in L. hispanica and other members of the genus.


July 7, 2019

Auroramycin, a potent antibiotic from Streptomyces roseosporus by CRISPR-Cas9 activation.

Silent biosynthetic gene clusters represent a potentially rich source for new bioactive compounds. We report the discovery, characterization and biosynthesis of a novel doubly glycosylated 24-membered polyene macrolactam from a silent biosynthetic gene cluster in Streptomyces roseosporus using the CRISPR-Cas9 gene cluster activation strategy. Structural characterization of this polyketide, named auroramycin, revealed a rare isobutyrylmalonyl extender unit and a unique pair of aminosugars. Relative and absolute stereochemistry were determined using a combination of spectroscopic analyses, chemical derivatization, and computational analysis. The activated gene cluster for auroramycin production was also verified by transcriptional analyses and gene deletions. Finally, auroramycin exhibited potent anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (anti-MRSA) activity towards clinical drug-resistant isolates.© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.


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