Complete genome sequence of Desulfomicrobium baculatum type strain (X)

Abstract

Desulfomicrobium baculatum is the type species of the genus Desulfomicrobium, which is the type genus of the family Desulfomicrobiaceae. It is of phylogenetic interest because of the isolated location of the family Desulfomicrobiaceae within the order Desulfovibrionales. D. baculatum strain X(T) is a Gram-negative, motile, sulfate-reducing bacterium isolated from water-saturated manganese carbonate ore. It is strictly anaerobic and does not require NaCl for growth, although NaCl concentrations up to 6% (w/v) are tolerated. The metabolism is respiratory or fermentative. In the presence of sulfate, pyruvate and lactate are incompletely oxidized to acetate and CO(2). Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation. This is the first completed genome sequence of a member of the deltaproteobacterial family Desulfomicrobiaceae, and this 3,942,657 bp long single replicon genome with its 3494 protein-coding and 72 RNA genes is part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.

Keywords: Desulfomicrobiaceae; Gram-negative; Sulfate reducer; anaerobe; free-living; freshwater; mesophile; non-pathogenic.

Figure 1

Phylogenetic tree of D. baculatum strain X^T and all type strains of species within members of the family Desulfomicrobiaceae, inferred from 1,457 aligned characters [4,5] of the 16S rRNA gene sequence under the maximum likelihood criterion [6]. The tree was rooted with all members from the Desulfonatronaceae, another family in the order Desulfovibrionales. The branches are scaled in terms of the expected number of substitutions per site. Numbers above branches are support values from 1,000 bootstrap replicates if larger than 60%. Strains with a genome-sequencing project registered in GOLD [7] are printed in blue; published genomes in bold.

Figure 2

Scanning electron micrograph of D. baculatum X^T (Manfred Rohde, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Biology, Braunschweig)

Figure 3

Graphical circular map of the genome. From outside to the center: Genes on forward strand (color by COG categories), Genes on reverse strand (color by COG categories), RNA genes (tRNAs green, rRNAs red, other RNAs black), GC content, GC skew.